Skateboarders could use some support

There was a great television commercial not long ago that asked, "What if other athletes were treated like skateboarders?"

It showed a jogger being shouted at by an angry man on the street and similar scenes involving other sports.

Skateboarding has been here for at least two generations and isn't going away anytime soon.

It's time to change our attitudes about it and help participants get the same access to practice and play areas as swimmers and football, basketball, soccer, tennis, softball or baseball players.

That means building a skate park. It would get participants off the streets and into an area where they could be monitored and required to wear protective gear.

Columbia, Mo., opened a $64,000 skateboarding area in its largest city park three years ago, building it with help from outside donations and using city labor. Hundreds of skaters use it daily in warm weather.

It is time for groups here to take up the cause and help get a park built for these unusual and entertaining athletes.