Resources on Sports

Cooper: In Memoriam

By Charlie Wingard · August 25, 2018 · 1 Comment
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Cooper was a remarkable dog, a beloved member of the family of my Alabama friends, Matt and Rebecca Harnesss. For years, he was at my side as I trained for several marathons. He passed away earlier this month and will be sorely missed. In recent years when I visited, he was unable to run. Still, whenever I showed up, he found his way to me and stood beside me. Becca remembers how protective he was of Anne Marie after she was born, hovering close by and keeping a watchful eye whenever visitors held her. She summed up well Cooper’s life: “He was a good friend and a loyal companion.” This picture was taken in 2011. I wrote then: It’s fall,…

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The Boys in the Boat

By Charlie Wingard · May 26, 2015 · 0 Comments
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  The pageantry of the 1936 Berlin Olympics was a triumph for Hitler’s propaganda machine. Evidences of the Reich’s virulent anti-semitism were swept from the streets. Gone for the duration of the games were the “Jews not welcome” signs in stores and shops. On display were the orderliness, architectural grandeur, and growing military muscle of Nazi Germany. Berlin would be the last Olympic contest until 1948, long after Hitler was dead and the city reduced to rubble. Among the athletes competing in Berlin were Americans who became famous for not only their athletic skill, but their unconquerable courage: Jesse Owens, Glenn Cunningham, Louis Zamperini, and the men of the United States Olympic rowing team. Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat tells the story of…

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Are Youth Sports a Sound College Investment?

By Charlie Wingard · January 20, 2015 · 0 Comments
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Parents who consider youth sports a pathway to college athletic scholarships will want to read “The Rising Costs of Youth Sports, in Money and Emotion”, which appeared last week in The New York Times. George Washington University’s Mark Hyman offers sound counsel: “Parents think these investments are justified; they think it will lead to a full ride to college. . . That’s highly misinformed. The percentage of high school kids who go on to play in college is extremely small. In most sports it’s under 5 percent. And the number for kids getting school aid is even smaller — it’s 3 percent . . . What I tell parents is if you want to get a scholarship for your kids, you’re better off…

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