By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
July 10, 2015

In a few weeks, high school football teams across the country will be starting practice for the 2015 season. It’s an exciting time for athletes, coaches and parents.

However, before the players put on helmets and pads for the first time a concussion […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
June 12, 2015

Your heroes often change as you get older because the things that are most important to you tend to change as you go through life.

As a sports-loving kid, I was drawn to athletes and teams that exuded glitz, swagger, and showmanship. Cool-sounding […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
May 27, 2015

As a teenager, I remember my parents and coaches, on several occasions, telling me how important sportsmanship was. I recall hearing them paraphrase the old Grantland Rice quote, “It’s not whether you win or lose, but how you play the game.”

I would […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
May 6, 2015

“I’ve gotten letters asking me why I’m always picking on ‘Our Team.’ I write back asking how come you’re picking on a writer from ‘Our Newspaper?’ Do you root for General Motors? Well, the ball club is a business enterprise as is General […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
April 2, 2015

Thanks to the fact that the NCAA men’s basketball tournament is taking place in Indianapolis, a national spotlight has been shown on the state of Indiana and its flawed religious freedom law.

The law, as initially written and signed by Governor Mike […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
March 12, 2015

I believe the fundamental allure of sports is that everything — good and bad — happens much more quickly and intensely than in our day-to-day lives.

Long-time PGA tour golfer, Mike Reid, might have captured the essence of sports best when he said, […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
March 2, 2015

Following a childish on-court tirade, in which he dropped “f-bombs” in a rapid fire manner and threatened to kill one of his own players, Vanderbilt men’s basketball coach Kevin Stallings said the player that was the target of his rant, Wade Baldwin, needs […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
January 15, 2015

Why do we condemn the Seattle Seahawks’ Marshawn Lynch for not saying enough to the media?

Why do we judge Lynch’s teammate, Richard Sherman, for saying too much and saying it too loudly?

The NFL continues to fine Lynch for not speaking with […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
December 30, 2014

Big-time college sports keeps getting crazier and crazier, and more and more unjust for the players.

The NCAA — make that the Power Five conferences that actually run the NCAA — recently made news by saying they’ll allow extra stipends for scholarship athletes […]

By Ken Reed
The Huffington Post
December 22, 2014

At its best, athletic competition is about playing hard, striving to do your best and having fun — all while bringing out the best in each other.

That’s the beauty of sports to me. And for years, that meant focusing on youth […]