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…
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…
This post is the second post in our Life and Legacy of Muhammad Ali Series guest edited by Andrew R.M. Smith. Muhammad Ali was a complex figure and he had a large influence beyond the United States. The goal of these posts is to explore various aspects of Ali’s life and reflect on his legacies, offering insight into understudied…
This post is the first in our Life and Legacy of Muhammad Ali Series guest edited by Andrew R.M. Smith. Muhammad Ali was a complex figure and he had a large influence beyond the United States. The goal of these posts is to explore various aspects of Ali’s life and reflect on his legacies, offering insight into understudied…
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…
Last year, the National Football League’s (NFL) St. Louis Rams packed up and moved to Los Angeles, returning to the Southern California metropolis after twenty years in the Midwest. Two weeks ago, the San Diego Chargers announced they would play the 2017 season in Los Angeles. And just last week, the Oakland Raiders signed papers(pending…
By Caleb Still, Guest Contributor Racism and civil rights protests have long been a part of the fabric of American society. Black athletes have participated in these protests, risking their careers and source of income to advocate on behalf of oppressed people in the United States. Historically, black athletes have recognized their unique position and…
By Massimo Foglio The first footprints of football in Europe date back to Thursday, November 25, 1897. American art students in Paris, attending either the National School of Fine Arts or the Académie Julian, decided to demonstrate a custom from their homeland by staging a football game, hosted by the Racing Club de France. In…
Gerald R. Gems, Boxing: A Concise History of the Sweet Science. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Pp. 343, notes, bibliography, and index, black and white photographs.$40.00 hardback. Reviewed by Mac Ross In Boxing: A Concise History of the Sweet Science, Gerald R. Gems provides one of the most robust and ambitious history of the…
Sport in American History 