Today, O.J. Simpson's sport (along with many others) receives unprecedented levels of fan support and is also a multi-zillion dollar industry. And NFL salaries continue to skyrocket.

And need I mention the dirty word--baseball? The sport has begun to epitomize immorality.

What about Monica Seles? A young woman with a passion for the sport of tennis, powerlessly taken away from her arena by a crazed fan. A fan stabbed her in the back at a tournament in Hamburg two years ago, and she has not been sighted in an event ever since. To further complicate matters, two days ago the man who caused her misery was set free after a second trial.

What does all of this mean for the next generation of athletes?

Kids no longer pick up a bat and ball, racquet or hockey stick, without having some vision of stardom. After all, with Michael Jordan's (new) number on their shirt and an overwhelming desire to "Be Like Mike," how could they not dream?

Looking back to the day that I drove by that baseball field in Union, New Jersey, I realize that the field was empty that day. It is almost as if the Union kids of this generation knew that the carefree days my father described are no more.