By Ken Reed
I was walking off the tennis court last Sunday checking my messages when I saw several texts saying Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash.
My first reaction was disbelief. Then shock. Then sadness.
As I got in my car, I wasn’t sure why I was so sad. While I […]
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
The word competition often draws to mind hard-nosed athletes and coaches who will do anything to win. We imagine the tough business executive who will eliminate all adversaries to make the greatest profit.
But in fact, the win-at-all-costs attitude brings only short-term success. In order to win in the long […]
“Hats off to the World Series Champions, the Washington Nationals. Unmatched in baseball history were their comebacks. Five times in the Playoffs they faced extinction. Five times they won those games. In their final must win seventh game, they were being shut out with only one hit into the 7th inning, behind 2-0, and they […]
An Unsurpassable Sterling Record of Stamina!
By Ralph Nader
July 10, 2019
I’ve always been fascinated by stamina. Lou Gehrig was my boyhood hero, and not just because of his batting average, clutch hitting, and dignified comportment. From 1925 to 1939 he played 2,130 ballgames in a […]
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
In our age of enormous salaries for professional athletes and overpriced tickets to sporting events, there are many reasons why the Toronto Raptors winning the National Basketball Association championship is worth celebrating.
Behind all of the hype, the team succeeded because they were built on solid principles.
[…]
Ken Reed, League of Fans’ sports policy director, appeared on radio and national TV after another parental brawl at a youth sports game. In this case, the players were 7 year olds, the umpire was 13 and it involved a controversial call.
“It’s another example of youth sport parenting gone wild,” according to Reed. […]
A League of Fans Special Report
May 2019
Baseball has an injury problem. It’s a big one. And an expensive one.
As but one recent example – albeit an extreme one – the New York Yankees had 13 players on the injured list by the end of April, just one month into […]
Ken Reed, League of Fans’ sports policy director, appeared on The Morning Show on Wisconsin Public Radio earlier this week. The conversation centered around the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the issue of fair compensation for big-time college athletes. Reed talked about the need for economic justice for college athletes who provide the product in […]
January 31, 2019
President Thomas J. LeBlanc
George Washington University
1918 F Street NW
Washington, DC 20052
Dear Dr. LeBlanc,
I am writing this letter on the 100th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s birth. That fact intensifies my disappointment in learning that George Washington University is planning to drop the […]
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
Former South African president Nelson Mandela said, “Sport has the power to change the world.”
This may seem a preposterous statement when we look at the greed, corruption and division that often makes the headlines in the world of sport. We read of doping scandals, owners not taking responsibility for […]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a long-time member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
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 #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. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
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.
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