By Alec Hurley On a late July day in 1980, Renaldo Nehemiah, prohibitive favorite and world record holding hurdler, ascended to the top of the podium. His path to dominance in the pre-Olympic years was highlighted by victories at the 1979 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Cup and Pan-American Games. A junior, collegiate,…
Donner, Richard. Inside Moves. 1980. Goodmark Productions Incorporated. Film. Reviewed by Jon Hart ‘Tis the season for the “best of” lists. When the best sports movies of all-time are listed, there’s one gem that’s overlooked. Perhaps it’s because Inside Moves, which was released in 1980, doesn’t resort to the usual sports movie tropes. In fact,…
Schultz, Jaime. Women’s Sports: What Everyone Needs to Know. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. 243. Notes, bibliography, and index. $16.95 paperback. Reviewed by Cat Ariail As scholars of women’s sport well know, studying women’s sports tells one about much more than women’s sports. With Women’s Sports: What Everyone Needs to Know, Jaime Schultz…
By Leslie Heaphy Excitement ran high when the United States was chosen to host the 2018 Women’s Baseball World Cup for the first first time. The venue was Viero, Florida, in August 2018. A wonderful facility, but as it turned out, a tough time of year to host in Florida. The temperatures soared and the…
By Cat Ariail When advertising its inaugural 1997 season, the WNBA announced, “We Got Next.” The slogan represented a clever adaptation of the playground basketball expression. Unintentionally but appropriately, it also captured the perpetual liminality of the league. For much of its twenty-two year history, insecurity has characterized the league, with professional women basketball forever…
Pearlman, Jeff. Football for a Buck: The Crazy Ride and the Crazier Demise of the USFL.New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 2018. $18.30 paperback. Review By Jon Hart This review originally appeared on Stadium Journey. Re-posted with author permission. Prolific author Jeff Pearlman, @jeffpearlman, has written eight books. By his own admission, he had the…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on December 4, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. Here we are once again at the end of the regular season in college football. The conference championship games have…
Dr. Johnny Smith has passed along the following job posting that may be an interest to sport historians, particularly those without a PhD. The job is with a company called Heritage Works. They are looking for someone trained in history or sport history to work as an archivist in the private sector for professional sports…
Keurajian,Ron. Baseball Hall of Fame Autographs,Second Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.,2018. Pp 303. Appendix, bibliography, glossary, illustrations and notes. $49.95 paperback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. It’s a sign of the times: Collecting sports autographs is a big business, with potentially lucrative paydays. In August, a baseball signed by 11of the original National…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on November 18, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. Among all of the dysfunctional organizations in contemporary Sportsworld, USA Gymnastics (USAG) seems to be the leader. The Larry Nassar…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on November 8, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. Do you ever wonder if there is a bottom to the depths of decay and corruption within the American University?…
Coffino, Michael J. The Other Classroom: The Essential Importance of High School Athletics. Pp. 199. Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 2018. $28.00 Softcover. Reviewed by Jorge Iber As someone who has spent 30+ years working in the educational field (five years as a high school teacher, the rest at colleges and universities), the notion of…
