Tonight, the University of Alabama meets Clemson University in the college football playoff championship. It’s a rematch of last year’s game, and the third year of the playoff format. As you prepare for the game, our resident college football historians — Hunter Hampton, Andrew McGregor, and Michael T. Wood — reflect on the legacy and impact of…
Johnson, Scott Morrow. Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 376. 26 photographs, notes and index. $29.95 Hardcover. Reviewed by Andrew McGregor In Kansas, basketball is a religion. Allen Fieldhouse, opened in March of 1955, is widely recognized as one of its most hallowed temple. Its floor, where…
The 2016-2017 college basketball season is in full swing. Conference play began this week, signaling the beginning of the “true season” in the minds of many fans. Many of the conferences appear wide open, promising competitive races from Tobacco Road to the Pacific coast. According to the NCAA, over 27 million fans flocked to roundhouses, barns, and arenas…
Cohen, Diana Tracy. Iron Dads: Managing Family, Work, and Endurance Sport Identities. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 2016. Pp. xiv+191. Introduction, notes, bibliography, and index. Paperback: $26.95. Reviewed by Ari de Wilde In her book, Iron Dads: Managing Family, Work, and Endurance Sport Identities, Diana Tracy Cohen, an Associate Professor of Political Science at…
By Andrew McGregor Historians will remember 2016. While many won’t forget the sadness it brought us, stemming from a seemingly never-ending onslaught of celebrity deaths, 2016 also brought us great joy, especially for long-suffering sports fans. Although we lost Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, and Pat Summitt, the City of Cleveland as well as the Chicago Cubs…
Jacobus, Robert D. Houston Cougars in the 1960s: Death Threats, the Veer Offense, and the Game of the Century. College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2015. Pp. xxiv+366. Bibliography and index. $29.99 clothback. Reviewed by Alex Parrish The 2006 Disney biopic Glory Road narrates the unprecedented championship run of the 1965-1966 Texas Western Miners basketball team,…
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…
By Patrick Salkeld Controversy surrounded Jürgen Klinsmann’s tenure as the head coach of the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT) since nearly the beginning. He created tension between himself and Don Garber, the Commissioner of Major League Soccer (MLS), about implementing promotion and relegation in the United States and the quality of American soccer in…
Bjarkman, Peter C. Cuba’s Baseball Defectors: The Inside Story. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2016. Pp. xxxviii+348. Notes, Index, Appendices, Photographs. $36 hardback, $35.99 eBook. Reviewed by Dain TePoel Twenty-three Cubans were on MLB club rosters to open the 2016 season, an increase of five players from 2015 and the most since the Commissioner’s Office…
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…
Sport in American History 