As part of ESPN’s 30 for 30, O.J.: Made in America examines O.J. Simpson’s movement through the American cultural, political, and social landscape of the past five decades. The five-segment documentary explores the significances of race, gender, celebrity, and violence in Simpson’s football career and later criminal trial. The Sport in American History blog will…
Luke, Bob. Integrating the Orioles: Baseball and Race in Baltimore. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2016. Pp. 216. Notes and index. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by Chuck Westmoreland Frank Robinson, the 1961 National League (NL) Most Valuable Player, arrived in Baltimore after the Cincinnati Reds made one of the most baffling trades in baseball history. From…
By Charles Westmoreland, Jr. The 1996 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament entered uncharted territory in recent college basketball memory. On March 14, 1996, Duke University saw its mediocre 18-13 campaign come to an end at the hands of the unheralded Eastern Michigan University Eagles. The injury-riddled, talent-depleted Blue Devils were no match for a hungry Eagles…
Mumau, Thad. “Had ‘Em All the Way”: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2015. 17 Photographs, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Pp. 240. $29.95 softback. Reviewed by Charles R. Westmoreland On Thursday afternoon, October 13, 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates delivered one of the most dramatic episodes in modern sports history. In Game Seven of…
By Charles Westmoreland, Jr. If anything about professional wrestling can be called unusual, then the February 13, 1988 episode of Championship Wrestling fit that description. A one-hour production for the Memphis-based Continental Wrestling Association (CWA), Championship Wrestling aired every Saturday morning on WMC TV in Memphis and was syndicated in markets such as Nashville, Tupelo, Louisville,…
Sport in American History 