American sport consists of the Big Three—football, basketball and baseball. However, NIU athletics seems to be lost in the shuffle.

The Huskies pride themselves on being an up-and-coming program. Great strides are being made by NIU to become recognized throughout the country, and that is what this university needs. But NIU also needs a third major sport. If not baseball, which was abolished at NIU in 1982, then what sport?

Football and basketball take care of themselves, and no matter how poorly those two teams play, they will remain a part of the Big Three. In order to be fair to the other sports, a winning record does not have to be a requirement for filling in the No. 3 spot.

Soccer is a foreign sport that fell victim to the American way of life. Too many people wanted soccer to grow over night. Well, a parent cannot rush a child through the teen years. In the same sense, America has to give soccer a chance to grow. NIU cannot consider soccer the third major, not just yet.

Can volleyball fit the bill? First of all, NIU only has a women’s team, and giving a women’s team major recognition would be setting precedence. But wait (or in NIU’s case, Waite) sex cannot be a factor. Therefore, volleyball has a chance. It has the excitement but lacks something—maybe sand.

The field hockey team did well this year, but a major sport needs more than 25 people to show up to the games. NIU’s only chance would be to move the campus to the East Coast were field hockey is more popular.

Tennis is a challenging sport, tough on the mind. The problem here is that the sport is also tough on the spectator’s mind—trying to fight sleep. American’s want action, so it’s not tennis’ fault.

Fore! Golf is a a nice sport, another mental sport. However, a golf match is much too long and drawn out. Golf is not spectator material unless there are some liquid refreshments to go along with the round.

One sport that confuses me is wrestling. Here is a sport, rich in history, a sport that dates back many centuries. For some unknown reason wrestling does not get much recognition in America. Maybe people cannot identify with two guys rolling around on a mat. Americans would want to throw in some mud for excitement.

NIU has a men’s and women’s gymnastics team that does well. Why don’t these sports get better support? Gymnastics fails because most Americans are not knowledgeable of the sport.

Let’s dive into another sport—swimming. The only chance for this sport is if it teamed up with volleyball for a beach party.

What about softball? No, not fat bellied men hurling a 16-inch ball around after a hard day’s work. This is fastpitch women’s softball. The sport has a step up on the rest, but the turnouts at Huskie games is proof that the sport has a ways to go.

Finally, there is women’s basketball. Another promising sport that at one time reached the professional level. Unfortunately, it did not measure up with the more glamorous play of men’s basketball—remember Americans identify with action; sorry.

Seriously, all the above sports require top athletes. No matter what team is mentioned, anyone playing at the collegiate level deserves praise. But the problem here is Americans identify with certain sports, especially the Big Three.

The cry is being sent out by quite a few people on the NIU campus—why doesn’t NIU have a baseball team? The Chicago area is rich in talent when it comes to baseball, and NIU would be able to tap the talent of the Chicagoland area better than most midwestern schools.

C’mon NIU, bring back the sport a majority of people identify with, and let’s see what can become of NIU baseball.