By Scott D. Strednak Singer, Guest Contributor I’m a fan of Tim Tebow and Lori “Lolo” Jones, but not for the reasons you may think. For many Americans, Tebow and Jones are standard-bearers of a “born-again” Christian subculture desperately trying to retain cultural relevancy in an era when moral exhortations and claims to righteousness are becoming…
I only recently attended my first Liberty University (LU) athletic event. Although I have lived in Lynchburg, Virginia, for over two years, I typically avoid the ever-expanding school on the “other side of town.” On the one hand, the traffic surrounding Liberty is always a pain. LU’s campus is encircled by bypasses, strip malls, and…
by Adam Park You can tell a lot about a person by how they do their pull-ups these days. Indeed, the CrossFit pull-up is as divisive an issue as politics. But take it or leave it, CrossFit is everywhere. With a network of over 11,000 affiliated gyms, more than 100,000 accredited trainers, the CrossFit Games…
Two months ago, I was immersed in studying for comprehensive exams. One of my major fields is the scholarship on sport and media. Broadly speaking, I’ve tried to get a sense of the literature both in terms of media institutions and structure as well as cultural representation. I aligned my readings to freshen up on…
Jerry Tarkanian put the University of Nevada, Las Vegas on the map. The Runnin’ Rebels former coach, who died yesterday at age 84, was the architect of a basketball powerhouse that established UNLV as a national brand. Tarkanian and UNLV, followed the example of other major universities and used sports as an important method of public relations…
In November 2014, the prodigiously talented Phillip Hughes was on the cusp of a return to international cricket. He had previously toured with the national side in 2009/2010 but inconsistency cost him his spot. Hughes’ batting style was unorthodox but it was also clean and powerful, and despite his inconsistent performances he was considered by…
Sports are a business. As much as many want to believe that true competition and the opportunity to change lives is the motivation for sporting events, it’s not always the case. There are clear lines drawn between labor and sport in Texas high school athletics. Young men with the highest athletic production have always been…
By Robert Gudmestad Even if you are a casual fan of professional football, chances are that you have seen some type of militaristic display during an NFL game. The Super Bowl, for instance, is saturated in patriotic festivities and each of the thirty-two teams has a Salute to Service game during the regular season. It wasn’t…
Sport in American History 