Sports Doing Good Newsletter, #49

March 3-9, 2013

Welcome to week forty-nine of the Sports Doing Good newsletter.

I am sending this week’s newsletter a day later than normal due to the fact I was on a trip to Washington, D.C. to see my alma mater, Georgetown University, play its final regular season game against long-time rival, Syracuse University. Often in rivalries like this, the behavior by players, coaches, and especially fans is not something we classify as “good.” However, whether Hoya or Orange fans  are willing to admit it, the teams and the schools have been good for each other. The games would evoke drama, passion, energy and a series of hugs and hi-fives when the game ended in victory for your side.

So while we do bemoan the loss of this rivalry and others ended by rampant realignment in college sports, we invite you to think about those special games your favorite team has won and lost and thank all the parties involved for giving you a memory that obviously has lasted a long time.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and our best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/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@sportsddoinggood.com. (If you do not want to receive the newsletter anymore you can use the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email)

So enjoy. And have a good week.

Golf Boys – “2.Oh” (Official Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiiOqybRvsM&feature=share&list=PLoQc4NICgdrTZHNycwVIPZnNAOI-uWsJL

Coaches gather to fix football and make it safer
Class is in session in the new school of football. The focus is on teaching kids a safer way to tackle, easing the fears of parents alarmed enough about concussions to ask whether their sons should play at all and ensuring a now-thriving game has a future.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2013/03/03/teaching-football-and-trying-to-save-it/1960681/?utm_source=nflprss.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=nflprss.com

Instructor Andy Ryland, a former linebacker at Penn State, says phrases such as “bite the ball” need to be eliminated because they refer to techniques that are no safe. / Matt Kryger, USA TODAY Sports

Act Of Sportsmanship Gives Texas High Schooler Shot At Glory (from Bonfire Impact)
Sometimes winning the game isn’t the greatest victory in sports; sometimes that victory is found in letting a deserving player have their moment to shine.
http://www.bonfireimpact.com/2013/03/07/the-ultimate-act-of-sportsmanship-member-of-opposite-team-passes-ball-to-special-needs-player/
http://youtu.be/CKQl29AaR0M

Inspiring program, documentary making waves around the world
“The film is about cultural exchange, coming of age, hopes and dreams, and broadening the horizons of a group of teenagers – all through the vehicle of a rugby program,” Brown said.
http://www.usarugby.org/news/coverage/usarugby/item/inspiring-program-documentary-making-waves-around-the-world

Miami Heat Champion Dwyane Wade and #1 Bestselling Author James Patterson Join Forces to Encourage Children to Read
In collaboration with NBA Cares, the Wade’s World Foundation, ReadKiddoRead and Hachette Book Group, ONE ON ONE will highlight the importance of reading for success in life.
http://www.cbcbooks.org/sub-news.php?id=888

Capitals Host Courage Caps Skating Party at Kettler Capitals Iceplex for TAPS
For the second-consecutive season, TAPS is the beneficiary of Courage Caps. TAPS is a nonprofit organization that provides comfort and care for anyone who is grieving the death of someone who died while serving in the military. TAPS will receive 100% of the proceeds raised through the sale of Courage Caps.
http://capitals.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=658371

Women’s soccer exchange spreads love of sport in Nicaragua
Soccer Without Borders, an international non-profit that uses soccer as a vehicle for positive youth development, is teaming up with the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (“ECA”) Sports United Division for the Inter-American Women’s Soccer Exchange.
http://www.nicaraguadispatch.com/news/2013/02/womens-soccer-exchange-spreads-love-of-sport-in-nicaragua/6914

Reebok plans $30m gift to aid youth fitness
“We’re offering an opportunity for companies to do good and do well at the same time,” said Larry Soler, chief executive of Partnership for a Healthier America. “Our work is not just to promote a philanthropic effort, but is good business for companies.”
http://bostonglobe.com/business/2013/03/08/reebok-gives-for-youth-fitness-initiatives/rKmy4PTEwC4BgOdvPQJkWP/story.html

Arsenal to become first Premier League team to play match in Vietnam
A match against the Vietnamese national team will be staged in Hanoi on July 17 to take advantage of the huge interest in English football. Arsenal say they have an especially big following in the country, as do Manchester United and Barcelona.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2288580/Arsenal-Premier-League-team-play-tour-match-Vietnam.html#ixzz2Mxlqca7f

Team M.V.P. (Most Valuable Preserver): Historians Are Fans’ Link to Past
They belong to a small cadre of people with a passion for major league baseball lore who added such roles to their team jobs and later figured out what to do. That coincided with the opening of baseball museums at several stadiums in the past decade or so.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/06/sports/baseball/baseball-team-historians-are-fans-link-to-past.html?_r=0

Alex Trautwig for The New York Times.  Dan Rea is a club historian for the Red Sox and helped researchers for Fenway Park’s centennial.

THE NEXT 10 STORIES

BBVA Compass And NBA Cares Prepare Students For Healthy Lifestyles And Financial Decision-making
NBA legends and 20 bank volunteers read to students and taught the benefits of financial education and active lifestyles as part of Team. Works. In Schools, a joint initiative by BBVA Compass and NBA Cares.
http://www.dailymarkets.com/stock/2013/03/07/bbva-compass-and-nba-cares-prepare-students-for-healthy-lifestyles-and-financial-decision-making/

LockerDome Closes $6 Million in Series A Funding; Surpasses 10 Million Monthly Unique Visitors
LockerDome, the sports social media-publishing platform for more than 1,500 “networks” of professional athletes, brands, media personalities and other sports properties, announced significant fundraising and traffic milestones today.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/04/5234084/lockerdome-closes-6-million-in.html#storylink=cpy\

Baseball Has Its Worshipers, and at N.Y.U., You Get Credit
On the night before opening day, the end of a baseball fan’s version of Advent, John Sexton entered his classroom at New York University to speak of Joe DiMaggio. He came to speak, too, of Ernest Hemingway and Gay Talese, of Lord Krishna and a sacred tree in the Amazon, and what he called “this notion of touching the ineffable.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/21/us/from-baseball-insight-into-god-at-new-york-university.html?_r=0

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times.  Wearing a Jackie Robinson Brooklyn Dodgers jersey, John Sexton led a discussion in his class, “Baseball as a Road to God.”

Some NFL players all business off field
They are one of several pairs of NFL teammates or former teammates who have ventured together into the business world. Some players pursue it as a hobby. Others hope to maximize their celebrity and disposable income to start building for their lives after football.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/mar/3/some-nfl-players-all-business-off-field/#ixzz2MyEgOhYj

Washington Redskins’ Lorenzo Alexander (pictured at the November 2011 grand opening) partners with teammate Kedric Golston to run The Studio MBS in Ashburn. (Pratik Shah/The Washington Times)

Blind and Visually Impaired Skiers Learn to Ski in Breckenridge, CO
The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) is pleased to announce they will be hosting the 7th annual Winter Ski Camp in Breckenridge, Colorado, from Thursday, March 7 through Monday, March 11, thanks to generous support from the Anthem Life Insurance Company.
http://www.sacbee.com/2013/03/07/5243303/blind-and-visually-impaired-skiers.html

Legacy key for 2020 Olympic bid cities – Coe
Coe continued: “The most critical stakeholder that any city has to deal with is of course the people that live in that city. The fundamental question is why? How are you going to use the Games for the future? You have to be clear what those legacy targets are.”
http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/188135/legacy-key-for-2020-olympic-bid-cities-coe

Colorado ski areas lead in implementing alternative energy technologies
Supported by industry trade groups such as the National Ski Areas Association (NSAA) and Colorado Ski Country USA, and by nonprofit organizations such as Protect Our Winters (POW), the ski industry has found that investment in alternative energy benefits both the environment and the bottom line.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/print-edition/2013/03/01/ski-areas-lead-in-implementing.html?page=all

Sports Programs to Be Part of Golfer Els’ $30M Autism Center
Els’ wife, Liezl, and their Ernie Els Foundation have been at the forefront of fundraising for autism research since their son, Ben, was diagnosed with autism in 2008. Plans call for opening of the Palm Beach County charter school by the end of 2014.
http://www.athleticbusiness.com/articles/lexisnexis.aspx?lnarticleid=1849728140&lntopicid=136030023

Coaching Boys into Men: Violence doesn’t equal strength
On International Women’s Day 2013, Coaching Boys into Men explains the importance of including violence prevention programmes in sports for young males.
http://www.sportanddev.org/en/newsnviews/news/?5389%2F1%2FCoaching-Boys-into-Men-Violence-doesnt-equal-strength

For a Baseball Traveling Man, an Unexpected Stop
At 39, he is the journeyman’s journeyman, a designated hitter whose greatest attribute has nothing to do with his fluid form or his reputation as a solid teammate. Instead, it has everything to do with his ability to find employment. In 23 seasons, Valdes has played for 18 teams. In 13 leagues. In five countries.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/sports/baseball/after-playing-for-18-teams-puerto-ricos-pedro-valdes-nears-retirement.html?ref=sports

David Goldman/Associated Press.  Pedro Valdes, 39, will start for Puerto Rico against Spain on Friday in the World Baseball Classic.