League of Fans

By Ken Reed

Major League Baseball umpire Dale Scott revealed he was gay this week. He is the first male sports official in the four major professional sports to do so.

Thanks to the courage of Jason Collins, Michael Sam and several other sports figures who previously came out as gay to the general public, […]

by Ken Reed

Ohio State football player Kosta Karageorge had suffered four or five concussions, according to his sister. The number might have been greater given that Karageorge had a tendency to not report concussions, based on teammate accounts.

We also now know that Karageorge likely committed suicide. He was found dead in a […]

By Ken Reed

Peter Keating, of ESPN The Magazine, has written an excellent feature article on just how weak the proposed concussion settlement between the NFL and former players is. The preliminary settlement, which still needs final approval from U.S. District Court Judge Anita Brody, basically ignores chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), and all its […]

by Ken Reed

Time to End Degrading “Lady” Adjective in Sports

Here we are, almost to 2015, and we still have numerous high schools and colleges around the country that use the “Lady” adjective before the school’s nickname. For example, the Lady Raiders.

Why do we need to differentiate girls and women’s teams this way? […]

by Ken Reed

The past several years have seen a significant rise in baseball pitchers undergoing Tommy John surgery for torn elbow ligaments in their throwing arms. This holds true from youth leagues, through high school, college, the minor leagues and eventually the major leagues. Since 2012, the number of MLB pitchers having elbow reconstruction […]

by Ken Reed

For decades, the United States government has basically given NFL owners and executives a free pass to run their league anyway they see fit. However, the NFL’s arrogance, sloppiness, and lack of anything resembling ethical behavior –fueled by the ugly Ray Rice case –has angered government leaders this past year.

“Pro football […]

By Ken Reed

Every year at this time, Major League Baseball hands out a ton of awards for on-field performance during the prior season. It’s certainly interesting to see who wins these awards. Witnessing and acknowledging outstanding athletic achievements is one of the reasons we’re all drawn to sports.

However, the award I look forward […]

By Ken Reed

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is one of the most famous college athletes ever. Jabbar, Lew Alcindor at the time, led UCLA to multiple national basketball championships. Moreover, he helped make millions for the NCAA, UCLA, broadcasters, administrators, and others. Meanwhile, Jabbar’s income opportunities were tightly restricted thanks to the NCAA’s amateurism rules.

“We were […]