By Jorge Iber Early in 2017, Gabe Salgado of NBC News posted an article entitled “The Top Ten Latino Sports Moments of 2016.” Among the significant instances noted were some truly remarkable athletes in sports not “normally” associated with Latinos/as by the public. For example, Salgado noted the arrival of Auston Matthews (whose mother is…
By Andrew McGregor Donald Trump is attending tonight’s College Football Playoff National Championship Game in Atlanta. Hosted by Georgia native Nick Ayers, the chief of staff for Vice President Mike Pence, the president will witness a championship game that features two Southeastern Conference (SEC) teams from the heart of Trump’s America, allowing him to connect…
By Roberto José Andrade Franco During the last 2 decades since Mike Tyson was a household name—even if infamous—any talk of boxing comes with what seems like a pre-required statement of its death. Granted, boxing, at least in this country, is not among the top sports it was a century ago. But neither is…
Flynn, Daniel J. The War on Football: Saving America’s Game. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, 2013. 1-172. Notes and index. $27.95 cloth. Reviewed by Russ Crawford In The War on Football, Daniel Flynn saw a concerted attack on the game by those who saw it as too violent and dangerous. The reasons he provides for this…
This is a cross post in partnership with the U.S. Intellectual History Blog. It will appear there on Wednesday. By Robert Fitzgerald, Guest Contributor At a recent rally in Huntsville, Alabama while stumping for Luther Strange, a Republican candidate for the Senate, President Trump said something that should concern everyone who cares about what it…
By Patrick Salkeld I attended my first NASSH conference in 2016 at Georgia Tech University. I met many scholars, found a home within the community, and spent much of my time talking to other soccer historians such as Zach Bigalke, George Kiousis, Chris Bolsmann, Chris Henderson, Gabe Logan, and David Kilpatrick. The soccer historians in…
ESPN’s The Undefeated’s recently unveiled their 50 Greatest Black Athletes. The rankings inspired conversations across social media about black athletic excellence as well as the impact and historical significance of certain figures. Over the last two-weeks we asked sport historians to weigh in and offer their own Top 10 lists. A dozen scholars responded with their lists —…
By Louis Moore Nothing happened! No race riots. No so-called “racial contamination.” No intermarriage. Just a football game. On October, 11, 1947, Chet Pierce, the 6’4” 215-pound lineman for Harvard, became the first Black man to play an integrated college football game in the South. “In the shadow of Confederate monuments,” he played that game…
ESPN’s The Undefeated’s is in the process of unveiling their 50 Greatest Black Athletes. The rankings have inspired conversations across social media about black athletic excellence as well as the impact and historical significance of certain figures. As the debates unfold, we want to share our platform for sport historians (and others) to weigh in,…
Editor’s Note: This is part final post of a five part biographical series on Barney Gill by Russ Crawford. He first encountered Barney Gill while researching his book on American football in France. Gill’s story didn’t make it into the book and was too good not to share. Click here to read parts one, two, three, and…
Sport in American History 