League of Fans

Melissa Silverstein of Women’s Media Center gives an intriguing look into a growing issue for women’s sports: What happens when a player gets pregnant? Highlighting a new documentary called “The Heart of the Game,” Silverstein explains that there is no uniform policy at either the school or professional level that protects a pregnant athlete’s rights:

Two recent articles highlight the role international soccer can play in promoting unity and peace. An excellent piece by Neil Stormer, who works in conflict resolution and foreign policy in Washington, DC, outlined numerous examples in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries that show how large a role soccer and sports in general have played in mitigating conflict. The most recent example is from the World Cup:

Vahe Gregorian of the St. Louis Dispatch reports on the progressively larger divide between African-Americans and baseball.

With the 2006 FIFA World Cup fast approaching and with global sports brands cranking up their advertising to take advantage, the global poverty aid organization Oxfam International released a worker’s rights report on May 24 explaining:

In his May 26 column, Dave Krieger of the Rocky Mountain News profiles Frank Shorter — a former Olympic marathon gold medalist for the U.S. — whose work focuses on the belief that the fight against performance-enhancing drug use in sports can be won:

In his May 26 “Edge of Sports” column, sportswriter Dave Zirin sacks the NFL for its treatment of players, and wishes Ricky Williams good luck in Canada and the CFL, where there is “the promise of regaining a measure of human dignity”:

In the Public Interest
by Ralph Nader

As the Little League season gets into full swing for millions of young baseball and softball players across the country, their health and safety on the playing field will significantly benefit from an addition in the Little League rules this year — a requirement for breakaway bases.

The Honorable Tim Pawlenty
Governor of Minnesota

Dear Governor Pawlenty:

The Minnesota Twins’ stadium bill before you is an affront to taxpayers and voters, and I urge you to veto the legislation.

Our sports culture often pushes children to over-achieve and play through pain while specializing in, and training year-round for, one sport at an early age. These factors are dangerously conducive to overuse injuries.

Have the Colorado Rockies become a faith-based organization? According to a May 31 USA Today article by Bob Nightengale, it appears so:

“… Behind the scenes, [the Rockies] quietly have become an organization guided by Christianity — open to other religious beliefs but embracing a Christian-based code of conduct they believe will bring them focus and success. From ownership on down, it’s an approach the Rockies are proud of — and something they are wary about publicizing. ‘We’re nervous, to be honest with you,’ Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd says. ‘It’s the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs.’”