Sports Doing Good Newsletter, #299

Oct. 21 – Nov. 3, 2018

Welcome to issue two hundred and ninety-nine of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

  1. Where Training for the New York City Marathon Is a Reality Show
  2. Principal for a day: Caron Butler shares his story, inspires students
  3. Derrick Rose breaks down in tears after stunning 50-point performance
  4. From trash to triumph: the inspiring story of Thailand’s Rocky Balboa
  5. Refugee Olympic Team to compete at Tokyo 2020
  6. She Made History as NASCAR’s 1st Black Woman on Pit Crew—Then She Met Her Idol
  7. The Relish Launches Video Broadcasting App to Empower Underrepresented Fans
  8. ‘Just run’ — trailblazing marathoner Marilyn Bevans met the challenges and became a champion
  9. Formula One teams race to help beat Alzheimer’s
  10. Assistant U.S. attorney Tina Ament is setting records as a blind triathlete

10+
#ThanksCoach Fundraising Campaign in honor of National Coach Appreciation Day (Up2Us Sports)
https://www.classy.org/campaign/thankscoach/c208024
NFL and NBA Athletes Come Together to Combat Water Poverty (Beyond Sport)
http://beyondsport.org/articles/nfl-and-nba-athletes-unite-to-combat-water-poverty/
Can I Get a Snell Yeah?! (by Benny Snell Jr.) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/benny-snell-jr-ncaa-football-kentucky
Tanni: Let’s share the ‘secret’ of sport for development
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/tanni-lets-share-secret-sport-development
Twinning Project pairs football clubs with prisons to Combat reoffending (Beyond Sport)
http://beyondsport.org/articles/twinning-project-pairs-football-clubs-with-prisons-to-combat-reoffending/

We present again our “Featured Video” offering(s). With the explosion of video content out there highlighting the good in sport, we want to showcase such content for your enjoyment and learning. This will be an ongoing effort.

Purveyor of Fun: Miles Plumlee Leans on Burning Man Experience to Lead Hawks
https://www.si.com/nba/2018/11/01/miles-plumlee-hawks-burning-man-unicycle-trae-young
Turning Science Fiction Into Robotic Realities
https://www.greatbigstory.com/stories/turning-science-fiction-into-robotic-realities?playall=2078&xrs=GBS_NL

Introduction
A not-at-all uncommon viewpoint of pro athletes is that their lives are perfect, with endless amounts of fame and fortune awaiting them when they wake up. “How could they be upset or depressed about anything?” But of course, it is not so one-sided. Not every pro athlete makes a lot of money, and for those who do, their lives are far from perfect. They do have emotions and sometimes such emotion can get our attention.

A pro athlete who has experienced the highs and lows of that life is Derrick Rose. An elite basketball player in high school, he starred at Memphis, and then was the first pick in the NBA draft. Rose saw early success, earning MVP honors just a few years after joining the NBA. He was destined to have a Hall of Fame career and make boatloads of money from his playing contracts and endorsements (see his deal with Adidas). However, Rose suffered a major injury in 2012 and his career has been a series of ups and downs since, as evidenced by his short tenures with teams over the past four years. Many felt the “D Rose” of 2010-11 was lost for good.

Well, “D Rose” showed up this week when he went off for 50 points, a record point total for him. After the game, Rose was choked up with emotion talking about how he just wanted to work hard and wanted to lead by example. Players all throughout the league went on social media to shout out to Derrick. In this week’s newsletter, we wanted to do the same.

The other stories we are happy to feature this week include a look at: a unique training program in preparation for the New York City marathon; former NBA star Caron Butler inspiring young kids; WBC super flyweight champion Srisaket Sor Rungvisai from Thailand; the IOC’s commitment to field another “Refugee Team” for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games; NASCAR pit crew pioneer Brehanna Daniels; a pioneering sports media company, The Relish; trailblazing marathoner Marilyn Bevans; how Formula One teams are becoming involved in the fight against Alzheimer’s; and the amazing triathlete, and U.S. attorney Tina Ament, who just happens to be blind.

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. And we are now also on Instagram. Find us at 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 email)

So, enjoy. And have a good week.

Where Training for the New York City Marathon Is a Reality Show
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/sports/new-york-marathon-naz.html

From left, Scott Smith, Stephanie Bruce, Erin Clark, Scott Fauble and Danielle Shanahan warm up on Oct. 17 in Camp Verde, Ariz. Credit Caitlin O’Hara for The New York Times

Principal for a day: Caron Butler shares his story, inspires students
https://journaltimes.com/news/local/principal-for-a-day-caron-butler-shares-his-story-inspires/article_aa8be92e-d462-5c1d-95bf-2d7baf39f246.html

Racine native and two-time NBA All-Star Caron Butler spent some time on Tuesday being “principal for a day” at Roosevelt Elementary School. Ricardo Torres.

Derrick Rose breaks down in tears after stunning 50-point performance
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2018/11/01/derrick-rose-breaks-down-tears-after-stunning-point-performance/

An emotional Derrick Rose discusses his performance against the Jazz. (Jim Mone/Associated Press)

From trash to triumph: the inspiring story of Thailand’s Rocky Balboa
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/drive/sports/10/12/18/from-trash-to-triumph

The Thai champ fighting against Iran “MagnifiKO” Diaz from Mexico last October 6 in Bangkok.

Refugee Olympic Team to compete at Tokyo 2020
http://www.unhcr.org/news/latest/2018/10/5bbcbb2f4/refugee-olympic-team-compete-tokyo-2020.html

Refugee athletes share the stage with IOC President Thomas Bach at the Olympism in Action Forum in Buenos Aires. © UNHCR/Lorey Campese

She Made History as NASCAR’s 1st Black Woman on Pit Crew—Then She Met Her Idol
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2802936-she-made-history-as-nascars-first-black-woman-on-a-pit-crew

The Relish Launches Video Broadcasting App to Empower Underrepresented Fans
https://www.sporttechie.com/the-relish-launches-video-broadcasting-app-to-empower-underrepresented-fans/

Screenshots of The Relish’s social video app. (Photo by Marielle Balogh, courtesy of The Relish)

‘Just run’ — trailblazing marathoner Marilyn Bevans met the challenges and became a champion
https://theundefeated.com/features/just-run-trailblazing-marathoner-marilyn-bevans-met-the-challenges-and-became-a-champion/

Formula One teams race to help beat Alzheimer’s
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/10/13/formula-one-teams-race-help-beat-alzheimers/

Formula One teams will mentor new research fellows Credit: Charles Coates/ Getty Images Europe

Assistant U.S. attorney Tina Ament is setting records as a blind triathlete
http://www.espn.com/espnw/life-style/article/25149273/assistant-us-attorney-tina-ament-setting-records-blind-triathlete

Tina Ament, right, and guide Caroline Gaynor, tethered at the wrist, near the finish of a triathlon in Western Australia. James Spencer

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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.

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Contact Information

Sarbjit “Sab” Singh
sab@sportsdoinggood.com
516-287-7141