LESAProject

Sports Illustrated and CBS News recently released a report on the criminal records of college football players. An unprecedented six-month investigation by George Dohrmann, Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian uncovered damning evidence that appears to validate the suspect nature surrounding college football. After monitoring media-reported crimes by student-athletes over eight months, the three reporters chose to exclusively focus on football because they discovered that football players dominated the majority of cases. The report meticulously focused on the top 25 programs based on the 2010 preseason rankings and involved all 2,837 players, whose names, dates of birth and other vital information ...

Brandon Davies was not even born the last time BYU (27-3, 13-2 Mountain West) vaulted to No. 3 in the ranking. That ascension occurred during the 1987-88 season, a full three years before Davies’ birth. The Cougars’ game and chances at a NCAA title appeared on the rise, but their climb was short-lived, as they promptly lost to New Mexico in a 82-64 rout. Davies did not play in BYU’s first seasonal home loss. Instead, he likely watched the game as he contemplated the turnabout his life just took in the past 24 hours. BYU suspended Davies for the remainder ...

It would appear Black History Month ended with February’s conclusion. Not so for Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling. In last Sunday’s edition of the Los Angeles Times, a full-page ad pictured Sterling next to Blake Griffin with a “Clippers Celebrate Black History Month” headline.  The ad’s short blurb describes an event, a March 2 Clippers game, where “In honor of Black History Month, the Clippers will admit 1,000 underprivileged children free.” Maybe Sterling thought 2011 is a leap year, which could explain the ad’s Sunday publication. In any case, Sterling does deserve a small measure of credit for deciding to give consideration to ...

Update: Charles Woodson, team captain and pro bowl cornerback, has declared his support for Wisconsin's public workers through an individual public statement.  Woodson is one of the team's elected representatives to the players' union.Whether you like football or not, most people know that the Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl XLV Champions. However, it is a good bet that only true sports history buffs, or ardent Packers fans are aware that Green Bay is the NFL’s only publicly owned franchise. How else could you explain the existence of a team in Green Bay, Wis., the 268th most populated city in America?  ...

A variety of traditions characterize Super Bowl Sunday, the unofficial sports holiday in America. Besides the obvious viewing of the game, much of these beloved, common customs include fun and games that involve the gluttonous consumption of food and alcohol while surrounded by friends and family. Expensive TV commercials—memorable for either their ingenuity or notoriety—and the unfailingly hyped halftime show also mark this monumental occasion. Super Bowl Sunday serves as one glorious, nationwide party. However, beneath all the cheer and excitement surrounding the Super Bowl lies an insidiously vile practice, the not-so-secret, but routinely ignored, world of human trafficking. For decades, human traffickers, often members ...

In the Harry Potter novels, Voldemort is also known as “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.”   In Tennessee Volunteers football lore, Lane Kiffin equals Lord Voldemort. The Vols’ controversial ex-coach infamously ditched Knoxville after a single season for the posh, golden coast of Los Angeles, and the head coaching job at the University of Southern California. Even in his lone season, Kiffin managed to cause controversy with false and thoughtless remarks, famously accusing Urban Meyer, University of Florida’s head coach, of NCAA violations. In reality, it was Kiffin who blatantly committed multiple NCAA violations, largely the result of his mouth—more specifically, the words he ...

Update: The New York Daily News has reported that the Yankees and the Bleacher Creatures have come to an agreement to end their controversial tradition.The Bleacher Creatures embody the best or worst of New York Yankees fans, based on your point of view. This group of die-hard fans, who now occupy Section 203, are notorious for both their vociferous, unconventional cheering for the home boys and merciless jeering of the opposing team and fans. The unofficial fan club’s origin is credited to Ali Ramirez, who started bringing a cowbell to inspire other fans to cheer.  For the past quarter-century or so, ...

Common belief states that 50 percent of marriages end in divorce. While relatively true, this statistic’s interpretation deserves consideration of various specific conditions that apply to each marriage, according to the State of Our Unions—a joint report released annually by the University of Virginia’s National Marriage Project and the Institute for American Values.   For example, compatible work schedules and the amount of time spouses spend together can significantly alter the divorce probability. Based on such factors, many marriages of high-profile athletes unsurprisingly appear to end dismally, with infidelity by the man often cited as the primary cause.  Consequently, polls, studies, and anecdotal ...

Whatever the sport, Kevin Laue’s competition—even his teammates—always enjoyed leverage over him.  Laue was born with only one arm. Laue grew up in Pleasanton, California and exhibited an interest in sports at an early age. His supportive parents encouraged his participation in multiple sports as a child.  He was naturally at a disadvantage without a left arm below the elbow.  However, he never allowed his so-called disability to extinguish his passion for the sport he loved nor distinguish him as an athlete.  It merely drove him to work that much harder to level the playing field against his physically whole opponents. Gradually, Laue showed ...

In Rwanda, dreams—even for its youth—are a fleeting rarity that seemingly disappear with the coming dawn. Three-quarters of the population live under the international poverty line of $1.25 a day, and, to this day, the country is still recovering from the inexplicably haunting and gruesome 1994 genocide that took up to a million lives.   Countless others died in the regional First and Second Congo Wars, as well. In the aftermath of Thanksgiving, it is meaningful to consider most Americans enjoyed a hearty meal with family or friends.  Then, after the physical consumption came the material consumption of Black Friday, where people ...