League of Fans

By Ken Reed

I want to look at the Super Bowl today from a purely athletic competition standpoint. That’s hard to do because there are so many political and economic issues surrounding the game. The Super Bowl is certainly much more than a sporting event. But sometimes, to remain a sports fan, you need to […]

By Ken Reed

Sports fans have long heaped verbal abuse on referees and umpires. While that’s certainly not great from a sportsmanship perspective, it comes with the territory.

The problem today is that too often verbal abuse is turning into physical abuse.

“The negative atmosphere in the public sector is getting much worse,” according […]

By Ken Reed

For years, soccer observers have suspected a link between the practice of heading and brain injury, including concussions. However, scientific evidence has been limited on that front.

That’s beginning to change as the case against heading in terms of brain safety builds.

We’ve known for sometime that soccer has a greater number […]

By Ken Reed

Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal delivered a classic this weekend.

I’m speaking about the post-match interviews, not the match itself (although the match itself might qualify as a “classic” as well).

The interviews after the five-set match were sportsmanship at its finest. Two great champions and long-time rivals (Federer now has 18 […]

By Ken Reed

I’ve always loved basketball — at least the pure non-commercialized version. And I like working with young people. So, for several years, I’ve coached an 8th grade girls basketball team.

Every year, one of my biggest challenges is to encourage the girls to “go for it,” to take chances and not worry […]

By Ken Reed

Under the category “Everything is For Sale,” we can now add the iconic Boston Celtics jerseys. Beginning next year, the Celtics uniforms will have the General Electric logo sewed on the jerseys.

The Celtics, along with the Los Angeles Lakers, have long had the two most famous jersey designs in the […]

By Ken Reed

I have a new team to hate: the Los Angeles Chargers.

The Chargers left 55-years of history and fan loyalty to move up the coast to Los Angeles, solely because LA represents a bigger market. Never mind that the Chargers will be way down the pecking order in terms of fan and […]

By Ken Reed

Barack Obama was often called our “sports president,” due to his love of basketball, golf and other sports. He welcomed more athletes to the White House than any other president and filled out his NCAA basketball tournament brackets on national TV.

Along the way, he was often criticized for his interest in […]

By Ken Reed

New University of Oregon football coach Willie Taggart brought his own strength and conditioning coach with him to Eugene. His name is Irene Oderinde. He’s not certified by the National Strength and Conditioning Association or the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coaches Association. His degrees are in recreation administration and sports management, not […]