ESPN's Chad Ford writes about conflict resolution in the Mideast

No joke. He wrote this article and runs an incredible program called "Playing for Peace" that has been recognized by everyone, from the Dalai Lama to Bill Clinton to George W. Bush.

More from Henry Abbott:

The academic who wrote that? His name is Chad Ford, and as you may know, he is also known as ESPN's NBA draft guru. Ford gave up his full-time job at ESPN )he still works there some, however) a year ago to become an assistant professor of conflict resolution at Brigham Young University-Hawaii.

(I'll be honest, when I first heard about that last summer, I thought jokingly to myself--an NBA reporter got the greatest prize in all of academia? A tenure track gig in Hawaii? Ford must have dug up some serious dirt on some very powerful NBA personality who pulled those strings. But it turns out Ford has always had these kinds of credentials. Ford has a juris doctorate from Georgetown University and a master's degree from George Mason University's Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.)

Ford wore three hats--ESPN reporter, academic, and ABC correspondent--on a recent trip to the Middle East to cover basketball's true believers: those who run an incredible program called Playing for Peace (PFP), which brings together children from both sides of the conflict to master the art of basketball while sharing uniforms with the kids they used to consider "the enemy." It's not all window dressing, either. PFP has been recognized by everyone from the Dalai Lama to George W. Bush. The board features R.C. Buford, Steve Kerr, Danny Ferry, and others. Arn Tellem is also involved.

UPDATE: In the Philippines, we have a more effective program called "Video Piracy for Peace". And i'm sure the Americans won't mind this as long as it keeps the peace in our country and gives employment opportunities to our Muslim brothers in quiapo and anywhere else in RP.