THE QUESTION: Would you rather look at sports on television or engage in them?

BOBBY WAGNER
13-year-old son of New York's mayor
An exciting game, with the cheers and the jeers, is a lot of fun. Seeing the action firsthand, figuring out what the players will do and watching them put everything they have into the game is more fun at the park than on TV. But it's more exciting playing with my friends when we all get together.

JANIE McGIVNEY
Newport, R.I.
Age 14
I'd rather ride horses and be around the barns. In six years, I've won 15 ribbons. I understand horses better than kids. I'd love to get a job in a barn helping to train horses. If some famous horsewoman like Eleanora Sears would give me a job in her barns, I'd never let her down.

PETER BARNES
Hastings-on-the-Hudson, N.Y.
Age 13
That depends on the sport and who is playing. I get a greater bang watching the Boston Red Sox beat the Yankees than playing baseball myself. Ted Williams is great to watch. But other than that, I would rather play with my friends than go to a ball park or watch sports on TV.

BILLY BLAINE
Palm Beach, Fla.
Age 12
I like sports, especially swimming and baseball. But to tell the truth, I like watching things on television best of all, especially the Boston Red Sox and Ted Williams and astronomy because that is the subject that interests me most. Some day I hope to be an astronomer, maybe fly to the moon.

GEORGE H. McCRACKEN JR.
Williams College
Age 21
"Football knees" relegated me to the spectator class. Watching sports is wonderful, but it's still just a way of getting your fun secondhand. The competition, the matching of mind and muscle against an opponent, gave me the greatest amount of fun, thrills and stimulation.

HELEN FRENCH
Newburyport, Mass.
Age 15
Mister, I'm a pretty husky girl. I like to play softball and basketball. Softball is my real game, and I play it every chance I get. I'm good, too. I wouldn't watch a game if there was a chance for me to play. Ike won't have to worry about the physical condition of the youth if all girls are like me.

JIM KRIDEL JR.
Fort Lee, N.J.
Age 10
I would much rather play football because I like action and lots of it, and I especially like football because it's competitive and takes a lot of skill and also it's lots of fun. I'm an end. But I would rather watch a baseball game because they won't let me play on the team.

ARTHUR MOHR
Montclair, N.J.
Age 16
Playing team sports like football and baseball. Sure, I like to watch television, but I feel better after playing than I do when I spend an afternoon on a sofa watching a game on TV. Like most fans, I do look for a football game on TV but not if there is a neighborhood game and good weather.

JIMMY DWYER
Palm Beach, Fla.
Age 11
I'd rather play. Sure, I'd go if my Dad offered to take me to the Orange Bowl and I had to give up playing ball with my team. Wouldn't you? Any kid would jump at that. I've played on three Little League teams, and this is my fourth season. Ike doesn't have to worry about me.

MILES O. BIDWELL
Wayzata, Minn.
Age 17
At the St. James Prep School, St. James, Md., sports are compulsory on every afternoon for every student. Then after the school year, I spend most of my time in sports-car activities, boating and fishing. But it isn't all play. I'm seriously interested in photography, and it helps to pay for my car.

ELEVEN PHOTOS