The bad:
- Expensive (but gear is cheap)
- Time consuming meets
- Requires lots of practice (step away too long during the season and you lose progress in a way that doesn't happen with bball, etc.)
- Not as socially useful (compared to tennis, squash, golf, bball, etc.)

The good:
- Probably the healthiest sport there is, no long term negative effects
- Can save your life
- Yields a fairly direct translation of effort into results -- teaches mind over matter better than most sports
- Tends to attract overachievers (HS teams probably vie for highest average GPA with maybe tennis and golf -- good in a way but maybe bad to the degree it means no diversity of background)