Welcome to week three hundred and fifty-eight of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:
- Princepal Singh Is Ready for the Big Stage (Sports Illustrated)
- New York Mets Pitcher Noah Syndergaard Wants to Make Reading ‘Cool Again’ with New Book Club (People)
- ‘Got back to my roots’: Nia Dennis and the groundbreaking genius of #BlackExcellence (Los Angeles Times)
- PlayerMaker CEO: ‘We Have Turned the Shoe Into Technological Infrastructure’ (SportTechie)
- NASCAR’s first Arab American female driver to make her debut at Daytona International Speedway (CNN)
- ‘Why Not Us’: Chris Paul’s pride, appreciation and love for HBCUs on full display (The Undefeated)
- Making a superhero: how Pelé became more myth than man (The Guardian)
- At 35, a Tennis Magician Brings Her Tricks to a First Quarterfinal (New York Times)
- Pro wrestling isn’t just body slams and violence — it’s also art (CNN)
- Fútbol Feminista – Women’s Soccer Has a New Name in Argentina (OnlyWomensSoccer.org)
10+ Three Rivers Rowing Association Participates in “A Long Talk” (Up2Us Sports)https://www.up2us.org/blog/2021/2/23/three-rivers-rowing-association-participates-in-a-long-talkNCYS Named as Partner in SportsEngine’s Better Together Initiative (NCYS)https://www.ncys.org/ncys-named-as-partner-in-sportsengines-better-together-initiative/A Message to My Fans (by Dan Carter) (The Players’ Tribune)https://www.theplayerstribune.com/posts/dan-carter-rugby-retirement Marlène Harnois Becomes the New Representative of the Champions for Peace Club (Peace and Sport)https://www.peace-sport.org/news/marlene-harnois-becomes-the-new-representative-of-the-champions-for-peace-club/UNESCO launches quality physical education documents (Sport and Dev)https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/unesco-launches-quality-physical-education-documents
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.
Virtual Celebration for National Girls & Women in Sports Day (Up2Us Sports)https://youtu.be/eMb4LfMaKiUAndrew Jones’ incredible journey to get back to the court (ESPN)http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=30932469
Introduction
For long-time readers of the newsletter, it is not too hard to identify various biases I have – e.g.,Rockville Centre, Georgetown, New York sports teams, and soccer. One bias I would love to show off is that for athletes and sports personalities with the last name “Singh.” In 8 years, only a few Singh’s have appeared, but alas, we have one this week, G League player Princepal Singh. (not only is his last name great, so is his first name!) Another bias I have is for stories that I have some connection to, even tangentially. Well, we have one of the stories this week as well, involving one of the most celebrated athletes of all time, Pelé. The obvious question is, “What connection could you have with this legend?” Well, for some reason, Pelé decided to come to Covert Elementary School in Rockville Centre, NY one night in 1978 and two young sports fans – my brother and I – got up close and personal with the legend. That is the image you see up and to the right.
The article from Jonathan Liew in The Guardian is a great one. Written in light of the Netflix documentary based on the Brazilian soccer legend, https://www.netflix.com/title/81074673, Liew presents the conundrum that 8-year-old fans like myself would never consider but the 50-year-old me certainly appreciates, i.e. the imperfections of our sports heroes. Liew speaks of the regret we have of not having more video footage of Pelé in his prime. But the article speaks more to Pelé off the field, how he was used by others, and how he, knowingly or not knowingly, handled situations that may have disappointed his fans. This same consternation arose with the passing of another all-time great last year, Diego Maradona. The lesson? Our sports heroes are people first, athletes second. And while they can often dictate how things are happening on the field due to their exceptional skills, such control over circumstances in life doesn’t happen so easily for them, or for any of us. Understanding that reality, I gladly include Liew’s article on Pelé. Finally, I would like to give a shout-out to a first-time contributor, Maddie Metz, to the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This high school scholar-athlete publishes the blog, Only Women’s Soccer, www.onlywomenssoccer.org. As we saw with The Gist, this is another young woman giving voice to a sport she has a real passion for and knows that she does not stand alone. Check out the site for news and analysis for the women’s “beautiful game.” Please continue to send along your stories. You’re both our audience and best source of stories.
Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram. 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.
Top Stories of the Week
Princepal Singh Is Ready for the Big Stage (Sports Illustrated)For full story, please click here.
New York Mets Pitcher Noah Syndergaard Wants to Make Reading ‘Cool Again’ with New Book Club (People)For full story, please click here.‘
Got back to my roots’: Nia Dennis and the groundbreaking genius of #BlackExcellence (Los Angeles Times)For full story, please click here.
PlayerMaker CEO: ‘We Have Turned the Shoe Into Technological Infrastructure’ (SportTechie)For full story, please click here.
NASCAR’s first Arab American female driver to make her debut at Daytona International Speedway (CNN)For full story, please click here.
‘Why Not Us’: Chris Paul’s pride, appreciation and love for HBCUs on full display (The Undefeated)For full story, please click here.
Making a superhero: how Pelé became more myth than man (The Guardian)For full story, please click here.
At 35, a Tennis Magician Brings Her Tricks to a First Quarterfinal (New York Times)For full story, please click here.
Pro wrestling isn’t just body slams and violence — it’s also art (CNN)For full story, please click here.
Fútbol Feminista – Women’s Soccer Has a New Name in Argentina (OnlyWomensSoccer.org)For full story, please click here.
| More About Us 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 forward 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 Information Sarbjit “Sab” Singh sab@sportsdoinggood.com 516-287-7141 Associate Professor/ChairpersonSport Management DepartmentFarmingdale State College |
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