High school athletics is a problem in some ways, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Robert Putnam is a political scientist of some renown. One of

High school athletics is a problem in some ways, but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Robert Putnam is a political scientist of some renown. One of his major contributions was a study he did in Italy over 40 years. His question was why was government in in the north generally more efficient and just all around better than politics in the southern portion of the country. His conclusion was that northern Italians were much more heavily involved in civic clubs like religious groups, labor unions, and ... soccer clubs, which created social capital, and horizontal networks, unlike the hierarchical networks in the south which created clientelism and gangs. Sports fanhood and clubs may actually make democracy better. They certainly foster community. There are bigger problems in this country.