By Ken Reed

A ton of kids are simply being priced out of sports. And many are alienated by a coaching structure that emphasizes winning.

(See full column)

The twin forces of WAAC (win-at-all-costs) and PAAC (profit-at-all-costs) continue to damage the integrity of pro, college and high school sports.

But they have also severely […]

By Ken Reed

We recently wrote about the sad state of youth sports in America. The problems we touched on are all adult-based, driven by win-at-all-costs (WAAC) and profit-at-all-costs (PAAC) ethos.

The overall situation is even worse than what we discussed in that piece. HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel recently had an […]

By Ken Reed

The twin forces of WAAC (win-at-all-costs) and PAAC (profit-at-all-costs) continue to damage the integrity of pro, college and high school sports. But they have also severely damaged youth sports. An area that used to be a bastion of innocence no longer is.

There’s too much adult in youth sports and it’s hurting […]

By Ken Reed

The brain wasn’t designed to withstand repetitive blows to the head.

That’s a problem for the games of football and hockey, in which blows to the head — sometimes vicious in their impact — are all too common.

On the hockey front, legendary goalie Ken Dryden is working hard to make his […]

By Ken Reed

A sedentary lifestyle is worse for you than smoking.

That’s the conclusion of a new study published recently in the journal JAMA Network Open. Researchers at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic studied the activity levels of 122,007 patients from 1991 to 2014.

They found a “clear connection” between a healthy, longer life […]

By Ken Reed

As a sports policy analyst, I’ve learned a lot more about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) than I ever expected to. Actually, at this point, I’ve learned more than I want to know.

CTE is a terrible degenerative disease, and it takes an immense toll on those that are stricken, as well […]

By Ken Reed

Dear University of Maryland Board of Regents: You can’t be serious!

Maryland football coach DJ Durkin, who had been on administrative leave since August following the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair due to heatstroke suffered at a team workout, was reinstated by Maryland’s board of directors Tuesday.

McNair died due […]

By Ken Reed

The NCAA continues to claim that there just isn’t enough money to pay the athletes that create the college sports product more than room and board.

In big-time college football and basketball (most notably Power Five conferences), that contention is simply laughable.

Here’s the latest example: Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops […]

By Ken Reed

Not exercising could be worse for you than smoking, diabetes or heart disease a new study by researchers at the Cleveland Clinic suggests.

Researchers studied more than 122,000 patients between 1991 and 2014. The patients all participated in treadmill testing.

Better cardiorespiratory fitness was linked to living longer. Extreme aerobic fitness […]

By Ken Reed

Cleveland Browns tight end David Njoku loves football. His younger brothers do also (Evidence at the University of Miami (Fla.) and Charles, a high schooler committed to the University of Missouri).

Meanwhile, their older brother Innocent Njoku, Jr., cringes every time he watches them play.

Innocent is in the third year of […]