By Ken Reed
Sean Pamphilon’s new documentary, “The United States of Football,” asks some important questions about the grip football has on our society, from the professional level down to the youth level. It’s a movie about a subject we all have a stake in — there are numerous societal ramifications — but especially […]
Continue Reading →: United States of Football a Documentary We Should All See
By Ken Reed
Micah Porter, a legendary high school track and cross country coach in Colorado, recently announced he’s gay, the first Coloradoan and one of only a handful of gay prep coaches nationally to have taken that step.
Porter’s teams have won four Colorado state championships and he has coached 33 athletes to […]
Continue Reading →: Porter First Colorado High School Coach to Come Out as Gay
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
October 1, 2013
The fall is a busy time of year for youth sports. If you take a short drive on a weekday evening — or just about any time during a weekend — within a few miles you’re sure to find boys and girls […]
Continue Reading →: Let’s Put the ‘Youth’ Back in Youth Sports
By Ken Reed
In July, the Chicago City Council approved a rarity in modern professional sports: a major stadium renovation funded completely by the ownership of the pro franchise playing in the stadium. The Rickets family, owners of the Chicago Cubs since they purchased the team from the Tribune Company in 2009, developed a plan […]
Continue Reading →: Owner-Financed Renovation of Wrigley Field Frozen in Dispute
By Ken Reed
Electronic Arts (EA Sports) and the Collegiate Licensing Company have negotiated settlements of the lawsuits brought by former and current college athletes, including former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, regarding the unauthorized use of the players’ likenesses in video games and related merchandise.
”Today’s settlement is a game-changer because, for the […]
By Ken Reed
The University of California, Berkeley is one of the finest universities in the country. However, that premier academic status could be in jeopardy if the school’s administration maintains its misplaced priority of feeding the big-time college sports machine on campus.
Earlier this week, The Daily Californian, published an op-ed by the Berkeley […]
Continue Reading →: Cal Faculty Group Continues Fight to Put Academics First
By Ken Reed
Sportsworld, perhaps the last bastion of pure unadulterated homophobia in American culture, had its closet door kicked slightly ajar in May when NBA player Jason Collins became the first active, openly gay athlete to come out in one of the four major American team sports leagues.
In a poignant letter […]
By Ken Reed
The Wall Street Journal recently had an interesting article by Stu Woo about how little game action there actually is during some of our favorite spectator sporting events.
For example, a Wall Street Journal study found that only 18 minutes of a three-hour baseball game broadcast was actual baseball being played. […]
Continue Reading →: The Attraction of Spectator Sports Must Be More Than the Game Action
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
September 23, 2013
Ironically, in his defense of the name “Redskins,” ESPN columnist Rick Reilly may have given fuel to those fighting to get the NFL’s Washington franchise to drop its controversial nickname.
Reilly, one of the most well-known sports columnists in the United States, […]
Continue Reading →: Reilly’s Column a Positive for Opponents of Racist Redskins Nickname
By Ken Reed
A college sports reform movement called All Players United (APU) drew media attention this past Saturday. The campaign was launched by the National College Players Association, an advocacy group for college athletes.
Football players from Georgia, Georgia Tech and Northwestern wore the letters “APU” on tape on their wrists. Others wore […]