Former NFL players who played tackle football as young children were more likely to have thinking and memory problems as adults, a Boston University study published Wednesday in a medical journal found.

Researchers tested 42 retired players between the ages of 40 and 69 and found that those who started playing football prior to age 12 performed "significantly worse" on three measures: estimated verbal IQ; executive function, which includes reasoning and planning; and memory impairment. The study is published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

A Southern California high school basketball coach has been suspended for bad sportsmanship after his team won 161-2 in one of the state's most lopsided games in history. Arroyo Valley High girls' coach Michael Anderson said that he wasn't trying to run up the score or embarrass Bloomington High during Monday's game, the San Bernardino Sun reported.

In the search for answers to improving the American education system, some critics are focusing on the attention and dollars that are being directed toward high school activities - sports in particular - as a culprit. The valuable contribution that high school sports makes to the education process is being ignored in the most part by those critics.  Spokesman-Review writer Steve Christilaw counters the critics with a focus on the lessons taught out of the classroom and in the field of play.  

Fairfield (Ohio) High School athletic director Mark Harden knows all too well the debate on sport specialization. Not only is Harden in charge of the athletic department at one of the largest high schools in Ohio, but he’s experienced first-hand the pressure of making an athletics-based decision as a parent.