Why Civil Rights Were at Stake in the Pilaro Field Hockey Case
By Doug Abrams Fourteen-year-old Keeling Pilaro will play field hockey for Long Island’s Southhampton High School again next season after all. On Tuesday morning, his continued participation was approved by a close vote of an appeals panel of Section 11, which supervises Suffolk County’s high school sports. The ultimate issue was whether Title IX would … Read more
Title IX and the “Level Playing Field”
By Doug Abrams Rick Wolff and I had another stimulating conversation on “The Sports Edge” last Sunday morning, this time about Title IX’s dramatic effect on the lives of boys and girls in sports. Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972, of course, is the landmark congressional legislation that prohibits gender discrimination in … Read more
“You can’t play any more because you’re too good” – A Very Strange Case of Title IX
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX, the wonderful federal law that mandates equal play for boys and girls in HS and college sports. By all measures, this has been a law which has brought only good things to sports. But that being said, every so often a quirky situation … Read more
“Big Brother is Watching You!”… Colleges Hire Outside Firms to Monitor Athletes’ Posting on Social Media
“So here’s how it works…if your son or daughter wants to play intercollegiate sports at our university, he or she has to first sign a waiver that gives us access to all of her social media, including the password to their Facebook account, twitter account, and so on.” Can that be possible? Isn’t that illegal? … Read more
Why Parks and Recreation Departments Deserve Public Funding
By Doug Abrams During the recession that has beset the nation for the last five years or so, many municipalities have slashed budgets for a range of new and existing public services. Setting annual budgetary priorities deserves careful attention in any town or city whose laws require a balanced budget, but a beleaguered parks director … Read more
Another Case of Religious Accomodation: In this case, a happy ending…
The boys’ basketball team at Beren Academy, a Jewish Orthodox school near Houston, had a terrific season, and the players were eagerly looking to the post-season playoffs. But then, the Texas Assn of Private and Parochial Schools (TAPPS), ruled that the playoff games were slated to start on Friday evening and that they couldn’t be changed. … Read more
Another Top HS Prospect Gets Burned by the Internet…When are these kids going to learn?
For the past several years, we’ve been preaching on WFAN’s The Sports Edge that kids have to be EXTRA diligent when it comes to using social media. Whether they’re posting comments or photos on their Facebook account, or sending text messages, or posting comments on Twitter, they have to be aware that once something is sent … Read more
Are You Okay with Public Schools Charging for Team Tryouts?
In an effort to defray the soaring costs of HS sports, I had read where some scbools in the Midwest were now charging kids a fee of $50 if they wanted to try out for a school team. As was pointed out on my radio show this AM, parents routinely fork over anywhere from $30 to … Read more
Mike Milbury Allegedly Assaults a 12-year-old Hockey Player: What Sports Parent need to know…
According to several eyewitnesses, former NHL player and head coach and GM of the Islanders did something that lots of sports parents do – -when Milbury saw his 12-year-old son getting into an altercation with another 12-year-old on the ice, Milbury went onto the ice and separated the two boys by grabbing the other boy … Read more
The Continuing Strange Saga of the 9 Wayne Hills HS Football Players
The school board in Wayne NJ announced right after Thanksgiving that they were now going to enforce the ban on the 9 varsity football players who were arrested and charged with the aggravated assault which left two kids from Wayne Valley HS seriously hurt after a party some weeks ago. The coach of the Wayne … Read more
"The Sports Edge"
Rick Wolff
Steve Kallas
Doug Abrams
