Sport in Society in The News

Jason Collins Comes Out. A Conversation, Long Overdue, Begins. 
05.02.2013
By Dan Lebowitz, Aspire

This powerful post on the Northeastern College of Professional Studies blog, written by Executive Director Dan Lebowitz, discusses the importance of NBA player Jason Collins coming out. The first professional male athlete in a major American sport, Collins broke down a social barrier in openly admitting his sexuality, and through his brave actions sparked an international conversation about sexuality, masculinity, and sports. Traditionally, sports have had the power to move the public opinion on social issues, and Collins has taken an important step in opening the door for other gay athletes and eventually cause a positive shift in the entire culture of American sports and our ideas about what it means to be a man.

“There should be many definitions of healthy manhood. Jason Collins reminds us of that.”

Jason Collins’ Quiet Facilitator
05.01.2013
By Adrian Walker, The Boston Globe

How does gender effect the recent announcement from Jason Collins that he is a gay, currently-playing athlete? Technically, Collins is not the first active athlete in a major sport like basketball to come out in America, but he is the first male to do so; WNBA prospect Brittney Griner actually came out ten days before, and a few other female star athletes have made the same announcement to much lesser media attention. What does this say about our attitudes and expectations toward male and female athletes? And our perspective on masculinity in general? Executive Director Dan Lebowitz points out that Collins is broadening the definition of manhood by uniting a different sexual orientation with a traditionally rough and “manly” profession. Collins’ announcement and the attention paid to it will pose these questions to the general public, and slowly cause a shift in our cultural attitudes about traditional male roles. proving again how much sport can impact and lead in social change.

Collins’s announcement challenges comfortable but homophobic notions about athletic heroes, said Dan Lebowitz, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. He calls the revelation a civil rights watershed moment. “The sports world is typified by this hyper­masculine definition of manhood that hadn’t allowed for these conversations of an athlete of a different sexual orientation,” Lebowitz said. “I think it creates a positive self-image for every gay kid who is an athlete or every gay kid who isn’t an athlete. They can find people who are like them. There should be a lot of room for a grand definition of what manhood is. It can be a million things, including being a gay athlete.”

Ex-Celt Jason Collins exits closet, makes history
04.30.2013
By Tom Layman, Boston Herald

As the first out active athlete, Jason Collins is a trailblazer in American sports, and this article explores the potential for other athletes to follow his lead. The official reactions of the NBA Commissioner David Stern and his peers in the league have mostly been positive and supportive of Collins’ leadership role. Former athletes such as retired NFL player Wade Davis are also congratulatory, especially since Davis himself came out after he left football. Proud of Collins, Davis feels that this moment will be a watershed for sports and that he won’t be excluded on future teams and in locker rooms, but knows from personal experience how difficult it will be for another athlete to make that step. Executive Director Dan Lebowitz agrees, aknowledging that change won’t occur overnight. Although Collins has opened the door and thrust major American sports in the discussion on gay rights, it could still be a while before another active player is brave and comfortable enough to make that next step.

“Society evolves,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director at Northeastern University’s Sport in Society center. “Sports are kind of this great platform for the movement and continuum of social justice. . . . The continuum in terms of gay rights has really gained steam recently. I think he felt he could make this move now, where probably earlier in his career he might have felt that he couldn’t.” “People are so visceral around civil rights issues that I think it will take a while for another athlete to come out, at least an active athlete,” Lebowitz said. “Although I hope not.”

Dan Lebowitz: Jason Collins may take a lot of abuse from NBA fans
04.30.2013
By NECN

In this television interview, Executive Director Dan Lebowtiz is explains the importance of NBA player Jason Collins’ openly aknowledging his sexuality, and how that will impact both is future and the league’s. Lebowitz compares this moment to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in baseball, another instance where sports had the power to transform the social landscape and further social justice within the larger society. Some people are concerned that as a free agent, Collins’ statment could hurt his chances of signing with a team this upcoming season, but his obvious talent and long career almost guarantee he will be asked to play another year. The next season will be interesting, since as Lebowitz points out, fans might have a negative reaction to his sexuality; Collins could be the target of slurs and abuse. But as any social justice pioneer knows, those voices will eventually fade to leave a more open and even playing field.

“There are a lot of teams and a lot of markets that will take him,” Lebowitz says, adding Collins still has the basketball skills.” “I think in many respects it is a Jackie Robinson moment,” he says. “This is about evolution, social justice evolution.”

NBA Veteran Jason Collins Comes Out as Gay
04.29.2013
By David Barron, The Houston Chronicle 

The impact of Jason Collins’ announcement in Sports Illustrated that he is gay spread far beyond the sports world and into popular culture, prompting a variety of reactions and questions about the role of male athletes in America. But does Collins coming out indicate that major American sports are actually behind in matters of social justice? Internationally, other active male athletes have come out, and just 10 days ago Baylor University baskeball star Brittney Griner told media she is gay. In openly admitting his sexuality, Collins at least starts an important dialogue about manhood and our culture’s expectations of male athletes, and most players are supportive of his honesty. Although some reactions have been negative, Executive Director Dan Lebowtiz emphasises the importance of this first step and the necessary conversations it sparks.

“For an active athlete to come out makes a big statement about manhood in general,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society. “We’ve thought you could never talk about homosexuality in terms of sports. It hasn’t been equated with that. But here you have a phenomenal athlete with a long career making a statement about who he is, and what you have is sports being a social justice engine. In terms of sports in the locker room and on the field, it is a bold move.”

What Kobe won’t Tweet: Los Angeles is becoming a Clippers town
04.24.2013 
By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor 

Basketball fans in Los Angeles are beginning to own their two NBA teams, to the shock of the Lakers. A few years ago most fans didn’t even aknowledge the Clippers existance, but know find themselves cheering on the Clippers during their playoff run, while the Lakers struggle without Kobe Bryant. Top players like Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are adding to the team’s credibility and popularity, perhaps signaling a more permanent switch in the loyalty of LA fans. As Executive Director Dan Lebowitz points out, Bryant has been in the league for so long that a changing of the guard seems inevitable, and judging from the rise of the underdog Clippers, there seems to be serious change in Los Angeles.

“The Lakers have been the shining star for decades, and the Clippers almost the laughing stock of the league,” says Dan Lebowitz, president of the Center for the Study of Sports in Society atNortheastern University. “Now the Clippers are the darlings of the league, the Cinderella team to watch. This is going to be good.” “Kobe has been the face of basketball there for so long, it seems it’s time to pass it on,” says Lebowitz, noting that the Clippers managed the draft well in recent years and made good trades. “They created a great team with good chemistry between players.”

Mike Ilitch Puts Building a Champion Ahead of Profits in Tigers’ Rebirth
04.05.2013
By Lynn Henning, The Detroit News

As the 2013 baseball season starts, this article looks at the Detroit Tigers and the progress of the club since owner Mike Ilitch bought the team in 1992. The city and its fans have embraced the Tigers, and their popularity has soared despite economic hardships in Detroit. Last year the team sold more merchandise than any other MLB club except the Yankees, and the signing of big stars like Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander is part of a major plan by Ilitch to propel the Tigers into the World Series. Unfortunately, team popularity and fan spending doesn’t offset the cost of big stars, and the Tigers were one of few teams to actually lose money last year according to Forbes. But the Tigers are a franchise to be reckoned with, and Executive Director Dan Lebowitz sees a few reasons why.

“To put the Tigers into popular cultural perspective, they are the Chrysler 300 of Major League Baseball,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director for the Study of Sport and Society at Northeastern University. “Who doesn’t like that car?

“They’re likeable from the top down. (Manager Jim) Leyland’s basically this old-time baseball guy, this baseball sage who’s a great connection to the pastoral past of baseball. And then they’ve got Justin Verlander, who is just a phenom in leading his team by example. And what you see is that this team is, in so many ways, great, gritty and fun. Greatness is always appreciated on a national scale. But grittiness is always appreciated on all kinds of levels for what it means to the competitive spirit of the game.”

“There’s a great amount of diversity on that club,” Lebowitz said, speaking of a team with a heavy Latin presence, as well as three African-American starters. “How do we embrace that diversity? How do we celebrate that diversity as greatness?

“The Tigers do that.”

Firing of Coach Puts Rutgers Reputation Back in Spotlight
04.04.2013
By Peter Haskell, CBS New York

In this interview, Peter Haskell talks about the firing of Rutgers University head basketball coach Mike Rice, and what his dismissal means for a school already facing scrutiny over the suicide of freshman Tyler Clementi in 2010. For a university looking to salvage its image and improve its reputation, Executive Director Dan Lebowtitz recommends a hard look at their coaches and leadership. Rutgers can use this as an opportunity to hire someone who won’t act in a verbally or physically abusive manner, and will treat their players with respect; a coach leads their student athletes by example, and the school can now look for a coach who will set a positive and appropriate example of strength and masculinity, both on and off the court.

“How are we gonna carry that brand? What’s the image that we want to put forth around that brand?” Dan Lebowitz “It’s a training about what leadership means. How do you embrace leadership? How do you teach coaching? How do you coach coaches to be better? If a player speaks up, then he’s going to be denigrated as someone that isn’t manly”

Michigan Program Resurgent in Reaching First Final Four since 1993
04.04.2013
By Rachel Lenzi, The Toledo Blade

The University of Michigan is proud to support their basketball team as it drives towards the NCAA Championship game, a position their team last reached a decade ago. The basketball program at Michigan has encountered a fair amount of difficulty off the court, with a Federal investigation in 1996 uncovering the largest NCAA payout scandal and prompting a larger conversations about violations in college sports. Athletic teams are huge business operations whose interests often conflict with the rules of Division 1 sports, a back and forth that ultimately damages the legacy of these college programs. With an opportunity to revamp the basketball legacy, Michigan looks ahead to the Final Four with a clear and sanction-free team.

“Whether it’s the NCAA or it’s big business or politics, there’s always going to be a percentage of people who go beyond the rules,” said Dan Lebowitz, the executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for Sport in Society in Boston. “In any context, there’s always parameters of rules. And there are people who go outside of them. But in the issue with the NCAA and why people do it, there’s a reason we see it magnified in college sports, especially in Division I football and basketball. Those are economic engines, and they’re enormous.”

The onus on the new guard at Michigan is to do things “the right way” — part of a cycle that Lebowitz said is “a push-pull dynamic in college athletics, in terms of operating with ethics, integrity, and the parameters of guidelines.”

Jock Culture’s Dark Side
03.22.2013
By Mark Lamont Hill, Huffington Post Live

Is there a culture of violence and entitlement in traditionally male sports? Executive Director of Sport in Society Dan Lebowtiz, Katie Hnida, the first woman to play Division 1 college football and a sexual assualt survivor, and Assistant Professor of Social Work at Rutgers University Sarah McMahon discuss the recent Steubenville rape trial, and sexual assualt in athletic contexts. The idea of “jock culture” and protection for young male athletes has become a seriously debated topic, and this interview looks at the link between rape culture and sports. The powerful discussion explores sexual violence in our society, being a bystander on a sports team, and the challenges for young male athletes growing up and navigating the jock culture in America today.

“We don’t have a construct of manhood that teaches…that its ok to be respectful of women. If we compartmentalize Steubenville…we excuse ourselves from being complicit in the way we as a society…treat women in general.” Dan Lebowtiz

The Kathleen Dunn Show
03.20.2013
By Kathleen Dunn, Wisconsin Public Radio

In this hour long radio show Jarrod Chin, the Director for Training and Curriculum at Sport in Society, and Sarah McMahon, Assistant Professor from the Center on Violence Against Women & Children at the Rutgers School of Social Work, discuss the potential links between jock culture and rape culture. The recent Steubenville rape trial highlights the possible connections between the entitlement of young male athletes and sexual assualt in America. Chin argues that although this trial focuses on two rapists from an Ohio football team, it is a chance to discuss how the media portrays violence against women, the importance of being a bystander and the epidemic of sexual violence in greater society. The Steubenville case is a chance to begin these conversations and examine  societal norms, and the difficult but necessary job of changing the way people view gender and power based violence.

“When you look at the culture of a sports team, it starts with the coaches. It really takes…being educated around these issues.” said Jarrod Chin “This is not a woman’s issue. It’s a man’s issue. It has to be something that people are talking about.”

Winning’s Not the Only Thing
03.14.2013
By Brian Lee, Worcester Telegram and Gazette 

On Sundays at the Oxford Community Center, the 6-8 year old basketball players are all considered winners; unfortunately, some feel that their no-score league is actually making them all losers. Opponents of the community basketball program feel that kids need to learn early how to be competetive while having fun, and not keeping score inhibits that. Except that in the seven years since the league went scoreless for its youngest players, enthusiasm has only grown, and kids spend more time learning about the game, the rules, and the skills instead of constantly checking the scoreboard. The ability to foster that cooperative spirit, instead of competetive one, is the real win for the players.

“There’s always that push-pull between the competitive spirit of what sport is and the cooperative spirit of what teamwork is, and when is the right time to teach that cooperative spirit in an open window in terms of some of the developmental process of youth,” said Dan Lebowitz, director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston “But there’s enough of a framework throughout all of society around competition that it’s not so negative that in a first-grade league, you’re not keeping score so that the focus on the game is on cooperative spirit, and sort of positive teamwork, and understanding how to work as a unit,”

What do you think of women competing in traditionally male sports?
02.26.2013
By Jim Braude and Margery Eagan, WGBH

An interview with the first female individual state champion wrestler in MA, Danielle Coughlin from North Andover. Hosts Jim and Margery talk to Executive Director Dan Lebowitz and Boston Globe sports reporter Shira Springer, asking if Coughlin is an aberration or sign of things to come. This leads to a discussion about gender roles, and our definitions of femininity and traditionally male sports, where Lebowitz attests that changing perceptions are giving women and girls more opportunity to break socially constructed gender barriers.

Pursuit of Risk Grows for X Games Thrill-Seekers
02.12.2013
By John Jeansonne, Newsday

What made Caleb Moore attempt to flip over backwards on a 450lb snowmobile? After his death attempting this stunt in the 2013 Winter X Games, Frank Farley, a psychology professor at Temple University explains the T-Type or Thrill-Type personality that causes some people to engage in such high-risk behavior. These adrenaline trailblazers engage in dangerous stunts but are rewarded, both biologically and culturally, when they accomplish such death-defying tricks. However, the T-Type personality isn’t limited to extreme sports; from the Mayflower to the moon, people have been pushing the envelope by forging ahead despite an uncertain outcome, often to great reward. Unfortunately, this past winter the X Games featured the downside of thrill seeking, to great loss.

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for Study of Sport in Society, told ESPN‘s Outside the Lines that, while such deaths as Moore’s are “always incredibly tragic,” they are not new to sports, and that “we are sort of complicit, as a society, in the tragedy.”

“We expect,” Lebowitz said, “a lot of super-human effort and super-human performance from our athletes. The bar keeps getting raised and the envelope keeps getting pushed and, in some ways, it’s a Pandora’s Box. There’s no going backwards.”

Jackie Robinson: American Hero
02.01.2013
By Jan Hubbard, American Way

Who was Jackie Robinson off the baseball diamond? His commitment to social change extended beyond the dugout; Robinson was deeply committed to social change and used his influence as an athlete to advance the civil-rights movement. An incredible example of the power wielded by athletes and their ability to effect social change, this article explores his impact on American society.

“He had the success; he had the position,” says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. “It was incumbent on him as a leader of men, not just of his race but of men, to speak out. Looking back, it wasn’t that surprising. He was a positive force in moving the pendulum forward in the area of social justice.”

Outside the Lines Discusses Safety Concerns at X Games
01.31.2013
ESPN Video

Following the death of snowmobiler Caleb Moore during the Winter X Games, Outside the Lines held a panel discussion about safety and extreme sports. In this segment Sport in Society executive director Dan Lebowitz, Denver Post reporter Jason Blevins and Scott Guglielmino, Senior VP for the X Games hear the reaction among athletes in Aspen and start a conversation about future precautions and safety regulations.

Crashes Raise Safety Concerns at Winter X Games
01.31.2013
By Pat Graham, Associated Press

In addition to the deadly snowmobile crash at the 2013 Winter X Games, athletes discuss several other accidents that occurred during competition and training. Most extreme athletes try to minimize risk through extensive practice and safety training before ever attempting high-risk tricks outside in a competition. However, they do accept the reality of their extreme adventure sports and know that danger is a part of the lifestyle. This mentality pushes the athletes achieve new records, but unfortunately this attitude can result in serious injury and death, causing some to wonder if the glory is worth the risk.

“Should we be asking these questions? We absolutely should be,” said Dan Lebowitz, the executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, which examines the role of sports to promote healthy development and social responsibility.

The people performing these superhuman feats “really are just human,” he said. “How do we maintain safety in that progression when that progression sometimes pushes every envelope to some amazingly extreme point?”

“There are going to be benchmarks set and people trying to exceed that benchmark,” Lebowitz said. “That’s just the essence of our society and our social culture.”

Have the X Games Gotten Too Extreme?
01.29.2013
By Sheila M. Eldred, Discovery News

How far is too far in the world of extreme sports? With competitions pushing young athletes to dangerous levels, many people are concerned with the safety regulations and expectations for extreme sports. At this year’s Winter X Games, 25 year old Caleb Moore died during the snowmobile competition, prompting another discussion about safety in high-risk sports.

“We’re all complicit in where sport has gone,” said director of Northeastern University’s Sport in Society Dan Lebowitz. “There’s a responsibility in all of us as members of a functioning, inclusive society….It’s a tug of war: the loving of the pushing of the envelope, but also stepping outside of ourselves and asking the question, have we perverted the essence and beauty of sport and teamwork?”

“We bow down to the sensational in sports, where we glamorize the incredible violence and risk-taking and then sometimes we don’t like the outgrowth,” Lebowitz said. “There’s a certain level of expectation that people are looking for: these incredible tricks of hanging off a snowmobile with one arm. There’s this incredible balance in fueling interest by paying attention to the sensational and maintaining some semblance of it being a sporting event.”

Source: Lance Armstrong Tells Oprah He Doped
01.14.2013
WBZ-TV

A person familiar with the situation says Lance Armstrong confessed to Oprah Winfrey during an interview Monday that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the Tour de France. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the interview is to be broadcast Thursday on Winfrey’s network.  WBZ-TV talked to Dan Lebowitz, the executive director of Northeastern University’s Sport in Society Center.

A positive in this, says Lebowitz, is that the Armstrong case puts a microscope on doping in cycling, and is already sparking a conversation of how the sport can move forward. “The confession stage is more of a person saying to themselves, you know what, it is time for me to make this a positive both for my life, for other cyclists, for the sport of cycling and for sport in general,” said Lebowitz.

Verizon grant to aid anti-abuse programs
01.14.2013
By Cynthia Mccormick, Cape Cod Times

There are more than two roles in the world of bullies and victims.  There also are bystanders and witnesses — well-intentioned people who do not know how or whether to intervene. But students at Barnstable and Dennis-Yarmouth Regional high schools are learning how to speak up and stop bullies, dating violence and domestic abuse.

Now in its fourth year at Barnstable High School and its first year at D-Y High, the program is based on the Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) Program developed at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society. “When you see a problem, you don’t just stand by,” said Barnstable High School senior Katherine Anzola, 17.  One student who received training helped prevent another teen at a party from being sexually assaulted by telling the assailant to leave and getting the intended victim to safety.

If Lance Confesses, Will Bikers Still Dope?
01.10.2013
By Sheila M. Eldred, Discovery News

The cycling world is waiting to hear what Lance Armstrong will confess to this week during his much-pulicized interview with Oprah Winfrey about his alleged drug use. Speculations over his doping and motives for a possible confession abound; some within the sport fear that a confession about use that occured over the past decade will tarnish the cleaner, improved image that professional cycling has been trying to maintain in recent years. But as Executive Director Dan Lebowitz points out, a confession and clarification of right and wrong from such a major star will only positively impact the sports community as a whole.

“I think there’s no downside to him coming clean,” Lebowitz said, “and the upside sends a really positive message about what is right and wrong.” Whatever happens, Lebowitz said his story represents “both the great possibilities of humanity and all of the fallibility.”

Can Notre Dame become ‘America’s Team’ of college football again?
12.14.2012
By Hal Habib, Palm Beach Post

Can a school renowned for national championships — but devoid of any since 1988 — recapture more than a glimpse of glitter?  Can Notre Dame reclaim the unofficial title of America’s Team of college football?

“I think for many, many years, Notre Dame was just synonymous with what college football was,” says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. “They were the benchmark of college football. This year, they ended undefeated, they had an awful lot of close games, but I think what (coach) Brian Kelly has done there is he created a dynamic where they’ve returned brand value to the brand beyond the loyalty of their fan base.  Everyone on the planet likes a bit of nostalgia,” Lebowitz says. “Notre Dame represents that.”

Kansas City Chiefs murder/suicide key may never be unlocked
12.03.2012
By Larry Fine, Reuters

The murder/suicide committed on Saturday by Kansas City Chiefs football player Jovan Belcher left the National Football League, its fans and health professionals struggling to understand what drove him to do it.

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, said he saw the Belcher tragedy as something that speaks to societal problems transcending sports.  “This is an issue of men’s violence against women, not just football players being too violent,” Lebowitz said. “When I look at it, I try to take it out of the realm of sport. I just think about the way we acculturate young boys in this country and our whole view of manhood.”

Sport in Society has worked for the NFL on a 2010 training program aimed at gender equality and respect in the workplace, and ran a training project at the soccer World Cup in South Africa on preventing gender violence.  Lebowitz continued, “If you look at how many NFL players commit gender violence in proportion to the overall population, the percentage falls in line with the general population, three to five percent.  We don’t have a healthy concept of what manhood is and how certain things that we see as an affront to manhood probably aren’t that at all.”

Lebowitz said the awful incident could spawn an opportunity to educate others. “Nothing happens in a bubble. This is the fifth NFL player to commit suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot … this one was (preceded) by a murder. Right now there is an absolute heightened spotlight on all the issues around sports in general. “How do we make a healthier sport, and how do we make a healthier man? How do we engage in a real conversation about respect for women’s rights and freedoms?”

Spurs Players Under Fire For Halloween Web Photo
12.03.2012
By Marissa A. Wagner, KTSA.com

San Antonio Spurs Tim Duncan and Tony Parker are under fire following a Halloween picture of the two players that was posted this past weekend. The picture depicts the two NBA stars in costume at a Halloween party, holding what appear to be toy guns at a man dressed as NBA Referee Joey Crawford.

“Obviously, you never want to want to see athletes bottling behavior that isn’t great; but on the other hand it is at a Halloween party, and so you know that’s sort of the one time of year that goolishness and violence, and even dead bodies show up on people’s front porches when kids are trick-or-treating,” said Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sports In Society at Northeastern University in Boston. “So, I don’t want to take it too far out of context, because it isn’t like the gun incident in the NBA locker room from a couple of years ago, and it’s obviously no where near the level of the incident that tragically happened with the NFL player this past weekend.

“There’s such a great spotlight on sport that athletes, for better or worse, are everyday role models and carry the badge of leadership. Ironically, I think that Timmy Duncan is probably one of the most humble, amazing, and great models of behavior in the NBA. I wouldn’t want to read too much into the picture given the context, but when you know that you live your life in the fish bowl and under the spot light, sometimes the things you do in jest can come back to haunt you.  I think here, given the vision in the picture, they’re sort of taking a joking, although maybe not in the best taste, approach to the adversarial relations that sometimes exist between players and referees. Joey Crawford is probably one of the most respected referees in the league, and so they probably felt that at least in some ways it was okay to do it at his expense,” said Lebowitz.

Following Your Dreams When Others are Mean
11.18.2012
By Justine Siegal

When the right opportunities don’t come to you, sometimes you just have to create them. In this presentation, Justine talks about her own personal history and the importance of baseball in her life, and the ways in which she provides everyone with the chance to develop the same love of sports. Through her work at Sport in Society and her own organization Baseball for All, Justine fosters a healthy appreciation for sports and the positive lessons we can all take away.

An injured athlete reveals a wounded soul
11.17.2012
By Mike Lowe, Portland Press Herald

Maine native Ashley Marble seemed to have it all, but behind her driven personality lurked darkness and depression. Now, after a debilitating ankle dislocation, she’s focused on recovery – physical and emotional.

“Part of it is, there’s an expectation with stardom, with fame, whether limited or large,” said Dan Lebowitz, the executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for Sport in Society. “Athletes are competitive and they probably don’t want to show weakness.”

Ex-Packer Dorsey Levens documents concussions
10.22.2012
By Jessica Teich, Boston Globe

Dorsey Levens, former running back for the Green Bay Packers, was at Northeastern University on Thursday to screen “Bell Rung,” his documentary detailing the strife that comes with professional football.

Joining Levens for a panel discussion about concussions were former New England Patriot Sammy Morris, a free agent running back in the NFL; Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern’s sport in society program; Neal McGrath, a neuropsychologist who specializes in the evaluation and rehabilitation of traumatic brain injuries at Sports Concussion New England; and moderator and sportswriter Ron Thomas.

Labor strife racks NFL, NHL
09.24.2012
By Peter Howe, NECN

For fans screaming over another weekend of often terrible officiating by out-of-their-depth National Football League replacement refs, it can be astonishing: The battle that led team owners to lock out unionized referees largely comes down to a league grossing $9 billion a year that’s pressuring 121 refs who collectively make $18 million a year to give up pensions for 401(k)’s.

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s Center for Sport and Society, said of hockey, “It’s just a much different league. The length of the season’s so much longer. The NFL, you have a 16-game season. Every single game is an event. The NHL, the season’s more like the length of baseball.  In some respects, the difficulty for the NFL referees is that each week fans are watching, ratings are up, and no matter what, it’s the NFL … You might have some unhappiness among the fans; on the other hand, people are watching every single week because they love the game.’’

Lebowitz added that he thinks “the league and the player’s association have strong leadership – there’s a culture of integrity in the NFL, among players and owners and the commissioner and officials alike – and where there’s leadership, there’s confidence this will get resolved.’’

Local-level sports programs selling naming rights
09.23.2012
By Mike Lowe, Portland Press Herald

As public funding dwindles, Lewiston ME and other schools offer their athletic programs as business opportunities.

Dan Lebowitz, the executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston, said there’s nothing wrong with selling sponsorships and naming rights.  “Personally, I think that if you’re creative or innovative enough to find funding that creates a positive experience, that increases access to high school sports, it’s a good thing,” he said.  There are many times when the private sector and the public sector come together for a good cause, he said. This is one of them.

“It will benefit the students by providing access to sports without forcing user fees on them. It will benefit the community by providing a safe environment to gather and play. It speaks a lot to the corporate social responsibility of the corporation that does it,” he said. “To me, it’s a good use of advertising dollars and one that actually benefits people.”

Two Readers Respond To An Article About Whether Girls Throw Differently Than Boys            
September 17, 2012
By The Washington Post

“You throw like a girl” [Sept. 11] misses most of its target. As a former physical education teacher and current instructor for the International Baseball Federation, I have coached children from around the world. I have found that throwing “like a girl” is not biologically inherent but rather a result of coaching, expectations and opportunity. Gender is not the dominating factor in their throwing mechanics; experience is.

DeMatha road trip incident has coaches evaluating travel procedures
09.12.2012
By Dan Feldman, Maryland Gazette

In the aftermath of five DeMatha Catholic football players being removed from the team for allegedly soliciting prostitutes during an overnight trip to North Carolina two weeks ago, area high school coaches are evaluating their policies for overnight trips.

Dan Lebowitz the executive director of Northeastern University’s Sport In Society, said he still sees the value in overnight trips — not only for sports teams, but all youth organizations. “We’re trying to expose players to worlds beyond their community,” said Lebowitz, whose organization advocates using sports to promote social justice and diversity.

“I don’t think that’s a negative at all. The fact that something happened on this trip shouldn’t create a dynamic where other people start thinking, ‘Well you know, the risk is too high.’ I think, in every instance, we’re trying to create more worldly young people and bring youth beyond the boundaries of their own community and to other arenas, other areas and see the world in another light beyond their neighborhoods, beyond their schools.”

Downhill course for Lance Armstrong   
August, 28, 2012
By Matt Collette, Northeastern News

What does the United States Anti-Doping Agency’s decision to strip Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France victories mean within the cycling community and, more broadly, within the sporting community at large?

“This deci­sion is, in many respects, another emphatic excla­ma­tion point on how much this era of performance-​​enhancing drugs has cre­ated a cloud of sus­pi­cion over all that is sport. There is no per­for­mance, no record, no phe­nom­enal feat that can escape this spot­light. This is some­thing larger than Lance Arm­strong and the cycling com­mu­nity. It is, instead, another example of lost inno­cence in which the leaders and stars of our global com­mu­nity become exem­plary not for their great­ness, but instead for the fal­li­bility that plagues all of humanity…”

Life after the Olympics 
August 7, 2012
By Casey Bayer, Northeastern News

For some Olympic ath­letes, many years of ded­i­ca­tion and hard work is rewarded in the form of a shiny gold medal. But most Olympians fall short and, in some cases, never com­pete again. We asked Jus­tine Siegal, the director of sports part­ner­ships for Sport in Society, a North­eastern Uni­ver­sity research center, to explain how elite ath­letes fare in making the tran­si­tion from Olympic com­pe­ti­tion to everyday life.

London Olympics badminton scandal raises ethical issues
August 2, 2012
By Jon Saraceno and Kevin Johnson, USA Today

Violation of the Olympic ideal … or a strategic business-as-usual gambit? Ethical and philosophical debates aside, in what is believed to be an Olympics first – expulsion of multiple athletes for match-throwing -eight female badminton players from three Asian nations were disqualified Wednesday from the London Games.

“Sport at its best is a great intersection between the cooperative spirit of teamwork and the competitive spirit of trying to excel,” said Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz. “The Olympic Games are in many respects ultimate testimony to sport as it should be played.”

Under pressure: Olympic push
August 2, 2012
NECN

As the world waits and watches the summer games, the athletes competing in the Olympics are under plenty of pressure, which can bring trouble with it. One example is the badminton cheating scandal. Teams from China, South Korea, and Indonesia were tossed from the games for blatantly attempting to lose their matches in order to manipulate the quarter-final draw.

Sport in Society’s Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz spoke to NECN about the controversy: “We live in area of suspension around performance enhancing drugs. The steroid era in baseball, the tour the France, and the drug testing in the Olympics. This is obviously not the first time it has been mentioned in the Olympic games, and both men and women have drawn suspicion and have been caught.”

Sex abuse scandal: Penn State punishments
July 24, 2012
Fox 25 News

The country is abuzz with talk about the NCAA’s sanctions against Penn state and its football program. Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society from Northeastern University, joined the FOX 25 Morning News to share his opinions.

Penn State-Bound Student Wonders What Lies Ahead
July 23, 2012
By Joe Shortsleeve, WBZ-TV

The NCAA has slammed Penn State with big fines and penalties for failing to act in the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal. Few people will feel the impact of those sanctions more than this year’s incoming freshman.

Dan Lebowitz of Northeastern University’s Sports In Society program says students will learn a very different lesson about colleges and athletics. “We need to get back to a point where academic institutions that have great athletics find some medium between the two,” says Lebowitz. “Where athletics do not trump the integrity of the institution, don’t trump the academic intentions of the institution.” And Lebowitz says the current sanctions instead of the “death penalty” provide everyone with a teachable moment.

Will Penn State Sanctions Work? Boston’s Collegiate Community Reacts
July 23, 2012
By Dan Mauzy, WBUR

In the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, today the NCAA ordered Penn State to pay $60 million and stripped the late Penn State coach Joe Paterno of many of his college victories. The college will also be prohibited from participating in post-season play for four years. NCAA president Mark Emmert announced the sanctions this morning, saying, “Our goal is not to be just punitive, but to make sure the university establishes an athletic culture and daily mindset in which football will never be placed ahead of educating, nurturing and protecting young people.”

Must Penn State Cleanse?
July 17, 2012
By Allie Grasgreen, Inside Higher Ed

The revelation last week that incriminating facts regarding Sandusky were covered up by those top officials – including President Graham Spanier and the beloved, legendary head coach Joe Paterno – triggered a storm of fury from a stunned public. Demands came for the university to rid the campus of its most visible homage to Paterno, a bronze statue outside the football stadium. Other commentators went further, saying that canceling the upcoming season (and maybe more) might be the only way to show that this is not a university ruled by the sport.

“I can’t see any other action that shows that great intersection of wanting to  do better — introspection, remorse, pain, leadership, humanity, empathy — in  its real sense,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern  University’s Sport and Society program. “If they’re hoping for football to  return to prominence, wouldn’t they want it also under a cleansed brand?”

Are Boys Being Raised Right?
July 16, 2012
NECN

Healthy masculinity means having a definition of what manhood is.  The cultivation of boys in our country and world-wide is about a toughness scale.

Do too many people present young males with an inappropriate idea of what being masculine means? Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Northeastern’s Sport in Society, joined “The Morning Show” to discuss this issue.

Penn State Scandal Another Example Of Sports, Coaches Holding Sway At Colleges
July 14, 2012
By Rusty Miller, The Associated Press

People have attached a $50-million price tag on Penn State football,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport In Society at Northeastern University. “Obviously, people made an egregious decision to err on the side of the $50 million rather than on the side of the rights of children.”

Rebel Magazine: The Race Issue Contributor’s Profile
July 9, 2012
Rebel Magazine

Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sports in Society

There are moments that remain with us forever. They are transcendent and impact a world well beyond the compartmentalized of individualism. The 1968 Olympics were that for me. When Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood victorious on an Olympic platform, radiant, with their raised fist, I was 10 years old…

Welcome to College
June 2, 2012
By Lauren Horn, Northeastern News

The Center for STEM Education brought 160 local eighth-graders to Northeastern’s campus for Early College Awareness Day.  Sport in Society coop, Emily Nolan, was featured on the panel.  Emily advised the eighth graders to “challenge yourself in high school classes, because even if you’re not sure you can do it, it will lead to big bonus points when you apply for college…also, try different things and you’ll figure out what you like. I took sign language and education classes before I discovered that I really liked psychology.”

Dialogue can help open doors
June 2, 2012
By Patrick Hite, newsleader.com

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, said that in places like the Shenandoah Valley, where Christian prayer is an important part of many people’s lives, others should be accepting — just as Christians should be understanding if someone doesn’t wish to pray or wants to say a prayer in accordance with their own religion. “It’s actually a platform to engage a conversation about all people’s rights… why people would embrace it, why people would want to pray there, why that’s part of the fabric of the community for them. And then from the other vantage point, why people that didn’t practice that religion might feel like they needed some avenues for inclusion that didn’t involve religion.”

Carmel can add to 7 state titles won this school year
June 2, 2012
By Mark Ambrogi, Indy Star

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s Sport in Society program, said high schools in more affluent areas definitely have some advantages. “Affluence doesn’t so much affect performance but the ability to have better training facilities, better weight rooms, probably more coaches, a more variant number of sports available at the high schools,” he said. “Those things would probably translate into more championships.”In almost every landscape — political, business, sports, education — affluence plays a role in advanced opportunity.”

Spurs On Track For 5th NBA Crown, But…Yawn?
May 25, 2012
By Eliott C. McLaughlin, CNN

“I think we’re all fallible that way…We are drawn to celebrity. We are drawn to grandeur in many respects. There’s a push-pull in each of ourselves — the lure of grandeur versus the beauty of hard work…It’s not just sports, either…You see it with movie stars and politics as well…We award abhorrent behaviors and don’t spend a lot of time celebrating behavior that ought to be celebrated…The way our culture is, we often say we want one thing, but we often bow down to negativity and the celebration of the egregious…Pop’s mentality is just as important to the Spurs’ culture as Duncan “quietly leading the team to excellence year in, year out…He knows the game’s challenges and how to get the best out of his squad, and there is a “great human reciprocity between him and his players…” He teaches his players how best to carry themselves as part of the Spurs’ brand, and the players know how to wear it, even if the jerseys don’t sell so well…You can’t base success on monetization…Establishing the culture has been important to the team’s success…This is a team that has achieved through cooperative culture…I don’t try to match it up against another ballclub. I just say, ‘There’s a place that’s doing it right.

When You Lose Your Sport, What Happens To Your Self?
May 11, 2012
By Carey Goldberg, WBUR

That need is very real, said Justine Siegal, director of sports partnerships at Northeastern University’s Sport in Society program and a doctoral candidate in sports psychology there. It is estimated that about 20 percent of athletes need “considerable psychological adjustment” after they leave the sport, she said. “They face challenges with their athlete identity: Who am I if I’m not an athlete? Your peers change because you’re not with the same group. Your body changes and it often becomes less fit.” “You don’t necessarily have a plan outside of your sport,” she added, “and that can be very disconcerting, to be so goal-oriented your whole life and then just have to walk away and move on to a new goal. When you haven’t planned out what that goal is, you can feel lost.” But you should, Justine Siegal said. It is key to begin “exit” planning well in advance, “always knowing that at one point, you’re going to have to leave the sport. Unfortunately, the old school coaching is to let them completely focus on their sport, and when they do that, that means they’re not preparing for a world outside their sport.” Counseling can also really help, she said, “exit counseling” and group counseling with other athletes who are making a transition, teaching them how to transfer their sport skills — goal-setting, time management, stress management — into life skills. “Unfortunately, there’s not enough counseling groups,” she said. “There should be more.” Former athletes can “give back to the sport” in many ways, Justine Siegal said, “whether as a coach, administrator or volunteer. It keeps you in the game and you’re helping other people to enjoy it, especially children. I think there’s nothing better for healing than seeing a child love doing something you both love.”

City Double Dutch teams qualify for World Championships in South Carolina
May 7, 2012
By Justin Rice, Boston Globe

“We are all so excited for ourselves and for each other,” Beantown Jumpers co-coach Lynne Travers said in an e-mail. “This team is like one big family and we are always there for one another. The kids are so selfless and giving of their time, their energy and of each other. There isn’t a week that goes by that my heart isn’t bursting — for them, for what they are accomplishing, and for how much they appreciate being a part of the Beantown Jumpers.  They are the highlight of my day at work and seeing them blossom and grow as young adults, athletes and students makes me so proud.”

Dan Lebowitz: There’s Obviously an issue in the NFL
May 4, 2012
By Bridget Blythe

Nearly half a dozen NFL players in recent years have taken their own life, and Junior Seau’s suicide is again turning attention to the league with questions about whether they do enough to protect players.

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s “Sport in Society” organization, joined NECN’s Bridget Blythe to discuss.

Racist Reaction to Finale Tarnishes Bruins’ Run
April 27, 2012
By Bob Hohler

Pioneers of racial tolerance in sports, the Boston Bruins in 1958 became the first National Hockey League team to sign an African-American player, making Willie O’Ree the Jackie Robinson of hockey. Yet they found themselves Thursday addressing hateful racist commentary circulated by Bruins fans and others on social media after Joel Ward, a black forward for the Washington Capitals, scored the winning goal in overtime of Game 7 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday at TD Garden.

Baseball: Making a pitch for women
April 19, 2012
By Al Lesan, South Bend Tribune

A pioneer in the women’s game, Sport in Society’s Justine Siegal is a right-handed pitcher whose fastball topped out in the upper 70s, and still remembers the hurt she felt when she was cut by the Colorado Silver Bullets, in a women’s professional league. “I didn’t sleep for a month,” she said. Siegal has harnessed that experience into helping mostly minor-league professional players who have been recently released. Getting back to school or putting an education to work are the top tips. Though it has just been launched, seven players have been assisted.

We Want His Head Sideways’: Metaphor vs. Malice on NFL Sidelines
April 6, 2012
By Jeffrey Brown, PBS News Hour

“The spotlight of sport creates such a great platform for discussion about right and wrong, about ethics and a number of other things. So, in many respects, the concussion issue, the league’s response in terms of leveling fines for hits hopefully will engage in larger national discussion where people will start thinking about ethics in general. Like, what is ethical and why aren’t we more ethical? So these questions could be asked in the political realm. It could be asked in the financial realm. It could be asked elsewhere. But I think it’s that great spotlight of sport that allows for a discussion along a much wider audience,” said Dan Lebowitz.

All-male Augusta National overlooks  
April 5, 2012
By Daniel B Wood, Christian Science Monitor

“Rometty’s job is to do her best to lead IBM and do a great job at that,” says Justine Siegal, the first female coach of a men’s professional baseball team, the Brockton Rox of the independent Canadian American league. “It is up to society and others within IBM to fight this battle over membership.

A 20th Losing Season?
April 5, 2012
By Paul Guggenheimer, Essential Public Radio

“Small market teams have to understand what their audience can afford.  And if they’re not going to be a winning team, they have to know what will draw people in, by making an experience out of it,” says Justine Siegal.

NFL bounty scandal: Players debate whether it should have stayed in locker room
March 22, 2012
By Barry Svrluga, Washington Post

“Maybe, because of this, a whistleblower might no longer be called a ‘snitch,’ but somebody who cares about the collective good of a system. That could be true not only in sport; our culture can be helped by people who stand up and make a statement,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society.  Lebowitz said the actions of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell — not just in the Saints’ case, but in dealing with fines and suspensions for unnecessarily violent hits — have set a “tenor for the tenure of Roger Goodell, and that tenor is he’s going to establish a code of conduct for that league.”

For Some Women, the Name of the Game Is Baseball
March 19, 2012
By Daniel Kreiger, New York Times

“Japan is leading the way,” said Justine Siegal, the founder of Baseball For All, an organization devoted to creating opportunities for girls to play. “What’s happening there serves as a great inspiration.” She believes the way to expand the game on a mass scale is with Japanese-style youth leagues for girls, who typically get funneled into softball around puberty. “If there’s nowhere to play when you’re 13, then the numbers will drop,” she said.

Arrests Prompting Hard Look at Top Hockey Program
March 8, 2012
By Peter May,  New York Times

“This is about a male culture and how we have a construct that’s wrong,” said Dan Lebowitz. “It transcends sport. It’s about how are men going to be held responsible for the way they treat women. We focus almost entirely on how tough they are. We don’t pay nearly enough attention to compassion, to kindness, to respect for women.”

Is Violence in Sports Inevitable?
March 7, 2012
By Emily Sohn, Discovery News

In the case of the Saints, it may be time to reexamine the way our society defines manhood and stop encouraging boys and men to value toughness over respect. By coming down hard on bad acts, the NFL and other organizations can do a lot to model less violent behavior for the next generation of young athletes.

Analyzing ‘Linsanity’
February 28, 2012
By Jason Kornwitz, News@Northeastern

“The attention surrounding Jeremy Lin is based in part on the fact that his athletic ability challenges our stereotypes about what certain groups of people can do in our society,” says Jarrod Chin, Director of Training and Curriculum at Sport in Society. “Too often  the ‘model minority’ stereotype limits what Asian-Americans are seen as capable of doing. Not since Wat Misaka played for the New York Knicks in 1947 has an Asian-American played in an NBA game.”

Examining race in sports media
February 24, 2012
By Jason Kornwitz, News@Northeastern

Sport in Society welcomed expert panelists to the Northeastern campus to explore the relationship between sports, race and the media.  Panelists included Ron Thomas, director of Morehouse College’s Journalism and Sports Program, Charles Fountain, an associate professor of journalism at Northeastern; Justine Siegal, director of sports partnerships for Sport in Society; Boston Globe columnists Derrick Jackson and Adrian Walker; and Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson.

Has ‘Linsanity’ gone too far?
February 20, 2012
By NECN

“People are moved by identity,” explained Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society. “There really hasn’t been a Chinese American player that impacted the league like this until now. And the best thing about this is that he’s been amazing on the court and humble off the court…I think if people thought a little more inclusively and a little less divisively, they’d embrace the story the way it is.”

Epstein: Castro allegations won’t be distraction
February 18, 2012
By Carrie Muskat, MLB.com

Theo Epstein said on Saturday that the club has invited people from Sport in Society of Northeastern University to conduct seminars this spring for the players, in hopes of helping them make the right decisions off the field. Sport in Society covers such topics as leadership, diversity and inclusion, violence prevention and community service.

Theo Epstein ready to do things the ‘Cub Way’
February 18, 2012
By Doug Padilla, ESPN

In conjunction to the written words in “Cub Way,” Theo Epstein said experts from the Center of Sport in Society out of Northeastern University will work with the players this spring. “Sometimes we take for granted that these young kids, because they are great at what they do on the field that they are good at handling the tough circumstances they find off the field,” Epstein said. “I think it’s our responsibility as an organization to give them tools to use.”

Patriots Players Tackle Business
January 20, 2012
By Julie M. Donnelly, Boston Business Journal

Eight former Patriot players were chosen to see where they were now after leaving the NFL. The focus was on Matt Chatham who decided to pursue an MBA at Babson college and started a Crepe company after graduating with a business degree.  “What lasts much longer is the athlete’s personal brand, which is a powerful tool to launch a business” said Frank Cutilla.

Lawmakers Want College Athletes Paid
January 13, 2012
By Paul E. Kostyu, Cincinnati.com

The money spent on college sports in the United States is unlike anything else in the world, said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society. Other countries use a club sport system.

Women’s Hockey team Nationally ranked since Oct
January 12, 2012
By Kathryn Uggerholt, The Huntington News

“Women’s ice hockey has seen a tremendous growth in our country,” Justine Seigal, director of sports partnerships at Sport in Society said in a phone interview Tuesday. “The more women’s sports are given the same coverage as men’s sports, you’ll see fans come. It’s about awareness and letting people know these are athletes that can play,” Seigal said

Scandals at Penn State and Syracuse, labor strife contribute to make 2011 worst of time
December 30, 2011
By Nancy Armour, Washington Post

“I think there is a disillusionment there, but I think it’s reality. We haven’t seen behind the curtain before,” said Jarrod Chin, the director for training and curriculum at the Center for Sport in Society at Northeastern University. “We’ve used sport as a way to ignore problems. But now what we’re seeing is they exist there, too. That’s what makes it the worst year in sports. What people are coming to realize is the thing we thought was such a great escape has a lot of the same issues we’re trying to escape from.” “In our society we create these myths around athletes and athletics,” said Sport in Society’s Chin. “But they’re myths, and that’s the whole issue.”

Cursing in sports: Fair or foul?
December 27, 2011
By Mark Ambrogi, Indianapolis Star

“We here at Sport in Society find it interesting that somehow and for some reasons, when it comes to (high school) sports, it’s become acceptable,” said Jarrod Chin, director of training and curriculum for Sport in Society. “We pose the question, if it’s not acceptable in the classroom but everyone agrees high school and youth sports are about education, then why is it OK for coaches to use profanity?

Taking a knee
December 17, 2011
By Lauren Carter, Attleboro Sun Chronicle

“I don’t think he’s been defamatory, visceral or aggressive in telling other people what they have to believe,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University. “Why can’t we enjoy the fact that he’s trying hard and doing well? There should be some kind of nice message in believing in yourself, having a solid work ethic and pushing for a positive outcome.”

Dynasties undone? Clippers, Angels are now the ‘it’ teams in L.A.
December 15, 2011
By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

“This creates a national rivalry in a city that hasn’t had one – like the Mets/Yankees, Nets/Knicks,” Dan Lebowitz said. “It presents an intra-city rivalry that will be good for the fan base on both sides of the equation and will likely make the Lakers better from serious competition as well.”

The Name game
December 15, 2011
By Mitch Sherman, ESPN

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Northeastern University’s Sport in Society, describes the mix of modern culture with the professionalization of sports at even its lowest levels as “the ultimate prescription for failure.” “We live in a world where the extraordinary is considered normal,” Lebowitz said, “and if you’re not exceptional, we can find somebody else who is.”

Women Sports Heroes
December 14, 2011
By Media Forward TV

Dan Lebowitz, Director Sport in Society, a Northeastern University Center talks a about gender equality and two recent inductees into Sport in Society, Harvard Women’s Basketball Coach Kathy Delaney-Smith and Writer / Broadcaster Jackie McMullen

Steeler James Harrison suspended: Is he a throwback or a relic?
December 13, 2011
By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

“This is consistent with the new, low-tolerance policy of the NFL alongside the growing research showing the long-term effects of concussions,” says Dave Czesniuk, director of operations for Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. Czesniuk suggests that the suspension might have an effect. “This has gotten a lot of attention and because I don’t think [Harrison’s] intent was malicious or distasteful, the suspension will likely cause other players to tiptoe a little bit more around making similar-type hits,” he says.

Stand up to bullying
December 13, 2011
By Kim Carrigan, Fox 25 News

“The idea is to bring a spotlight on bullying and to create an environment where kids can be educated and empowered in what they can do, what their position is, how they can interrupt as bystanders. We use a leadership platform to teach kids about how to be proactive in taking a stance against bullying.”

Sex abuse claims prompt look at youth sports culture
December 12, 2011
By Lauren Keiper, Reuters

“[Child sexual abuse] a larger social issue, and sport is one avenue where sexual predators find ways to assault young people,” Chin said. Chin said that publicity from the abuse probes of coaches at major universities may be spurring victims to speak up. “I think a lot of people are feeling like they can say something, tell their story, that they are not alone,” he said, adding that the Sport in Society program works to educate coaches, parents and teammates to recognize the signs of possible sexual abuse and to address it.

St. Louis deals with departure of baseball icon
December 8, 2011
By Andrew Astleford, Fox Sports Midwest

“If you look at the history of sport . . . every era comes to an end. When eras come to an end, new stars arise. . . . It’s going to be painful for the city, but I think a new era will rise,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society.

Plan proof of Patriots owner’s savvy
December 7, 2011
By Dave Wedge, Boston Herald

David Czesniuk of Sport in Society said Kraft is too savvy to simply roll the dice: “I’d be surprised if Bob Kraft hadn’t done all his due diligence. He’s not just a leader of the local team but also of the league. I’m sure the NFL will also do its due diligence and make sure everything is appropriate.”

Hazing seen as more ‘abnormal’
December 7, 2011
By Bill Kirk, Merrimack Valley Eagle Tribune

Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society, said the problem in the case of Andover, as in many cases of adolescent hazing, is that boys’ frontal lobes aren’t fully developed until they turn 25. “They are still in the developmental stage,” he said. “They need education and training and structure that empowers them to make positive decisions.” He said one program being promoted by Northeastern focuses on bystanders. “They need to be able to say, ‘I’m going to intercede in a way that’s going to stop the event,’” he said. “But people aren’t educated enough to make good decisions.”

Sports hazing incidents: Is this the culture?
December 2, 2011
By Gene Lavanchy, Fox 25 News

The fallout from the alleged hazing incident involving the Andover High School boys’ basketball team is far from over. There have been hints of criminal charges could be on the way. But this can – and does – happen anywhere. Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director at Northeastern’s Sport in Society, spoke with Gene Lavanchy of Fox 25 Morning News.

Say it ain’t so, Joe: US sector’s pact with the drop-kick devil

November 24, 2011
By Jon Marcus, Times Higher Education

Does the Penn State scandal show sport’s stranglehold on American academy? Says Dan Lebowitz, director of Sport in Society, “the money from athletics is astronomical. Sometimes that tends to trump ethics.” Lebowitz goes on to stress, “It’s not unique to sport. It’s not unique to universities. It’s the big-business mentality. This happens in the financial sector, the political sector, and an awful lot of other places.”

Read More…

With players’ lawsuits filed, hope barely flickers for an NBA season

November 18, 2011
By Daniel B. Wood, Minnesota Post

Hopes that at least part of the season could be salvaged are dimming by the day, especially now that the NBA players have disbanded their union and filed two antitrust lawsuits against the league. “The NBA has shut down before and baseball has had its strike seasons, and it took awhile but the fans did forgive,” says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society. Read More…

Penn State scandal prompts anger, reflection

November 13, 2011

By Peter Schworm, Boston Globe

The sexual abuse scandal at Penn State, perhaps the most shameful in the history of college sports, has brought a national outcry, led to the firing of the university’s president and legendary head coach Joe Paterno, and plunged a football-crazed campus into turmoil. It has also sent a shockwave through higher education, renewing the long-running debate over the outsized influence of big-time college athletics, the entitled status sports enjoy on campuses hungry for prestige and payouts, and the hard trade-offs involved in building competitive teams. Read More…

Penn State fundraising may feel sting of scandal

November 11, 2011

By Ros Krasney, Reuters

The future of fundraising at Penn State is coming into question. The university assures donors that no money goes toward legal fees, while a hockey benefactor says he stands by Penn State. Still, “from now, when you mention Penn State, the first thing people will think about is the scandal. The legacy can not help but be tainted,” said Dan Lebowitz, executive director of Sport in Society. Read More…

Penn State mess casts spotlight on all colleges

November 11, 2011

By John Zaremba, Boston Herald

Penn State’s alleged pedophilia cover-up could prove to be a powder keg that explodes into a nationwide scandal of Catholic clergy-abuse proportions, rocking colleges and other cloistered institutions where child molestation may have gone unreported for years, experts said yesterday. Dan Lebowitz, who leads Northeastern University’s Sport in Society center, said Penn State’s gold-standard athletic department has now set an example of a different sort — how not to handle shocking criminal accusations against its own staff. “It sort of equated child sexual abuse with an NCAA infraction. It is not. It’s just an egregious lack of judgment,” Lebowitz said. “When we come to a point in our world where we’re equating child sexual abuse with an NCAA infraction, we’ve lost our way. Read More…

How rage over Jerry Sanduskysex-abuse scandal engulfed joe Paterno

November 8, 2011

By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

The future of a legendary coach, a storied football program, and the course of a university appear to be at stake as the fallout from the sexual-abuse allegations leveled at a former Penn State football coach grows. Read More...

More Families are Choosing To Pay For Club Sports

October 17, 2011

By Kate Merrill, WBZ TV

Kids’ sports can be expensive. And when it comes to money sports clubs are in a league of their own. At an FC Stars practice session in Lancaster dozens of soccer players stream onto the fields eager to see their teammates and get to work. This one club alone has 52 teams and as many as 700 players ranging in age from 7 to 18. Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society at Northeastern University, worries the playing field is becoming too unlevel. “In a society that already has an enormity of disparities based around wealth it creates s a disparate landscape that is particularly unfair to kids.” Lebowitz goes on to say, “There will be a number of other great athletes that deserve to be involved that can’t afford to pay.” Read More…

Pitching in a pressure cooker

October 4, 2011

By Greg St. Martin, news@Northeastern

The joys of professional sports often go hand in hand with the enormous pressure for teams and athletes to succeed — and appease their passionate fan bases. News@Northeastern asked Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director of Sport in Society, to talk about why the pressure on professional athletes gets so intense, whether it’s happening more frequently in youth sports as well, and what can and should be done to maintain balance. Read More..

Gloucester sells stadium’s name

October 1, 2011

By Akilah Johnson, Boston Globe

Thanks to funding from New Balance, Gloucester High School (MA) will perform much-needed repairs and updates to its athletic facilities and rename it the The New Balance Track and Field at Newell Stadium. Gloucester extended the offer to any entity willing to pay at least $500,000 and keep Newell Stadium in the new name. New Balance was the only corporation to take up the city’s offer, agreeing to pay $50,000 annually for 10 years. Read More…

What’s Holding You Back? 9 Ways to Spark a Breakthrough

October, 2011

By Lindsy Van Gelde, O! Magazine

Naysayers come with the territory. Baseball lover Justine Siegal endured a lifetime of put-downs. As a 13-year-old, she was told that her coach didn’t want her on his all-boy team. At 16 she heard that no man would listen to a woman on a field. “I’m shy but determined,” says Siegal, who in 2008 spoke at the Society for American Baseball Research conference. “I stood in front of hundreds of people, mostly men, and asked them what major league baseball was planning to do beyond selling pink jerseys to get girls involved.” Read More…

Northeastern’s Center for Sport in Society Quietly Plays a Prominent Role in the Sports World

September 20, 2011

By Ryan Durling, BostInnovation

Sports leadership, civic engagement and gender equity paint a pretty abstract picture of the purpose and role of the rapidly-growing non-profit. What was established by Richard Lapchick in 1984 as a degree completion program for professional athletes still serves to educate athletes, but in many different ways. Read More…

Baseball for All: Justine Siegal’s Mission

September 19, 2011

By Leigh Henderson, Working to Be A Leader Blog

Leigh Henderson speaks with Sport in Society Director of Sports Partnerships, Justine Siegal, about baseball, Title IX, the inspiration behind Baseball for All, and Justine’s long term vision. Justine explains, “Title IX was a huge significance in my life. I think just my opportunity to play sports in school is proof that Title IX works. It’s funny because I played soccer with the boys until my sophomore year in high school. There just wasn’t girls’ soccer. Now soccer is what all the girls are doing. It’s awesome! It’s that kind of generational growth that I dream of seeing for girls’ baseball. Based on soccer’s growth pattern, it’s realistic to say, that with work done now, the next generation of daughters could play in an all girls baseball league.” Read More…

Sports helps Muslim athletes cope with fallout from 9/11

September 11, 2011

By Paul Newberry, MassLive

Led by pioneers such as Muhammad Ali and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Muslims athletes have helped introduce their faith to mainstream America. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, sports again helped break down some of the barriers and that surfaced in the wake of the deadly hijackings. Read More…

The 9/11 legacy of a Little League girl

September 10, 2011

By Marty Dobrow, ESPN

ESPN’s Marty Dobrow explores the connection between Christina-Taylor Green’s dreams and the rise of girls in baseball. Read about SIS Director of Sports Partnerships Justine Siegal’s Sparks, an all-girls baseball team, as they pursue a dream in the Cooperstown Dreams Park tournament. “Baseball is my platform for civil rights,” says Justine. Read More…

Paying People to ID sports fans: a winning idea

August 24, 2011

By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

A California lawmaker wants to set up a fund to pay people who help identify violent sports fans. His legislation comes after brutal attacks this year at Dodger Stadium and Candlestick Park. “This legislation is just what is needed,” agrees Jarrod Chin, Director of Training and Curriculum at Sport in Society. Read More…

In Sports Recruiting, How Young Is Too Young?

August 15, 2011

By Jason Kornwitz

Real Madrid has signed a 7- year- old soccer player from Argentina, who will begin training with the Spanish club’s youth squad in Sep­tember. We asked Dan Lebowitz, exec­u­tive director of Sport in Society, a North­eastern Uni­ver­sity research center, to explain how par­ents, coaches and pro­fes­sional orga­ni­za­tions can best safe­guard the social and psy­cho­log­ical devel­op­ment of a sports prodigy.

NFA stars offered help to graduate

July 3, 2011

By Justin Rodriguez, Times Herald-Record

In Newburgh, NY, a group of high school athletes failed to graduate after reportedly being permitted to skip 1,187 classes. Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director at Sport in Society, comments on the school district’s responsibility to the students and how they must change the system that encourages such behavior. “The Newburgh School District should do anything possible to make it up to those kids,” said Czesniuk. “That is their responsibility. I hope it just isn’t reactive in nature, just to cover their butts, to answer the public outcry. You see that a lot in sports. Newburgh still has to revamp the experience and change the culture in the basketball program.” Read More…

Sox cover bases with Spanish social media

June 22, 2011

By Carla Gualdrom, Boston Herald

With 11 Spanish-speaking players, the Red Sox hope to hit a home run by expanding their use of bilingual social media, launching a new Spanish-language Web page, a Spanish Twitter account and a Facebook page called “Los Red Sox.” Read More…

Four BCS comissioners made $1M

June 20, 2011

Associated Press, ESPN

Four of college football’s six powerhouse conferences paid their top executives $1 million or more, an Associated Press analysis of tax records shows, far eclipsing the compensation of most university presidents. Dave Czesniuk, senior associate director at Sport in Society, argued that the figures reflect the over-commercialization of college sports. Read More…

LeBron James in sportlight off-court, too.  Is he selling caffeine to kids?

June 7, 2011

By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

Off the court, LeBron James is being challenged by pediatricians over his caffeine-heavy energy product, Sheets Energy Strips. “I would fault him for not understanding the platform on which he stands,” says Dan Lebowitz, executive director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston. “And I call on him to be as responsible as he has been in other areas – in which he has been quite well behaved. Read More…

Stanley Cup Finals: The hit heard ’round the Hub

June 7, 2011

By Steve Annear, Boston Metro

When Bruins forward Nathan Horton took a hit Monday night, the fans felt it. “When something bad happens to an athlete that has a positive image for a large number of people, those people are going to feel wounded,” said Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director at Sport in Society. Read More…

She’s not the retiring type

June 6, 2011

By Adrian Walker, Boston Globe

Feature story on Doris Bunte, the first black female State Representative in Massachusetts, public housing advocate, and former Director of Government Relations for Sport in Society. “She didn’t just embrace the mission and collect a paycheck,” said Sport in Society Executive Director Dan Lebowitz. “She brought people together… I’ve got great love for her.” Read More…

Here, a hangout for trash talking

June 3, 2011

By Billy Baker, Boston Globe

At Barstool Sports, cheap shots flow along with sexism; Meghan Mahoney, Director of Programs at the Northeastern University Sport and Society Center, comments on the rise of the self-proclaimed sports/smut website and the dangerous sexism inherent in its messages. Read More…

Ohio State football scandal: Is coach or ‘hypocritical’ NCAA to blame?

May 31, 2011

By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

Ohio State announced Monday that Coach Jim Tressel has resigned as the NCAA investigates the Buckeyes for possible rules violations. “This is another case of the shark-like, business side of collegiate sports coming to outweigh the value and educational welfare that should be paramount in a university setting,” says Sport in Society Senior Associate Director Dave Czesniuk. “It’s evidence of how much deference the football program is given by the university president. It’s ridiculous,” says Mr. Czeniuk. Read More…

After The Tornado: The Lone Competitor Left At Joplin High

May 29, 2011

By Tom Bergeron, Yahoo Sports

After a tornado wreaked havoc on Joplin, MO, high school junior pole vaulter Mariah Sanders had to decide whether or not to compete in the state meet. Sport in Society Executive Director Dan Lebowitz says Sanders’ trip to the state meet is part of the healing process for more than just her. Read More…

Use gay slurs controversy to tackle homophobia in sports

May 27, 2011

By Lateef Mungin, CNN

Gay slurs hurled by three different athletes in the last month is more than just testosterone-fueled temper tantrums. The behavior is symptomatic of a deeper problem and should be used as an opportunity to tackle homophobia in professional sports. Read More…

Amid more doping allegations and probes, Lance Armstrong battles back

May 24, 2011

By Ron Scherer, Christian Science Monitor

When he was in the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong was known for his incredible ability to get his bicycle up steep hills before most other riders. Now, Armstrong faces an onslaught of allegations by some past colleagues that he used performance-enhancing drugs to win the grueling race. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles has been investigating to see if any fraud was committed. Read More…

DNA testing for sports genes

May 23, 2011

By Fox 25 News

At least two companies have begun selling tests that claim to help match children with the sports they are genetically programmed to excel at. “What we’ve done is we’ve taken something that’s humane, the enjoyment and healthy development of youth sports and we somehow attach a professionalized framework to it, which opens us up to ethics and [overbearing parents]. There’s probably a million athletes out there who are playing a sport that they didn’t start out in, or that they didn’t think they were great in, so everything in life is an experiment, in success and failure.” Read More…

A discussion that cannot be muted

Phoenix Suns President Rick Welts told The New York Times that he is gay, becoming the first man in a prominent position in men’s professional sports to go public with his homosexuality. Dan Lebowitz, Executive Director at Sport in Sociey, commented on the state of gay athletes in professional sports. Read More…

Violating the spirit of Title IX

May 10, 2011

By Jason Kornowitz, news@Northeastern

Pressured to comply with Title IX, many collegiate athletic programs have resorted to deception by padding women’s rosters with under-qualified athletes, no-show athletes and male practice players counted as women, according to an in-depth investigation by the New York Times. Dave Czesniuk, Senior Associate Director of Sport in Society, weighed in on the impact of technically legal roster management practices on fans, athletes and athletic programs. Read More…

Sports have become too much

May 5, 2011

By Jennifer Gish, Albany Times Union

Sports are supposed to offer life lessons: teamwork, handling defeat, working hard toward a goal, performing under pressure. They give kids a place to belong, a rung on the social ladder of high school. But there’s a new perception in high school athletics that kids have to participate on travel teams to make their school squads. Couple this with other bad plays in youth sports — irate parents on the sidelines, kids with personal trainers — and it seems we’ve forgotten why high schools decided to offer baseball and basketball alongside algebra and art class in the first place. Dan Lebowitz spoke with the Albany Times Union on the state of youth sports. Read More…

Traveling an uncertain path

May 5, 2011

By Pete Iorizzo, Albany Times Union

Travel teams at the high school level are professionalizing youth sports and placing undue pressure on performance and specialization, rather emphasizing love of the game and the values it can provide. “We’ve lost the beauty of what amateurism is, and there is a beauty to amateurism, a playfulness,” said Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz. Read More…

High school football scouting combines make more dollars than sense in wake of Lamont Baldwin injury

April 15, 2011

By Preston Williams, Washington Post

After a high school student athlete spent almost a week in the hospital as a result of an injury suffered at a football combine, Sport in Society Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, spoke with the Washington Post on the significance of football combines at the high school level. “We’ve sort of squeezed the dynamic of fun with youth sports and replaced it with a corporate structure of development, down to nearly the fifth-grade level…Once you do that, you create a cultural mind-set that you have to do this not only to compete, but to be considered a competitor…People start confusing what it’s going to take to get to where they want to go, or confusing the right vehicle to get there, and they sort of get herded into these arenas — combines or AAU programs that are detrimental to their developmental growth.” Read More…

 

Kobe Bryant Slur

April 14, 2011

By Daniel B. Wood, Christian Science Monitor

Jarrod Chin, Director of Training at Sport in Society, spoke with the Christian Science Monitor about the NBA’s Kobe Bryant hurling a homophobic slur at a referee. Chin said, “it is language that a lot of men use in our society without knowing what it really means and how ignorant and hurtful it is.” He went on to explain that “when you use that word … you are calling out that person to prove that they are really a man, and to do that, they have to assert it through physical violence.” Read More…

Sports costs give affluent high schools a big edge

March 16, 2011

By Patrick Dorsey, Indianapolis Star

Participation in sports today is often associated with significant costs; costs which can limit opportunities for youth depending on their families’ financial status. Sport in Society Senior Associate Director, Dave Czesniuk, spoke with the Indianapolis Star on the subject, explaining that “it’s prohibitive all around…a very pyramid-like structure. As you (move up) from the every level to middle school to high school to college, the opportunities become less and less.” Read More…

Miguel Cabrera’s Issues are bad PR for Tigers

March 11, 2011

By Lynn Henning

Sport in Society’s Dave Czesniuk highlights the important role teams must play in supporting the development of their players off the field, and the influence that a team’s development of socially responsible players has on its bottom line. Read More…

Fans on Fire: A Consuming Passion

February 4, 2011

By Time Weisberg

Dan Lebowitz spoke to South Coast Today about sports fanatics and the unifying power of sports. “There’s a beauty just in fanhood alone,” he says. “Even if you’re a fan of a different team, you’re still a fellow fan. It keeps the social continuum moving forward.” Read More…

Football Concussions

 

February 1, 2011

With Callie Crossley, WGBH

With football fans across the country gearing up for the Superbowl this Sunday, Dan Lebowitz joined Chris Nowinski and Dr. Ann McKee on WGBH’s The Callie Crossley Show to take a look at the toll that football concussions can take on players from high school to the NFL. Read More…

ESPN Announcer’s Behavior Is Indicative of Larger Societal Issues

 

January 4, 2011

By Paul Farhi, Washington Post

Sport in Society’s Executive Director, Dan Lebowitz, spoke with Paul Farhi of the Washington Post about an event that transpired over the weekend between ESPN’s Ron Franklin and Jeannine Edwards. Read More…