Feb. 26 – March 11, 2023
Welcome to issue four hundred and nine of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Los Angeles oak tree carries legacy of forgotten 1936 Olympic athlete (CBS News)
2. In Troubled Times, the Sports World Offers a Necessary Salve (New York Times)
3. 98-Year-Old Betty Lindberg: From Telegraph Key to Smartphone and Still Eyeing the Future (Wingfoot)
4. A Ukrainian Racer’s Olympic Fight Brings Pride but Also Guilt (New York Times)
5. Part Trailblazing, Part Homecoming: Morgan Price’s Momentous Fisk Gymnastics Journey (Bleacher Report)
6. The Unicorn Era: Victor Wembanyama heads a coming stampede of skilled big men (The Athletic)
7. Baseball fans marvel over college pitcher’s unique talent (MSN)
8. Family’s reaction to finding out their daughter is the star of a Super Bowl ad is so wholesome (Upworthy)
9. How the Only All-Black Team in College Swimming Became the Sport’s Hottest Ticket (SI)
10. The 10 most innovative companies in sports of 2023 (Fast Company)


10+
Sports Innovation Lab and Ally Assemble Powerhouse Team, Launch ‘Women’s Sports Club’ to Directly Address Media Disparity (SIL)
https://www.sportsilab.com/in-the-press/sportsilabxallywsclaunch
Call for articles: Sport and democracy (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/en/article/news/call-articles-sport-and-democracy
Building a “Field Of Dreams” in the Bronx (Vincent Ciampa/LinkedIn)
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/building-field-dreams-bronx-venanzio-ciampa%3FtrackingId=pps39OrhFpGQniLL%252BrDp7A%253D%253D/
London Sport announces new partnership with Exergame (London Sport)
https://londonsport.org/london-sport-announces-new-partnership-with-exergame/
Meet Courageous Use of Sport Award Winner Jaafar Alzaidi (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/articles/meet-courageous-use-of-sport-award-winner-jaafar-alzaidi/


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. And now we add podcasts!

Inside The Wild World Of Ice Canoe Racing At The Quebec Winter Carnival (NBC Nightly News)
https://youtu.be/fFJv7f9ddnI
CHAMPIONS Trailer (2023) Woody Harrelson, Comedy Movie (Focus Features)
https://youtu.be/IEgFtJ0EQ4Q


Introduction
When picking which articles to include in the newsletter – there is always a bevy of options – I take a cue from the headline, of course – but will then read the article to confirm its suitability. However, one of the articles this week, from Kurt Streeter in the New York Times, had me convinced just with the title, “In Troubled Times, the Sports World Offers a Necessary Salve.” Part of my motivation years ago to start the newsletter and to keep at it 12 years later is captured in Kurt’s article. That is, sports can not only make life seem good, they can make it feel heavenly. We are transported at times by the wonder of the performance of amateurs and professionals, who, while human just like us, seemingly due things that are beyond human understanding. As Streeter mentions, athletes like Messi, Mbappe, Woods, Mahomes, and countless others make us say, “How did they do that?” usually with our hands grasping the sides of our head.

As Streeter’s conversation with religious leaders and others point out, sports alone do not fix all that ails us. But we should not place such a burden on them either. We should applaud these great achievements, as well as those great efforts that don’t end up in victory. One of the things that has always fascinated me is the effort by individuals and teams to achieve something, anything, whether that is the weekend runner trying to set a personal best in a 5K run, or Messi winning his first World Cup. While these are wildly different events, there is commonality between the athletes and the people who support them. That connection is what makes sports so special.

I hope you read Streeter’s article and the rest of the articles this week as they each provide a sense of wonder, a time for reflection, and moments that should make us happy to be alive.

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.

Los Angeles oak tree carries legacy of forgotten 1936 Olympic athlete (CBS News)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/los-angeles-oak-tree-carries-142528372.html

In Troubled Times, the Sports World Offers a Necessary Salve (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/sports/sports-and-spirituality.html

98-Year-Old Betty Lindberg: From Telegraph Key to Smartphone and Still Eyeing the Future (Wingfoot)
https://wingfoot.atlantatrackclub.org/blog/98-year-old-betty-lindberg-from-telegraph-key-to-smartphone-and-still-eyeing-the-future

A Ukrainian Racer’s Olympic Fight Brings Pride but Also Guilt (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/sports/ukraine-war-vladyslav-heraskevych.html

Part Trailblazing, Part Homecoming: Morgan Price’s Momentous Fisk Gymnastics Journey (Bleacher Report)
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10064040-part-trailblazing-part-homecoming-morgan-prices-momentous-fisk-gymnastics-journey

The Unicorn Era: Victor Wembanyama heads a coming stampede of skilled big men (The Athletic)
https://theathletic.com/4206199/2023/02/22/victor-wembanyama-height-weight-prospect-nba-draft/

Baseball fans marvel over college pitcher’s unique talent (MSN)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/baseball-fans-marvel-over-college-pitcher-s-unique-talent/ar-AA17OWqA

Family’s reaction to finding out their daughter is the star of a Super Bowl ad is so wholesome (Upworthy)
https://www.upworthy.com/diana-flores-family-reaction

How the Only All-Black Team in College Swimming Became the Sport’s Hottest Ticket (SI)
https://www.si.com/college/2023/02/01/howard-swimming-daily-cover

The 10 most innovative companies in sports of 2023 (Fast Company)
https://www.fastcompany.com/90849121/most-innovative-companies-sports-2023


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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.

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