By Lindsay Parks Pieper and Andrew D. Linden What is the purpose of sport history? What role do sport historians play in the academy, the community, and the larger culture? What questions as an organization should the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH) attempt to answer? Last weekend, in sunny (and hot) Miami, Florida,…
In the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, local runner Florence Griffith (who later added the Joyner) burst onto the international scene. The relatively unknown runner earned two silver medals; however, the fame Griffith garnered actually stemmed more from her colorful, four-inch long fingernails and clothing decisions than her speedy feats. Four years later in the Seoul…
Happy Valley (2014). Directed by Amir Bar-Lev. Produced by Molly Thompson, Robert Debitetto, and David Mckillop. A&E Films and Asylum Entertainment Production. 98 minutes. Reviewed by Lindsay Parks Pieper, Adam Berg, and Andrew D. Linden In 2011, a Pennsylvania Grand Jury released information that devastated Happy Valley. The findings alleged that former assistant football coach…
I only recently attended my first Liberty University (LU) athletic event. Although I have lived in Lynchburg, Virginia, for over two years, I typically avoid the ever-expanding school on the “other side of town.” On the one hand, the traffic surrounding Liberty is always a pain. LU’s campus is encircled by bypasses, strip malls, and…
One decade as ABD. Ten years in an academic wormhole. According to the Council of Graduate Schools, more than half of humanities doctoral students remain ABD for years, stymied by the daunting task of completing the dissertation. The average PhD completion rate across disciplines is low, with approximately 57 percent of students finishing in ten…
The “ghetto Cinderellas” of tennis, Serena and Venus Williams, were to face one another in the semifinals of the 2001 Masters Tournament in Indian Wells, California.[1] Yet, mere minutes before the match start-time, Venus suddenly pulled out. According to officials, the last minute decision stemmed from knee problems. The abruptness and unexpectedness of both her…
In the days leading up to Halloween, scholars from around the world traveled to London, Ontario, for the 2014 International Symposium for Olympic Research (ISOR). Started in 1992 by the International Centre for Olympic Studies (ICOS), the conference serves as one of the most preeminent forums for Olympic scholarship.[1] Researchers from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China,…
Zeam Porter loves basketball. Last season, through great perseverance and resolve, the Minnesota high school junior earned the honor “Most Improved Player” as a sophomore. Yet, according to Porter, who identifies as “trans genderqueer,” the title was misleading. “The plaque said the wrong name,” Porter explained. “The cheers I received were the wrong name. ‘Go…
By Andrew D. Linden and Lindsay Parks Pieper The first five men to cross the stage ranged in age from 60 to 69. As the caller announced the required bodybuilding positions—“front double biceps” or “back lat spread”—the men flexed, leaned, turned, tightened, and contracted on cue. After finishing the group poses, the individual athletes performed…
It is a thriving moment for sport history. While the Journal of American History recently published a forum titled “State of the Field: Sports History and the Cultural Turn,” sport historians met in picturesque Glenwood Springs, Colorado, to hold the annual convention of the North American Society for Sport History (NASSH). First held at Ohio…
Sport in American History 