by Jorge Iber, PhD Texas Tech University In a previous blog, I discussed the story of E.C. Lerma, one of the first Mexican American high school football (and basketball and track) coaches in the history of the state of Texas. His career during the late 1930s though the middle of the 1960s provided coaches, teachers,…
I’m going to be doing a bit of “thinking out loud” in this post. It’s an extension of a Twitter conversation I had with Paul Putz about a month ago. We were talking about college sports teams in predominantly rural states as a way for their residents “to explain ourselves to other Americans” as well as…
American Football has never been more popular among U.S. sports fans. One might argue that the nation’s obsession with the sport borders on addiction. Fans follow the fortunes of their teams year round (and round the clock). NBC’s Sunday Night Football is the most-watched television program in the country. And with the help of carefully…
Recently a video of an overtly racist chant sung by young, white fraternity men at the University of Oklahoma (OU) went “viral.” If you’re like me, you could not avoid seeing, hearing, or reading about this chant, which used violent language to brag about the fraternity’s racial exclusivity. The fraternity in question, SAE, is the only…
By Guest Contributor David Toms In Ireland, when people think of the connections between the America and Ireland, most often their minds will turn to the role of the Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) in Irish emigrant communities, or perhaps to first, second and third and multi-generation Americans who played baseball, basketball, and American football.[1] Rarely do Irish…
Here in Iowa, snow piles are melting, daffodils are peaking up through morning frost, and the daytime temperatures have hit highs so long forgotten we thought maybe spring and summer were just fables passed down from our grandmothers. This, of course, means 5k season is upon us. In the next six weeks, several dozen local…
On February 20, 2015, officials from both the National Football League’s Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers announced their plans to build and share a $1.7 billion privately-funded stadium. The proposed new facility will be located in Carson, adding the two teams to the constant speculation about the NFL’s return to L.A. Both the Raiders and…
Co-Authored by Josh Howard and guest contributor Elizabeth Catte On August 14, 2013, a reporter from TMZ caught up with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) superstar Darren Young at the LAX baggage claim. The reporter asked, “Do you think that a gay wrestler could be successful within the WWE?” Young responded with a smile and a laugh before…
by Jorge Iber, PhD Texas Tech University In my last post for this blog, I mentioned that the story of Mike Torrez (former MLB pitcher and a native of Topeka) is one that could help shed light on the historical and current role as athletes of Latinos/as both at the local (Midwestern, in this case)…
Sport in American History 