First off, the upper middle class has heard, a lot, that it is well to encourage children to play sports. They have heard that private middle schools and high s

First off, the upper middle class has heard, a lot, that it is well to encourage children to play sports. They have heard that private middle schools and high schools look favorably on it, they've heard that selective colleges want well-rounded kids. So, willy-nilly the kids strap on shin guards in the fall and pick up bats in the spring. Second, apart from a bit of intramural sports, I never really played an organized sport. But I was out playing driveway basketball or touch football on lawns an awful lot. No, it may not have been once a day, but it was frequent. And the kids of the less well off may be down at the playground a great deal shooting hoops or playing soccer.