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High School: Process Over Outcome, Has America Forgotten?

Full Disclosure: This article is a re-post of a piece I did back in June 4, 2009 (and moved to my ChicagoNow blog on March 3rd, 2010) for my personal blog. I thought it timely as it is still something I see continuing in 2012 and beyond.   The first half of this post’s title... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
Wednesday at 7:00 am
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The Growing Trend of “All Are Winners” in Youth Sports: Is it Really a Good Thing???

Lisa Lagrou’s article Should every child get a trophy? does a good job of presenting the current push toward the “everyone gets an award” mentality. Using her own daughter’s recent soccer sports experience, where their team (a team that had won only one game all season long) was awarded the same trophy as the best... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
Monday at 7:00 am
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Sports: The Day My Daughter's Sports Life Took a Terrible Turn

It was a long drive to the WAGS soccer tournament out in the Washington D.C. area back in the Fall of 2001. My oldest daughter had just come off of a solid high school soccer season, as a freshman on varsity, along with a successful prior summer camp experience with her club team out in... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
February 3, 2012 at 7:00 am
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Olympics: Steroid Cheats Big Time Targets at London 2012 Olympic Games

There have been a good number of articles written about how extensive and sensitive performance-enhancing drug testing will be at the 2012 Olympics this coming summer. According to many reports, not only will the numbers of athletes tested be greater, some say 50%, but advancements in testing procedures have increased the ability of testers to... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
February 1, 2012 at 7:00 am
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Sports Parenting: Janis Meredith Talks About Youth Sports Sympathy Groups Part II

Last Friday I highlighted Janis Meredith’s take on the negative parental gossip that is so common at youth sports events these days. However, Janis goes on to give some very perceptive alternatives to becoming part of that “sympathy group” phenomenon she discusses in What are sports parenting sympathy groups and why should you avoid them... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
January 30, 2012 at 7:00 am
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Sports Parenting: Janis Meredith Talks About Youth Sports Sympathy Groups Part I

Twenty-eight years as a wife of a coach, and eighteen as a parent of athletes, brings to an individual a wealth of experience and knowledge not readily available to the masses. You just can’t go through that in today’s youth sports culture without learning and gaining valuable, insightful information. And to merely say that one... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
January 27, 2012 at 7:00 am
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Bears Middle Linebacker Brian Urlacher’s Painkiller Use Depicts Bigger Problem in Sports

Early Tuesday morning as I perused the numerous work emails needing my attention, my department head came into the office and asked if I had heard about Brian Urlacher’s recent comments; that it was all over the radio. Being a suburbanite of Chicago, one very interested in happenings in the sports world (at youth through... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
January 25, 2012 at 7:00 am
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DO IT YOURSELF GUIDE TO COLLEGE ATHLETICS RECRUITING

DO IT YOURSELF GUIDE TO COLLEGE ATHLETICS RECRUITING
It is an extremely exciting time of life as a student-athlete finishes high school and looks forward to college. Having the possibility of playing college sports is a rare privilege and gaining a meaningful education while earning a college degree should be the ultimate goal. Sports is one way to assist in pursuing that experience... Read more »
By Coachlok,
January 23, 2012 at 7:00 am
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NCAA: President Mark Emmert Wants to Move College Sports in a Better Direction

Wow, what a year in college sports. Talk about epitomizing the “bad” behavior that college sports can bring to the table; 2011 was a banner year. As referenced at CNN, we had the memorabilia trading scandal under Jim Tressel at Ohio State, continued fallout over USC’s Reggie Bush receiving money and gifts during his college... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
January 20, 2012 at 7:00 am
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High School: Reaching Athletic Potential versus Winning; They Are Not Synonymous

There is a misconception in sports, in many circles, that winning (as in being able to win a game) and working toward reaching one’s athletic potential amounts to being one and the same. That if you have the ability to defeat your opponents on a regular basis, you are also doing exactly what it takes... Read more »
By Kirk Mango,
January 18, 2012 at 7:00 am
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