Sports

“Sports teach the same lessons to the superstar as the substitute.”

By Marc Comtois | September 1, 2009 |

ProJo high school sports reporter John Gillooly writes about pay-to-play and gives an example of a young girl who thought she’d give volleyball a try, but paying a sports participation fee was an issue: She had heard that anyone who felt their family couldn’t afford the participation fee could go to the high school athletic…

UPDATE: RIDE – Charging Fees for School Sports Not Allowed

By Marc Comtois | August 6, 2009 |

Updating my post of a couple weeks ago (and confirming a comment by WJAR’s Bill Rappleye at the time), the RI Department of Education has issued a statement that school districts can’t charge fees for interscholastic sports (via ProJo 7to7): School districts cannot, under current state law, charge fees for interscholastic sports, and if a…

Fish Ladders

By Marc Comtois | July 1, 2009 |

Conservative. Conservation. Fish Ladders. For years, a consortium of government agencies and advocacy groups has struggled for funding to knock down dams and build fish ladders to help restore local fish migrations. That work was jump-started on Tuesday when the federal government came forward with $3 million in stimulus money for six projects on the…

Opening Day is Coming

By Marc Comtois | April 3, 2009 |

No deep thoughts to plumb (life can get like that, no?)….but I can offer this from National Review Online: For the Love of the Game: Thirty Major League Baseball fans lay out the reasons for their devotion: WHY I LOVE THE BOSTON RED SOX Walking through a Fenway Park turnstile is the sweetest feeling on…

Do We Really Need Legislators Involved in Youth Sports?

By Marc Comtois | March 4, 2009 |

No. We don’t. But the RI Senate is gonna try (S0169) (h/t Dan Yorke): 41-12-1. Legislative findings. – The Rhode Island general assembly finds that parents lack a proper outlet to share concerns and objections about youth sports. The general assembly further finds that there is a need for increased transparency and direction within youth…

Sports and the Community

By Marc Comtois | February 21, 2009 |

Growing up in northern Maine, no week was bigger than Tournament Week–what we call February vacation here in Rhode Island. It is still a big deal. Basketball teams and their supporters congregate at the Bangor Auditorium from all over the northern 3/4s of the state, all for the purpose of representing “Eastern Maine” in the…

William’s Sisters Refuse to Take a Stand

By Marc Comtois | February 20, 2009 |

Sometimes its the sports pages that hold the important cultural news of the day. Today’s win-at-all costs sports culture provides plenty of fodder for those of us interested in supplying our youth with teaching moments. The recent admission by Alex Rodriguez that he took steroids is but one example of just one high profile and…

Are You Ready For To Get Pissed At Some Football?

By Marc Comtois | January 23, 2009 |

The NFL is generally considered to be the smartest and savviest of the major sports leagues. But they are screwing up, big time, here (h/t): The Super Bowl won’t let the military color guard stay and watch the big game? Yes you read that right. Was I skeptical? At first, but after I contacted the…

Jim Ed is IN HOF

By Marc Comtois | January 12, 2009 |

I’ve been sparse again….but instead of offering comment on the important political events of the day, I just want to note that Jim Ed Rice is finally in the Baseball HOF: Jim Rice was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame today, in his final year on the writers’ ballot. He earned 76.4 percent of the…