By Andrew Boyd Hutchinson The fall season for cross-country running in the United States has just passed, and unless you were one of the 492,310[1] American high schoolers who participated last season, the sport probably didn’t make much of a blip on your radar. It should have––because not only is the history rich within the sport…
By Paulina A. Rodriguez Burciaga Yesterday, in a discussion over immigration policies with senators and other lawmakers, president Donald Trump reportedly said, in reference to Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” suggesting that the U.S. instead welcome immigrants from countries such as Norway.…
By Sam Winemiller Years down the road, when we reflect upon the intersection of U.S. politics and sport in 2017, the frame that will most likely dominate our remembrance will be that of resistance from athletes against the government and forces in power. Memories of Colin Kaepernick’s continuing efforts for social justice despite conspicuous unemployment,…
By Jesse Berrett Halfway through this NFL season, one that saw President Donald Trump declare war on professional football players because of ongoing political protests during pregame national anthems, it seemed clear that 50 years of careful political positioning had rebounded on the league. Under media-savvy commissioner Pete Rozelle, between 1961 and 1966, the NFL…
By Apryl Lewis Since Colin Kaepernick started protesting during the national anthem in 2016, other NFL players also engaged in similar protests to bring attention to social injustices against people of color. As national anthem protests gained momentum, many white sports fans questioned Black athletes’ patriotism, rather than concerning themselves with the issues athletes are…
By Patrick Salkeld Certain years stand out in history, such as 1945 with the end of World War II or 1980 and the presidential election of Ronald Reagan due to his populist-nationalist campaign and the evolution of neoliberalism as the prevailing ideology of the United States government, because of their historical significance. The last twelve months…
By Robert J. Lake No story more captivated the tennis world in 2017 than the resurgence of some of the sport’s biggest stars. As Nick Wells and Eric Chemi reported, the average age of the four finalists at the Australian Open in January was 34 years old; Roger Federer, 35, beat Rafael Nadal, 30; meanwhile,…
By Kyle R. King This fall semester, I taught a course called Sports, Ethics, Literature. One of the course units was first foreshadowed in a scene from episode ten of Friday Night Lights, which we watched near the beginning of the semester. In the scene, cheerleading captain Lyla Garrity explains to her paramour Tim Riggins…
By Russ Crawford “Its been a defining year for women’s sport.” The headline on a site known as The Mixed Zone, which claims to be “bringing the best women’s sports stories online,” caught my eye when I saw the tweet from The Women’s Sport Trust on December 15. There had been several significant events in…
By Colleen English Without World Cup or Olympic tournaments, many might not consider 2017 to be a significant year for women’s soccer (a sentence I write with full awareness that these kinds of things are rarely said about major men’s sports). Germany’s Olympic victory at the 2016 Games and the US women’s national team’s (USWNT)…
Sport in American History 