By Ken Reed
Serena Williams wanted an apology from Carlos Ramos. It should’ve been the other way around.
Ramos was the chair umpire in the U.S. Open women’s tennis final this past Saturday, a match that pitted Serena Williams against a young upstart from Japan named Naomi Osaka. Ramos is widely recognized as one of […]
Guest Essay
By Alden S. Blodget, with Thomas Babson
The problem
Here’s what my grandson said about his experience as a referee in youth soccer:
“I did not like being a ref one bit, and I’m very happy to be done with it. It was very stressful, and I hated all of it. I […]
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
June 11, 2016
The definition of manhood in our sports culture is archaic. It’s as if SportsWorld has been frozen in time – Neanderthal time.
I’ve written often in the past about the silliness of the macho man culture in hockey, including the tolerance for fighting, […]
By Ken Reed
Dear Adam Silver:
With today’s technology (read: 200x zoom capability), there is absolutely no reason photographers and cameramen should be camped out a few feet from the basketball action underneath the baskets.
In fact, it’s absurd that this archaic tradition continues. And it almost cost you, the league, your television partners, […]
A League of Fans Special Feature
Diana Cutaia
Diana Cutaia has been the athletic director at Wheelock College in Boston since 2005. Wheelock competes at the NCAA Division III level.
Cutaia is a former college athlete who began her coaching career on the high school level at the age of 19. She started the women’s […]
Allan H. (Bud) Selig, Commissioner
Commissioner of Major League Baseball
245 Park Avenue, 31st Floor
New York, NY, 10167
Dear Mr. Selig:
On June 1, 2012 Johan Santana pitched a great game for the Mets against the Cardinals. But it was not a no-hitter as you and your top MLB officials know. […]
by Lance Tapley
The Anti-Fan Blogger
The depth of the problem
Recently I went to a Celtics – Miami Heat game in the TD Garden in Boston. I had last been to a professional basketball game 50 years before, in the old Garden, when I was a college freshman. So I was the proverbial […]
The Miami Heat vs. Indiana Pacers series was ugly. The Heat won the series due to the outstanding play of LeBron James and Dwayne Wade during the last couple games. But besides the Heat moving on, the other big story from this series was the constant trash-talking and ugly fouls. A lot of the series […]
When Derek Jeter went 5-for-5, including a dramatic home run for his 3000th hit, we were all Derek Jeter fans (yes, even the Yankee haters). It was one of those amazing sports feats that keep us all fans of the unscripted beauty that sport can be on the field, court and ice.
After his […]
A letter from Ralph Nader and League of Fans to NBA Commissioner David Stern received nationwide attention in June 2002 for raising questions about the impartiality of officiating during Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings. Nader and League of Fans demanded that Stern conduct a review to satisfy fans’ sense of fairness and to deter future recurrences of such egregious officiating.
According to reports on June 11, 2008, former referee Tim Donaghy — who has pleaded guilty after being charged in 2007 with conspiring with gamblers — accused NBA executives and referees of broad misconduct and outright manipulation of game results in a recent court filing.
According to Donaghy, NBA executives directed referees “to manipulate games” in order to “boost ticket sales and television ratings.” Donaghy pointed to Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals as one such instance.
Following is the letter from Ralph Nader & League of Fans to Commissioner Stern regarding the egregious officiating in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference finals.
Sports Forum Podcast
Episode #33 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Ken Reed Announces His Retirement and Chats With League of Fans Founder Ralph Nader – Ken and Ralph talk about the history of League of Fans and the reasons it was created. They then move into a discussion of a variety of contemporary sports issues that League of Fans has been working on in recent years. Ken and Ralph end by talking about the need for sports fans, athletes, and other sports stakeholders to get involved in the sports reform movement and be activists and change agents on issues important to them, whether that be at the local, state, or national level.
Listen on Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and others.
Follow on Facebook: @SportsForumPodcast
More Episodes on Apple Podcasts; Spotify and others.
Episode #32 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Prolific Author Joe Posnanski Joins the Show – Posnanski is one of America’s best sportswriters and has twice been named the best sports columnist in America by the Associated Press Sports Editors. We chat about his new book, “Why We Love Baseball,” his new Substack newsletter called Joe Blogs.
Episode #31 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: Foul Ball Safety Is Still an Important Issue at Ballparks – Our guests are Jordan Skopp, founder of FoulBallSafety.com and Greg Wilkowski, a Chicago based attorney. We discuss the historical problem of foul balls injuring fans and why some teams are still hesitant to put up protective netting in some minor league and college baseball parks.
Episode #30 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The State of College Athletics with Dr. David Ridpath: Problems and Potential Solutions – Ridpath is a sports administration professor at Ohio University and a member of The Drake Group, a college sports reform think tank.
Episode #29 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: The Honorable Tom McMillen Visits League of Fans’ Sports Forum – McMillen is a former All-American basketball player, Olympian, Rhodes Scholar and U.S. Congressman. We discuss the state of college athletics today.
Episode #28 – League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast: A Chat With Mano Watsa, a Leading Basketball and Life Educator – Watsa is President of PGC Basketball, the largest education basketball camp in the world. We discuss problems in youth sports today.
Media
"How We Can Save Sports" author Ken Reed appears on Fox & Friends to explain how there's "too much adult in youth sports."
Ken Reed appears on Mornings with Gail from KFKA Radio in Colorado to discuss bad parenting in youth athletics.
“Should College Athletes Be Paid?” Ken Reed on The Morning Show from Wisconsin Public Radio
Ken Reed appears on KGNU Community Radio in Colorado (at 02:30) to discuss equality in sports and Title IX.
Ken Reed appears on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour (at 38:35) to discuss his book The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
- Reed Appears on Ralph Nader Radio Hour League of Fans’ sports policy director, Ken Reed, Ralph Nader and the New York Times’ Tyler Kepner discussed a variety of sports issues on Nader’s radio show as well as Reed’s updated book, How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan. Reed's book was released in paperback in February, and has a new introduction and several updated sections.
League of Fans is a sports reform project founded by Ralph Nader to fight for the higher principles of justice, fair play, equal opportunity and civil rights in sports; and to encourage safety and civic responsibility in sports industry and culture.
Vanderbilt Sport & Society - On The Ball with Andrew Maraniss with guest Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director for League of Fans and author of How We Can Save Sports: A Game Plan
Sports & Torts – Ken Reed, Sports Policy Director, League of Fans – at the American Museum of Tort Law
Books