Pearson, Greg. Maybe Next Year: Long Suffering Fans and the Teams That Never Deliver. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, 2016. Pp. 264. 66 Photos. Index, $35.00 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber As a long suffering fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Miami Dolphins (an odd combination, to be sure), this reviewer met the…
Freedman, Lew. The Boyer Brothers of Baseball. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers. 2015. Pp. 252. Bibliography, Notes, Index, and 23 Photos. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber A quick perusal of baseball-reference.com under the heading of “Largest Baseball Families” generated a listing (though the site argues that it is likely an incomplete enumeration)…
Zagorski, Joe. Forward by Rocky Bleier. The NFL in the 1970s: Pro Football’s Most Important Decade. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016. Pp. 434. Notes, References, Index. $39.95 softcover. Reviewed by Rich Loosbrock The National Football League (NFL) sits atop all other sports in the United States in every measurable category: ratings, fan interest, and revenues. It…
Gillmeister, Heiner. Tennis: A Cultural History. 2nd Edition. Bristol, CT: Equinox, 2017. Pp. xvi+599. Notes, bibliography, illustrated sources, index. $45 paperback. Reviewed by Robert J. Lake In 1997, when Heiner Gillmeister brought out his first edition of Tennis: A Cultural History, there was very little else on the market in terms of tennis history texts.…
Sports in American Life: A History. By Richard O. Davies. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. xi + 407 pp. Illustrations, appendices, notes, bibliography, index. $34.95. Reviewed by Patrick Salkeld This past year I finished my second (and final) year of graduate school at the University of Central Oklahoma. I also completed my first year of teaching…
Crawford, Russ. Le Football: A History of American Football in France. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 366. 25 illustrations, 18 tables, endnotes, bibliography, index. $39.50 hardcover. Reviewed by John E. Price That football is a quintessentially American game is axiomatic, even tautological, to many. Sports reporters and commentators have opined for decades on…
Endsley, Brian M. Finding the Left Arm of God: Sandy Koufax and the Los Angeles Dodgers, 1960-1963. Jefferson, ND: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, 2015. Pp. 296. Bibliography, Notes, and 64 Photos. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Jorge Iber Even the most casual fan of American sports history is no doubt familiar with the name Sandy…
Hillman, Cory. American Sports in an Age of Consumption. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016. Pp. 204. Notes, References, Index. $29.95 softcover. Reviewed by Rich Loosbrock Not even a casual observer of American sports could fail to see the element of consumption at any major sporting event. Jumbotrons scream at the spectators, splashing constant advertisements amidst the…
Landborn, Adair. Flamenco and Bullfighting: Movement, Passion and Risk in Two Spanish Traditions. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2015. Pp. ix + 260. Appendices, glossary, notes, bibliography, and index. $45.00 paperback. Reviewed by Zachary R. Bigalke “What makes something a sport?” This is a question that vexes both casual fans and academics alike, and one which offers…
Cermak, Iri. The Cinema of Hockey: Four Decades of the Game on Screen. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2017. Pps. 333. Filmography, bibliography, and index. $39.95 paperback. Review by Nick Sacco Professional hockey’s popularity has grown immensely over the past thirty years, evolving from a fringe sport to one of the “big…
Sport in American History 