The debate analysis in the media is rampant with contest analogies of war, baseball, boxing, football; you name it. Any testosterone contest imaginable is fair game.

Sports is to war as pornography is to sex.

Italian-Americans in New York had not been in much of a flag-waving mood prior to DiMaggio's arrival. By the All-Star break, the rookie had established himself as a wonderful player (.358, 10HR, 60 RBIs), fully justifying the acclaim. But Gehrig was even better (.399, 20 HR, 61 RBIs). He was leading the league in nearly every category, including invisibility.

It has a much faster pace than football or boxing. And it's something the younger generation has been accustomed to now: instant solutions and continuous action. This also may be a way for men to show their manhood, so to speak (when they gather to watch these events as fans). It's male bonding and a way to show that one is tough.

I think it's fair to say I've always been a boxing fan.

If you've got to depend on one guy in baseball, you're not going to survive. It's not like football - you can't carry the ball 30 times a game . . . You get one out of nine. You've got to be solid.