Not Whether You Win or Lose, It’s Playing the Game That Counts

Olga Connolly’s Aug. 26 commentary on the decline in athletic participation in the United States was provocative both in what it did and did not say. But her article addressed the symptoms of the problem, not its many causes.

Equal blame for the decline in athletic participation can, and should, be laid at many doorsteps, including that of The Times sports section.

Parents are to blame. How can children be expected to develop a love for participation in sports when they have never seen their parents do anything other than shout at a television, beer can in hand?

Schools are to blame. Attention and funds are lavished on football, basketball and baseball teams. The majority of students are ignored when it comes to teaching participation for participation’s sake.

The media are to blame for failing to pay attention to local amateur competition and for devoting virtual exclusive attention to professional and college football, basketball and baseball. This sends a message that sports are only for the physically gifted.

Ms. Connolly didn’t make two key points: Americans have become lazy and they have become moral cowards. If they can’t be certain of winning, they won’t play.

To the contrary, scratch a serious amateur athlete and you’ll find the effort to participate in sports is fulfilling in and of itself.

All of the foregoing is but a metaphor for problems affecting American society. Is it any wonder that the United States has been getting its butt kicked in the global economy?

Maybe if Americans were to shed some of their fixation on the NFL and NBA, were to get up off their couches and do something, there might be some salutary effects on our society beyond those reported on the sports pages.

RICHARD WILLIAM ZEVNIK

Los Angeles