League of Fans

By Ken Reed

From a financial sense, the NFL has never been healthier. Revenue from TV contracts, luxury suites, club seats, ticket revenue, merchandise sales, etc., is going through the roof. As a country, we love watching this violent sport. The most-watched television shows every year are always NFL football games.

However, from a socio-cultural […]

By Ken Reed

Young athletes, ages 10-14, are often putting in more time on their sport than professional athletes do.

Pediatric orthopedic surgeon, Ron J. Tucker, who’s done a plethora of ACL knee surgeries on young athletes, says the paradigm has changed from kids growing up “playing” sports to becoming professionalized athletes.

Pick-up games, […]

By Ken Reed

A collection of United States-based parents, players, and former players has filed a class-action lawsuit against FIFA, U.S. Soccer, and the American Youth Soccer Organization, among others.

The plaintiffs are after rule changes in the sport not money.

The suit seeks an injunction that would limit how many times soccer players […]

By Ken Reed

Michele A. Roberts recently became the first female leader of a major North American professional sports union when the NBA players elected her as their executive director in July.

Andrew Keh has written an excellent piece on Roberts and the long odds she’s overcome to reach numerous milestones of career success.

By Ken Reed

I’m enjoying watching the Little League World Series (LLWS) on ESPN but part of me is wondering if I should be. Am I part of the problem?

Williamsport, the Little League village and Lamade Stadium are all so … well, cool. While watching, I reflect on my Little League days and think […]

By Ken Reed

Washington Post columnist Mike Wise had an interesting column yesterday.

In an interview with former NFL referee Mike Carey, Wise got Carey to say publicly for the first time that he had requested to not be assigned to any Washington Redskins games following the 2006 season.

Asked why he did it, […]

By Ken Reed

The trend toward specialization in youth sports continues unabated. This despite a lack of evidence showing specialization improves athletic performance. In fact, the limited research available in this area tips the scale the other way: Kids that specialize in a single sport at an early age have less athletic development than do […]