Finding the Main Idea Exercise 5

Read the selection and then write the topic and complete the implied main idea statement.

My perceptions of baseball as the great American pastime have changed over the years due to professional player strikes and greed. The "boys of summer" just didn't seem to care about the game as much as those legends of the past, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays, and, frankly, a million dollars wouldn't have lured me to a stadium. However, this summer I went to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska

It was a hot, sunny summer day; the sky filled with billowy clouds. The parking lot was jammed with cars, but people politely inched along to drive into a space. As we waited to park, we waved to people who had camped all night on the stadium grounds. Sitting in lawn chairs, these fans grilled burgers and Omaha steaks. Pennants and flags flew from radio antennas and filled the blue sky with color. No rage, no ticket-scalping, few drunks. Loyal fans from across the country had flocked to Omaha to see young men play ball, and they just wanted to have fun and watch baseball on lazy sunny afternoons.

The parking was free, the tickets cheap. Little children wore baseball gloves and trouped behind moms and dads and grandparents to find their seats in the bleachers. During the pre-game warm-ups, the college baseball stars responded to the loyal fans when they heard their names yelled from the stands by pivoting, waving and smiling. They fought hard, hit hard and played America's favorite game for the crowd that filled the stadium every day. The only reward these young unpaid baseball players seemed to want was to make the fans who had followed them in the Heartland proud.