Review of Loserville

Trutor, Clayton. Loserville: How Professional Sports Remade Atlanta––and How Atlanta Remade Professional Sports. Lincoln: Nebraska University Press, 2022. Pp. 504. $34.95 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski A major American city––one that is either in development or dealing with social, economic, or environmental issues––never fully “arrives” or “emerges” on the national map until it lands a…

Review of Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle

Sharon Mazer. Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle. Second Edition. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2020. Pp. 198. $30 paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski From the beginning of her book, Professional Wrestling: Sport and Spectacle, which was originally published in 1998, Sharon Mazer makes it clear that she is just a tourist in the world of…

Review of 1968: A Pivotal Moment in American Sports

Nicholson, James C. 1968: A Pivotal Moment in American Sports. Knoxville: The University of Tennessee Press, 2019. Pp. 149. $34.95 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The year 1968 is often considered a vital year for America. A year known for unrest and protest, it also was marked by technological progress and assassinations of two progressive…

Review of The Point After

Conley, Sean. The Point After: How One Resilient Kicker Learned there was More to Life than the NFL. Lyons Press, 2020. Pp. 258. Acknowledgments, epilogue, index, photographs, pregame (prologue). $29.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo There is nothing sentimental about the NFL. It is a business, and it chews up players and spits them out…

Review of Let’s Get Physical

Friedman, Danielle. Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the World. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 270 pp. $27.00 Hardcover. Reviewed by Richard Ravalli Danielle Friedman provides a personalized, feminist look at women’s fitness history since the middle of the twentieth century in Let’s Get Physical: How Women Discovered Exercise and Reshaped the…

Review of It’s Better to be Feared

Wickersham, Seth. It’s Better to be Feared: The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness. New York: Liveright Publishing Corporation, 2021. Pp. 506. $40.00 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski According to ESPN journalist Seth Wickersham, the Patriots dynasty began and ended with Tom Brady. That is how he constructs his book, It’s Better…

Review of Hail Mary

De la Cretaz, Britni and D’Arcangelo, Lyndsey. Hail Mary: The Rise and Fall of the National Women’s Football League. New York: Bold Type Books, 2021. Pp. vii, 290. Black and white photos, team list, bibliography, index. $28 hardcover. Reviewed by Russ Crawford In Hail Mary, de la Cretaz and D’Arcangelo have gathered fascinating stories of…

Review of The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England’s (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise

Pickens, Pat. The Whalers: The Rise, Fall, and Enduring Mystique of New England’s (Second) Greatest NHL Franchise. Guilford: Globe Pequot/Lyons Press, 2021. Pp. 280. $26.00 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The Hartford Whalers were an NHL team for 18 seasons, from 1979 to 1997, when the team relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina and became the…

Review of Dixieball

Aiello, Thomas. Dixieball: Race and Professional Basketball in the Deep South, 1947-1979. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2019. Pp. 182. $34.95 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Atlanta and New Orleans do not exactly appear at the top of the rankings of basketball-obsessed cities. As shown by Thomas Aiello’s extraordinarily entertaining and fun book…

Review of War Football

Serb, Chris. War Football: World War I and the Birth of the NFL. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2019. Pp. xviii, 275. Appendices, notes, bibliography, index. Reviewed by Russ Crawford In War Football, Chris Serb not only makes a strong case that football played during The Great War “created an environment where professional football could…