League of Fans

By Ken Reed

During the recent World Cup, there were multiple times when injured players appeared to have classic symptoms of concussion. However, rather than being removed from the game they were allowed to continue playing.

Part of this can be attributed to the substitution rules in the World Cup. Only three substitutions per game […]

By Ken Reed

The political blogger recently hired by the Washington Redskins to help the team defend its nickname has resigned due to pressure he was receiving from outside sources.

Ben Tribbett, a veteran Virginia political blogger, said he resigned because he’d been the target of personal political attacks.

“I don’t want to be a […]

By Ken Reed

U.S. District Judge Anita Brody has essentially forced the NFL to remove the cap on concussion-related damages in a class-action case involving more than 4,500 former players.

Brody has granted preliminary approval to the new landmark settlement deal that would compensate former players on concussion-related claims. Previously, Brody had questioned whether […]

By Ken Reed

The American Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI) has called the rise in the number of professional pitchers requiring ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (“Tommy John surgery”) an epidemic.

Of the greatest concern is the ASMI’s conclusion that pitchers’ elbows are tied to overuse and fatigue in youth and high school baseball.

“Observations by orthopaedic […]

By Ken Reed

Happy 4th of July to League of Fans’ loyal readers, supporters and sports reformers! Keep fighting the good fight!
In honor of Lou Gehrig’s great career, impeccable sportsmanship, and high-character life off the field, we’re re-running this piece on Gehrig and his famous 4th of July speech at Yankee Stadium — […]

By Ken Reed

Sandy Barbour was recently pushed out as athletic director at the University of California, Berkeley. Her nearly decade-long tenure as AD will be remembered primarily for the timeframe when a great academic school lost its way in an effort to become a big-time athletic factory.

On her watch, the football team […]

By Ken Reed

The 2014 World Cup has been filled with excitement and drama.

Unfortunately, as with American football — albeit not to the same degree — a pall hangs over the games due to what we’ve learned in recent years about brain trauma and concussions in contact sports.

Concussions are fairly common in soccer […]

By Ken Reed

USC athletic director Pat Haden is boasting about how progressive his school is by offering four-year scholarships to football and men’s and women’s basketball players.

In a statement yesterday, Haden said, “In taking this action, USC hopes to help lead the effort to refocus on student-athlete welfare on and off the […]

By Ken Reed

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder took another big hit Wednesday when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office canceled the Redskins’ trademark registration.

According to Theresa Vargas of the Washington Post, the ruling won’t prohibit Snyder from using the offensive Redskins nickname but it will make it harder for him to conduct […]