THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506220241
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 54 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JEFF ZEIGLER, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
THE MAJOR LEAGUE baseball players strike, which ran the better part of eight months, is finally showing results among fans.
General interest is down in the game as attendance and television viewership has plummeted. Some analysts have pronounced that baseball is dead.
The national pastime has been criticized for being too slow and the games too long. Stars like Frank Thomas and Roger Clemens don't have the charisma of Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal. And, the critics say, the games last too long compared to basketball and football.
When local youth league baseball players were asked what their favorite sport was, baseball was right up there with the other major sports, at least for on the field activity. Viewing was a different story.
Last Tuesday, players from Godfrey Brothers, a team in the Elizabeth City Parks and Recreation 13-year-old league, warmed up for a 6:30 p.m. game. As the players tossed balls back and forth, they answered questions about baseball and other competing sports.
Shawn Leary, 13, is a baseball fan all the way. ``I like baseball. It's more fun than other sports. I like hitting the ball,'' he said. Leary, who called Ken Griffey Jr. his favorite athlete, said he also prefers to watch baseball on television.
Neil Gilbird, 13, was split in his allegiance to baseball.
``I've always been attracted to baseball. It's always been my sport,'' Gilbird said. ``It's just the game I've always played.''
Although Gilbird, whose athletic hero is also Ken Griffey Jr., likes to play baseball, he said that he prefers to watch football because of the action.
Matt Arsenault, 13, also said he prefers to play baseball ``because it is not as rough'' as other sports. But he likes``football on TV because the action is faster.''
Oddly, Arsenault said his favorite athlete is Patrick Roy, the goalie for the Montreal Canadiens in the NHL.
David Sugimoto, 13, gave the nod to baseball because of the players' size requirements.
``Baseball is my favorite because size doesn't matter and I'm vertically challenged,'' he quipped.
Sugimoto's favorite athlete is Roberto Alomar.
Others on the Godfrey team picked basketball as their favorite sport.
Thomas Knowlton, 12, felt that professional basketball is more glamorous than pro baseball. He would rather play basketball because ``you get to run more.'' Oddly, Knowlton picked a baseball player - Will Clark - as his favorite athlete.
``I like basketball because you get to touch the ball more,'' said Antonio Midgette, 13. ``I like to watch it on TV because you get to see the other players' moves. You can't do that in baseball.''
Midgette picked a man with great moves, Anfernee Hardaway, as his favorite athlete.
David McCollum, 13, used the time factor as his argument for basketball.
``There's more action in basketball,'' he said. ``A baseball game takes too long.''
McCollum chose Michael Jordan as his favorite athlete.
Antonio Midgette, 13, was the lone advocate of football.
``You can get mean on the football field and not get thrown out,'' he said. ``If you do that in baseball you'll get thrown out.''
Midgette said he prefers to watch basketball on TV and that baseball games are too long. His favorite athlete is Shaquille O'Neal.
Matt Hanusik, 13, likes hockey because of the challenge.
``It's a rough sport and it's fun to watch,'' he said. ``It's a sport that's hard to score. It's more of a challenge.''
Oddly Hanusik picked Ricky Waters of the San Francisco 49ers as his favorite athlete.
Jeff Knowlton, who coaches the Godfrey team, has coached in California and North Carolina and said that he doesn't see interest in baseball waning among his players.
``I've always been with teams that have been interested in the game,'' he said. ``They have good leagues in California and good leagues here. I don't think they (the kids) give a hoot about the strike. They still have their favorites.'' by CNB