By Dave Zirin

Barry Bonds should be basking in the moment. The San Francisco Giants outfielder has just passed Hank Aaron to become the all-time home-run king of Major League Baseball. With 756 home runs, seven most-valuable-player awards and eight gold gloves, he should be trotting into the twilight of his career in a hail of hosannas as the finest ballplayer of his generation. But expect no laurels, parades or calls from President Bush.

In the Public Interest
by Ralph Nader

Anybody who played schoolboy sandlot baseball in Winsted, Connecticut with David Halberstam back in the nineteen forties would not have been very surprised to observe his spectacular journalistic career that took him to the civil rights struggles in the South, the war torn African and Asian continents, and the writing of some 20 books which required aggressive reporting.

By Dave Zirin

Dear LeBron:

At the tender age of 22, you have the galactic talent to make us wonder if a mad scientist had Magic and MJ genetically spliced. But talent ain't wisdom. In a recent interview, you said that your goal in sports was to become "the richest man on earth." You also told ESPN, "I'm trying to be a global icon...on the level of Muhammad Ali." These dreams are compatible only if you choose to emulate Ali the icon and not Ali the man.

The loss of David Halberstam in a traffic collision in Menlo Park, California, deprived our country of a great reporter and a great man. His journalistic sweep, manifested through original writings in articles, books and interviews, came with a knowledge of historical roots to contemporary events.

Memo to Imus: You're Fired
Dave Zirin
Edge of Sports
April 12, 2007

Time for Jackson, Sharpton to Step Down
Jason Whitlock
AOL Sports
April 13, 2007

UPDATE

Outrageous Words, Outrageous Deeds
Ralph Nader
In the Public Interest
April 16, 2007

In the Pennsylvania race for governor, pro football Hall of Famer Lynn Swann was easily defeated by incumbent Ed Rendell in the November 7 mid-terms. Swann's celebrity status and former position as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports (2002-2005) couldn't carry him to victory as they did Arnold Schwarzenegger in California (Schwarzenegger was Chairman of the President's Fitness Council from 1990-92).

On this occassion, League of Fans remembers opposing Swann's peddling of junk food to kids while Chairman of the President's Fitness Council. At a vending machine trade group press conference on January 13, 2005, Chairman Swann was paid to appear next to a vending machine filled with junk food alongside elementary school kids.

Jay Weiner of the Minneapolis Star Tribune interviews the wonderful Donna Lopiano, whose work on behalf of girl's and women's sports and fitness -- and in defense of Title IX -- is exemplary:

To help baseball and softball coaches administer first aid and prevent injuries that may happen on the field, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine (AOSSM) makes available a handbook called "Prevention and Emergency Management of Youth Baseball and Softball Injuries."

Vahe Gregorian of the St. Louis Dispatch reports on the progressively larger divide between African-Americans and baseball.

Our sports culture often pushes children to over-achieve and play through pain while specializing in, and training year-round for, one sport at an early age. These factors are dangerously conducive to overuse injuries.

In the Public Interest
by Ralph Nader

As the Little League season gets into full swing for millions of young baseball and softball players across the country, their health and safety on the playing field will significantly benefit from an addition in the Little League rules this year -- a requirement for breakaway bases.

Jeffrey Lurie
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Philadelphia Eagles

Paul Tagliabue
Commissioner
National Football League

Dear Messrs. Lurie and Tagliabue,

I am writing to urge you to rescind the misguided suspension and planned inactive designation of Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens. If the Eagles management declines to remedy its mistake, Commissioner Tagliabue, you should intervene to overturn the team's decision, which dishonors this country's traditional respect for free speech and cheats fans of an opportunity to see arguably the best receiver in football. Let him play.

(Ralph Nader and the sports reform project League of Fans sent a letter to federal health and safety officials arguing that their agencies "have been collectively deficient in research, preservation of data, recommendations and overall recognition of the public health magnitude of sports injuries."

The letter was sent to Michael Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services; Julie Louise Gerberding, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Ileana Arias, Acting Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control; and Hal Stratton, Chairman of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Enclosed with the letter are recommendations urging the establishment of a task force to formulate sports injury policy and implement "a pro-active national program regarding health and safety in sports, at all levels and age groups, with the goal of minimizing the risk of injury to participants in informal and organized sports, recreation and exercise." The letter and recommendations follow.)

(Ralph Nader and the sports reform project League of Fans sent a letter to NBA star LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers asking him to advocate for more responsible marketing practices to help minimize the risk of obesity in children in his anticipated endorsement contracts with McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. The letter follows.)

When: Washington Nationals' Opening Day, Thursday, April 14 at 6:00 pm.
Where: RFK Stadium, Main Entrance on East Capitol St., SE

The "Millions for Stadiums, Peanuts for Schools" rally will send the message that a city flush with revenue, and spending at least $581 million on a new stadium, should not cut the DC Public School’s capital budget by 44 percent over the next two years as proposed in Mayor Anthony Williams’ budget. The FY 2006 budget includes no additional funding for athletic programs in DC Public Schools.