By Cat Ariail “Track and field, along with tennis, golf and swimming, are considered the ‘lady-like’ sports that women actively participate in. The reason for labeling these sports as ‘lady-like’ is that there is no body contact – and certainly there is none in track and field. It is an accepted fact that track and…
By Paul Emory Putz The resistance to Donald Trump’s vision of America is diverse. There are former CIA operatives, rogue government employees, the Merriam-Webster social media manager, woke babies, and millions of marching women. The world of athletics has gotten involved as well, with coaches like Greg Popovich and Steve Kerr speaking out. The most…
By Cat Ariail “Indoor track, sport’s answer to the three-ring circus, springs full-grown from the winter much as Athena sprang fully-armed from the head of Zeus,” asserted Sports Illustrated’s Tex Maule in 1958.[1] In a subsequent article, Maule suggested the sport “takes on a carnival air when the lineal descendants of the fleet cave man…
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 Andrew McGregor Two weeks into the new year, many of us are trying to stick to our resolutions. Getting in shape, working out more, and focusing on our health are often among the things we resolve to change or improve. As we embark on these challenges in 2017, I caught up with Natalia Mehlman Petrzela to…
By Emalee J. Nelson Surfs Up! The art of surfing is unique to the core of its existence. Unlike many sports today, there are only a few places in the entire world where surfing is even possible. Popular spots today include off the coasts of Southern California, Australia, South Africa, Southwest France, and of course, Hawaii. It…
By Cat Ariail On November 9, I woke up and opened my computer, preparing to work on my dissertation. Yet the exercise immediately felt pointless. In the aftermath of the previous night’s developments, analyzing the 1951 Pan-American Games seemed both absurd and futile. With the nation’s democratic principles and diverse peoples under threat, academic nuance…
By Andrew McGregor Spatial history has been slow to come to sport history. Although the spatial turn has been underway for several decades, changing how historians analyze, view, and present history, sports are often left out of major mapping projects. A quick look through the projects completed by the Stanford University Spatial History Project and the…
By: Roberto José Andrade Franco Boxing has long been a sport for the lower-classes which, for most of its early history was illegal and practiced in secrecy to avoid arrests. However in the late 1800s there was a change in who practiced boxing. This shift came from a variety of reasons including a movement away…
By Kat Boniface With the Thoroughbred Makeover wrapping up at the Kentucky Horse Park, and the Breeder’s Cup coming up this weekend, now is a great time to consider the place of thoroughbreds in our history. Racehorses have not just been seen as animal athletes. Many have become public figures. This month marks the anniversary…
Sport in American History 