By Ken Reed
If this isn’t an indication that the win-at-all-costs (WAAC) mentality in youth sports is out of control I don’t know what is.
More than 70 percent of new referees in all sports quit the job within three years, according to the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO). The chief cause? Pervasive […]
By Ken Reed
Win-at-all-costs (WAAC) ethos greatly damage sports, which at their best are a great socio-cultural practice.
The WAAC mentality sees sport as a metaphor for war, in which opponents are evil and must be conquered. It’s a mindset that sees only one thing of value in athletic competition: winning.
Vince Lombardi was quoted […]
Continue Reading →: Sports Are An Ongoing Battle Between Ego and Soul
By Ken Reed
As a sports reformer, one tends to focus on what’s wrong with sports and what can be done to make them better. I think that’s a natural tendency and one that’s probably necessary if the goal is to help mitigate the problems in the world of sports.
That said, it’s also worthwhile […]
Continue Reading →: PeacePlayers Using Sport to Make a Difference
By Ken Reed
I’ve never been a Tiger Woods fan. I’m more of a Phil Mickelson guy.
Mickelson is one of the most fan-friendly athletes in recent times and seems to be a class act and great family man. Tiger has been none of those things. In fact, for a good portion of his […]
Continue Reading →: Tiger Wins Tour Championship: An Amazing Sports Story
By Ken Reed
An Oregon high school football player has filed a $38 million lawsuit against the local school district claiming it failed to properly handle a concussion injury he suffered during a football game.
Connor Martin was cleared to play while still experiencing concussion symptoms. In a following game, he was knocked unconscious […]
Continue Reading →: High School Football Player Sues School District Following Concussion
By Ken Reed
Our major professional sports leagues — most notably the NFL — have increasingly teamed with the military and corporations to serve up ugly forms of paid and forced patriotism.
“The melding of sports and the military should be seen as inappropriate, if not insidious,” says William Astore, a retired Air Force […]
Continue Reading →: The Increasing Militarization of Sports is Bad For the Country
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 […]
Continue Reading →: Serena Williams: The Epitome of Poor Sportsmanship
Ken Reed was a recent guest on the Ralph Nader Radio Hour to discuss The Sports Reformers: Working to Make the World of Sports a Better Place, and to talk about some current sports issues.
“My concern is what’s happening in schools and there are some schools out there that are being built […]
By Ken Reed
The athletic department at the University of Maryland — like the athletic departments at many of the school’s counterparts in Power Five conferences across the country — is so far removed from the educational mission of the rest of the university that there is no redeeming reason for it to be under […]
Continue Reading →: Letter Writer Nails Problem With Big-Time College Sports Culture
By Ken Reed
Nike has decided to make controversial quarterback Colin Kaepernick the face of its 30th anniversary “Just Do It” campaign. The initial ad image has the face of Kapernick with the words “Believe in something. Even if it means sacrificing everything” written across his face in white letters.
Kaepernick, long part of […]