The Green-and-Gold Tapestry on California’s East Bay: Memories of Major League Teams ‘Planted and Uprooted’ in Oakland, competed for attention and respect in shadow of San Francisco (Part II)

Sport in American History presents a two-part series on the beginning and end of Major League sports in Oakland. SAH reviews two books on the forgotten California Golden Seals and unforgettable Oakland A’s. Woven into the reviews––a look at the hockey Seals’ never-ending woes and the 50th anniversary of the Oakland A’s first World Series…

The Green-and-Gold Tapestry on California’s East Bay: Memories of Major League Teams ‘Planted and Uprooted’ in Oakland, competed for attention and respect in shadow of San Francisco (Part I)

Sport in American History presents a two-part series on the beginning and end of Major League sports in Oakland. SAH reviews two books on the forgotten California Golden Seals and unforgettable Oakland A’s. Woven into the reviews––a look at the hockey Seals’ never-ending woes and the 50th anniversary of the Oakland A’s first World Series…

Review of Incredible World Cup Stories

Wernicke, Luciano. Incredible World Cup Stories: Wildest Tales and Most Dramatic Moments from Uruguay 1930 to Qatar 2022. Sutherland House, 2022. Pp. 368. $24.95 paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Spanning almost 100 years, World Cup tournaments have been––without a doubt––some of the most exciting and popular sport competitions. Compiling just one book of stories about…

Review of We Are The Troopers

Guinan, Stephen. We Are The Troopers: The Women of the Winningest Team in Pro Football History. New York: Hachette Books, 2022. Pp. vii + 288. Reviewed by Russ Crawford The stories of the pioneers of women’s tackle football are starting to make their way into print. Those who follow this site have had the chance…

Review of Memphis Hoops

Wood, Keith Brian. Memphis Hoops: Race and Basketball in the Bluff City, 1968–1997. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2021. Pp. 218. $35.00 hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The first integrated high school game in Memphis took place on September 15, 1965, between all-white Catholic High and all-black Father Bertrand High. The game functions…

Review of The James Naismith Reader

Stark, Douglas, ed. The James Naismith Reader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021. Pp. 251. $29.95. hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Basketball’s initial function was to correct and contain the seemingly endless energy of young students, who found themselves in need of physical and intellectual occupation during long and dark winter months in…

Review of Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman Behind the Chicago Cubs

Cannon, Jason. Charlie Murphy: The Iconoclastic Showman Behind the Chicago Cubs. University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Pp. 376. Acknowledgments, bibliography, epilogue, index, introduction, notes. $36.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo Charlie Murphy would have been in his element in today’s sports world. Controversial, opinionated, and never one to mince words, the man who owned the…

Review of Golf’s Forgotten Hero

Kenny, Kevin.  Golf’s Forgotten Hero: The Life of John McDermott.  Independently published, 2022.  Pp. ix+106.  Appendices, Bibliographical references, and Index.  $12 paperback. Reviewed by Erica J. Zonder In May 2022, tennis player Naomi Osaka returned to play at Roland Garros, where just a year earlier she had withdrawn from the tournament citing mental health reasons.…

Review of Flashpoint

Catsam, Derek Charles. Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. Pp. xxviii + 213. 10 unnumbered pages of plates and index. $34.00 hardcover, $32.00 e-book. Reviewed by Tony Calandrillo In Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, Derek Charles Catsam, Professor of History…

Review of Soccer Under the Swastika

Simpson, Kevin E. Soccer Under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust, Revised Edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2020. Pp. 368. $26.00 paperback. $24.50 ebook. Reviewed by Daniel Hart Sports idioms are such a part of the American lexicon that their respective meanings have become obscured by their quotidian use: sudden-death…