Enevold, Jessica, and Esther MacCallum-Stewart (Eds.). Game Love: Essays on Play and Affection. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015. Pp. ix+273. Notes, index. $40.00 paperback. Reviewed by Colleen English Game Love: Essays on Play and Affection is admittedly different than most of the books reviewed on this blog. Unlike much scholarship in sport studies, which focuses on…
Grundman, Dolph. Dolph Schayes and the Rise of Professional Basketball. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2014. Pp. xix+163. Illustrations, notes, works cited, and index. $24.95 clothback. Reviewed by Paul Putz When Dolph Schayes passed away last December, the New York Times devoted two stories to the legacy of the basketball Hall-of-Famer. One described Schayes, who…
Nathanson, Mitchell. A People’s History of Baseball. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012 (hardback), 2015 (paperback). Pp. xiv+272. Notes, index, and appendices. $19.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber An effective way to summarize Mitchell Nathanson’s book, A People’s History of Baseball, can be found at the very end of the work when the author notes…
Kryk, John. Stagg vs. Yost: The Birth of Cutthroat Football. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Pp. 360. 32 b/w photographs, acknowledgements, selected bibliography, index. $33.82 hardcover. Reviewed by Michael T. Wood As the title suggests, veteran journalist and Michigan football historian John Kryk’s second book, Stagg vs. Yost: The Birth of Cutthroat Football, examines…
By Jon Hart, Guest Contributor In its first season, the well-known Serial podcast tackled the tragic loss of a promising, charismatic, high school senior. The Season, another excellent podcast produced by WNYC, investigates a far less grim and tragic subject: The Columbia University football team, one of the oldest collegiate programs in the country. While the Columbia…
Finnegan, William. Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life. New York: Penguin, 2015. Pp. 447. Black and white photos. $27.95 hardback. Reviewed by Tolga Ozyurtcu Surfers are a fickle lot: millions of people singularly obsessed with something that has been around for thousands of years, who do not really agree about anything. Surfing is: a sport, not…
Davis, David. Waterman: The Life and Times of Duke Kahanamoku. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2015. 34 Photographs, Notes, Bibliography, and Index. Pp. 256. $26.95 hardback. Reviewed by Lindsay Parks Pieper Along the Waikiki beachfront in Honolulu stands a statue of local hero Duke Kahanamoku. The bare-chested, swim-trunk clad, bronze figure is positioned in front…
Lamb, Chris, ed. From Jack Johnson to LeBron James: Sports, Media, and the Color Line. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. 648 pp. $35.00 paperback. Reviewed by Kate Aguilar On January 7, 2016, ESPN radio host Dan Le Batard interviewed hip hop artist, author, and public speaker Chuck D, former leader of the rap group…
By Lindsay Parks Pieper Tonight, the University of Alabama Crimson Tide and the Clemson University Fighting Tigers will fight for the college football championship trophy. The game marks the sixteenth time the two squads will square off and the first with a national title on the line. Television personalities have discussed the matchup for weeks.…
Hayes, Kevin J. The Two-Wheeled World of George B. Thayer. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2015. Pp. xviii+257. Introduction, notes, bibliography, and index. Hardcover: $28.95 Reviewed by Ari de Wilde In his book, The Two-Wheeled World of George B. Thayer, Kevin J. Hayes explores the cycling experience of Connecticut bicycle tourist, George B. Thayer. From…
Sport in American History 