Posts by: League of Fans
Yet Team Owners Continue to Demand Public Money for New Stadiums
By Ken Reed
The Green Bay Packers are the NFL’s only publicly-owned franchise. As such, the Packers are required to release annual financial figures.
Of course, the other 31 franchises, all privately owned, hate this. They’d prefer that nobody knew how much revenue they […]
Today might be a good time for a little perspective in SportsWorld. Fans of numerous college and pro football teams are very upset about outcomes from this past weekend’s football games.
The following story is a reminder that there are a lot more important things in life (and sports, for that matter) besides the outcome […]
Guest Column
By Gerry Chidiac
Being a sports fan is interesting. There are certain teams and athletes to whom we willingly give the utmost devotion, and there are others we despise. Some sports we find thrilling, others are baffling, and some we just cannot connect with.
I’ve always loved basketball, as a player, as […]
By Ken Reed
Nick Kyrgios consistently acts like a jerk during tennis tournaments. And the powers that be in the world of tennis inexplicably enable his boorish, unsportsmanlike behavior.
Kyrgios lost in the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open on Tuesday night this week. Afterwards, he demolished two of his racquets while stealing the spotlight […]
By Ken Reed
Let’s just accept the fact that big-time, FBS-level, college football is professionalized and commercialized to the max. Big Ten athletic departments will soon be splitting $1 billion a year from the conference’s new TV deal. Meanwhile, football coaches salaries continue to go through the roof. And yet some observers of college […]
By Ken Reed
We have written extensively in the past about the importance of our children being physically active. That is especially true given that the Covid pandemic has resulted in our kids leading increasingly sedentary lives.
The physical benefits of sports participation and other physical activities can’t be overstated. Our young people […]
By Ken Reed
I often say there’s “too much adult in youth sports.” When adults are heavily involved in youth sports, ego-and-greed based decisions and activities are sure to be part of the environment.
Win-at-all-costs (WAAC) and profit-at-all-costs (PAAC) mentalities and policies are increasingly part of the youth sports landscape, as youth sports entrepreneurs (aka […]
By Ken Reed
We’ve written several times through the year about the negatives of early sport specialization.
This time we’ll take a slightly different approach by focusing on the positives of young people playing multiple sports.
1. Playing Multiple Sports Improves Overall Athleticism
Playing multiple sports develops different muscles, increases flexibility and enhances […]
By Ken Reed
It’s mid-August and that means youth and high school football, and soccer, are upon us.
That means it’s time to revisit the subject of brain trauma. And that means focusing less on concussions and more on repetitive subconcussive head impacts.
When it comes to brain trauma and CTE in sports, research […]
By Ken Reed
Last week, 31-year-old Wynton Bernard finally got the news he’d been waiting 11 years to hear: He was going to the big leagues.
The Colorado Rockies called up Bernard from their AAA farm team, the Albuquerque Isotopes, last week. It was a mountaintop moment for Bernard after a long, hard, winding climb […]
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
