I'm not insulting the practice, so I don't think this is UWS. I'm saying that when our kids are young, they are required to do a number of things as part of indoctrinating them as US citizens. Pledge of Allegiance every morning is one. NA at Little League is another. Memorizing the preamble of the US Constitution (at some point in a class, usually American Government) is another. There are many examples.

It's the same principle as what any country does, good or bad. If you're able to take a step back and look objectively at the practice, it's similar to what the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, etc. did. N. Korea has its own version. Maybe Russia does now, I don't know. When they did it, we tend to view it as bad because those are "bad guys." But the principle is the same.

Speaking of LL, it also has a pledge which mentions country and God. I'm not going to get into religion, though. No way to keep that from becoming UWS.

In terms of pro league, yep, you are right - once one did it, the others had to. It's like elected officials wearing a flag pin. They didn't used to.