I don’t know if I’ve been extra bored lately or sad that college basketball is over or just trying to get my mind off my forthcoming graduation, but I sure have been watching baseball more than usual.

The funny thing is, I keep switching back to baseball because something has actually been snagging my attention.

I hate to say this because baseball fans are like Dave Matthews Band fans and won’t tolerate any negative comments, but baseball is definitely not America’s pastime or America’s sport. Due to popularity in both TV ratings and fans in general, football has overtaken this crown.

Baseball is still chugging along because of a few interesting aspects, but the powers that be in baseball are trying to get rid these things to clean up baseball’s image.

I’m talking about instances of fans running on the field and attacking people. It happened late last year in Chicago when a father-son White Sox fan duo attacked Kansas City Royals assistant Tom Gamboa.

It happened again this year, also in Chicago at a White Sox game, when numerous fans entered the field during the course of the game, with the final attempt resulting in the attack of an umpire.

Security is now more heightened than ever to prevent these sort of actions, but I don’t think that is the best idea for a dying sport.

Sure I don’t advocate violence, but these idiots are pounded to the ground and cleated before they can even get a good shot in on anyone, so really the only person getting hurt is the guy that everyone wants to see get hurt — making it good television.

People like me, who get easily bored with baseball, enjoy these dramatic elements to help keep our short attention spans focused.

Another fan incident happened recently when Texas Rangers outfielder Carl Everett was hit by a fan-tossed cell phone. That’s not quite as interesting as fans attacking, but it is more exciting than a three-hour game that ends with a score along the lines of 5-4.

Baseball has also been grabbing my attention with the abundance of pitcher-batter wars that have been happening. When the pitcher hits a player, then he is either hit when he gets to the plate or one of his teammates gets nailed as a rebuttal.

As a result, players sometimes charge the mound and then the benches clear and a full-blown brawl ensues, which pretty much kicks ass to watch.

It’s the same reason hockey can be fun to watch — the possibility that people will get beaten and tossed out of a game. It’s the same as enjoying a nice boxing match, but it’s more spur of the moment so it’s even better.

To make things even worse, baseball has began addressing steroid and enhancing supplement issues. But when baseball almost died back in 1998, it was the home run that saved it and it’s the big hitters that keep people in love with the sport.

Former San Diego Padres All-star Tony Gwynn estimates that 50 percent of position players use performance enhancers or amphetamines. But things may begin to change as baseball has installed a new steroid-testing plan.

I’m not saying that steroids are good, but obviously there are certain degrees of performance enhancers. And with baseball ignoring this issue for so many years, people just forgot about it and enjoyed watching the big-hitters knock balls out of the park. Why not go back to that, for the sake of the sport?

Baseball has too many teams, too many players and too many games that it has become this big sea of boredom and mediocrity. But these flashes of violence and drama are making it tolerable once again.

And since baseball is on all day and all night on all sorts of channels, I need something to help keep my eyes open, and my mind off graduation.