Fallon, Michael. Dodgerland: Decadent Los Angeles and the 1977-78 Dodgers. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. 472 pp. Notes and index. $34.95 (clothback). Reviewed by Tolga Ozyurtcu “I’m recording the game. Please, no spoilers.” More than getting students to do the reading, even more than whatever it is the Lakers are purportedly doing, this is…
Gems, Gerald R., ed. Before Jackie Robinson: The Transcendent Role of Black Sporting Pioneers. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2017. Pp. 324. Notes and index. $35 paperback. Reviewed by Christopher R. Davis In popular memory, one of the most significant historical developments in the twentieth-century United States, the civil rights struggle, is often reduced to…
Shattuck, Debra A. Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2017. Pp. xiii +307. Appendices, notes, bibliography and index. Clothback $25.95. Reviewed by Leslie Heaphy Debra Shattuck knocks it out of the park with her first book. Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Pioneers fills a huge void in sports literature regarding women…
Sulecki, James C. The Cleveland Rams: The NFL Champions Who Left Too Soon. Jefferson: McFarland, 2016. Pp. vii+288. Appendix, notes, bibliography, index, and black and white photos. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Long before LeBron James briefly abandoned the Cavaliers, and the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, another major sports franchise bailed on…
Spector, Mark. The Battle of Alberta: The Historic Rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and the Calgary Flames. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2015. Pp. xiii + 279. 16 unnumbered pages of plates and index. $32.95 hardcover, $14.99 e-book. Reviewed by Anthony Calandrillo Mark Spector’s The Battle of Alberta tells the story of the ferocious rivalry between…
Keiderling, Kyle. Olympic Collision: The Story of Mary Decker and Zola Budd. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 341. Notes, Bibliography, Index. $27.95 hardcover. Reviewed by Kristy McCray “The greatest fear of any athlete is that they will be remembered for their most embarrassing moment. In the case of Mary and Zola, their…
LeBlanc, Diane, and Allys Swanson. Playing for Equality: Oral Histories of Women Leaders in the Early Years of Title IX. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016. Pp. 208. Notes, References, Index. $29.95 softcover. Reviewed by Erica Zonder As Title IX approaches its 45th anniversary, it seems timely to read about the experiences of the early pioneers and…
Dechant, John. Scoreless: Omaha Central, Creighton Prep, and Nebraska’s Greatest High School Football Game. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. x+239. Illustrations, acknowledgments, bibliographic essay. $18.95 paperback. Reviewed by Paul Putz In the fall of 1960, nearly fifteen thousand people in Omaha, Nebraska, took in a high school football game between two undefeated…
Franks, Joel S. Asian American Basketball: A Century of Sport, Community, and Culture. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2016. 280. 18 photos, notes, bibliography, index. 45.00. Softcover. Reviewed by Samantha White Asian American Basketball: A Century of Sport, Community, and Culture, by Joel Franks, examines the intersection between race, ethnicity, gender, and sport. While Franks notes in…
Cohen, Diana Tracy. Iron Dads: Managing Family, Work, and Endurance Sport Identities. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Pp. xiv+191. Introduction, notes, bibliography, and index. Paperback: $26.95. Reviewed by Ari de Wilde In her book, Iron Dads: Managing Family, Work, and Endurance Sport Identities, Diana Tracy Cohen, an Associate Professor of Political Science at…
Sport in American History 