By Cat Ariail In early 1949, Catherine Meyer, still coach of the United States women’s track and field team despite the criticisms of her performance at the 1948 London Olympics, began to look toward the 1951 Pan American Games, slated for Buenos Aires, Argentina, and 1952 Olympics, which were to be held in Helsinki, Finland. …
By Zachary R. Bigalke Editor’s Note: This post is based on the experiences of one of our contributors, Zachary R. Bigalke, at the 2017 NASSH Convention. At the 2017 North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) Convention, held over Memorial Day weekend at Cal State University, Fullerton, there was a slew of research that advanced historical…
Iber, Jorge. Mike Torrez: A Baseball Biography. Jefferson, North Carolina. McFarland & Company, Inc., 2016. Pp. viii+260; Notes, Index, Bibliography, Photographs. $29.95 softcover, $9.95 ebook. Reviewed by Doug Wilson One lousy pitch. That’s all they’ll ever remember. It’s an unfortunate aspect of sport that a man can perform better than average for 10 or 15…
Kevin E. Simpson, Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. xxix + 368 pp. 27 photos and illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, $40.00 hardback. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld. I am a trained US historian with an emphasis on soccer, but much of my research spans…
By Adam Criblez There have been some great shooters in the past. . . . But here again, when I played years ago, if you shot a shot outside and hit it, the next time I’m going to be up on top of you. I’m going to pressure you with three-quarters, half-court defense. But now…
Pearson, Greg. Maybe Next Year: Long Suffering Fans and the Teams That Never Deliver. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016. Pp. 264. 66 Photos. Index, $35.00 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber As a long suffering fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Dolphins (an odd combination, to be sure), this reviewer met the…
Liberti, Rita and Maureen M. Smith, eds. San Francisco Bay Area Sports: Golden Gate Athletics, Recreation, and Community. Fayetteville, AR: University of Arkansas Press, 2017. Pp. xviii +352. Notes, contributors, and index. Paperback $24.95. Reviewed by Cat Ariail With the Golden State Warriors seemingly poised to capture the NBA Finals, an achievement that would consolidate…
By Russ Crawford During the past year, several blog posts have addressed political activism by athletes. We have read about Colin Kaepernick’s refusal to stand for the national anthem, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s earlier anthem protest, along with several mentions of Tommie Smith’s closed-fist salute at the 1968 Olympics. These are only a few examples of writers…
By Adam Criblez Editor’s Note: For a brief excerpt from Tall Tales and Short Shorts, see this post from May 18, 2017. On May 16, I celebrated the publication of Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA. It’s a book I never intended to write. I am…
Freedman, Lew. The Boyer Brothers of Baseball. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers. 2015. Pp. 252. Bibliography, Notes, Index, and 23 Photos. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber A quick perusal of baseball-reference.com under the heading of “Largest Baseball Families” generated a listing (though the site argues that it is likely an incomplete enumeration)…
Zagorski, Joe. Forward by Rocky Bleier. The NFL in the 1970s: Pro Football’s Most Important Decade. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016. Pp. 434. Notes, References, Index. $39.95 softcover. Reviewed by Rich Loosbrock The National Football League (NFL) sits atop all other sports in the United States in every measurable category: ratings, fan interest, and revenues. It…
This weekend, sport historians will flock to the campus of the California State University, Fullerton, in sunny southern California for the annual convention of the North American Society of Sport History (NASSH). For the last three years, the Sport in American History Blog has published a review of the conference (2014, 2015, and 2016), offering a glimpse…
