Toussaint, Jean-Philippe. Shaun Whiteside, trans. Soccer. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2019. Pp 100. Notes. $12.95 paperback, eBook, pdf, $39.95 cloth. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld Belgian novelist, filmmaker, and photographer Jean-Philippe Toussaint offers his readers a highly-detailed, often complex, and thought-provoking journey in his latest book, Soccer (translated by Shaun Whiteside). Unlike other soccer memoirs…
Crippen, Kenneth R. and Matt Reaser, eds., The All-America Football Conference: Players, Coaches, Records, Games and Awards, 1946-1949. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2018. Pp. 361. Index. $45 softcover. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach for whom the Super Bowl Trophy is named, did not win a championship in his…
Sweet, David A. F. Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019. Pp. 225. Bibliography, illustrations, index, and source notes. $29.95 hardback. Reviewed by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes The President of the United States was livid. Richard Nixon was meeting with his chief of staff, H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, and…
King-White, Ryan, ed. Sport and the Neoliberal University: Profit, Politics, and Pedagogy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018. Pp. 242. Notes, index, and 3 figures. $37.95 paperback, EPUB, and PDF. $34.95 Kindle. Reviewed by Jorge Iber Given California Governor Gavin Newsom recently signing the Fair Pay to Play Act into law, a review of…
Cooky, Cheryl and Michael Messner. No Slam Dunk: Gender, Sport and the Unevenness of Social Change. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018. Pp. 314. Notes, index, and 19 tables. $42.95 paperback, EPUB, and PDF. $39.95 Kindle. Reviewed by Cat Ariail Are we finally approaching a much anticipated watershed in women’s sport? This summer, the…
White, Derrick E. Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2019. Pp. 303. Abbreviations, bibliography, endnotes, epilogue, illustrations, and index. $30 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. Jake Gaither coached his last college football game fifty years ago, but his impact…
Watkins, Brandi. Sports Teams, Fans and Twitter: The Influence of Social Media on Relationships and Branding. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2019. Pp. 115. Bibliography and Index. $85.00 hardcover, $80.50 e-book. Reviewed by Brett L. Abrams The fan-team relationship, a cornerstone in the lives of many people and the bedrock of a sports teams’ survival.…
By Robert J. Lake You’d have to been living under a rock not to have heard news of the stunning upset of Serena Williams by the Canadian 19-year old Bianca Andreescu in the final of the U.S. Open on September 7. Commentators and journalists rushed to remind their audiences that Bianca, whose Romanian parents immigrated…
Gems, Gerald and Pfister, Gertrude, eds. Touchdown: An American Obsession. Great Barrington, Ma: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC, 2019. Pp. 364. Appendices, notes, glossary, index. $49.95 paperback. $125 hardcover. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Gridiron football is the most popular team sport in the United States, and the history of the sport has been explored by a…
Fischer, David. The New York Yankees of the 1950s: Mantle, Stengel, Berra, and a Decade of Dominance. Guilford, Connecticut: Lyons Press, 2019. Pp. 271. Bibliography, epilogue, index, preface, and source notes. $26.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. The New York Yankees were the dominant baseball team of the 1950s. On paper, teams like the Brooklyn…
Hernández, Lou. Bobby Maduro and the Cuban Sugar Kings. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishing Company, 2018. Pp. 218. Bibliography and notes. $39.95 paperback. Reviewed by Leslie Heaphy Lou Hernández provides a comprehensive biography of one of baseball’s most successful and overlooked executives, Bobby Maduro. Maduro had a long career in Cuban baseball before starting over again…
Allison, Rachel. Kicking Center: Gender and the Selling of Women’s Professional Soccer. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2018. Pp. 220. Appendices, notes, bibliography, and index. $27.95 paperback and eBook. Reviewed by Cat Ariail Earlier this summer, the US Women’s National Soccer Team (USWNT), earned a fourth star on their shirt, winning the Women’s World…
