You say that soccer won't really take off in the USA, and give several good reasons for it (prevalence of big 3 US sports leagues already, plus NASCAR and the hapless NHL). However... I wonder. When my son (now 8) grows into adulthood, I wonder if he will take his love of soccer with him. Out here in the 'burbs, soccer is big stuff. Seems like every kid with feet plays (except my daughter because it doesn't involve a pink princess dress). But anyway. Club soccer, high school soccer, parks and rec soccer, good teams, bad teams, elite traveling teams, scrappy low-budget parks and rec teams. There's an indoor soccer park in a warehouse not a mile away, and it's booked all year round for all levels of play. Add in the soccer camps in the summer too (some elite and expensive, some offered by the park district). My son plays every day with his friends on his 2nd grade recess at public school. The school has a baseball diamond, but the kids don't form impromptu wiffle ball games (though they have the equipment, no one uses it). They play soccer. They even play soccer with a basketball.

I think you might be wrong in 20 years, when my son and his classmates turn into 20-something consumers. I think they'll be watching and following soccer.

Yes, you're right, but...

I'm here in the (mostly white, mostly middle class) 'burbs, with a very high Hispanic population in the next 'burb over. As the Hispanic population grows, so do the ranks of working-class, soccer-loving kids. Their parents are FANATICS about soccer, they know and love the game to a degree I could never even hope for. And the Hispanic kids teams kick serious butt.

I agree that the elite kids soccer leagues are frightfully expensive ($800 a year just to join, then add traveling costs to out-of-town tournaments). But I think that will change with the influx of more and more Hispanic people to my neck of the woods. They bring soccer with them, and they will play somehow anyway, without the $800 leagues.

Everyone is terrified of lawsuits. Pregnancy and childbirth are some of the most litigious areas of our health care system. just ask an OB/GYN about their malpractice insurance.

I think that if women want to participate in a rough sport like wrestling or boxing, that's great and more power to them. I also think the pregnancy test is invasive. However, the other side of the coin is that they should not be allowed to sue any one or any organization involved with their sport should a potential fetus or baby be damaged. Freedom to participate goes both ways.

Definitely work out this issue with a neutral third party like a counselor. But think hard about going with your wife.

Joining the Peace Corps was something I always wanted to do, and never did. I spent my twenties casting about through various desk jobs that were unfulfilling but paid the bills. Yes, I have a house now, but... I also have a family, a lawn, a dog, and volunteer commitments at the elementary school. I chose all those things, don't get me wrong, and I love my family dearly, but the Peace Corps is simply not an option now, at all, not until the kids are out of college and I can consider joining as a retiree (they have a program now for that, I've heard). I'm lucky to find a Saturday morning to sleep late.

I know it's incredibly hard to see from where you sit (in your twenties with your good job)--that this brief time in your life before major commitments like mortgages and children is indeed very brief. It seems that your one major commitment is your wife... see if you can make it work.

Good luck.

I was in Manhattan about two weeks back, and just about every subway train car we took had a public awareness campaign poster from Planned Parenthood about contraception.

Some were sunny, positive, and upbeat--two beautiful twentysomethings goofing off on a beach, with a caption that says "We'll be great parents some day, but for now we're using contraceptives." Or "We don't know if we want children, so for now we're using contraceptives."

Another, more pensive variation was an admonition to have emergency contraception on hand... worried faces of about 8 different people (men, women, varying races and ages, some with small kids already, from teens to forty-somethings), and the tag-line of "50% of all pregnancies are unplanned, it can happen to anyone."

I liked the campaign. It was matter-of-fact in its unstated assertion that People Have Sex. Let's Be Responsible. Let's not pretend that sex is immoral, or that it doesn't happen, or that it ought not to happen. Let's agree that it does happen, and empower people to plan their lives accordingly.

Wish I could see that campaign on the sides of buses in my conservative neck of the woods.