Lane Kiffin's new challenge: Rebuilding Ole Miss with just four returning starters
Only four starters return from a 10-3 team that finished No. 11 in the AP Top 25 poll and was generally considered 'the first team out' of last year's College Football Playoff.
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Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
We've squeezed the fun out of youth sports. There's a better way.
At the rinks where our 10-year-old son plays hockey, we're greeted with signs warning us not to threaten, taunt or shout obscenities at players, coaches, refs or other parents. Why do such signs exist? For the same reason Americans are fixated on the genitals and hormone levels of a handful of top teen athletes: We've lost sight of what – and who – youth sports are for. Sports get kids and adolescents moving, boosting physical fitness and cardiovascular health, which in turn sets them up for more physical activity and better health in adulthood. But the benefits go beyond fitness. Team sports can also promote social time with peers, self-esteem, grit, life-skill development, mentorship, academic engagement and improved mental health. And most important from a kid's perspective? Sports are meant to be fun! So why have we taken something social, healthy and enjoyable and turned it into an expensive, exclusive, high-pressure experience? A 2024 national survey of sports parents offers some clues: 1 in 5 respondents said their child could play "higher-level intercollegiate sports"; 1 in 10 thought their child could go pro. These numbers are ... not realistic. Using National Collegiate Athletics Association estimates, we found that only about 1 in 45 athletes on high school teams will play Division 1 sports. One in 50 high school athletes get full or partial athletics scholarships. And fewer than 1 in 50 NCAA athletes then go on to play professionally. Opinion: Youth sports business model hurts kids. New poll shows parents are fed up. OK, but what's the harm in letting parents dream? After all, we're the ones schlepping kids across the state, washing endless sweat-stained jockstraps and shelling out for equipment, travel and camps. Let's start with the money. Youth sports is a $40 billion industry. For all the hand-wringing about the advantages of testosterone, this is where the real inequities of youth sports lie. Kid-to-pro aspirational treadmill Households making more than $100,000 annually spend nearly three times as much on their child's primary sport than those making less than $50,000, according to an Aspen Institute study. Many families are priced out altogether. Households earning over $100,000 are 73% more likely to have a child in sports than those earning less than $25,000. Meanwhile, schools in low-income districts often lack the facilities, equipment, personnel and transportation to support team sports. 85519131007 Money changes the game for the haves, too. With so much invested, athletes and coaches feel the pressure to tally wins and push young bodies to the max. Kids whose parents pour cash into sports in hopes that they'll be the next Simone Biles or Travis Kelce are more likely to specialize in a single sport, overtrain, get hurt and ultimately burn out. The kid-to-pro aspirational treadmill also makes it harder for youth not traditionally seen as athletes to join in. When our autistic son discovered hockey, we heard horror stories of parents spending tens of thousands of dollars on equipment, travel and ice time. His teachers were supportive but concerned that the loud, competitive environment would be too much for him. Opinion alerts: Get columns from your favorite columnists + expert analysis on top issues, delivered straight to your device through the USA TODAY app. Don't have the app? Download it for free from your app store. We were lucky to find a (relatively) affordable league run by parent volunteers who include, support and celebrate our young hockey goalie. The parents leave their cowbells at home, the coaches keep the locker room calm, his teammates refrain from puppy-piling on him at the end of the game and the refs know that curling up in a ball means he's overwhelmed, not hurt. Low-cost, low-stakes inclusive sports Being part of a team has been transformational for our son, boosting his resilience and confidence, building relationships and providing physical activity. And, especially important for a kid who struggles with social situations, he's having so much fun. Opinion: Millions of kids say they feel lonely. Coaches are an untapped resource to help. Efforts to make inclusion central to youth sports are already underway. A 2013 policy guidance memo made clear that public schools must provide disabled youth with opportunities for sports participation. Special Olympics-sponsored unified sports teams, which bring together students with and without intellectual disabilities, are now offered in more than 10,000 schools. And nonprofits like Soccer Without Borders and 906 Adventure Team offer programs that promote effort, belonging and joy rather than privileging those with the 'right' physical traits and parental resources. These efforts suggest a way forward for inclusion more generally – finding ways to ensure that poor kids, queer kids, anxious kids, fat kids and, yes, trans kids all have a place. When just 28% of youth meet the recommended activity guidelines of 60 minutes daily, sports teams can be more compelling than telling kids to put down the Switch and go outside (we've tried). Promoting broad low-cost, low-stakes, inclusive sports participation can help all kids enjoy the physical, psychological and social benefits of what, ultimately, is just a game. Holly Painter is the director of the Center for Research on Vermont. Emily Beam is an associate professor of economics at the University of Vermont. They are the parents of two youth athletes. You can read diverse opinions from our USA TODAY columnists and other writers on the Opinion front page, on X, formerly Twitter, @usatodayopinion and in our Opinion newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How much does it cost for kids to play sports? It's too much | Opinion
Yahoo
25 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UD Men's Basketball to play ACC school at neutral site
The University of Dayton men's basketball team will play an ACC school at a neutral site this upcoming season. [DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] Dayton will play the University of Virginia on Dec. 6 at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, NC, according to a UD spokesperson. TRENDING STORIES: Ohio man killed, several injured in rollover crash on I-70 Police searching for missing 59-year-old man; have you seen him? Check your tickets! 2 winning Powerball tickets sold in Ohio The Flyers are set to play at two ACC opponents in non-conference play. They will host Florida State on Dec. 16 at UD Arena and could face Miami (FL) at the ESPN Events Invitational in November. Dayton and UVA have met three times in program history. The Cavaliers won their last matchup, 66-59, at the 2018 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. All Dayton Flyer men's basketball games will be broadcast on WHIO Radio. [SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
CBS News
25 minutes ago
- CBS News
How to watch tonight's Steelers preseason game. Here's what to know about Pittsburgh vs. Panthers
The Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers are facing off Thursday night in the final week of the NFL's preseason. Here's how you can watch the game and what to know about the contest. Thursday night's game will be a final tune-up for the Steelers before they travel to New York to face the Jets in the opening game of the regular season on Sunday, September 7. You can watch the Steelers-Panthers preseason game by tuning into KDKA-TV in the Pittsburgh market. If you're outside the Pittsburgh area, you can watch the game via the NFL+ subscription streaming service. Live pregame coverage with Steelers Kickoff will begin on KDKA-TV at 6:30 p.m. before the game gets underway at 7:00 p.m. Following the game, KDKA will have live postgame coverage with The Extra Point and a special edition of the Nightly Sports Call before the KDKA News at Eleven. A radio broadcast of the game will air on WDVE 102.5 FM and WBGG 970 AM in the Pittsburgh area and fans from anywhere in the world can listen to the game on the Steelers Nation Radio network. Several key players on the Pittsburgh Steelers have a chance to play tonight, unlike the first two games of the preseason -- but that will not include quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that everyone has a potential to play Thursday night, except for Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, T.J. Watt, and Cameron Heyward. Rodgers, 41, signed with the Steelers this offseason as a free agent and hasn't played in any of the preseason games for Pittsburgh. "I'm comfortable with what I'm seeing out here," Tomlin said. "Obviously, if I weren't, I would be playing him." The Steelers kicked off their preseason schedule nearly two weeks ago on the road in Jacksonville. Pittsburgh defeated the Jaguars 31-25 as Mason Rudolph completed 29 of 38 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns. Last week, Pittsburgh hosted the Tampa Buccaneers, who defeated the Steelers by a score of 17-14. Rudolph got his second straight start, completing three of five passes for 46 yards and one touchdown. Backup quarterback Skylar Thompson completed 10 of 15 passes for 113 yards.
