States Choose Official State Sport

In a recent article featured in the Battleboro Reformer, Chris Garofolo reported that Vermont wants to make snowboarding the official state sport – a piece of legislation introduced by students from Swanton Central School. Other states such as Colorado and New Hampshire already have official state sports. No surprise, Jake Burton Carpenter, founder of VT-based Burton Snowboards, is a proponent of the bill. According to Carpenter, he’s “ecstatic” and “can’t think of a better way to promote activity throughout the world.” The bill is currently stalled in the state legislation due to more pressing concerns.

I realize the significance of state’s being assigned with a bird or flower, but why do we feel it’s necessary for a state to identify itself to a specific sport? I’m from Maine, so would lobstering be considered the official state sport?

Click here to read the full article: http://www.reformer.com/ci_12061875
List of Official U.S. State Sports: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._state_sports