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The Jim Tressel story at Ohio State is a sad but not uncommon story of unchecked power, ego-driven actions, a win-at-all-costs (WAAC) mentality, and lack of presidential control in intercollegiate athletics.

In the case of Tressel, you can add hypocrisy.  Here’s a guy who made a concerted effort to create an image of a […]

In light of the season-ending injury to the San Francisco Giants All-Star catcher Buster Posey, it’s time for Major League Baseball (MLB) to come out of the stone ages and do a better job protecting its players.

Allowing catchers to legally stand in the base path of 200-pound elite athletes running full bore at them […]

While both the NFL owners and players toss an occasional platitude the fans’ way regarding how much they care, everyone realizes that neither side has spent more than a minute or two thinking about the fans’ position in the ongoing NFL lockout.

Sportswriters, sports talk show hosts, and others lament the fact the fans don’t […]

The NFL lockout has been dubbed “billionaires vs. millionaires.”  Let’s be clear about one thing:  There are very few players that are millionaires in the NFL.  The vast majority of NFL players are far from millionaires.  They also have short careers, a high risk of injury, and shorter lifespans than the average male.  Most have […]

Former Minnesota Twins great Harmon Killebrew died May 17th. Killebrew was one of the best power hitters in the history of baseball. His exploits on the playing field earned him induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame. But the people that knew him adamantly say he was a better man than a baseball player. He was […]

In his recently released memoir, “An Accidental Sportwriter,” Robert Lipsyte tells stories about the many social issues he’s addressed in his distinguished career as a sports journalist, including a long stint as a sports columnist at the New York Times.  Lipsyte, who Howard Cosell once called “the best sports columnist of my lifetime,” wrote a […]

A recent New York Times report revealed that many NCAA Division I athletic departments are unethically counting male practice players for women’s sports teams as women for Title IX compliance reporting purposes.

Universities and colleges must report their male and female athletic participation numbers each year to the Department of Education.  To avoid public […]

It’s getting tougher for the NCAA to continue to dance around the antitrust issues entangled with the BCS system in college football.

In a recent letter to the NCAA, Christine Varney, the antitust chief for the Department of Justice (DOJ), said there are “serious questions” about the current BCS system in college football. In particular […]

For decades, the National Hockey League has argued that fighting is part of the game.  This despite the fact that hockey gets along just fine without fighting at the collegiate and Olympic levels (and even in the Stanley Cup playoffs).  In no other team sport is fighting considered “part of the game.”  It’s a big […]

Former Chicago Bears Pro Bowl safety Dave Duerson sensed something was wrong with his brain and that football could be a contributing factor. Before shooting himself in the heart in February, Duerson left a note asking that his brain be donated to science.

A medical examination revealed signs of a degenerative brain disease called chronic […]