On the ride to work yesterday I got to thinking about sports.  this weekend is both the Superbowl and the Cyclocross World Championships.

There was a nice article in the WSJ about the two (you've probably already seen it)

There is such a stark juxtaposition between the two.
Hundreds of thousands of kids play football, but with the exception of the Thanksgivings pre-meal game in the yard how may continue playing as adults?  Are there even adult leagues?  In contrast very few kids compete in bicycle racing, but tens of thousands of adults compete in amateur racing in the US alone.

Which got me to thinking: are there other sports that have world championships for athletes?
Google says yes.

Golfing, Xterra and Tri, boxing, bodybuilding, even pinball have worlds.

What does this all mean?  I don't know.

Another question:  How do you define amateur?
I guess amateur in cycling can be anyone over 35.  To me amateur  racing should be for people who have a day gig other than racing a bike.