We have an obligation to spread amateur baseball both at home and abroad. Building up the game at all levels - Little League, Babe Ruth Leagues, the colleges - is in our own self-interest. That's where the pool of talent is - and also of fans.
Friendships in childhood are usually a matter of chance, whereas in adolescence they are most often a matter of choice.
I can understand why those bands do it. It can be a hell of a lot of bloody fun. People are allowed to have a bit of fun after the age of 40, and a lot of them do need the money.