On Thursday, I was proud to take part in a student walkout at the University of Maryland in defense of public education. It was just one link in a National Day of Action that saw protests in more than 32 states across the country. I am not a student, and haven't been since those innocent days when Monica Lewinsky mattered, but I was asked to come speak at a post walkout teach-in about the way sports is used to attack public education. It might sound like a bizarre topic, but it's the world that students see every day.

Can ESPN please declare a company-wide moratorium on comparing current athletes to Muhammad Ali? I thought it was unfortunate when columnist Jemele Hill wrote that anti-choice icon Tim Tebow was "as courageous" as Ali. But that comparison is inspired compared to recent comments by "ESPN's The Sports Guy" Bill Simmons.

For athletes, the costs of training for the Olympics means that losing are not an option. As a result, we have petulance. We have spectacle. And we have death. We also have something that is no longer the Olympics but reality television, where as many titillations take place off the field of play as on.