We’re in the midst of both a COVID-19 pandemic and a childhood physical inactivity epidemic. That creates a dilemma for young athletes and their parents: Is the risk of playing organized sports during the pandemic greater than the risk of the negative physical and mental impacts of not playing? Young people need to move their…
Why is the Cleveland baseball team waiting until 2022 to make the change? Let the healing begin now
Finally, Cleveland’s Major League Baseball (MLB) team says it plans to replace its racist Indians nickname. That’s great news. The Indigenous shouldn’t be used as nicknames and mascots for sports teams in the same way lions, bears and other animals are. Period. But why is the Cleveland organization waiting until 2022 to make the change?…
The policy appears to be ‘the show must go on,’ no matter what the health consequences are
U.S. college basketball’s March Madness is one of my favourite sporting events of the year. The upsets are fun. The one-loss-and-you’re-gone format of the national championship tournament is much more exciting than the long playoff season the National Basketball Association gives us. The bands. The crazy student sections. Switching back and forth between tournament games…
Mental health challenges also negatively impact sports performance
Anxiety and depression are common mental health issues among college students. According to Daniel Eisenberg, an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, one in three American college students experience significant symptoms of depression, anxiety or other mental health conditions. College athletes certainly aren’t immune to these mental health challenges. In…
According to a study from researchers at the Boston University CTE Center, each year a person endures repetitive head collisions from playing football the risk of developing degenerative brain disease increases by 30 per cent. In addition, for every 2.6 years of play, the risk of developing chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) doubles. This study quantifies…
Despite what Vince Lombardi said, if winning’s the only thing in sports, you’re going to be miserable a lot of the time
From time to time while flipping through a magazine or surfing the Internet, you’ll run across a list of Best Sports Quotes. These lists can be somewhat entertaining, as the quotes run the gamut from inspiring to funny. While glancing at one of these lists recently, I saw the Vince Lombardi quote that always seems…
This athlete-led movement needs a face – or two. Ideally, we have one Black sports figure and one white sports figure taking the lead
I was driving home recently and listening to a talk show about the social unrest in my country, the United States. The host was white and the guest was Black. After a couple minutes of discussion, the guest asked the host a powerful question. “Have you ever woken in the morning and started to worry…
Norway has a successful youth sports system, accessible to all. The national lottery earmarks millions for youth sports every year
I’ve been a youth sports coach for 17 years. For the most part, it’s been very rewarding. However, one of the hardest aspects has been watching kids drop out of sports because they no longer can afford to pay to play. It’s heartbreaking. Social injustice is a hot topic these days. However, there’s one area…
There simply is no ethical justification for colleges calling athletes back to campus while telling other students to stay home
A group of U.S. college football players (#WeAreUnited) have presented a set of demands to Pac-12 athletic conference administrators. The demands vary from COVID-19-based health and safety concerns to economic and racial justice issues. Big Ten football players, through a group called College Athlete Unity, followed with a similar list of demands. It’s clear to…
Americans need to start acting like they’re mature enough to responsibly handle the freedoms they’ve been blessed with
Across the United States, from the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to Major League Baseball (MLB), sports fans have looked on as athletes have chosen to stand, kneel or raise a fist during the playing of the American national anthem. Both the kneelers and standers have been attacked on social media in recent days. Some…
Culture change is a messy process. We need to stand up to the ignorant in this fight for social justice
I truly think this time is different. I think as a society, we’re fed up with lingering racial injustice. It’s been heartening to see white leaders in government, corporate America and the sports world step up in a strong way toward social justice in the days since George Floyd died. But this movement toward real…
All of a sudden, the National Football League tells us it’s seen the light. The league’s leaders tell us their draconian reaction to players kneeling during the U.S. national anthem in protest of police brutality and social injustice was all wrong. That they’re very sorry. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell even appears to be trying to…
Anger and deep frustration over racism are appropriate responses. Setting fires, breaking windows and looting aren’t
America is clearly broken. We Americans have struggled from the beginning of the nation to live up to our ideals. From our Pledge of Allegiance: “… with liberty and justice for all. …” From our Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. …” From our Constitution:…
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how connected and interdependent we truly are as a global community
I’ve been blessed with many great sports experiences in my life. Since I was seven years old, I’ve loved playing and watching sports. I enjoy many aspects of sports but what I love the most is the camaraderie. More specifically, it’s the sense of fulfilment that comes from being part of something bigger than myself,…
The man who is trying to give college athletes their due inexplicably doesn't appear in Chicago Bulls documentary
Sonny Vaccaro is to basketball what Marvin Miller was to baseball. They both have had a profound impact on their games; they both fought valiantly for athletes’ rights; and each of them had to deal with a power establishment that tried to rub them out. The latest example is ESPN’s The Last Dance documentary about…
Major League owners need to climb up from behind their wallets and take a hard look at what’s best for the game
Minor league baseball teams, like millions of other small businesses in North America, are in trouble. Big trouble. Unlike their Major League Baseball colleagues who typically get about half their revenue from media rights deals, minor league teams are almost exclusively reliant on ticket sales and in-stadium concession and merchandise revenues. MLB teams could play…
The coronavirus is certainly testing us all. In times like this, it’s natural to look for guidance in dealing with challenges. Wise guidance can come from all areas of life, including the world of sports. I recently came across some wisdom from two sports figures that I think is applicable to the situation we’re in.…
Fans, players and the game deserve a stronger punishment for this blatant disregard of basic fair play and sportsmanship
To Robert D. Manfred Jr. Major League Baseball Commissioner Dear Mr. Manfred: With Major League Baseball on hiatus due to the coronavirus, you have time to revisit the Houston Astros cheating scandal. The Houston organization – and the team’s players in particular – are getting off easy when it comes to punishment for a long-standing…
The emergency NHL goalie did what every sports fan wishes they could do every time they watch the best of the best play
I can’t get enough of the highly improbable David Ayres story. A 42-year-old kidney transplant recipient – and until recently a Zamboni driver for a minor league hockey team – who hadn’t played in a hockey game, at any level, for five years, enters a National Hockey League game in the second period, stops eight…
Sport, at its best, is a co-operative activity in which competitors on both sides play with honour in a mutual quest for excellence
The Houston Astros have a strange way of saying they’re sorry for cheating and tainting the game of baseball, including the World Series. Last week, the Astros staged what was supposed to be an apology press conference for using an elaborate high-tech scheme (well, except the banging on the trash cans part) to illegally steal…
Just allow college athletes to benefit from their names, images and likenesses, like Olympic athletes do
On the same day that NCAA president Mark Emmert was testifying in front of U.S. Congress about how terrible it would be if college athletes were allowed to earn money from their names, images and likenesses – like any other college student or U.S. citizen for that matter – Michigan State was giving Colorado football…
The late basketball legend became a model husband, father, citizen and businessman. But a dark incident in Colorado can't be forgotten
I was walking off the tennis court last Sunday when I saw several texts saying Kobe Bryant had been killed in a helicopter crash. My first reaction was disbelief, then shock, then sadness. As I got in my car, I wasn’t sure why I was so sad. While I definitely respected his athletic ability and…
Baseball suspensions and fines should reverberate through all sports, down to children's athletics. Cheating is a social ill that needs to be addressed
Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred handed the Houston Astros severe penalties for cheating this week. Manfred suspended Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch for a year each for their role in using electronic equipment to steal the signs of opponents. He also fined the organization $5 million and stripped the Astros…
Leaders must fully incorporate social, cultural and environmental considerations – not just economic ones – in their decision-making
One of the greatest, and most memorable, sports-related quotes comes from Nelson Mandela. “Sport has the power to change the world,” said Mandela. “It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create…
There is no room for abusive coaches in sports, yet Nike seems intent on ignoring critics – including athletes and its own employees
Nike executives have decided it’s okay to reopen a renovated building named after disgraced track coach Alberto Salazar and put images of him all over the inside of the building’s walls. This despite the fact that longtime coach was banned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for encouraging his athletes to use performance-enhancing drugs. And despite…
Head-first tackles, helmet swinging and devastating hip injuries all add to a game’s growing reputation for chaos
A couple incidents from last week’s football action have garnered a lot of media and fan attention: Myles Garrett’s bonehead use of Mason Rudolph’s helmet as a weapon and the terrible hip injury to Alabama’s star quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. First, the Garrett situation. Twitter-verse is afire with emotional chatter about banning Garrett from the National…
The win-at-all-costs, profit-at-all-costs culture at Nike must be cleaned up for good
Alberto Salazar is a former world-class distance runner and coach. If the allegations brought by multiple female athletes claiming he physically, mentally and emotionally abused them while under his direction are true, he’s also a pig. Thanks to the courage of elite athletes (and whistleblowers) Kara Goucher and Mary Cain, Salazar and his illegal and…
By supporting cherished freedom of expression, Silver may have cost the league billions of dollars. It's a rare and welcome example of standing true to your principles
What more do people want from National Basketball Association commissioner Adam Silver? It seems nearly everyone – from the far right of the political spectrum to the far left – is upset with the NBA’s response to China’s hissy fit over Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey's support of Hong Kong protesters. Just days before…
It’s sad when adults choose to be inactive. It’s even sadder when we don’t provide our children the opportunity to establish physically-active lifestyles
Our children have never been more sedentary. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2016, only 21.6 per cent of children and adolescents in the United States aged six to 19 met the recommended 60 or more minutes of moderate-to-vigorous activity at least five times a week. It’s a safe bet that…
The hypocrisy in college athletics promotes the amateur myth and tries to suppress the fact that the young athletes have significant market value
California is leading the way towards economic justice for U.S. college athletes. The California State Assembly unanimously passed the Fair Pay to Play Act recently. If Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the bill, or allows it to go into law without his signature, college athletes in California will be able to profit off of their own…