The following was broadcast on 12/18/10 WABE-FM, Atlanta.

By Jordan Johnson-Bailey

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I've always been small for my age. Most of my classmates are bigger than me.

However, my brother has taught me not to let my size stop me from standing up for what is right. 

When I played football in middle school, I always gave it my best  - and I often got creamed. Some of those other players looked like NFL members. But , it was my brother who encouraged me to keep getting up, to face my opponent.  The cool thing about my brother was that he didn’t even have to tell me what he was thinking, I just knew.

I remember one day when we were riding the bus downtown. Two white guys with Nazi  symbols on their necks told an older black man to move out of his seat. The older man said he wouldn’t give it up for them. We were arriving at the bus stop near my home, and my brother told me he was going to stay on the bus to go to the store. I got off and headed home. I knew my brother wasn't really telling the truth.

Later that evening, I got a phone call from my brother. He was at the hospital. I quickly headed to see him, and I was not surprised to see who was next to him. Both my brother and the elderly man from the bus were there at the hospital. But in the room next to them were the two racists. They had more injuries and were handcuffed to their beds.

My brother had stood up to them.

Previously on WABE:

• Seagulls Are Still There

• Road Wars

• Natural Hair

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Even if you are not enrolled in college, you can get a  taste of what it’s like to play collegiate football. That is, if you can handle the discipline, and if you commit to working towards college.

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By Ross Andrews

There are few things in life as satisfying as ‘laying the boom’ on an opponent and feeling his body crumple in return.

To be a great at football, you kind of have to be built to play the game. I’m not. I weigh 130 pounds, I speak in monotone, and I’m as fast as LA traffic. I got manhandled during the two years I played high school football. And when a tight end literally threw me on a run play, I thought maybe football isn’t right for me.
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The criminal athlete turned citizen athlete.
This is the image transformation that the NFL is hoping to promote with its latest summer camps, that focus on being a well-rounded, good citizen player.
NFL stars are often turned into iconic figures, with their faces painted on billboards, signing autographs for young kids, and their jersey numbers revered. The new challenge is to be revered as a person of strong character, as well as a strong football player.

An article in the Associated Press said, “As commissioner Roger Goodell has cracked down on player misconduct, he's made clear his aim is not only to punish lawbreaking but to prevent actions that tarnish the league's reputation.”

The NFL is sponsoring 125 High School Player Development clinics around the country. They are free, and 20,000 high school students from 34 states will attend. The camps are co-sponsored by the National Guard. The camp focuses on academic organization. They provide the campers with a planner that includes, “includes guidance on goal-setting, inspirational quotes and advice on areas such as sportsmanship and citizenship,” according to the AP article.

According to Jerry Horowitz,the NFL's director of youth tackle football, “By the time many players reach the league, the seeds of misconduct already have been planted - and changing behavior requires more than disciplining players after they go astray.''

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By: Rasam Aminzadeh

After thirty-six years, FIFA World Cup is finally headed back to South America. The biggest sport event will take place in Brazil, a country that's known for having the best team.

Brazil has won five FIFA World Cups, Making them the team with the best record. The country hosted one of the most memorable FIFA World Cups in 1950. The only world cup that had no official final in that tournament.

 "In a FIFA World Cup™ that concluded with a four-team mini-league, the hosts met Uruguay in a deciding fixture which proved a final in all but name. Needing only to draw, Brazil led through Friaca's 47th-minute strike before Uruguay turned the game on its head via goals from Juan Schiaffino and Alcides Ghigghia. A deathly hush descended on the Maracana as some 200,000 voices fell silent and Brazil's little neighbor to the south celebrated a second world crown." via FIFA

Brazil didn’t win the world cup at home, so 2014 could be the year they redeem themselves or not. The Esquadrão de Ouro or the Golden Squad is getting ready to host the 2014 World Cup. They don’t want to disappoint their followers as they did in the last two world cups. In this years World Cup, the favorite team "lost to the Netherlands 2–1 despite gaining an early lead." This was the first time Brazil was defeated outside the European continent in 42 matches." That wasn't the only time they dissapointed people. In 2006, the team was defeated in the quarterfinals against France by a score of 1-0.

Coach Dunga and all of his technical staff were dismissed after losing to Netherlands in quarterfinals. Now, the pressure is on Mano Menezes, the new head coach, to bring back one of soccer's favorite team, Brazil.  Everyone expects him to lead his team to victory, especially since country is set to host.

Last time Brazil won the world cup was in 2002, which is not too long ago, when they defeated Germany 2-0 in the final. Can they do it again?

In my opinion, the winner of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is going to be a South American team. History has proven that everytime the world cup has been hosted in South America, the winner has been a South American team. 2014 will be a must watch tournament since the favorites are going to host the biggest sport event in the world.
 

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By: Rod Aminzadeh 

There are several major reasons why Soccer is not a popular sport in the United States. First of all, there are just too many national sports in America such as football, basketball, baseball, and hockey. Most people have grown up with these sports and soccer is kind of a new game, so people haven't adapted to it. Secondly, there are not enough international games for the soccer clubs playing in the U.S. The only important soccer tournament in America is Major League Soccer (MLS). There are also some college tournaments but not many people even know about it.

Soccer clubs in other continents like Europe, Asia, and South America, are really active and have several international games and tournaments such as "Champions League" and "UEFA Europa League" in Europe, "Copa Libatadores" in South America, and "AFC Champion Leagues" in Asia.

Sports in America are seasonal. On other continents, the soccer season lasts about nine months plus playing a couple of international tournaments during their regular season.

"Soccer has very few chances for commercials and so very few opportunities for television companies to make money from showing soccer, especially as it is not a massively popular sport in the U.S. Perhaps if it had the coverage, it would generate fans and in time make the money, as the rest of the world knows, the potential is there for some serious profits."

via Helium.

Another reason why people aren’t as interested is the lack of scoring in soccer. Americans enjoy watching sports that have a high scores, making it more exciting for them. For example, in football, the players score several touchdowns. Basketball scores can get as high as 100 points per game. Then you have soccer, where teams score about one or two goals on average and it's not exciting enough to grab people's attention—at least in the U.S

"Soccer has become more popular in the US in the last years and many young people, either male and females, regularly play it in the colleges, but it hasn't still reached the popularity and passion levels of Europe, Latin America and also Africa, so that it's difficult to find in the US stadiums build just for soccer."

via Helium.

Hopefully, we'll see more soccer being played and watched in the United States in the upcoming years and gain the respect that it deserves in America.

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In America, there is nothing quite like college sports. College football however, takes it to a whole new level, and it has caused more fights than one. Whether it's the traditions, the rivalries, or the hype around a new recruiting class, there is pretty much nothing in college football that doesn't get massive play in the national media. I say pretty much, because there is one rather large thing that will not get as much coverage as she deserves. Arrests, particularly ones that involve alcohol, rarely get national media play. Even as recently as this Friday, when four Tennessee Volunteers were involved in a bar brawl that led to an off duty police officer being knocked out and hospitalized, not much besides the occaisional outside the lines report gets on "the worldwide leader" ESPN.
There are a few reasons why they don't get covered, but first we should familiarize ourselves with the subject matter.

• Before March 7th, the Georgia Bulldogs main problem was finding out how to improve on last season and decide who their quarterback would be. After March 7th, they then had to worry about what they would do with Redshirt Freshman Zach Mettenberger, who was arrested for consumption and possession of alcohol, possessing fake identification and disorderly conduct-obstruction. He has since been dismissed from the team, and his been sentanced to probation
• Goergia's problems was not limited with students. Damon Evans, the former Athletic Director, resigned after getting charged with a DUI. Evans his since taken ownership of his mistake, but IT’S (it is) still a glaring blight for the university
•          A pair of Eastern Carolina University running backs, Brandon Jackson and Giavvani Ruffin, were arrested after a bout of public intoxication and resisting a police officer. Jackson has since been kicked off the team, while Ruffin is suspended indefinitly.
• This is not just a southern problem either, as evidenced by Iowa's defensive tackle Broderick Binns was arrested for drunk driving. He was part of the Hawkeye's leadership group, and while he is still part of the team, he will serve a suspension and receive some form of counseling.

All fairly serious issues on their own, but put them together, and remembering that these are just the alcohol arrests, then it's clear that college football has a problem. So why is this not getting the national play and coverage it needs?  Read more...

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Reporter Lindy Hlobo
Produced and Edited by Czerina Patel
YENZA WORLD CUP ROOTS 

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA-- While today is a time of celebration for U.S. soccer supporters after a 1-0 win over Alegeria, yesterday was a sad one for the host country of South Africa's fans. Or  is it really a unifying one? This is the question 13 year old Lindy Hlobo took out to the hometown fans around the Cape Town stadium the evening after South Africa didn’t beat France by enough to get to the next stage of the FIFA World Cup. She asked some South African and African male soccer fans their feelings about South Africa. This montage shows a general feeling of disappointment surmounted by one of deep pride, unity, hope for Africa, and gratitude to Nelson Mandela.

 

Photo by Phiwokuhle Papama Budaza for Yenza (Copyright Yenza Inc. 2010)

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Youth Radio’s Shaw Killip discusses athletes and guns on an episode of his show “Necessary Roughness.”

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Students from Youth Radio's Cap 8 Class discuss athletes' salaries and the effects sports has on their communities.

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