In the News                                

Hazing Proposal Details Under Scrutiny in Illinois Senate
Chicago Daily Herald, May 23, 2013 Thursday
SPRINGFIELD — A suburban Democrat says he'll make changes to a proposal that grew out of hazing scandals in the suburbs after lawmakers raised questions about how broadly it would be applied.

Report: More P.E., Activity Programs Needed in Schools
USA TODAY, May 24, 2013 Friday
Kids need to break a sweat at school. Students should be doing at least 60 minutes of vigorous or moderate-intensity physical activity at school, with more than half of the activity occurring during regular educational hours and the remaining amount before and after school, says a report released Thursday by the Institute of Medicine.

Sports Medicine Director: Many Heat-Related Deaths Avoidable
Post & Courier (Charleston, SC), May 24, 2013 Friday
Twelve high school and college athletes will die of football-related injuries and illnesses next season. That might seem like a scary prediction, but it is a realistic one based on historical data. A new study in the May 2013 issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine offers data from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Between 1990 and 2010, 243 high school and college football players died in the United States. On average, 12.2 young football players lost their lives due to football each year. As shocking as those numbers might be to parents of young athletes, they are equally disturbing to sports medicine physicians. A sizable percentage of these deaths could be avoided.

Rockefeller Introduces Federal Youth Sports Concussion Act
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), May 23, 2013, Thursday
A senator who's long pushed parents, coaches and communities to help protect young athletes from sports-related concussions is now sponsoring federal legislation to set safety standards for helmets.

Trend Favors Smoking Bans at Parks, Pools and Rec Centers
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 24, 2013 Friday
Smokers are welcome in fewer outdoor places as bans against lighting up in parks and recreational areas are adopted with increasing frequency in the region. Even some beaches are off-limits. Burlington County joined 183 other counties and municipalities in New Jersey on Wednesday when it snuffed out smoking in its parks, according to the Global Advisors Smokefree Policy (GASP), a nonprofit that promotes the trend. In Philadelphia, smoking is prohibited at city playgrounds, pools, and rec centers; New York City extends its ban to sidewalks in some business districts, according to GASP. The Shore's Seaside Park has smoke-free beaches, as does Belmar, which goes so far as to include its boardwalk.

Old Farm Converted to Ballpark, Horse Trails 
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin), May 23, 2013 Thursday
Muskego - Muskego - What once was a farm, a place of grueling work, will now aptly serve as a place where little children and families can sled down a hill, play baseball and ride horses.

Are Fitness Flash Mobs the Next Big Thing? 
The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), May 22, 2013 Wednesday
If meeting up at the mall dressed in elf garb or dancing a coordinated routine to the Spice Girls isn't your thing, take heart. A new kind of flash mob is growing in Madison, and it's one that may help those tired of the gym or their regular routine to get motivated to work out. Described as a "fitness flash mob," the November Project uses social media to recruit random people to participate in early-morning workouts, with the objective of turning fitness into a social event.

MLB's Yankees, Manchester City to Co-Own MLS Expansion Team
The Virginian-Pilot(Norfolk, VA.), May 22, 2013 Wednesday
By Ronald Blum The Associated Press NEW YORK Hoping baseball success will translate to titles in another sport, the Yankees are combining with English power Manchester City to own a Major League Soccer expansion team in New York that will start play in 2015. The team, the 20th in a league that has doubled in size in two decades, will be called New York City Football Club. It has less than two years to find a temporary home while focusing on where it wants to build a permanent stadium.

Minor League Team Revives Ballpark, Succeeds Where Others Failed
The Capital Times (Madison, Wisconsin), May 22, 2013 Wednesday
Ruly Carpenter, former owner of the Philadelphia Phillies, on how to make a small fortune owning a baseball team: "Start out with a large fortune." Madison Mallards owner and lifelong sports fanatic Steve Schmitt remembers looking out at the smattering of spectators sitting on aluminum bleachers at Warner Park in the summer of 2001. Schmitt had just paid $150,000 for a new franchise in the Northwoods League and couldn't help but wonder if his effort might go bust like three previous minor league baseball ventures in Madison did in the 1990s. "Man, there were some nights back then when you could just about count everybody in the seats," said Schmitt, who also owns the Shoe Box in Black Earth and Rookies Food & Spirits near Mazomanie.

ACC Still Interested in NYC for Men's Basketball Tourney
News & Record (Greensboro, NC), May 22, 2013 Wednesday
GREENSBORO - The ACC is still vetting sites, including New York City, for its next round of men's basketball tournaments, commissioner John Swofford says.

Officials Look to Ease Traffic Jams Near New Indoor Sports Complex
The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, MA), May 22, 2013 Wednesday
HANOVER - With the sudden popularity of a massive new sports complex that opened last month on the site of a faded amusement park, officials in Hanover are looking for ways to keep the flood of new traffic on Route 53 from clogging the road each weekend.

Bismarck, N.D., Bans Smoking at 44 Playgrounds
The Bismarck Tribune, May 17, 2013 Friday
In a 5-0 vote on Thursday, the Bismarck Park Board took swift action to ban smoking on the 44 playgrounds and play areas it manages. People must step 20 feet away from the playground before they light up.

Testing Begins at Former Park Near Child Cancer Cluster
Charleston Gazette (West Virginia), May 21, 2013, Tuesday
FREMONT, Ohio - Whirlpool Corp. began soil and water testing Monday at a former park in a northern Ohio area where cancer has sickened dozens of children for more than a decade.

Students, Faculty Slam New Mexico State's Emphasis on Athletics
Albuquerque Journal (New Mexico), May 20, 2013 Monday
LAS CRUCES - Members of the New Mexico State University community are pushing back against Regents Chairman Mike Cheney's public exhortation that Aggies support athletics, in particular the long-struggling football program.

WVU Baseball Team Goes on Shopping Spree for Tornado Victims
USA TODAY, May 22, 2013 Wednesday
Members of the University of West Virginia baseball team thought they were going to have some downtime this week. They had just completed the regular season at Oklahoma State and had several days to rest before the Big 12 Conference tournament in Oklahoma City.

San Francisco to Host Super Bowl L in New Levi's Stadium
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 22, 2013 Wednesday
BOSTON --- The NFL sent a clear message about stadium politics Tuesday, awarding the 50th Super Bowl in 2016 to the San Francisco 49ers' new stadium over the Miami Dolphins' facility. NFL owners reiterated the message by also rejecting Miami for the 51st Super Bowl, awarding the 2017 game to Houston instead. The votes, held at the owners' spring meeting, came several weeks after a proposed taxpayer-supported renovation of the Dolphins' 26-year-old Sun Life Stadium was blocked by the Florida Legislature.

Swimming Deaths Trouble Triathlons, Reflect Sport's Rapid Growth
USA TODAY, May 16, 2013 Thursday
Nanette Nanjo-Jones and Margaret Pometta were inseparable after they discovered the sport of triathlon in 2008. They trained together on hilly roads in San Mateo County, Calif., and at races they decorated their bicycles with colored flags and wore matching pink boas. Before each event, the two always snapped a photo together. The photo from the 2012 Vineman Half Ironman in Guerneville, Calif., is the final image of the two together. Minutes after it was taken, Pometta, a 50-year-old mother of three, suffered a heart attack while swimming in the Russian River. She was pronounced dead a short time later. Nanjo-Jones, 47, did not hear about her friend's death until after she finished the race, which was composed of a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride and 13.1-mile run.

Military Bowl Gets Boost from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
The Capital (Annapolis, MD), May 21, 2013 Tuesday
Officials with the Naval Academy Athletic Association had a big hand in helping establish a collegiate bowl game in the District of Columbia. Now the private organization, led by athletic director Chet Gladchuk, is doing its part to breathe new life into the event. The DC Bowl Committee and Events DC announced on Monday that the 2013 Military Bowl, presented by Northrop Grumman, will be played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The sixth annual game, which will pit the eighth selection from the Atlantic Coast Conference against a Conference USA representative, will be held on Dec. 27 (2:30 p.m.) and be broadcast by ESPN.

Middle School P.E. Classes in the Crosshairs 
The Roanoke Times (Virginia), May 21, 2013 Tuesday
Montgomery County's School Board is poised to revisit the topic of middle school gym classes, but it's unclear if the board will act during a scheduled meeting tonight to undo a budget-saving step that cut the number of physical education classes each week. "For next year, I think it's pretty much done," school board Chairman Wendell Jones said Monday.

Opinion: Give Student-Athletes P.E. Credit for Playing Sports
The Union Leader (Manchester, NH), May 17, 2013 Friday
A young woman whose name most Manchester students have never heard is on the verge of changing the city's health curriculum for the better.

Stadium Innovation, Player Safety Top Priorities Among NFL Owners 
USA TODAY, May 21, 2013 Tuesday
NFL owners will meet today to discuss issues involving the league, including player safety. Stephen Jones says there will be another pressing issue on the agenda: the increasing problem of getting NFL fans off the couch, away from their high-definition TVs and back into stadium seats. "Everybody always says we have to watch concussions and all of that, and that's at the forefront. But I'd say 1-A is this," the Dallas Cowboys' executive vice president and chief operating officer told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

Pac-12 Commissioner Pulls in $3M Annually; Much More Than Peers
USA TODAY, May 20, 2013 Monday
Pac-12 Conference Commissioner Larry Scott was credited with nearly $3.1 million in compensation during the 2011 calendar year, according to the conference's latest federal tax return -- and he isn't the only highly paid member on his staff.

Judge to Soon Decide Lawsuit Against NCAA Over PSU Sanctions
The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 21, 2013 Tuesday
HARRISBURG - A federal judge said Monday that she would decide in a few weeks whether to dismiss a lawsuit by Gov. Corbett against the NCAA over sanctions against Pennsylvania State University stemming from the Jerry Sandusky child sex-abuse scandal.

Ohio City: We Have Largest Free Outdoor Climbing Wall in U.S.
The Columbus Dispatch (Ohio), May 19, 2013 Sunday
Columbus is home to what has been billed as the largest free outdoor climbing wall in the country. The wall covers 6,100 square feet at Scioto Audubon Park, which is on the Whittier Peninsula just southwest of Downtown.

CrossFit Competition Attracts 10,000 Spectators
Palm Beach Post (Florida), May 20, 2013 Monday
Burpees, dead lifts and box jumps have gone mainstream after more than 10,000 people flocked to the Palm Beach County Convention Center over the weekend to watch the Reebok CrossFit South East Regional.

Baseball, Softball, Wrestling Among Sports Seeking Return to Olympics 
USA TODAY, May 16, 2013 Thursday
In a joint effort to return to the Summer Olympics after two failed attempts, baseball and softball are swinging for the fences. Officials from the World Baseball Softball Confederation met with the Major League Baseball Players Association two weeks ago to discuss a condensed Olympic schedule that could allow major league players to participate in the Games, WBSC co-president Don Porter told USA TODAY Sports.

Park Managers Focusing on Safer Ways to Control Goose Population
Spokesman Review (Spokane, WA), May 19, 2013 Sunday
By Dylan Darling (Bend, Ore.) Bulletin BEND, Ore.- Park managers in Bend are using a mix of egg oiling, hazing and possibly a youngster roundup to keep the number of geese - and the amount of goose poop - down at parks around town. The Bend Park & Recreation District has been contending for decades with Canada geese, which gather and graze on waterside grass, but the efforts drew public attention in summer 2010 when the district killed more than 100 geese. Since then, district officials have said they are focused on control methods that don't result in dead geese.

Traffic, Safety, Cost Issues Could Get Spring Training Stadium in Foul Trouble 
Palm Beach Post (Florida), May 18, 2013 Saturday
A new spring training stadium off Central Boulevard could be a home run, but lots of issues must be ironed out before the Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros can play ball, say residents, school officials and local politicians. Building the stadium in Palm Beach Gardens is pivotal to keeping the six-week spring training season, which county officials say generates about $50 million annually. Without the new stadium, the four Major League Baseball teams who now train in southeast Florida may leave, say those in favor of the new stadium. "A new stadium is a great idea. Baseball would bring jobs for restaurants and hotels. Local students could work there during the summer," said Jessica Klersy, waiting in her car last week for her two daughters who are students at Watson B. Duncan Middle School on the south side of 117th Court North.

CDC: More Than Half of All Public Pools Contaminated by E. Coli
Charleston Daily Mail (West Virginia), May 17, 2013, Friday
WASHINGTON - Human feces taints more than half of public swimming pools, a finding U.S. health officials are using to urge better personal hygiene as the summer months approach.

South Carolina Lawmakers' Plan Would Allow Ads on School Activity Buses
Post & Courier (Charleston, SC), May 16, 2013 Thursday
South Carolina school districts may be able to bring in extra money next year selling advertisements on activity buses. Critics of the plan are concerned about how being bombarded with ads would affect students. But leaders in the Charleston County and Dorchester District 2 schools said they would carefully consider the fundraising option if it became available to them.