By Jon Hart, Guest Contributor John Alex will never forget that cold October rain, the Baker Field mud, and the moment that last-second field goal attempt fell short nearly 27 years ago. Yes, alas, The Streak was over. After losing 44 consecutive games, the Columbia football team had finally won, defeating Princeton, 16-13. “Afterwards, it…
Ross, J. Andrew. Joining the Clubs: The Business of the National Hockey League to 1945. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2015. Pp. 326. Appendix, bibliography, and index. $49.95 clothback. Reviewed by Tom Rorke In what is now an annual early summer ritual, fans keen to see the Stanley Cup roundly boo its presenter, National Hockey…
Bayne, Bijan C. Martha’s Vineyard Basketball: How a Resort League Defied Notions of Race and Class. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2015. Pp. xv + 213. $40.00 clothback. Reviewed by Tyran Kai Steward In 1975, Universal Pictures released the blockbuster film Jaws, the Steven Spielberg-directed American thriller based on Peter Benchley’s 1974 novel of the…
Dutee Chand plans on running in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. After a year of withstanding intense public scrutiny, during which she remained sidelined, the nineteen-year-old Indian sprinter can now lace up her spikes and return to the international track and field scene. Women’s 200 meters respective silver and bronze medal winners from India Asha…
Black, Jonathan. Making the American Body: The Remarkable Saga of the Men and Women Whose Feats, Feuds, and Passions Shaped Fitness History. Lincoln: Nebraska University Press, 2013. Pp 264. Introduction, notes, and index. Hardcover: $27.95 Reviewed by Adam Copeland With the summer coming to a slow, hot close, the ubiquitous obsession with six-pack abs and…
Burk, Robert F. Marvin Miller, Baseball Revolutionary. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2015. Pp. Xii+332. Notes, index, and black and white photographs. $35.00 clothback. Reviewed by Alexander Hyres American professional baseball players have not always earned salaries significantly higher than the average citizen. In the 1960s, most drew salaries similar to other middle-class Americans at…
Stone, Duncan, John Hughson, and Rob Ellis. Eds. New Directions in Sport History. New York: Routledge, 2015. Pp. xiii + 108. Notes and index. $145 clothback. Reviewed by Lindsay Parks Pieper Does sport history have a future in academia? If so, what does this future hold? These questions have haunted the field for years. Scholars…
After defeating the powerhouse German team earlier this week, 2-0, the United States became the first country to reach the World Cup final on four occasions. US squads previously squared off in the 1991, 1999, and 2011 championships, winning titles in 1991 and 1999. Such an accomplishment is impressive in its own right; yet, when…
By Lindsay Parks Pieper and Andrew D. Linden What is the purpose of sport history? What role do sport historians play in the academy, the community, and the larger culture? What questions as an organization should the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) attempt to answer? Last weekend, in sunny (and hot) Miami, Florida,…
In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, local runner Florence Griffith (who later added the Joyner) burst onto the international scene. The relatively unknown runner earned two silver medals; however, the fame Griffith garnered actually stemmed more from her colorful, four-inch long fingernails and clothing decisions than her speedy feats. Four years later in the Seoul…
Sport in American History 