For some time I've sensed sports fans have become bored, blase, turned off, indifferent, disenchanted or all of the above about pro sports. In eleven years of talking with sports fans across the country, I think I have a feeling for their likes and dislikes, their passions and disillusions. What tipped me off is that more fans are speaking of their dislikes and disillusions then they are about their likes and passions. They don't feel as connected to sports as they used too. Thus, they could take or leave sports. Their weekends, unless the weather is bad, aren't driven by an NFL, NBA, NHL or any other game on radio or television. It appears to me that more fans are "casual" fans instead of "diehard" fans.

I first noticed this trend at this year's Super Bowl. Denver was going for its second straight Super Bowl title against a Cinderella Atlanta team looking for its first championship. The story lines were plentiful. It was probably going to be John Elway's final game, the Broncos had in Terrell Davis the best running back in the NFL and Shannon Sharpe was sure to say something ridiculous that would make everyone mad. The Falcons were the underdogs and everyone loves an underdog. Add Jamal Anderson and the Dirty Bird, a coach who had heart problems and once coached Elway and the Broncos and this was the sports version of "As the World Turns." There couldn't be a better soap opera.

However, what I found was unless fans had a direct connection to or rooting interest in either of the teams, they had little passion for the game. Yes, they'd watch it, but it was a "game day decision." I remember when Super Bowl week was special. Game day parties were planned and schedules were rearranged so that from pre-game to post game, not a moment was missed. It was joked that if any country wanted to attack the United States, Super Bowl Sunday was the day to do it. All week on Sports Byline fans would analyze, argue and debate everything about the game. Passions ran hot. Now, luke warm is a better description. And, when the TV ratings came out after the game, it verified that even the Super Bowl had lost its luster and "super event" status.

The Super Bowl isn't alone in diminishing fan interest. Television viewership is down for the NBA Finals, college basketball's Final Four, the Stanley Cup Finals and the World Series. During the NHL playoffs and the Stanley Cup Finals between Dallas and Buffalo, maybe 10 fans called to talk about them. This is hockey's showcase event and 10 fans called to talk about it. To varying degrees the same thing happened when the other sports had their showcase events. College basketball may be the exception as many college hoops fans still connect to the sport and their alma mater or favorite college team. But, the Final Four championship game between Duke and Connecticut was the second lowest rated Final Four ever.

There is a trend here. But why?

The answer is complex and at the same a window into life going into a new century. First, sports isn't the center of our universe as it once was to many fans. People are more diverse, they have more things that command their attention. Competition for one's "leisure" time is plentiful. Now, one thinks about their options before deciding to commit three to fours hours watching a game. It has to be pretty special for a fan to give it a "must see" commitment.

Technology has changed a fan's passion and commitment. It used to be that if you didn't watch the game then you had to wait til the next day to read about it in the newspaper or catch the limited highlights on the 6 and 11 o'clock newscasts. Now, ESPN, CNNSI, Fox Sports and others will show you gobs of highlights many times during the day. Plus, a host of regional sports television networks are showing replays of the games. Add to that the ability to go to any of hundreds of Internet sports web sites and the results, interviews, analysis and even downloadable highlights are just a click away. Your game, your information, your highlights, when you want it and how you want it. Why sit for three or four hours when you can see the best parts of that game whenever you want and still get in 18 holes, see your kids soccer match, take the family to the beach or go to a movie with your significant other. "Game lite" beats "game full" anytime and slowly erodes one's passion and commitment.

Speaking of commitment. In the past, the connection between player/team and fan has been a connected two way street. That connection was strengthened by familiarity and a sense that both were committed to each other. Today, the free movement of players through free agency, salary caps and mo money, mo money and mo money have made fans feel disconnected, disrespected and unappreciated for their past and on going commitment. The natural thing is to pull back. Look for other things that emotionally justify a commitment. Not the here today, gone tomorrow sense that fans get with players and teams. The fans thinking is, why invest your emotions, support and money when the other side's position is, "Thanks, but so long?"

The last factor is the obvious one. M-O-N-E-Y. Pro athletes have always been paid. The difference between today and thirty years ago is the baseball player who hits .230 today is making millions while the player hitting .230 thirty years ago wasn't in baseball for long. They were gone for not performing. The fans says, "If you're going to make a thousand times more than I'll ever make in a lifetime, then I want to see a performance that's worth it." Players salaries, owners bickering over billions, strikes and lockouts, graft in the Olympics, million dollar TV commercials, astronomical ticket prices and a generally perceived greed in sports has accumulatively turned fans off.

Collectively all of above has made sports zzzzzzzzzz to many sports fans. It's not going to get better. Are sports going to become an afterthought in our lives? Definitely not. It's ingrained in our mental, emotional and physical makeup. Where else can you knock a quarterback on his butt, take a swipe at a guy with a stick, bite someone's ear in a ring and not go to jail. Sports will always fulfill our need for an outlet for aggression and a need for a connection to something that can make us feel good. It lets us strut and brag.

But times are changing. Kids no longer play ball after school. It's off to the computer or to play the latest video game. That doesn't take as much time, you can walk away when you want, it doesn't cost and arm and a leg to do and characters aren't free agents on the move all the time.

Being the eternal optimist, I have hope there is a silver lining to the fans disinterest in sports. Maybe, just maybe, there's more time for the really important things. Things like life, their kids, their partners, themselves.

I feel better now.

I'm Ron Barr.

Read Ron's Archived Commentaries