Bowman, Paul. Mythologies of Martial Arts. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Pp. 210. $39.95 paperback. Reviewed by Wesley R. Bishop Was the recent Marvel and Netflix show Iron Fist racist? How do we define cultural appropriation and orientalism in cultural studies, especially when cultural productions deal with popular representations of other cultures? What does…
In 1999, ESPN’s SportCentury ranked the top North American athletes of the twentieth century. The list, compiled by a panel of 48 journalists, observers, and administrators–and one sport scholar–included eighty-nine men, eight women, and three horses. ESPN’s more recent compilation, The Undefeated’s 50 Greatest Black Athletes, asked the public to rank the most important black…
Whitaker, Sigur E. The Indy Car Wars: The 30-year Fight for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015. Pp. 223. Notes, References, Index. $35.00 softcover. Reviewed by Rich Loosbrock Greed and power play a key role in professional sports, but how often have they destroyed a league? While destroyed may be too strong…
Steidinger, Joan. Sisterhood in Sports: How Female Athletes Collaborate and Compete. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. xi+191. Notes, bibliography, and index. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Women like to talk. Women athletes like to talk to each other while practicing and competing. While there is a bit more to Joan Steidinger’s Sisterhood in Sports, the…
By Jon Hart When Zack Hample snagged A-Rod’s 3,000th hit at Yankee Stadium in June 2015, he took ball hawking – which is the hobby of collecting baseballs at Major League baseball games – out of the shadows. Universally, Hample, who has a mega popular You Tube show https://www.youtube.com/user/zackhample is considered the greatest ball hawk…
Dewey, Donald and Nicholas Acocella. The Black Prince of Baseball: Hal Chase and the Mythology of the Game. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. PP. xi + 456. Notes, bibliography, index, 2 photographs. $19.95 paperback. Reviewed by Doug Wilson Hal Chase is generally viewed as baseball’s all-time leading crook, a degenerate gambler and general…
By Doug Wilson This post originally appeared on Doug Wilson’s Baseball Bookshelf. It was one of the most intriguing matchups in baseball history. Ernie Banks and Leo Durocher–thrown together in the same clubhouse. Rarely have two more disparate characters been coupled outside of a lousy television sitcom. Smiling Ernie Banks, the perpetually glass-is-half-full line drive…
Conine, Chad S. The Republic of Football: Legends of the Texas High School Game. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2016. Pp. 288. Index, and 20 Photos. $24.95 hardcover. Reviewed by Jorge Iber Before proceeding with this brief essay, it is necessary for this reviewer to own up that he is not a native-born Texan; though,…
Iber, Jorge. Mike Torrez: A Baseball Biography. Jefferson, North Carolina. McFarland & Company, Inc., 2016. Pp. viii+260; Notes, Index, Bibliography, Photographs. $29.95 softcover, $9.95 ebook. Reviewed by Doug Wilson One lousy pitch. That’s all they’ll ever remember. It’s an unfortunate aspect of sport that a man can perform better than average for 10 or 15…
Kevin E. Simpson, Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance During the Holocaust. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. xxix + 368 pp. 27 photos and illustrations, notes, bibliography, index, $40.00 hardback. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld. I am a trained US historian with an emphasis on soccer, but much of my research spans…
Sport in American History 