(the below was Email response to some old friends that I played street games with 100 years ago…well maybe it was only 40 +/- years ago but I’m old and get confused from time to time)

Even 10 or so years ago if you drove by a vacant lot or play ground in Watertown you'd see kids playing a recognizable game or one they had invented…। like our games of rubber ball or remember wall ball…or the one time I taught you guys speedball…(if all don't remember it was a cross between rugby and ultimate Frisbee…) and none of you remember the drag races with bikes and the road course for kid powered wheeled things we had but that is part of the Alden Mythology... Don't see that now… I see two main reasons… Video games and "little league parents" Will not comment on the first only the last… The value in dollars of a DI scholarship or a pro contract and too many parents salivate… It's only "organized sport and high bucks summer camps"…playground and street sports…"Damn it why did you do that…you could have hurt yourself"…not really thinking about the kid's health or happiness but at the potential bucks… When I was a kid…sports/games…you played for the fun…for the "high" you got…some of you probably thought that the miles I ran per week was nuts…I have one word for you…endorphins…