League of Fans

USA Today has a cover story on athletic directors and the recent spike in their compensation. Athletic directors (ADs) pay is now comparable to university presidents. ADs average about $450,000 a year with at least six athletics directors making $1 million or more.

The job has gone from being filled primarily by former coaches […]

According to some people, perhaps more wishfully than rationally, we’re living in “post-racial” time in which bigotry isn’t a problem anymore in the workplace or other areas of our society. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case.

Undoubtedly, racism is much more subtle today than it was during the heyday of the Ku Klux Klan but it […]

As a sports reformer and activist, sometimes you get so busy identifying what’s wrong with sports and trying to fix the problems that you forget to stop and appreciate what’s right. I’m not going to let that happen this time.

The drama I saw unfold last night — for the last month really — […]

As sports policy director for League of Fans, a primary objective is to work toward mitigating the ills in sport. However, at the same time, my intent is to help enhance the positives of sport as well. I admittedly spend more time on the former goal than I do the latter. I think that’s a […]

Here’s today’s challenge: Try to say, “Division I-A college football and basketball is all about education” without a smirk creasing your face. Come on, try it. Keep a straight face for five seconds.

I know; it’s impossible. Anyone who thought big-time college sports operated from any philosophy other than profit-at-all-costs (PAAC), has had to change […]

Sport has long had a conservative militaristic mindset. Our country’s leaders have viewed athletics as a way to prepare soldiers for battle, as well as develop leaders for authoritarian business cultures. In SportsWorld, it’s widely-accepted that coaches need to be drill sergeants — autocratic leaders who treat athletes in demeaning ways and rule by fear […]

It’s been more than 25 years since SMU received the NCAA’s “death penalty” for widespread corruption in its athletic program. At the time, it was hoped SMU’s severe penalty would cause other big-time college programs to be scared straight. However, in the quarter century since SMU’s football program was shut down nothing’s changed. In fact, […]

(Note: The following column by League of Fans’ sports policy director Ken Reed recently appeared in the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera)

The University of Miami might eventually receive the NCAA’s “death penalty” following the recently revealed major scandal involving the school’s athletic program but that’s not going to change anything in big-time college sports.