Overview
Many sports fans are conflicted they may love the games, the players, and their communities, but may be alarmed by issues including academic corruption, athlete health, and the overarching emphasis on winning and profit at all costs. From disturbing new research about the long-term impact of sports concussions to publicly financed stadiums that drive profits to team owners but not communities, author Ken Reed argues that much of our sports culture is broken, driven by ego and greed. How We Can Save Sports is written to inform and empower sports stakeholders who care deeply about the impact of sports today on individuals and society as a whole. Reed, sports policy director for the League of Fans, introduces readers to ten of the most pressing problems in sports today and shows how they largely derive from the mentalities of profit-at-all-costs and win-at-all-costs. Chapters dig into issues such as concussions, overzealous adults in youth sports, the disappearance of PE from many school curriculums, the focus on profit objectives in college sports, discrimination in sports, and more. Each chapter outlines key challenges and provides concrete steps that readers can take to work for change. The book includes lists of helpful resources for readers interested in change at various levels from youth and high school sports, to AAU and college athletics, to professional sports.
Full Product Details
Author: Ken Reed ,
Ralph Nader
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Imprint: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN: 9781322949406
ISBN 10: 1322949409
Pages: 221
Publication Date: 01 January 2015
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Electronic book text
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Available To Order
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Reviews
I feel like I've been waiting for this book to be written for as long as I've been in conflicted-love with the wide world of sports. For all of us who love the beauty of sports, but hate what they have become, Ken Reed's book is a Godsend. Written with clarity and grace, it's a welcome antidote to the business as usual sports analysis out there. So many among us want to reclaim sports from its worst excesses. But we need a map out of the wilderness. Now we have it.--Dave Zirin, sports editor of The Nation and author of A People s History of Sports in the United States
Author Information
Ken Reed is sports policy director for the League of Fans, a sports reform project started by Ralph Nader. Reed is a long-time sports marketing consultant, sports studies instructor, sports issues analyst, columnist and author. He holds a doctorate in sports administration and created the Center for the Advancement of Physical Education (CAPE) for the non-profit PE4Life, devoted to cardiovascular-based physical education for all students, K-12. He blogs on sports issues for the Huffington Post.
