Weekly Morsels: A Few Things That Might Have Slipped Through the Cracks
By Ken Reed
Namath Suffering From Football Concussions
Famous New York Jets quarterback Joe Namath says he’s long had to deal with the aftereffects of concussions from his playing career.
“I’ve been some through some things medically,” says Namath. “I’ve seen some things on my brian. But I’ve had some treatment — and I’ve improved. None of the body was designed to play football. Excuse me, you know, football, we’re just not designed for.”
Seahawks Owner Paul Allen Donates $2.4 Million For Brain Study
Seattle Seahawks owner and Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen has donated $2.4 million to his Allen Institute for Brain Science and the University of Washington for a two-year study into whether repeated blows to the head can lead to dementia.
Allen is doing the study apart from any NFL-sponsored studies. The Allen Institute previously focused on mapping the healthy brain. However, the Institute’s Dr. Ed Lein said the move into brain injury was a logical next step.
European Pro Basketball Much Different Than the NBA
Darryl Middleton was a college hoops star at Baylor but the NBA didn’t come calling. So, he went to play pro ball in Europe. At 47, he still lives in Europe. He’s one of the most famous American players in European basketball history. But European pro hoops is hardly a life of luxury.
“One of the lower-league teams I played on we had to bring our own water to practice,” says Middleton.
An interesting read about basketball on another continent.
NFL: Vicious and Violent Entertainment
I’ve always enjoyed watching football games. I love the excitement, intensity, strategy, and artistic athletic ability. And yes, I’ve cheered after some vicious hits. I never thought about what the vicious nature of the game was doing to the players on the field. I figured that once the players were done on the gridiron they suffered from more arthritis pain and limped a little more than the rest of us but that realization didn’t interfere with my enjoyment of the game on Saturdays and Sundays.
Today, knowing what I know about brain trauma and concussions, I cringe a lot more on big hits. New York Times columnist Frank Bruni captured this phenomenon well.
Bruni wrote about watching a Colts-Chiefs game this season and called it a “blunt reminder of how much pain we fans endorse in the service of our pleasure.”
Horowitz’ Case Against Alex Rodriguez Revealed
The reasoning of arbitrator Fredric Horowitz in giving the New York Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez a full-season ban from baseball was ironically revealed in the latest lawsuit brought by Rodriquez against Major League Baseball and the players’ union.
Horowitz wrote in his ruling that the evidence “clearly and convincingly establishes Rodriguez committed multiple violations” of baseball’s drug agreement. He believes the evidence confirms that Rodriguez used and/or possessed three banned substances over a three-year period: testosterone, insulinlike growth factor-1, and HGH.
— Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans
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.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
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