I've just come back from Mayor Scott Johnson's first quarterly address, called Saratoga Speaks. The topic tonight was recreation, and Mayor Johnson brought out Linda Terricola, director of recreation, to talk about the topic. After she gave an overview of all of the recreational opportunities available to city youth, several people at the forum started attacking Johnson and Terricola for taking away the outdoor field, and replacing with an indoor facility.

It seems that Saratogians will get riled up about anything. Better watch yourself next time you cross against the light. It seemed that the primary concern at last night's meeting as Terricola's assertion that the field was under utilized. Residents who live nearby said it was well utilized by children enjoying unstructured play, and a building would stop this from happening.

Well, it's been a little while since I've engaged in any kind of recreation that didn't involve a bicycle, but if I think back to my youth in Brooklyn, I recall many afternoons and evenings spent dodging cars while playing with other kids in the street. Gee, it would have been if we'd a field.

But that aside, kids in Saratoga Springs have lots of fields to choose from. There's the the East Side Rec., the recreation fields near Skidmore, and several parks throughout the city. In fact, this city is a veritable playground. To say nothing of the fact that the new facility will not cover the entire property, but will still leave some space for good old recreation on that side of the city.

There's plenty of places for the youth of this city to play outside, but what we don't have is an indoor recreation facility... hmm... So why are residents objecting to this? Your guess is as good as mine.