Check Your Sports Enjoyment Scorecard
By Ken Reed
We at the League of Fans spend a majority of our time addressing the inequities and injustices in sports. Our goal is to push our sports organizations to be more socially responsible in their policymaking, decisionmaking and actions. In short, we want to get the destructive win-at-all-costs (WAAC) and profit-at-all-costs (PAAC) mentalities out of our sports.
In order to keep fighting the good fight in SportsWorld, it’s important to occasionally reflect on why we care so much about sports to begin with.
The following “sports enjoyment scorecard” can help all of us put sports in their proper perspective. It also has the side benefit of providing sports reformers and activists motivation to continue the fight for a more fair sports landscape.
When it comes to sports, we all need to occasionally reset our priorities. Do this: Sit down with a pen and paper and ask yourself, “Why do I like sports? What makes me happy when I’m involved in sports?” (If you have kids in sports, ask them to do it as well. Their answers could be enlightening.)
List everything (including winning and playing well). Consider things like: being with people I like who share my passion; enjoying the sporting venue (whether a beautiful golf course, youth soccer field, bike trail, or classic stadium); the competitive nature of sports (win or lose); the exercise, recreation and entertainment aspects of sport; the excitement and spectacle of sporting events, learning about myself and others, developing skills, etc. Whatever rings true for you.
When you’re done, give each item on your list a % with your total adding up to 100. It should help you keep winning in perspective, and be happier the next time you participate in sports, or even watch a sporting event.
And hopefully, it gives you — even if just a little — more incentive to get out in your community and fight for justice in sports.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #22 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Rethinking Sports Fandom with Author Craig Calcaterra – We discuss Calcaterra’s new book “Rethinking Fandom: How to Beat the Sports-Industrial Complex at Its Own Game” and explore new ways to be a fan in the year 2022.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Anchor and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #21 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Chatting About a Broken Game With Baseball Writer Pedro Moura – Moura is a national baseball writer for Fox Sports. We discuss how and why the game of baseball is broken, what factors caused it, and offer a few thoughts on how to “fix” a great game.
Episode #20 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Youth and High School Sports Based On What’s Best for the Athlete’s Holistic Development – We chat with long-time youth, high school and college basketball coach Jim Huber.
Episode #19 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Capturing the Spirit of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League with Anika Orrock – We discuss the hoops AAGPFL women had to jump through to play the game they loved as well as the long-term impact and legacy they have in advancing sports opportunities for girls and women.
Episode #18 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking about the 50th Anniversary of Title IX and the Lia Thomas Controversy with Nancy Hogshead-Makar – Hogshead-Makar is a triple gold medalist in swimming, a civil rights attorney and CEO of Champion Women.
Episode #17 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Talking Sports With Legendary New York Times Sports Columnist Robert Lipsyte – We chat about Lipsyte’s amazing career and some of the athletes he covered.
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.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books