Disputing the Main Narrative in ‘The Last Dance’: Time, Not Jerry Krause, Put an End to the Bulls’ Dynasty

Approximately one year after ‘The Last Dance’ captivated sports’ fans across the globe, guest contributor Łukasz Muniowski revisits the docuseries and deconstructs its mythologies. By Łukasz Muniowski Much has already been written about The Last Dance, the award-winning ESPN/Netflix documentary miniseries by Jason Hehir. As such, there is hopefully no need to explain in detail multiple…

Review of Strong Like Her

Shapley, Haley. Strong Like Her: A Celebration of Rule Breakers, History Makers, and Unstoppable Athletes. New York: Gallery Books. Pp. 272. $29.99 Hardcover. Reviewed by Richard Ravalli A scan of social media pages devoted to bodybuilding publications and events will reveal images of heavily built women with accompanying comments that they are “gross,” and that…

Review of Katharine Whitney Curtis: Mother of Synchronized Swimming

Whitney-Wei, Jordan. Katharine Whitney Curtis: Mother of Synchronized Swimming. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2020. Pp. 185. Notes, bibliography, and index. $39.95 paperback. Reviewed by Vicki Valosik In 1912, Katharine Curtis (nee Whitney) became the first woman to swim across Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. Under the headline “Madison has a youthful Annette Kellerman,” a…

Review of Game Misconduct

Kalman-Lamb, Nathan. Game Misconduct: Injury, Fandom, and the Business of Sport. Halifax, NS: Fernwood, 2018. Pp. 183. Notes & Index. $24.00 paperback. Reviewed by Noah Cohan As Kevin Durant writhed on the floor of Scotiabank Arena partway through the second quarter of Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals, his Achilles tendon having recoiled upward…

A History of the USWNT

By Tate Royer Brandi Chastain unintentionally became the face of women’s soccer in the United States. Arguably one of the most iconic images in women’s sports is Chastain taking off her shirt after penalty kicks in the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final. In this widely recognizable picture, Chastain is on her knees, shirt in hand,…

Review of Association Work

Johnson, Scott. Association Work: Whitten, Porter, and the Course of Interscholastics. Bloomington, IL: Illinois High School Association/National Federation of State High School Associations, 2018. Pp. 406. Notes, bibliography, and index. $29.95 hardback. Reviewed by Robert Pruter Association Work: Whitten, Porter, and the Course of Interscholastics is an important work of sport history. High school sports…

Review of New York Sports

Norwood, Stephen H., Ed. New York Sports: Glamour and Grit in the Empire City. Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 2018. Pp. viii+425. Notes, Contributors, Index. $27.95 paperback. Reviewed by Ari de Wilde and Melvin L. Adelman  New York Sports: Glamour and Grit in the Empire City is another work in the Sport, Culture &…

Review: The Best Sports Movie . . . You Probably Didn’t See

Donner, Richard. Inside Moves. 1980. Goodmark Productions Incorporated. Film. Reviewed by Jon Hart ‘Tis the season for the “best of” lists. When the best sports movies of all-time are listed, there’s one gem that’s overlooked. Perhaps it’s because Inside Moves, which was released in 1980, doesn’t resort to the usual sports movie tropes. In fact,…