Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on May 10, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. By Richard C. Crepeau It has been several weeks since I have taken to the computer to attempt another of…
O’Brien, Jim. Looking Up: From the ABA to the NBA, The WNBA to the NCAA – A Basketball Memoir. Pittsburgh, Pa.: James P. O’Brien – Publishing, 2017. Pp. 480. Photos and illustrations, color and black & white. $29.95 paperback. Reviewed by: Richard A. Macales The American Basketball Association (ABA), of 1967-76, once drew an…
Organized by Merlin Chowkwanyun A couple of weeks ago, I realized that all my Twitter interactions were basically with people in two orbits: “Historian Twitter” (7%) and “NBA Twitter” (90%). Wait, that only adds up to 97%?! Correct. Then there’s #NBAHistorianTwitter, a special nexus of people in both worlds (So I thought: why not do…
By Cat Ariail On May 5, ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a “Woj bomb.” The Milwaukee Bucks intend to interview Becky Hammon, a fourth-year assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs and, of course, the first woman to serve as an NBA assistant coach, for their vacant head coach position. Instantly, I was excitedly…
Babicz, Martin C. and Thomas W. Zeiler, National Pastime: U.S. History through Baseball (Lanham, MD: Rowan and Littlefield, 2017). Reviewed by Jorge Iber Martin Babicz and Thomas Zeiler’s National Pastime: U.S. History through Baseball seeks to present readers with a single tome that uses the sport as a mechanism with which to examine and clarify…
Following the protests of systemic racism and police brutality by Colin Kaepernick and dozens of other NFL players during the 2016 and 2017 season, the relationship between sports and politics has reemerged as a hot topic. Journalists and scholars have offered commentary exploring the myriad of ways that sports and politics intersect. Joining these conversations…
Withers, Jeremy, and Daniel P. Shea (Eds.). Culture on Two Wheels: The Bicycle in Literature and Film. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 346. Notes, index. $40.72 hardback. Reviewed by Mitchell McSweeney Today, bicycles most commonly serve as a tool for individuals’ transportation; saving money; engaging in exercise; or being a responsible citizen…
By Lindsay Parks Pieper I was a junior faculty member at Lynchburg College when I saw Andrew McGregor’s Facebook post about the launch of Sport in American History. His message described a new opportunity for graduate students and junior scholars to discuss sport history in a new, digital format. The idea interested me, but I…
Lisi, Clemente A. A History of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2017. Pp. ix + 171. Photos, appendices, bibliography and index. $35.00 hardcover, $33.00 e-book. Reviewed by Zachary R. Bigalke Soccer has always had a contentious history on American soil. Prone to cyclical boom and bust periods, the sport seems…
Editor’s Note: Much has been written about the Johnson-Jeffries fight. The following post is an excerpt from Stephen Ayres’ undergraduate history thesis from the University College London (2014). It serves as a reminder of “the Battle of the Century” and demonstrates the potential of undergraduate sport history students to use their research to engage the public.…
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