A nation of armchair quarterbacks

A wire story posted earlier this week confirms what we could have already guessed by looking at the waistlines of most Americans and at the growing amount of sports-related programming on TV: Americans are playing less and watching more. According to a report released by the Census Bureau, recreational sport participation was down in 2004. Meanwhile, television viewing continued its upward trend. The dip in sports participation (skiing, tennis and other activities) was on the rise until 2004, so the dip could be temporary. (Let's hope so. If not, this pattern reflect a very unhealthy trend in the way Americans view sport and exercise.)