By Ken Reed
In the opening two paragraphs of his op-ed piece in the Hollywood Reporter, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar nailed the current Colin Kaepernick situation.
Abdul-Jabbar wrote:
The swirling turmoil around whether or not NFL teams are reluctant to sign Colin Kaepernick because of his outspoken politics reminds me of a restaurant near my home […]
Continue Reading →: NFL Shutting Out Colin Kaepernick is Simply Un-American
A League of Fans Special Feature
Roldo Bartimole
Q’s & A’s with Leading Sports Reformers
Roldo Bartimole is a long-time Cleveland-based journalist. After several years working for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Bartimole started his own newsletter, called Point of View in 1968. He’s also worked for the Wall Street Journal and written for the New […]
By Ken Reed
Stories about chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) often read like medical journal articles. There’s very little humanity in them.
Too often, talking about brain trauma and CTE seems like a theoretical discussion at an academic conference.
But sadly, CTE and its effects on family members and friends is very real.
I […]
By Ken Reed
In a new study published yesterday, researchers revealed that 99 percent of the brains of former NFL players that they’ve received via family donations have the progressive degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Only one of the 111 brains of former NFL players studied didn’t have CTE.
One researcher, Ann […]
Continue Reading →: 99% of Brains Donated By Families of Former NFL Players Have CTE
By Ken Reed
A lot has been written — including by this writer — about why between 70 and 80 percent (depending on the study) of kids quit organized sports by age 13.
There are a lot of theories as to why this is the case but I think Public Health teacher Julianna W. […]
Continue Reading →: When Adults Take the Fun Out of Youth Sports Kids Quit
A League of Fans Special Feature
John Weston Parry
Q’s & A’s with Leading Sports Reformers
John Weston Parry is a lawyer, author, and host of the website/blog: Sportpathologies.com. His most recent book is The Athlete’s Dilemma: Sacrificing Health for Wealth and Fame.
As director of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Disability […]
By Ken Reed
When the New York Yankees wanted a new stadium in the Bronx, they took 25 acres of public parkland from the South Bronx community for the project. As a good faith gesture, they created a charity called the New Yankee Stadium Community Benefits Fund.
The supposed intent was to distribute nearly $40 […]
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
July 11, 2017
The only industry in the United States in which you as a business owner can do pretty much whatever you want is the sports industry.
The four major professional sports leagues in this country — MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL — operate […]
Continue Reading →: Why Does the U.S. Continue to Permit Unregulated Sports Leagues?
By Ken Reed
As a society, why do we put so much time and money into youth sports?
Does anyone ever stop to ask that question? Or, do we all just walk our kids down to the local youth sports organization and sign them up in a robotic-like fashion?
Why youth sports? Is it the […]
Continue Reading →: Foster: The Heart of the Child is the Point of Youth Sports
By Ken Reed
July 4th. One thinks of barbecues, burgers, brats, and baseball. In fact, scheduled MLB double-headers used to be a staple of Independence Day until greedy owners decided that two-for-one deals were not good for their profit-first mentalities — America’s traditions be damned.
But greedy pro sports owners isn’t the topic today. The […]
Continue Reading →: Beanballs Are the Antithesis of Sportsmanship