League of Fans’ Sports Forum podcast
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It is estimated that more than 5,000 fans have been injured, some seriously, by foul balls in Major League Baseball (MLB) and minor league baseball stadiums since 2012.
While significant improvements have been made at […]
By Ken Reed
Sandra Klatt was hit in the face at a Peoria Chiefs minor league baseball game several years ago. At the time, Dozer Park, home of the Chiefs, only had protective netting directly behind home plate. While team management has long promised to add protective netting down the foul lines past the dugouts […]
Guest Column
By Mano Watsa
Today I want to share something that’s been troubling me for the better part of the last year or so…
For better or worse…
I’m quite active on social media these days.
It helps me keep a pulse on the game of youth basketball.
And I have to admit, […]
By Ken Reed
There are folks in a couple other professions out there besides football player and hockey player that have to think about the dangers of blows to the head: baseball catchers and umpires.
For both catchers and home plate umpires, foul tips that go off a hitter’s bat and straight into the face […]
By Ken Reed
I’m a big baseball fan. I played through college and I follow the game very closely. Occasionally, usually through a friend or colleague, I get the opportunity to sit close to the field, not too far above one of the dugouts. What an awesome view. You can really see the pitcher, hitter […]
By Ken Reed
At League of Fans, part of our mission statement is “to encourage safety … in sports industry and culture.”
As such, I would be negligent if I didn’t address the recent incident in Major League Baseball (MLB) in which a 4-year-old girl was struck and injured by a […]
By Ken Reed
In a 2017 survey of 17,000 sports officials (referees) across all sports, 57 percent said sportsmanship was getting worse, while only 16 percent said it was getting better. The numbers were worse in basketball specifically, in which 65 percent of officials said sportsmanship is on the decline.
It’s not […]
By Ken Reed
I have to admit, the few times I’ve been lucky enough to sit in box seats a few rows behind a Major League Baseball (MLB) team’s dugout, I’ve truly enjoyed the proximity to the field and the wide open view.
I haven’t felt the need to call on MLB to erect more […]
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
September 2, 2015
Last week it was revealed that the University of Cincinnati and Virginia Tech football programs were fining players for disciplinary reasons, including missing a team breakfast, or a tutoring session, skipping a class, drawing a personal foul penalty, etc.
The gist of the […]
By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
March 14, 2014
From a profit-at-all-costs perspective, I understand all the adulation that went David Stern’s way when he recently retired from his post as NBA commissioner. The NBA has never been in better financial shape than it is today. Give him credit for that.
However, […]
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.
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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