Posts by: League of Fans
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
My earliest memories of baseball revolve around the 1969 Chicago Cubs. Enthusiasm just resonated off Wrigley Field as the great Ernie Banks chimed, “Let’s play two!”
Regardless of the disastrous finish to that season for the Cubbies, a love for the game was planted in my soul as […]
By Ken Reed
Six states have already passed legislation that will give college athletes the right to profit from use of their names, images and likenesses (NILs). In addition, 29 states now have active NIL legislation in the pipeline.
Meanwhile, the NCAA has said they are open to increasing athletes’ economic rights but continue […]
By Ken Reed
Kamaiu Johnson was on a path likely heading nowhere.
He’d dropped out of school by age 13. His father had skipped town and his family was loving but poor. At times, Johnson lived with as many as nine other family members in a cramped two-bedroom apartment.
“I was so lost in life,” […]
League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast
This might be one of the most important Sports Forum podcasts we’ve done, or will ever do. Our guest is, Ann McKee, M.D., a true superstar in the field of neuropathology and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Dr. McKee has been named by TIME magazine as one of the […]
By Ken Reed
Mark Cuban’s Dallas Mavericks played their first 13 home games this season without playing the national anthem before tip-off. And nobody noticed. Finally, somebody at The Athletic noticed and reported it.
Cuban didn’t give a reason. He simply said he had decided before the season not to play the anthem.
[…]
By Ken Reed
A little girl remains in critical condition after Kansas City Chiefs outside linebackers coach, Britt Reid (son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid) struck two cars with his pickup truck last Thursday. One of the cars had run out of gas and was stopped on the side of an interstate entrance ramp. […]
By Ken Reed
The Kansas City Chiefs have a true hero on their team but he won’t be in Tampa for the Super Bowl.
Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif opted out of this season so he could care for sick patients during the Covid crisis at a long-term care hospital facility in his native […]
By Ken Reed
The pandemic has shut down a good portion of youth sports activities across the country. This has caused a lot of frustration for kids, parents, coaches and youth sports organizations.
Obviously, the goal is to keep children, and the adults they live with, as safe as possible during the pandemic. However, the […]
By Ken Reed
Major League Baseball’s Atlanta Braves have had an issue hanging over their heads for a long time: a nickname that’s offensive to many and which has a racist beginning.
With the passing of Hank Aaron, the greatest player in franchise history (and the greatest player in baseball history, according to some), Atlanta […]
What constitutes manhood in sports culture is archaic. As if the sports world has been frozen in time – Neanderthal time
By Ken Reed
Originally published by Troy Media
What former New York Mets general manager Jared Porter did to a female reporter is despicable. He certainly deserved to be fired after admitting to […]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #7 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Brain Trauma and CTE Risk in Sports With Dr. Ann McKee – Dr. McKee is a true superstar in the field of neuropathology and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and has demonstrated that “mild” repetitive head trauma can provoke CTE, a devastating neurodegenerative disease.
Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and Anchor.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify; Google Podcasts; PocketCasts; & Anchor
Episode #6 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Need for Quality Physical Education in Our Schools is Greater Than Ever – The guest is Clayton Ellis, one of our nation’s leading advocates for getting our young people to be more physically active.
Episode #5 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Youth Sports with Positive Coaching Alliance Founder Jim Thompson – Thompson started Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) in 1998 to help create a movement to transform the culture of youth sports from “win-at-all-costs” to a positive, character-building experience.
Episode #4 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Biggest Issue in Sports Today? Brain Trauma – The guest is Patrick Hruby, a journalist who has done extensive research and in-depth writing on the topic of brain trauma in sports, most notably football.
Episode #3 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Coaching Styles with Sports Sociologist Jay Coakley – The guest is veteran sports sociologist Jay Coakley, a former college athlete who went on to earn a Ph.D. in Sociology from Notre Dame.
Episode #2 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: College & High School Athletics: Where Do We Go From Here? The guest is John Gerdy, a former college athlete and NCAA and SEC administrator who became a sports reformer later in his career.
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.
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
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.
Books
