A Classic Slice of Americana
By Ken Reed
I love baseball but I rarely sit down and watch a full baseball game on TV. Even when I’m in the stands at a baseball game, I don’t watch the whole game. Between checking my phone, chatting with friends or family members and roaming the concourse […]
By Ken Reed
There are a lot of political and economic issues involving the Olympics that are upsetting, but there are also several reasons I love watching the various athletic competitions.
One, learning about the many inspiring stories of athletes overcoming adversity to compete at the highest level — whether they medal or not. […]
By Ken Reed
Holding a prominent spot in the “Sports Doing Good” category is Bohemian Football Club, a Dublin team that plays in the highest tier of soccer in Ireland.
Bohemian FC has a well-deserved reputation of using its high profile platform to champion social causes. Their most recent effort is to attack homelessness in […]
By Ken Reed
For the first time in in Indianapolis 500 history, a racing team made up of mostly women will participate in the race this year.
The Paretta Autosport team is comprised of about 70% women, including the driver, owner and crew. This new first in auto racing comes 44 years after Janet […]
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,” […]
By Ken Reed
Kevin B. Blackstone had a terrific piece in The Washington Post recently about creative ways stadiums and arenas — usually funded entirely, or in large part, by taxpayer dollars — have been used for positive social impact activities. Even privately built stadiums and arenas are typically the beneficiaries of publicly-funded roads, […]
By Ken Reed
When we see great acts of sportsmanship we tend to say, “That’s nice” and get back to focusing on who won the competition.
Yes, sportsmanship is “nice” but in the big picture sportsmanship – how you play the game – is the most important thing. It’s the essence of sports at […]
Despite what Vince Lombardi said, if winning’s the only thing in sports, you’re going to be miserable a lot of the time
By Ken Reed
Originally published by Troy Media
From time to time while flipping through a magazine or surfing the Internet, you’ll run across a list of Best Sports Quotes. These lists […]
By Ken Reed
I’m sure it wasn’t easy but Ireland’s national lacrosse team did the right thing last week.
Ireland’s team withdrew from the World Games 2022 international lacrosse tournament so a Native American team, the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team could play in the tournament. The Iroquois team qualified by finishing third in the […]
By Ken Reed
Don Shula was an old school football coach but he was a progressive thinker in many ways, and not just from a football strategy perspective.
When it came to treating female reporters as equals, he was on the right side of history long before his peers.
In the early 1980s, NFL teams […]
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #32 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Prolific Author Joe Posnanski Joins the Show – Posnanski is one of America’s best sportswriters and has twice been named the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors. We chat about his new book, “Why We Love Baseball,” his new Substack newsletter called Joe Blogs, and we cover topics including how baseball treats its fans, MLB’s numerous rule changes this past season, how the sport can become more fan-friendly, the greatness of Negro Leagues champion Buck O’Neil, and much more.
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 #31 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Foul Ball Safety Is Still an Important Issue at Ballparks – Our guests are Jordan Skopp, founder of FoulBallSafety.com and Greg Wilkowski, a Chicago based attorney. We discuss the historical problem of foul balls injuring fans and why some teams are still hesitant to put up protective netting in some minor league and college baseball parks.
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 member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
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.
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