April 20 – May 3, 2025
Welcome to issue four hundred and sixty-four of the Sports Doing Good newsletter. This week’s 10 stories include:

1. Bill Walton’s environmental legacy keeps going strong (NBA.com)
2. The Wizards made a sick boy’s dream come true — and then ‘he made us proud’ (The Athletic)
3. Volleyball star Lexi Rodriguez isn’t ‘rotting on a couch’ during the offseason. Dog-walking, saunas and an Oura ring help. (Yahoo!)
4. ‘Once-in-a-lifetime experience’: How the NFL’s smallest market is coming up big to host the draft (ESPN)
5. He was the first player ever to be drafted in the NFL, but he never played a professional game (CNN)
6. Elevating basketball while uniting nations (UNtoday)
7. Steph and Ayesha Curry discuss the impact of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (ESPN/NBA Today)
8. The Art of Picking the Perfect Walk-Up Song With Dansby Swanson and Christian Yelich (SI)
9. How This High School Football Team Overcame 2 Decades of Loss | Through the Storm (GQ Sports)
10. When You Walk Through a Storm (by Alisson Becker) (The Players’ Tribune)


10+
Summit Recap: Project Play network rallies around 63X30 (Aspen Institute/Project Play)
https://projectplay.org/news/summit-recap-project-play-network-rallies-around-63×30
Detroit’s Global Moment: How Sports Diplomacy Is Transforming Post-Industrial Cities Through the 2025 PeacePlayers Friendship Games (Youth Sports Business Report)
https://youthsportsbusinessreport.com/detroits-global-moment-how-sports-diplomacy-is-transforming-post-industrial-cities-through-the-2025-peaceplayers-friendship-games/
Biles, Duplantis and Nadal take centre stage at 25th anniversary Laureus World Sports Awards (Laureus)
https://www.laureus.com/news/biles-duplantis-and-nadal-take-centre-stage-at-25th-anniversary-laureus-world-sports-awards
From chalkboards to playgrounds: My evolution as an educator (Sport and Dev)
https://www.sportanddev.org/latest/news/chalkboards-playgrounds-my-evolution-educator
Girl Determined: Response & Recovery Through Sport in Myanmar (Beyond Sport)
https://beyondsport.org/2025/04/25/girl-determined-response-recovery-through-sport-in-myanmar/


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!

Savannah Bananas bring new life to baseball, dancing and playing by their own rules (60 Minutes)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/savannah-bananas-bring-new-life-to-baseball-60-minutes-transcript/
Lebron James Barbie and Bringing Back the Fun of Youth Sports (WIN | WIN)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1Mt0o18U-Y
Perseverance, My Path at Stanford (Jordyn Case) (Stanford Women’s Lacrosse)
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DI_85TaTo8T/?igsh=MW9rdThkZ2RqZWlucA%3D%3D
Marathon-running monk on the ancient wisdom useful in everyday life (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2025/apr/26/marathon-running-monk-on-the-ancient-wisdom-useful-in-everyday-life-video


Introduction
It is not so common for me to highlight a story more than once, but it does happen. For example, I have been documenting the rise of women’s sports for several years. I still feature stories in that area because the story continues to evolve. Hence, the desire/need to showcase it multiple times.

Well, we have another repeat this week and it has to deal with the Savannah Bananas. I hope you have heard of these folks, maybe by first reading about them in the newsletter. But it is okay if you haven’t. Actually, in a way, not knowing about them before watching the story from 60 Minutes sets you up for maximum laughs and good feelings that come with being exposed to them for the first time.

There is so much to like, excuse me, love, about the Savannah Bananas. First, these guys can really play baseball. But it goes way beyond that. The Bananas sell fun for everyone. If you are from my generation, you will be reminded of the ground-breaking Harlem Globetrotters, who are still, 99 years after they were founded, combining the beauty of the basketball with hilarity that comes with not taking yourself so seriously, unless it has to do with giving fans a great time. That is who the Bananas are and their sold-out stadium tour is a clear example that people are loving what they are selling.

So I was thrilled that my favorite news program took the time to go outside what they are known for to bring the story to us. I also encourage you to watch the accompanying 60 Minutes Overtime which highlights the attention that Jessie Cole, the founder of the Savannah Bananas, and his partner/wife give to the subject of foster care and how that is celebrated at every game. This is the epitome of sports doing good.

Please continue to send along your stories. You are both our audience and the best source of stories. Our Twitter handle is @sportsdoinggood, and you can find us at www.facebook.com/sportsdoinggood and on Instagram.

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.

Bill Walton’s environmental legacy keeps going strong (NBA.com)
https://www.nba.com/news/bill-walton-environmental-legacy

The Wizards made a sick boy’s dream come true — and then ‘he made us proud’ (The Athletic)
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6264628/2025/04/11/wizards-make-a-wish-ted-leonsis/

Volleyball star Lexi Rodriguez isn’t ‘rotting on a couch’ during the offseason. Dog-walking, saunas and an Oura ring help. (Yahoo!)
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/volleyball-star-lexi-rodriguez-isnt-rotting-on-a-couch-during-the-offseason-dog-walking-saunas-and-an-oura-ring-help-090003370.html

‘Once-in-a-lifetime experience’: How the NFL’s smallest market is coming up big to host the draft (ESPN)
https://www.espn.com/nfl/draft2025/story/_/id/44718750/nfl-draft-green-bay-packers-lambeau

He was the first player ever to be drafted in the NFL, but he never played a professional game (CNN)
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/04/23/sport/jay-berwanger-nfl-draft-spt/index.html

Elevating basketball while uniting nations (UNtoday)
https://untoday.org/elevating-basketball-while-uniting-nations/

Steph and Ayesha Curry discuss the impact of the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation (ESPN/NBA Today)
https://youtu.be/JW1wAZJKqJA?si=v01Re5Ma3pk7Hxq_

The Art of Picking the Perfect Walk-Up Song With Dansby Swanson and Christian Yelich (SI)
https://www.si.com/mlb/art-of-picking-perfect-walk-up-song-dansby-swanson-christian-yelich-interview

How This High School Football Team Overcame 2 Decades of Loss | Through the Storm (GQ Sports)
https://www.gq.com/video/watch/through-the-storm

When You Walk Through a Storm (by Alisson Becker) (The Players’ Tribune)
https://www.theplayerstribune.com/alisson-becker-premier-league-soccer-liverpool-brazil



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