OK, I know, the baseball walkout makes the sport look bad. But if you look at some of the underlying issues, the importance of the sport to American civic culture is borne out.

Baseball owners have argued that without some form of revenue sharing, certain financially unstable franchises will be forced to abandon their fans and move elsewhere.

To any city that suffers this fate, it will be an incredible blow.

When the Baltimore Colts (of the NFL) left the city for Indianapolis ten years ago, one sportscaster cried on the air.

Why such agony?

Because people grew up with this team. They remember the first game they attended. They remember the big games, the great plays, the deified players.

The game is inexorably bound up with their youth in a way that no play or movie ever could be. It's the stories of the games they tell their grandchildren.

So clearly, when the owners worry about moving franchises, their angst is justified. The simple argument of "If you're not making money, move elsewhere" just doesn't hold water.

Finally, in this era of family values, the importance of sports is clear. Some of the best times I ever spent with my family were spent together at games, rooting our teams on.

Sports, then, are a part of the fabric of America (thank you Ken Burns). Any attempt to replace them with another form of entertainment is bound to be futile.