ABUSIVE COACHES: “WHORES, ALCOHOLICS, AND LEARNING DISABLED”
Let me see if I understand this. The Rutgers athletic program was already national disgraced when videos surfaced of their men’s basketball coach, Mike Rice, verbally berating, and at times, throwing basketball players at his players. Then, in an effort to patch up its reputation, the newly minted Big 10 university hired one of its favorite … Continue reading
ABUSIVE COACHES: Rutgers Stubs Its Toe…Yet Again!
We all agree that Rutgers was in quite a mess of its own making when former men’s basketball coach Mike Rice was shown repeatedly on videotape berating and physically abusing his players. It took some time, but finally the college administration did the right thing and fired him. Oops! And in its haste to replace … Continue reading
LEGAL CONCERNS: Try to Maintain a Reasonable Perspective on Criminal Assaults
More Thoughts About the Role of Criminal Prosecutions in Preventing Assaults on Youth Sports Officials By Doug Abrams After the recent fatal assault on youth soccer referee Ricardo Portillo in suburban Salt Lake City, last week’s column explained why legislation to criminalize assaults on sports officials remains unnecessary and potentially counter-productive. In every state, … Continue reading
INNOVATIONS IN SPORTS: SUNY Youth Sports Institute Making A Difference
I can’t remember how many years I’ve been suggesting that youth coaches at all levels — including rec programs and travel teams — undergo some sort of training before they work with kids. Problem is, there have been preciouse few such programs around. And of the ones that do exist, they tend to have a “cookie-cutter, one size … Continue reading
LEGAL CONCERNS: Why New Laws Regarding Sports Violence Aren’t Necessary
Why Statutes Criminalizing Assaults on Sports Officials Are Still a Bad Idea By Doug Abrams Tragedy struck in suburban Salt Lake City, Utah on April 27. Forty-six-year-old youth soccer referee Ricardo Portillo took a single punch to the head from a 17-year-old goalkeeper who was angered about being shown a yellow card (a … Continue reading
LEGAL CONCERNS: When Kids Kill Refs….
It’s still hard to believe that a 17-year-old soccer goalie – apparently upset by being tagged with a yellow card in a soccer match – was so incensed that he went up to the unsuspecting ref and punched him hard enough in the head to kill him. But of course, that’s exactly what happened in … Continue reading
LEGAL CONCERNS: Does the Steubenville HS Football Coach Have Any Culpability in this Mess?
What Steubenville Tells Us About Coaches’ Legal Obligations to Report Rape and Other Child Abuse By Doug Abrams The nation took notice on Sunday morning, March 17, when juvenile court judge Thomas Lipps found two Steubenville, Ohio high school football stars delinquent for digitally raping a drunk, and nearly unconscious, 16-year-old … Continue reading
DUMB AND DUMBER: Univ of Texas Pitcher Suspended for Providing Urine for Teammate
Listen to this. According to reports in the Austin American-Stateman, Texas Longhorns’ star pitcher Corey Knebel must have thought he was doing a real favor for a teammate when he volunteered to give his buddy a urine sample for a team-mandated drug test. Problem was, the borrowed urine from Knebel came back testing positive for … Continue reading
LEGAL CONCERNS: 17-Year-old Soccer Player Sucker Punches Ref Who Subsequently Dies
I did my radio show this AM talking with Tony DeLillo, a long-term board member and supervisor of umpires in the Elmsford (NY) LL. Tony spent much of the hour, discussing how he prepares the umps in his league (most of the umps are kids themselves, primarily teenagers), on how to handle unruly adult coaches … Continue reading
DEALING WITH FINANCIAL CONCERNS: Do Parents Have a Right to Protest What’s Posted on the Team Shirts?
Accepting and Rejecting Youth League Sponsors By Doug Abrams The opening game was still a few days away, but the Little League baseball program in Lambertville, Ohio faced the season’s first controversy last week when officials handed out uniforms for the Cubs, a team in the 6-8-year-old division. The Cubs’ jerseys carried the name … Continue reading
Doug Abrams
Rick Wolff
Steve Kallas
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