By Ken Reed
Baseball has a hook in me and I’m not really sure why. I’m a basketball and football fan but I find baseball has a unique appeal.
I’m not a big fan of the overly romanticized odes to baseball that too often show up in print or on the big screen. Nevertheless, I […]
By Ken Reed
During a time when there is more and more evidence that blows to the head can lead to both short and long-term brain injuries and debilitating neurological disorders (including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, CTE), Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jack Johnson is publicly advocating for fighting in youth hockey leagues.
Colorado Springs Gazette writer […]
By Ken Reed
As we approach the one-third mark of the 2023 MLB season, it has become clear to me that Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani is underappreciated.
In the 150 years or so of Major League Baseball, we have never seen anything like what Shohei Ohtani continues to do in the dual role […]
League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast
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Former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and United States Congressman Tom McMillen chats with League of Fans’ sports policy director Ken Reed in this episode of League of Fans’ Sports Forum.
The two talk […]
By Ken Reed
At this point, the problems with the American youth sports system are well-known: it’s too expensive; the economic gap between the haves and have-nots is growing; specialization in a single sport is happening at younger and younger ages; overuse injuries are becoming more common, overbearing adults (parents and coaches) continue to take […]
By Ken Reed
There’s only so much we can do to make tackle football safer for the human brain. Eliminating full contact during practices is the best way. Penalizing spearing and leading with the head also helps. But tackle football is intrinsically dangerous.
Enter flag football. It’s the same basic game minus the full contact […]
By Ken Reed
In recent findings that are far from shocking, National Hockey League (NHL) enforcers (players who frequently engage in fighting) die 10 years earlier than their peers, according to a study published by JAMA on May 10, 2023.
Brain trauma has long been a concern when it comes to NHL players, especially […]
The Oakland A’s are looking to leave Oakland for Vegas, after failing to extort more money from the city
By Ken Reed
Originally published by Troy Media
It appears John Fisher, owner of the Oakland A’s, is going to move his MLB franchise to Las Vegas. The A’s have struck a deal to […]
By Ken Reed
Mental health concerns have garnered a growing amount of media attention the last couple years.
Similarly, exercise, as a treatment for mental health woes like anxiety and depression, has also received increased attention.
Exercise, especially cardiovascular exercise, might be the single best thing you can do for your mental health, not […]
League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, was a guest on Ralph Nader’s radio show this week. Reed, Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan, which was released in paperback in February. The […]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman, and has a long involvement with the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sport (now called the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition). We discuss the state of college athletics today, given the pressures of NIL, the transfer portal, sports gambling and huge media contracts. McMillen then provides great perspective on the poor state of physical fitness our young people are experiencing today.
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Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Episode #27 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Kids’ Sports: How We Can Take Back the Game and Restore Quality Family Time In the Process – Linda Flanagan is author of “Take Back the Game: How Money and Mania Are Ruining Kids’ Sports and Why It Matters.” We discuss how commercialized and professionalized youth sports are hurting kids and their families.
Episode #26 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: How Can We Fix Youth Sports? – John O’Sullivan is Founder and CEO of Changing the Game Project and author of “Changing the Game: The Parents Guide to Raising Happy, High Performing Athletes and Giving Youth Sports Back to Our Kids.”
Episode #25 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Physical Education Should Be a Critical Component of K-12 School Design – Michael Horn is co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation.
Episode #24 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Mental Health and Athletes: Ending the Stigma – Nathan Braaten and Taylor Ricci are the founders of Dam Worth It, a non-profit created to end the stigma around mental health at colleges and universities through sport, storytelling, and community creation.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books
