Sports Doing Good Newsletter, #20

Aug. 6 – 12, 2012

Welcome to week twenty of the Sports Doing Good newsletter.

As the XXX Olympiad came to a conclusion yesterday, we experienced the inevitable feeling of sadness that comes with the reality that we will have to wait 4 years for another 17 days of such wondrous activity and emotion. Sure there will be major sporting events before Rio 2016, but none will capture on a global scale the breadth and depth of wonder that come with the Summer Olympic Games. From Phelps to Bolt, from US Women’s basketball to Brazil’s Women’s volleyball, from Missy Frankly to Jessica Ennis, to the thousands of athletes who gave it their all, we were treated to the best the world has to offer.

The great thing about sport is that the good, while maybe not presented in such abundance is a short period of time, is always there. How do we know? Well, we have 20 weeks of Sports Doing Good that says so.

This week we feature: maybe the cutest fan/player interaction ever, incredible skill in a childhood activity, the comeback of a college soccer player, the amazing performance of women at the Olympic Games, a young boy’s wish to meet  his favorite basketball player, a Hall of Fame football player continuing to excel off the field, a pro league and its major sponsor teaming to raise money in honor of a former player, an art exhibit exploring the origins of competition from ancient Greece, the announcement that a wonderful documentary series will not only be extended but will be expanded as well, an inspirational story about individuals with physical disabilities experiencing freedom through sports and recreation, the NFL and others joining together to increase safety through the provision of new equipment, yoga and peace in the Middle East, and a long-time football owner who makes a multimillion dollar donation in support of the study of the sport and league he helped to build, amongst other “good” stories.

A quick reminder about two administrative matters. In addition to our Sports Doing Good heading, we are now including some photos/images in each newsletter. Please make sure to allow images from Sports Doing Good to be seen by your email system. (you should see a button or link allowing you to view the images). Also, in addition to email stories, please feel free to send stories via Twitter. Our address is @sportsdoinggood.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and our best source of stories. Our email address is sab@sportsddoinggood.com and our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood. Finally, if you think others would like to receive the newsletter, please feel free to forward it on or have them contact us directly at sab@sportsdoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the newsletter.)

So enjoy. And have a good week.

Fun Doing Good:

“I Love You Sam (Acho)” (video)
“Camrynn got to meet Sam Acho today. What an amazing guy he is. He stayed after practice and signed autographs for every single kid. Sam was so nice, and Camrynn loved him!”  http://youtu.be/g_MOpySFrhM

World Yo-Yo Champ crowned, world record broken (video)
“You can Walk the Dog. You can probably Rock the Baby. Maybe you’ve even been Around the World a few times. But no matter how sharp your yo-yo skills might be, you’re bound to be impressed by the talent on display over the past weekend in Orlando, Florida, where the 2012 World Yo-Yo Championship just wrapped up.” http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/unplugged/world-yo-yo-champ-crowned-world-record-broken-175822941.html

Grenada celebrating Kirani James’ gold with a half-holiday
Kirani James earned Grenada’s first gold medal ever by winning the 400m on Monday. The small island country had plenty to celebrate, so the prime minister gave the residents the afternoon off. A half-holiday was declared across the country. http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/grenada-celebrating-kirani-james-gold-half-holiday-010745293–oly.html

Wrestling rumble! It’s ‘Tower of Power’ Lauer vs. ‘Sternum Choker’ Roker
Matt “The Tower of Power” Lauer and Al “The Sternum Choker” Roker (as Bob Costas dubbed them) received a lesson in Greco-Roman wrestling — even painfully learning what the “flying squirrel” move entails! The duo have teamed up three previous times to try out Olympic sports, getting schooled in rhythmic gymnastics, synchronized swimming and the luge. U.S. wrestlers Dremiel Byers and Ellis Coleman this time showed our co-anchors how to get gold, by lifting them in the air and then slamming them onto the mat. http://todayinlondonblog.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/08/07/13166028-wrestling-rumble-its-tower-of-power-lauer-vs-sternum-choker-roker?lite

Athletes Doing Good

The Comeback (Bree McMahon) (video)
The inspiring true story of Bree McMahon, who didn’t let the loss of her left leg keep her from chasing her dream to play college soccer. As a rising high school soccer player, Bree was on her way to play college soccer at Brevard College (NC) when she lost her leg in a car accident, Brevard still honored her scholarship and after almost two years she realized her dream of playing again (as a goalkeeper)…..a fantastic story of the human spirit. http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8236323

Success of U.S. women at London Games buoyed by gender equity progress
Alex Morgan’s 123rd-minute header against Canada at Old Trafford — one of the most dramatic moments at these Olympics — did more than just clinch a spot for the United States in the women’s gold-medal soccer game. It served as an exclamation point to 10 days of unprecedented dominance by American female athletes and an affirmation on the 40th anniversary of Title?IX that women have made great strides in sports.  http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/08/2938410/success-of-us-women-at-london.html#storylink=cpy 

Dying child to get a special hospital visit from Pacer, former Hoya, Roy Hibbert
Lee Eddins had hoped he would be able to watch his idol, center Roy Hibbert, play in person when the Indiana Pacers visit Sacramento, Calif., for a game against the Kings in late November. But Lee, 12, is not expected to live that long…So Hibbert has planned a special surprise. Later this week, he is flying to Sacramento to meet Lee.  http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120808/SPORTS/120808003

For Curtis Martin, Hall Is Latest Stop in a Still Unfolding Career
Once Martin earned a spot on the Patriots’ roster as a third-round draft choice in 1995, he began setting aside 12 to 15 percent of every paycheck to establish the Job Foundation. The organization is named after the man Martin views as one of the Bible’s most significant figures because of his unwavering faith. Martin now commits 20 to 25 percent of his income to the foundation, which initially worked to aid single mothers. It has been expanded to include education and housing needs, and includes an initiative to send surgeons to third-world countries to perform needed operations for the poor and uninsured. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/04/sports/football/for-curtis-martin-hall-is-latest-stop-in-football-career.html?_r=1

Events Doing Good:

Hoops 4 Hope Summer Benefit 2012
Saturday, August 18th, 2012 Hoops 4 Hope will hold their 14th Annual Summer Benefit co-hosted by the Kazickas and Koepp Families in Amagansett, NY. This will be a special evening at a beautiful home, with a silent auction of unique sports items and contemporary art, including art surf boards from South Africa. There will be live African music, cocktails and hors d’oeuvres all to celebrate and support H4H programs. http://h4hbenefit2012.eventbrite.com/

Leagues Doing Good:

MLL, NB Foundation Raise $28K for HEADstrong
Major League Lacrosse teamed up with the New Balance Foundation to raise $28,000 for the HEADstrong Foundation, a charity that raises money for blood cancer in honor of Nicholas Colleluori, a former Hofstra lacrosse player who passed away in 2006. The HEADstrong Foundation was named the official charity of the 2012 MLL All-Star Game, which was held in Palm Beach County, Fla. on June 30. http://www.laxmagazine.com/mll/2011-12/news/080912_major_league_lacrosse_new_balance_foundation_raise_28k_for_headstrong

Media Doing Good:

A Deeper Look at Faster, Higher, Stronger; ‘The Olympic Games’ Studies Art and Athletics at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich
There is a piece of duct tape on the floor of the Bruce Museum’s exhibition, “The Olympic Games: Art, Culture and Sport.” It travels beside a wall, an unremarkable gray strip with a bit of sheen. But what is remarkable is its length: 29 feet 2 ½ inches, the seemingly impossible distance of the long jump that earned Bob Beamon the gold medal in the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/sports/olympics/the-olympic-games-studies-art-and-athletics-at-the-bruce-museum-in-greenwich.html?_r=2&smid=tw-share

ESPN Films Expands 30 FOR 30 with Shorts on Grantland.com, Beginning 9/26
ESPN Films has announced the return this fall of the Emmy-nominated documentary series 30 for 30, and is also expanding the brand to include a 30-part digital short film series. 30 for 30 Shorts will be a collaboration with Bill Simmons’ Grantland.com and will be similar to the feature-length films in that each piece will represent a specific point of view of the filmmaker and will be a reflection of how they blend the narrative with their own visual style. http://movies.broadwayworld.com/article/ESPN-Films-Expands-30-FOR-30-with-Shorts-on-Grantlandcom-Beg-926-20120804#ixzz23AQJIonP

Hispanic Scholarship Fund teams up with FOX Deportes for National Education Campaign
FOX Deportes and the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) are teaming up to promote higher education access for Hispanic students through a nationwide educational campaign. The campaign will feature a public service announcement and on-air FOX Deportes talent support beginning in August and through 2013. http://www.hispanicprblog.com/multicultural-media-news/hispanic-scholarship-fund-teams-up-with-fox-deportes-for-national-education-campaign.html

The Power and Glory of Sportswriting
“Gathered now in London, they are out to make the fun and games of the Olympics into something more, to take you beyond yourself, to lift you with a performance that is graceful or muscular or gymnastic or maybe even — for here the bar is highest — unforgettable. We are talking about sportswriters, a famously shopworn and bibulous lot whose calling the novelist Richard Ford, himself a former sportswriter, lamented in his novel “The Sportswriter,” as “more like being a businessman, or an old-fashioned traveling salesman with a line of novelty household items, than being a genuine writer … there is very little that is ever genuinely creative to it at all.”” http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/28/the-power-and-glory-of-sportswriting/?emc=eta1

The Movement: One Man Joins an Uprising
Make A Hero’s, The Movement, is the first of many adaptive films that document the triumphs of individuals with physical disabilities in an effort to grow awareness and financial support for adaptive sports groups. The Movement is an inspirational story about individuals with physical disabilities experiencing freedom through sports and recreation. http://www.makeahero.org/film-events/the-movement/

Organizations Doing Good:

NOCSAE Joins NFL Commissioner in Replacing Youth Football Helmets in Underserved Community
The pilot year of this program had two key objectives: first, to replace up to 13,000 youth football helmets that are 10 years old or older with new helmets at no cost to the beneficiary leagues in underserved communities; and second, to increase player safety by arming coaches with the latest educational information related to player safety, including concussion protection, assessment and management.  http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nocsae-joins-nfl-commissioner-in-replacing-youth-football-helmets-in-underserved-community-164994326.html

Yoga for peace in the Middle East
Yoga might seem an unusual tool to support a community of transformative leaders and to promote peaceful dialogue, but in the case of the conflict zones of Israel and Palestine, it is a powerful one.  http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?4807/1/Yoga-for-peace-in-the-Middle-East

Buguruni Youth Centre supports disadvantaged children and youth
Buguruni Youth Center (BYC) is a Tanzanian Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO) that uses sports to reach out to children and youth living in disadvantaged communities. The sport training sessions integrate education on life skills, drug abuse, environmental health, value of education, gender equality and create awareness on HIV and AIDS. http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?4805/1/Buguruni-Youth-Centre-projects

P&G ups its game to increase global sports funding by $20m
Procter & Gamble, the global FMCG giant and worldwide partner of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will be raising an extra $20m (£16.01m) for its global youth sports programme as part of its ‘Thank You Mum’ activity. http://www.brandrepublic.com/news/1144906/p-g-ups-its-game-increase-global-sports-funding-20m/

People Doing Good:

Bills Owner Ralph Wilson in spotlight at Hall of Fame
Ralph Wilson’s personal trainer and another spotter nudged his wheelchair as close to the lectern as they could and gingerly helped him to his feet. The 93-year-old Buffalo Bills founder looked frail, but for seven minutes in his gold Pro Football Hall of Fame blazer, he was in command. He returned to the Hall of Fame on Friday morning to dedicate the Ralph Wilson Jr. Pro Football Research and Preservation Center, a 10,000-square-foot facility he funded with a $2.5 million donation. http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/bills-nfl/article985185.ece

Chicago woman lives off Olympic sponsors to raise money for charity
Can you live exclusively on Olympic sponsors’ products? Chicago-based copywriter Terin Izil, 28, has proved you can. She’s been eating, drinking, wearing, bathing in and sleeping on Olympic sponsors’ products since July 20 and will do so through this weekend’s Closing Ceremonies. This is all in an effort to raise money for Camp Promise-West, a camp she co-founded for children with muscular dystrophy. The camp is fully funded by donations and grants. http://espn.go.com/blog/playbook/dollars/post/_/id/904/chicago-woman-living-off-olympic-sponsors

Teams Doing Good:

Toler Wins Gold With Team USA at Deaflympics
The United States Deaflympics team, from mid- to late July, competed in the 22nd Deaflympics with a member of the Georgia State women’s soccer team. Junior Rebecca Toler, who transferred to Georgia State from Tennessee Tech after the 2011 season, played goalkeeper for the United States. The Americans prevailed over Russia in the final match 1-0 and went home with a gold medal. http://www.georgiastatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=12700&ATCLID=205566291

Commentary Doing Good:

London 2012 through the Sports and Social Change Lens – A Week One Perspective
The 2012 Olympic Games are at their halfway point, and we’ve been soaking in as much as possible. From live television coverage, to streaming content on the web, to following twitter feeds and hashtags, we’ve seen incredible moments of athletic performance and the curtain call for the most decorated Olympic medalist ever. http://www.sportsandsocialchange.org/index.php/blog/2012/08/06/80-london-2012-through-the-sports-and-social-cha%20%20nge-lens-a-week-one-perspective

Quick Links…Our WebsiteMore About Us
Our goal is to have Sports Doing Good be a portal housing original content and excerpts from and links to the increasing number of articles, websites, video, and other media that showcase the good in sports and society. We aim to celebrate those concepts, activities, events, and individuals by highlighting them for a wider audience. Much of the news today, whether sports- related or not, is incredibly negative and increasingly polarizing, biased, and quite annoying. We are trying to refocus some of the discussion on the good, with a focus on sports.Our mission is to have Sport Doing Good be a consistent, and significant, contributor to the areas of sports, social responsibility and development. We look forwarding to partnering with other stakeholders in producing content, in creating and/or sponsoring athletic and service events, knowledge sharing, and conferences/seminars, and even having a commercial arm that could be the source of innovative social businesses.We invite you to send in news, press releases, and guest pieces for possible publication, and email us with suggestions about the content and format of the newsletter and Sports Doing Good website.
Contact InformationSarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141

Forward this email