League of Fans

By Ken Reed

Roger Goodell and the NFL owners lost. NFL fans and social media won.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL owners chose to make a mockery of their “product,” and tarnish their “shield” by locking out the league’s officials before the start of the season. It was a bonehead move based not […]

By Ken Reed

I regularly receive notes, letters, and phone calls from readers of League of Fans’ blogs, op-ed columns, position papers, etc. I recently received a note from a father who had read my column in the Chicago Tribune titled “It’s Time to Ban High School Football.” He, his wife, and son were […]

By Ken Reed

NFL owners are risking the health and safety of their players by continuing to stage games with unqualified replacement officials.

And the players are calling them on it.

The National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) sent an open letter to all 32 team owners on Sunday. A couple excerpts from the […]

By Ken Reed

The Butler Bulldogs men’s basketball team is the ultimate underdog story. For two seasons in a row, the small mid-major school from something called the Horizon Conference reached the final game of the NCAA basketball tournament. March Madness indeed. At the start of those tournaments, Butler was listed as a 200-1 long […]

By Ken Reed

The League of Fans recently sent a letter to NBA commissioner David Stern asking him to prevent the placement of corporate ads on NBA uniforms. We called it “crass commercialization at its worst, and a blatant back of the hand to the sensibilities of American basketball fans.”

Fans have an […]

By Ken Reed

Harvard University is investigating the possibility that nearly half the students in a Introduction to Congress course had committed “academic dishonesty” on a take-home final last spring, either by collaborating on the test with other students — despite explicit instructions from the instructor not to — or plagiarizing answers outright. Several of […]

September 14, 2012

Mr. David Stern, Commissioner
National Basketball Association
645 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10022

Dear Mr. Stern:

Is there anything in the National Basketball Association (NBA) that’s not for sale?

The news that the NBA is “excited about the opportunity” to put corporate ads on NBA uniforms, as […]

By Ken Reed

Activists and lawyers have been working for 20 years to get the Washington Redskins to drop their offensive nickname and also to get media outlets to stop using the moniker. The efforts have been largely unsuccessful. The Washington Post, which has supported their position, says the case has become “largely symbolic.”

The […]

By Ken Reed

In the end, this year’s American League East race might be decided by a blown call at first base this past Saturday night.

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles have been battling for first place for weeks. The Orioles won Saturday’s game between the two teams when the Yankees’ Mark […]

By Ken Reed

Dan Wetzel might be the best sports columnist in America. Brendon Ayanbadejo might be the best activist athlete in the United States. And Maryland state house of delegates-member Emmett C. Burns Jr. (D-Baltimore County) might be the biggest political fool in the country (I know, there’s tough competition in this category).