DC – The stadium that keeps on spending
“The Washington Nationals stadium deal may be finalized, but … oh, who’m I kidding? Stadium deals are never final until the last shovel of dirt is overturned…. The team is now demanding that the city agree to build aboveground parking for the stadium’s luxury-suite holders, instead of building underground lots…. if you’re still hoping that the city will see a windfall from that ‘ballpark entertainment district,’ … you’d better hope that people can find entertainment in looking at parked cars….
In related news, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission has already blown through $9.4 million of the project’s $19.3 million in contingency funds in the first month of construction.”
In more stadium-related spending shenanigans, the Associated Press reported that DC Mayor Anthony Williams (the man most responsible for the District’s colossal corporate welfare stadium giveaway) has made a supplemental appropriation request to the DC Council, which includes $750,000 for an “Office of Baseball.”
Even the Washington Post Editorial cheerleaders for the publicly-subsidized stadium see this as waste:
“Does the District really have to have a $750,000 ‘Mayor’s Office of Baseball’ to handle duties already performed by the DC government and its agencies and special entities such as the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission?… City leaders, by now, should have learned the folly of playing Santa Claus with taxpayers’ money. The council should say no.”
There will be a public hearing next Monday, June 12, at 2:30 p.m. before the Council Committee of the Whole. Anyone wishing to testify should call Chairman Cropp’s office, 724-8032. Remember, Mrs. Cropp has said many times on the campaign trail and elsewhere that not one penny of taxpayers’ money is going into the stadium.
Sports Forum Podcast
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, with over 150 camps in 30+ U.S. states and Canada. We discuss problems in youth sports today, including single sport specialization, the growing gap between the “haves” and “have-nots,” the high drop-out rate in competitive sports, and the growing mental health challenges young athletes are dealing with today.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
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More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
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.
Episode #23 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Olympian Benita Fitzgerald Mosley Talks Title IX, Youth Sports and the Olympics.
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.
- League of Fans Sports Policy Director Ken Reed quoted in Washington Post column titled "What happened to P.E.? It’s losing ground in our push for academic improvement," by Jay Mathews
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