Former Weirton Coach Sentenced To Prison For Internet Sex Crime – News Story – WTOV Steubenville

Former Weirton Coach Sentenced To Prison For Internet Sex Crime – News Story – WTOV Steubenville

A former Weirton youth basketball coach accused of an Internet sex crime was sentenced to prison after he pleaded guilty in a Pittsburgh court on Tuesday.

The way this story reads, it sounds like one of those “perverted justice” stings they always show on Dateline. This again points to the paucity in providing any oversight over many youth sports coaches. Sadly, the story below makes it seem as though this coach was working for a youth center that actually took some precautions (although a coach’s own affidavit that he does not have a criminal background seems a bit naive. You know who would lie on that? Criminals.)

(also: http://www.wtov9.com/news/11454506/detail.html)

More Parent Violence

Man slugs kid’s football coach over playing time — Newsday.com

Upset over how much time his son was getting in a Pop Warner football game, police say a man punched the boy’s coach, knocking him unconscious for about 30 minutes.

Over playing time….

Penalties likely for parents in sports fight in Olympia, Washington

Penalties likely for parents in sports fight – News – The Olympian – Olympia, Washington

Several parents involved in a fight after a youth football game last weekend are likely to face consequences from the Black Hills Junior Football League, its president said Sunday.

Just to note: Later in the article, it is mentioned that the teams include 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders. As somebody who’s never seen a game in this league, it seems to me that that is a pretty wide grouping of ages for a contact sport. Picture an above-average-sized fourth grader and a below-average-sized second grader. Ouch. Not to absolve the parents, but does this sound to anybody else like a perfect recipe for trouble?

Do contact sports lead to off-the-field aggression?

Newswise Social and Behavioral Sciences News | Male Adolescent Athletes More Likely to Be Aggressors

full report: http://www.asanet.org/galleries/default-file/Oct07ASRFeature.pdf

“The results suggest that sports fail to protect males from interpersonal violence. Indeed, contact sports are positively associated with male serious fighting.”

Later in the short preview:

…sports programs, including coaches and parents, ultimately need to emphasize self-control and respect

Which begs the logical question: Do the programs studied lead to violent off-field behavior because they are violent sports or because they are violent sports taught in an unhealthy culture that doesn’t emphasize the values above?

Why do people cheat?

Bad sports – The Boston Globe

The new research into the psychology of cheating comes at a time when others, largely economists, are finding stark evidence that cheating is a widespread part of sports, and not merely in the sort of cases that make the news.

Economists look at cheating. Interesting read….