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Politics and Sports: Strange, Secret Bedfellows
So, are you more Super Bowl or Super Tuesday? No matter how you answer, if you are like most Americans, you probably think the two—sports and politics—are unrelated. You might even object to the suggestion of a tie on principle alone. We’re not so bold as to suggest there aren’t some good reasons for the […]
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Practical Application for Long-term Athletic Development
Developing a comprehensive long-term athletic development program in the United States is critical. The program must start at the youth level. This article will focus on ages 3–14 years. The following information is for coaches, parents, and sport organization directors. To date, little has been done to provide youth coaches with knowledge of how to […]
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Praying for a Super Bowl Win is a Hail Mary
I live in Nashville, where the city hasn’t had a rooting interest in the Super Bowl since 1999, when the Tennessee Titans lost to the St. Louis Rams. So on Sunday I’ll leave the praying-for-victory to fans in Seattle and Denver. But I have certainly called on God’s sports help in the past.
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Private Schools Defining Colorado Prep Sports’ Shift in Power
High school sports, once viewed as a bastion of wholesomeness, is being transformed into a cutthroat business at the highest levels of play, with teenage athletes the prized assets. Colorado private schools — notably upstart Valor Christian, in addition to Regis Jesuit and football power Mullen — have catapulted to recent prominence by capitalizing on […]
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Pro Football’s Violent Toll
Pro football left me with a neck injury. Watching pro football, I mean. At least three of the games that started at 1 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday went thrillingly down to the wire, two of them bleeding into overtime, and as I sat in a sports bar jerking my gaze from the television showing […]
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Probe Target Global Match-fixing in Soccer
Europol said the probe included qualifiers for the sport’s two biggest international tournaments–the FIFA World Cup and UEFA European Championship, as well as Europe’s top club competition the UEFA Champions League and top-flight domestic match-ups.
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Protest and Parkour – on The Streets of Gaza
Deutsche Welle reports on a parkour team developing despite harsh conditions in Khan Yunis, a refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip.
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Recruiting Confidential
You are 18 and extremely talented. Your highlights are all over the web. They’re calling you the next Peyton Manning or Joe Mauer or Candace Parker. Famous coaches beg for face time. (Coolest note ever to get from your principal: “Call back Joe Paterno ASAP. You can use my office.”) Soon the offers begin to […]
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Red Nails Black Skates: Gender Cash and Pleasure on and off the Ice
In her forties, Erica Rand bought a pair of figure skates to vary her workout routine. Within a few years, the college professor was immersed in adult figure skating. Here, in short, incisive essays, she describes the pleasures to be found in the rink, as well as the exclusionary practices that make those pleasures less […]
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Redefining the Sexes in Unequal Terms
The good news is that the International Olympic Committee and the International Association of Athletics Federations, the governing body for track and field, have worked hard to come up with a new policy to deal with athletes whose sex development is unusual.
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Religion in the Ring: Death, Concussion: and Brain Bleeds
In an interview for the Catholic Herald (2013, Sept, 16, p. 7), UK heavyweight boxer and Roman Catholic, Tyson Fury, comments on how he prays for his opponents before a fight.
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Richard Sherman Defends his Dirt
The NFL traffics in rank hypocrisy often without consequence. Profess concern about head injuries, while demanding an eighteen-game season? Decry racial slurs while profiting off of a team called the Redskins? Say you are role models while ignoring domestic violence? Profit from publicly funded stadiums while maintaining nonprofit status? This is Roger Goodell’s shield and […]
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Saez & Piketty Income Inequality Update: Top 1% Have Received 121% of Income Gains Since 2009
Just under a year ago, I posted this: “Saez’ 2010 Inequality Update: Incomes of 1% Grew 11.6%, Incomes of 99% “Grew” 0.2%.” We’re now learning that, arguably, the world’s top income inequality expert, UC Berkeley economics professor Emmanuel Saez, has updated his work with Thomas Piketty on the evolution of U.S. income inequality through 2011, […]
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Saudi Sports Commentator: `Allah Slaughter Me’ Before Saudi Women Enter Olympics
While a few Americans might find women’s Olympic sports to be a little less exciting than men’s, likely none would take death over watching their country women participate on the international stage. That does not appear to be the case in the Islamic Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
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Scant Evidence That Football’s Popularity is Declining
More football is coming. The football industry allegedly is facing diminishing interest from Americans because of a number of reasons. A President constantly carping about players kneeling during the national anthem presentation which combined with people’s disgust with players kneeling during the national anthem is leading to people turning away from the National Football League. […]
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Schools That Train the Enemy
As NCAA Teams Subsidize World-Class Instruction for Foreign Olympians, Some Cry Foul
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Most NCAA Division I Athletic Departments Take Subsidies
Key Points: 1) All but 23 Division I athletic departments received subsidies, 2) Subsidies for all of Division I athletics rose by nearly %24200 million compared to what they were 2011, 3) For some self-sufficient programs%2C subsidies have remained basically steady or grown in recent years
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NCAA Autonomy Structure Moves Forward After Avoiding Override
Barely more than a third of the required votes to override the NCAA Board of Directors’ August decision to move to restructure Division were filed by Monday’s deadline, meaning that the wealthiest college conferences can move forward with a more autonomous operational plan. The NCAA announced that 27 of 345 Division I members voted to […]
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NCAA had Record $71 Million Surplus In Fiscal 2012
Key Points: 1) NCAA net assets have doubled since 2006, 2) Statement says pending litigation will not have %22 material adverse effect%22 on NCAA, 3) Revenue distributed to Division I schools grew by %2424 million%2C or 5%25%2C from 2011 to 2012
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NCAA Member Revenue, Spending Increase
Key Points: 1) About 10%25 of Division I public schools made enough money to cover athletic expenses last year, 2) Subsidies for Division I athletic operating expenses totaled %242.3 billion in 2012, 3) Scholarship costs rose by nearly 9%25%2C and coach compensation went up by 9.2%25
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NCAA Revenues And Expenses of Division II Intercollegiate Athletics Programs Report Fiscal Years 2004 Through 2011
This report provides summary information concerning revenues and expenses of NCAA Division II athletics programs for the fiscal years 2004 through 2011. It is the result of surveys conducted during the fall of each of those years. Although similar studies have been conducted for the NCAA since 1969, significant changes in data collection and reporting […]
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NCAA Student-athlete Gambling Behaviors and Attitudes: 2004-2012 (Supplementary Tables)
During spring semester 2012, the NCAA conducted its third national survey of student-athlete gambling behaviors and attitudes (2004, 2008, 2012). Approximately 23,000 survey responses were analyzed from the 2012 survey administration and 20,000 each from the 2004 and 2008 administrations. This preliminary report highlights the findings from 2012 and compares them to results from the […]
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NFL and Pain: League Zeros in on One Pain Medication
Toradol, the players’ drug of choice, carries high risks but may soon be banned. During a 13-season NFL career, defensive tackle Warren Sapp cherished those days he was close to pain-free, those games he could race onto the field with nothing but adrenaline pumping through his veins. “I was in the trenches, boss, with contact […]
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NFL Research Yields Possible TBI Breakthrough
Football season is over but Pentagon researchers are still watching the NFL, not for sport but for science. The NFL is very active in one of the same research areas as the Defense Department — brain injuries.
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NFL: Saints Defense Had `Bounty’ Fund
New Orleans Saints players and at least one assistant coach maintained a bounty pool of up to $50,000 the last three seasons to reward game-ending injuries inflicted on opposing players, including Brett Favre and Kurt Warner, the NFL said Friday. “Knockouts” were worth $1,500 and “cart-offs” $1,000, with payments doubled or tripled for the playoffs.
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NFL’s “Magic Potion” Has Risks, Players Like Urlacher Don’t Care
In an intriguing feature included in tonight’s new Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (HBO, 10:oo p.m. ET/PT), Andrea Kremer explores the NFL’s “magic potion” that “masks pain from head to toe.”
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NHL Takes ‘Historic Step’ for LGBT Equality
There is an old expression in social movements that sometimes it takes years to make days worth of progress but sometimes it takes only days to leap ahead years. In the fight for full citizenship for our LGBT friends and family, it certainly seems like every day another year mercifully moves forward. As for the […]
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Niall Ferguson on the End of the American Dream
The United States is where great things are possible.” Those are the words of Elon Musk, whose astonishing career illustrates that the American dream can still come true.
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Nigeria ‘Lesbian Football Ban’ Reports Examined By Fifa
Football’s world governing body Fifa has written to the Nigerian Football Association over claims lesbians are now banned from playing football there. Dilichukwu Onyedinma, chair of the Nigeria Women Football League (NWFL), was quoted as making the statement. “Any player associated with it will be disqualified,” she is quoted as saying. While contravening Fifa’s anti-discrimination […]
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No Pain, No Gain? Not So Fast
The former professional football player is confused. It is difficult for him to pinpoint, after the pads have come off for good, the precise cause of his aching body and his aching soul. He knows that the game did it. But what part of the game? Was it the physical violence? The psychological warfare? The […]
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Nobody Suffers Like Jens Voigt
Want to make someone appreciate baseball? Simple. Show them Mariano Rivera, still dominant and dignified after 17 seasons. Want to build a basketball maniac? Give them 40 inelegant minutes of Dirk Nowitzki—flailing arms, stumbling feet, unshrinking in the clutch.
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Not My Coach, Not My Town, Not Anymore
THE CONVERSATION WASN’T EASY, fun or something that Steve Rockrohr had been particularly looking forward to. But he felt as if he had no choice. Rumors of a mysterious van in his neighborhood, on top of the horrific stories in the news, prompted him and his wife, Mary, to take action. So one night last […]
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Olympics judo: Saudi Arabia Hijab Dispute Resolved
Saudi Arabia judoka Wojdan Shaherkani will compete at the Olympics after a dispute over a hijab was resolved. The International Judo Federation said the 16-year-old must fight without the headscarf for safety reasons, but the Saudis threatened to withdraw Shaherkani. An International Olympic Committee spokesman said: “The judo federation will allow her to wear something […]
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On the Team: Equal Opportunity for Transgender Student Athletes
This groundbreaking publication is the first ever to thoroughly address the complete integration of transgender student athletes within high school and collegiate athletic programs. It provides comprehensive model policies and a framework for athletic leaders to ensure equal access to school athletics for transgender students.
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Take it From a Former Division I Athlete: College Sports Are Like Jim Crow
Now that the bowl season and College Football Playoff have concluded, college sports fans are shifting their attention from football to basketball in anticipation of March Madness. Although I’m a huge sports fan and ran track at school, I won’t be watching any men’s college basketball this spring. Not because I don’t support the athletes. […]
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In Texas, a Legal Battle Over Biblical Banners
In a barrage of recent emails, telephone calls and letters to his office, Kevin Weldon has been called some of the worst things a Christian man in this predominantly Christian town can be called: un-Christian, and even anti-Christian.
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Indiana House OKs Concussion Training
The Indiana House passed a bill today requiring concussion-awareness training for youth and high school football coaches and a 24-hour waiting period for players who suffer concussions. If the bill becomes law, Indiana would become the first state in the nation to require such training. The House passed the measure 95-3. It’s one of dozens […]
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Investigation by ‘Indianapolis Star’ Hailed as Proof of Local Journalism’s Impact
The Indianapolis Star’s investigation into sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics, which culminated with the sentencing Wednesday of former team doctor Larry Nassar for up to 175 years in prison, is a sign that local journalism still matters, say media observers, even as public trust in media remains dismal. The Star, which is owned by Gannett […]
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IOC Regulations on Female Hyperandrogenism: Games of the XXX Olympiad in London, 2012.
The IOC Executive Board, in accordance with Rule 19.3.10 of the Olympic Charter, and pursuant to Rule 44 of the Olympic Charter, hereby issues the following regulations regarding female hyperandrogenism and participation in the 2012 London Olympic Games (hereafter the “Regulations”).
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Is Gordon Gee Serious?
ABOUT 40 MINUTES BEFORE I MET GORDON GEE, I decided to play a joke on him. I entered a Columbus bookstore and bought a bow tie. They’re popular on campus because Gee, Ohio State’s president, famously wears one every day. I was visiting at a touchy time, in the middle of an NCAA investigation, to […]
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Jeremy Lin and ESPN’s “Accidental” Racism
The sports world has no anti-racist mental apparatus for how to talk about an Asian-American player. The spectacular New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin just made more headlines by leading his team to victory over the defending champion Dallas Mavericks, with twenty-eight points and a career-high fourteen assists. But that’s not the only reason […]
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Larry Nassar: The Making of a Monster Who Abused Gymnasts for Decades
The phone rang. It was Dr. Larry Nassar.”Hey, man, what’s going on?” Dr. Steven Karageanes recalls saying.Nassar got straight to the point: “I just wanted to call and let you know that I’ve been accused of sexual assault.”It was Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016, just four days before allegations against Nassar would be made public.
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Leg-ism Leaves Paralympic Stars Out on a Limb
We all know the media is influential. We also know the media’s portrayal of disability issues and disabled people is uneven. Such biases are also evident in the portrayal of the technology employed by Paralympic athletes – and not least in the different treatment given to artificial legs and wheelchairs. The Cheetah legs of Paralympic […]
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London 2012 Euphoria has Died, But Will the Olympic Legacy Live on?
It was the key pledge supporting London’s bid to host the Olympics, made winningly by Lord Coe and the then-prime minister Tony Blair: that a British Games would “inspire a generation” to become more involved in sport. A nation still heady with the glories it has witnessed now expects greater sporting opportunities as a legacy […]
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London 2012: Olympics Women’s Boxing Skirts Still Undecided
Amateur boxing chiefs are unlikely to make an announcement soon on whether female boxers will be made to wear skirts at the London Olympics. The Amateur International Boxing Association (Aiba) met last week to make recommendations on the issue. But Aiba say they “will not reveal the content of internal discussions”. The world governing body’s […]
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Long-term Athlete Development (LTAD) Stages
Children, youth, and adults need to do the right things at the right time to develop in their sport or activity – whether they want to be hockey players, dancers, figure skaters, or gymnasts. Long-Term Development (LTD) describes what athletes need to be doing at specific ages and stages.
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Lower-income Students Getting Shut Out of Sports
The cost of participating in travel teams, academy teams and even school teams is rising and the sports themselves may pay the price.
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Maccabiah Games 2013: Athletes Gather in Israel for ‘Jewish Olympics’
More than 1,100 American Jewish athletes will be competing in the Maccabiah Games, known as the “Jewish Olympics” and held in Israel once every four years. This year’s event, which begins July 18, brings together more than 9,000 athletes from 77 countries to compete in 38 sporting events. The American contingent is the largest visiting […]
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Many in U.S. Are Arrested by Age 23, Study Finds
By age 23, almost a third of Americans have been arrested for a crime, according to a new study that researchers say is a measure of growing exposure to the criminal justice system in everyday life.
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Media Advisory on Sex Verification in Sports
This issue appears to be perennial, so here are some FAQs to help reporters get the basic facts right. (I wrote this a while ago, but it still is relevant and helpful.)
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Men: AAU Ex-CEO Sexually Abused Them
Memphis police are investigating allegations made by two former players that Amateur Athletic Union president and chief executive officer Robert “Bobby” Dodd molested them in the 1980s.
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Mixed Martial Arts and Christianity: ‘Where Feet, Fist and Faith Collide’
“Can you love your neighbor as yourself, and at the same time knee him in the face as hard as you can?” American Christian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) champion Scott “Bam Bam” Sullivan wonders in an interview with The Times (London). Today over 700 evangelical US churches now integrate MMA (also known as cage-fighting) into […]
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Money has Ruined Youth Sports
At six years old, our son had friends who played soccer from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. A six-year-old practicing as much as a Division I athlete. (The parents we know are actually hoping their kid stops enjoying it so much.) I turned six in 1977. Youth athletics then was nothing like […]
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More Than a Game: a Theology of Sport
Sports have captured the minds and hearts of people across the globe but have largely evaded the attention of Christian theologians. What is the meaning of sports? There seem to be two polar responses: some dismiss sports as merely a game, while others worship sports as nearly a god. This essay argues that when viewed […]
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Football is Dead. Long Live Football
In a typical regulation football game, the two teams combine to run roughly 120 plays from scrimmage compared with nearly 300 pitches in a typical baseball game. There are no “waste pitches” in football. Every play is meaningful, consequential, suspenseful. Every play is part of a mighty struggle, a drive, and in the end all […]
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Football’s Hidden Pains
This weekend offered two of the best football games of the year, both of which I watched, though turning on the television for Sunday’s games was slightly harder after reading Dan Le Batard’s account of Jason Taylor’s fifteen painful years in the N.F.L., in the Miami Herald. Among the grotesqueries: Needles in the bottom of […]
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For German Soccer, a Lyric Debate
Players’ Silence During Pregame Anthem Sparks Controversy; a History of Patriotic Ambivalence
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For Many Athletes, One Nation Won’t Do
Nationality still matters deeply at the Olympics, and you will see just how much if the British go another few days here without finishing first. “WANTED: GOLD MEDAL,” read the headline in The Sun on Tuesday. “Can we have just one gold. Any sport. We’re not bothered. As soon as possible. Please.”
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Game Changers Off the Playing Field
The people who just might be able to save the sport of football from its own self-destructive ways don’t wear whistles or hold clipboards. They don’t file lawsuits, and they don’t dole out suspensions for helmet-to-helmet hits. Instead, they tend to wear lab coats. They might spend their days poking and prodding mice, interviewing patients […]
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Getting into the Game: Understanding the Evidence for Child-focused Sport for Development
Sport is a powerful tool for involving all children – including the most marginalized and vulnerable – in group activities from an early age (UNHCR, 2013). For this reason, sport for development (S4D) organizations use sport as an inclusive means of helping children to improve their health; to develop their physical abilities; to develop their […]
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Getting the ‘Development’ Right in Sport for Development
Getting the ‘development’ right in sport for development (S4D) means that on the pitch, disabilities are dissolved into strengths. It means that traditional ‘no girls allowed’ attitudes are torn away. It means that children’s voices are valued in both the planning and the playing, and real efforts are made to protect children from violence. Because […]
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Green Bay Packers Sound Off Against Gov. Scott ‘Hosni’ Walker
Gov. Scott Walker is learning the hard way: you can’t praise the Green Bay Packers on a Monday and threaten workers on Tuesday, and expect the Pack to be silent. Less than two weeks ago, the Green Bay Packers—the only fan-owned, non-profit franchise in major American sports—won the Super Bowl, bringing the Lombardi trophy back […]
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Heineken Scores U.S. Soccer Deal
Heineken USA has signed a four-year sponsorship agreement to become the official beer of Major League Soccer starting next year, taking a spot Budweiser has had for nearly two decades as one of the league’s top sponsors.
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High School Athletes Continue to Play Despite Concussion Symptoms
High school athletes experience their fair share of dangerous head injuries during high-impact sports play, but new research shows many high school football players won’t bring their concussion symptoms to their coaches’ attention. Despite the fact that the students reported they were aware of the risks associated with concussions from football, a little more than […]
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Hope Solo Says Youth Soccer in the U.S. Has Become a ‘Rich, White Kid Sport
Former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo said Tuesday soccer in the United States has become a “rich, white kid sport” and that the sport’s high cost at the youth level is detrimental to the “state of the game.”
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How a Tragic “Soccer Riot” May Have Revived the Egyptian Revolution
The aftermath of the Port Said “riot” has been the exact opposite of what the military rulers expected. There are no words for the horror that took place in Port Said, Egypt last week. A soccer match became a killing field, with at least seventy-four spectators dead, and as many as 1,000 injured. The visiting […]
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How Kids’ Sports Became a $15 Billion Industry.
Joey Erace knocks pitch after pitch into the netting of his $15,000 backyard batting cage, the pings from his metal bat filling the air in the south New Jersey cul-de-sac. His private hitting coach, who’s charging $100 for this hour-long session, tells Joey to shorten his stride. He’s accustomed to such focused instruction: the evening […]
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How Rich Parents Spending Big on Their kids’ Sports Teams Hurts Lower-income Families
On this week’s episode of Slate’s sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis and Josh Levin spoke with the Atlantic’s Derek Thompson about his piece “American Meritocracy Is Killing Youth Sports.” In that story, Thompson writes, “Declining athletic participation is a prime example of how the choices even benevolent rich households make can hurt […]
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How the Miami Dolphins Fell Apart
In April, in the fifth round of the NFL draft, the Miami Dolphins selected Caleb Sturgis, a kicker from Florida. He signed with the team for an annual salary of $406,000. To the larger world, this was a routine and uneventful transaction. But in interviews with current and former NFL players, player agents and team […]
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How the NFL Can Save College Football—and Make a Profit
There’s a growing belief among college officials that the NFL should amend its eligibility rules to accept 18-year-olds: thereby helping colleges avoid the farce of trying to educate “student-athletes” who are only there to audition for the NFL. Don’t try to start a traditional minor league Other leagues that have made runs at the NFL […]
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How You Go From Very Bad to Very Good Very Fast
A 10-month investigation that included independent interviews with 64 Oklahoma State players from 1999 to 2011, as well as current and former football staffers, reveals the measures that a program will take to become elite—and the collateral damage that follows
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In English Soccer, the Bettors Rule
The NFL’s policy, which forbids its owners from having interests in any gambling-related enterprises, is so prohibitive that the Rooney family, owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, recently had to restructure their ownership because of new gambling offerings at the family’s racetracks. According to Whall, they haven’t spoken since.
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In Hockey Loss, Russian Pride Yields to Gloom
President Vladimir V. Putin and any other Russian who was asked made it plain that the Sochi Games’ success hinged on the Russian men’s hockey team. Sure, Russia has a formidable delegation, winning medals in many events, from biathlon to bobsled. But it was the hockey team, representing the national sport, that would offer the […]
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CPS Challenged on Scarcity of Girls Sports Teams
A Washington law center filed a complaint Wednesday against Chicago Public Schools, saying girls in the district do not receive the same opportunity to participate in sports as boys. The National Women’s Law Center filed complaints against 12 U.S. school districts where district data showed a double-digit gap between the percentage of female students and […]
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Declaration on Sport and Christian Life
1. Sport has a legitimate place in the Christian life. 2. Sport touches all dimensions of human life. 3. Sport can be a means of spiritual formation.4. Sport can glorify God. 5. Competition is an essential element of sport. 6. The true value of sport is inherent in the experience itself.7. Sport has many benefits […]
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Derek Boogaard: A Boy Learns to Brawl
Derek Boogaard was scared. He did not know whom he would fight, just that he must. Opportunity and obligation had collided, the way they can in hockey. His father bought a program the night before. Boogaard scanned the roster, checking heights and weights. He later recalled that he barely slept.
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Derek Boogaard: A Brain ‘Going Bad’
Through the Night and into the next day, as the scrolls across the bottom of television screens spread the news of Derek Boogaard’s death last May, the calls of condolences came, one after another. Among them was a call from a stranger, first to Joanne Boogaard in Regina, Saskatchewan, then to Len Boogaard in Ottawa. […]
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Derek Boogaard: Blood on the Ice
I didn’t see it coming at all. I was in a bad position and he hit me hard, hardest I’ve ever been hit. I instantly knew it was broken. I didn’t lose consciousness, but I went straight on the ice. And I felt where it was, and my hand didn’t rub my face normally. It […]
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Designing for Universal Access: How to Reach All Kids?
Despite all of the energy today that goes into organized youth sports in some communities, the system misses a lot of kids. Of the 51 million children between the ages of 6 and 17, only 27 million play team sport in any form (organized or casual) even one time during the course of the year, […]
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Digital Seen Surpassing TV in Capturing Our Time
It’s finally happening, folks. This year, the average time Americans spend with digital media each day will surpass traditional TV viewing time. That’s according to eMarketer’s latest estimate of media consumption among adults. The average adult will spend more than five hours per day online and on non-voice mobile activities (read: texting, apps, games). That’s […]
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Diversity Study: Black Head Coaches Rarely Get Second Chances
NFL commissioned research project before offseason when no African Americans were hired to prominent leadership jobs Black coaches rarely get second chances at NFL%2C college or coordinator level Report%27s author suggests teams be rewarded with draft picks for diverse hiring practices.
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Fatal Distraction: Manhood, Guns, and Violence
As I write this, it’s been only a few weeks since the mass murder of children and teachers in Newtown, Connecticut, less than 50 miles from my home. I have grandchildren of the same age as the children who were killed. So, I’m finding it especially difficult to listen to the latest national conversation about […]
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Division I Schools Spend More on Athletes Than Education
Key Points 1) At schools where athletic budgets top 2470M, tickets are the largest source of revenue, 2) Tuition at four-year public universities increased an average of 38%, 3) Compensation and benefits represent the largest athletic expense
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Doctors Turn on No 10 Over Failure to Curb Obesity Surge
Major food and drinks firms fuel crisis with irresponsible marketing, claim doctors, who call for ban on fast-food sponsorship deals. The body that represents every doctor in the country has launched an unprecedented attack on the coalition government’s failed strategy to tackle an obesity epidemic in the UK.
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Does Football Cause Brain Damage?
The critical issues in the clinical management of sports concussion include confirming the diagnosis, excluding structural abnormality and determining when players can be safely returned to competition. Despite the apparent simplicity of this process, the management of this one injury seems to provoke more debate than all other sports injuries combined. Unfortunately, this debate has […]
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Dying to Play
The beating goes on. This past Saturday a Tulane University football player, Devon Walker, collided with a teammate while making a tackle. Walker, who is 21, broke his neck. Fans gasped. Doctors performed C.P.R. He may or may not walk again. The incident was an urgent reminder of a problem that even the National Football […]
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Enough: An Open Letter to Dan Snyder
Dear Dan Snyder, History tends to be unkind to those who make bold proclamations against change. You have made it crystal clear that you believe there is nothing wrong with the name of our region’s beloved franchise and probably perceive Webster’s dictionary to have some politically correct, liberal agenda when it defines redskin as “usually […]
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ESPN Holds on to NFL
Cable channel ESPN will pay $15.2 billion over eight years to continue carrying National Football League games, a sharp increase for the U.S.’s most-watched sport as leagues wrestle a bigger cut of rising cable-television bills.
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Even Football Players Without Concussions Show Signs of Brain Injury
Having a concussion may not be the only indicator of brain damage among football players. A recent study from the Cleveland Clinic and the University of Rochester reports that football players may experience long-term brain changes even if they haven’t suffered a concussion. The researchers studied 67 college football players and after each game, conducted […]
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Faster, Stronger – and High
The development of genetic enhancement in animals has led to fears that ‘gene doping’ could be abused by athletes. Meet Marathon Mouse. The rodent genetically engineered in the US can run 5km nonstop on a treadmill, compared with an average of 0.2km in its wild cousins.
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Fear, Greed, Broken Dreams: How Early Sports Specialization is Eroding Youth Sports
Commentary on how specialization in youth sports leads to youth quitting sports earlier.
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Football High: Bigger and Faster, But Safer?
Corporate sponsorships, nationally televised games, minute-by-minute coverage on sports websites — for players, parents and coaches, high school football has never been bigger. But is enough being done to ensure players’ safety as the intensity of the sport grows? In Football High, FRONTLINE investigates the new face of high school football.
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Blatter Tries to Gag 2010 Reporters
As criticism of FIFA grows in South Africa over the huge prices being demanded for World Cup tickets, travel and hotel rooms, Sepp Blatter’s Thought Police are swinging into action, threatening to ban reporters who dare to write stories ‘bringing FIFA into disrepute.’ Thabo Leshilo, head of the South African newspaper editors media freedom committee, […]
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Beyond Larry Nassar: Hundreds of Athletes Are Fighting USA Gymnastics in Court Over Abuse
Athletes say Nassar was just one abuser of many. A bankruptcy case could be their chance at restitution.
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Big Ten Guarantees Graduation Opportunity for its Athletes
All 14 of the Big Ten Conference’s schools have agreed to generally guarantee that any athlete who receives an athletic scholarship will be able to keep that award until they graduate, the conference announced Wednesday.
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Black Men as College Athletes: The Real Win-loss Record
Frustrated by the endless grumbling about black men’s failures, I have spent much of my career examining how black men get to college and what helps them succeed. We now have hard data, and many of the most effective strategies cost relatively little.
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Blatter Bribes Warner With TV Bonanza
An explosive confidential letter written by FIFA general secretary Jérôme Valcke reveals that he and president Blatter secretly bypassed FIFA’s committees to give World Cup television rights to former vice-president Jack Warner, rather than sell them in the open market.
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Brain Injury Study: A Single Season of Hits May Harm College Athletes’ Ability to Learn
Just a single season of contact sports can take a toll on college athletes’ ability to learn, according to a new study. Overall, one season’s worth of repetitive hits did not seriously harm players’ thinking and memory skills, but when it came to learning, a small group of players was negatively affected. “The good news […]
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Brazil Confident World Cup Will Leave a Lasting Legacy
Listen to any Brazilian official talking about their country hosting the 2014 World Cup, and the word they all use is “legacy”. And they say it all the time. Speaking at the Soccerex global business industry convention in Rio de Janeiro, Marcia Lins, the state’s Sport and Leisure Secretary, says: “This is about legacy… it […]
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Broken Promises
WHEN I retired in 2011 after serving 30 years in Congress, there was one set of issues I knew I could not leave behind. I donated $1 million of unused campaign funds to create the Center for Native American Youth at the Aspen Institute, because our country has left a trail of broken promises to […]
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