By Colleen English In the 1960s and 1970s, Jerry Seltzer led his father’s invention, roller derby, to renewed success. Formerly a Depression Era endurance sport (I have discussed the early origins of roller derby here), roller derby became an entertainment spectacle that featured drama, feuds, and athletic talent. Journalist Jack Fincher credited Seltzer with making…
By Andrew D. Linden Dissertations are hard. While writing a long piece of sport history, you uncover many stories about events of the sporting past, narratives of individual heroics on and off the playing fields, and many pieces of important contextualization. Yet, eventually you must decide what stays and goes. In my dissertation, I analyze…
C. Richard King, Redskins: Insult and Brand. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 256. 12 Illustrations, notes and index. $24.95 Hardcover. By Andrew McGregor In October 2014 I had lunch with Billy Mills. Though we keep in touch, I hadn’t seen him since 2011. He was on campus giving a talk — one similar to the…
McGregor, Robert Kuhn. A Calculus of Color: The Integration of Baseball’s American League. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2015. Pp. 224. 19 Photos, notes, bibliography, and index. $29.95 softback. Reviewed by Lindsay Parks Pieper As a means of ice-breaking at the beginning of each semester, I ask my sport history students who they would meet…
By Charles Westmoreland, Jr. The 1996 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament entered uncharted territory in recent college basketball memory. On March 14, 1996, Duke University saw its mediocre 18-13 campaign come to an end at the hands of the unheralded Eastern Michigan University Eagles. The injury-riddled, talent-depleted Blue Devils were no match for a hungry Eagles…
By Betsy Schlabach In my “Race, Sexuality, and United States Sports History” course my students are required to analyze a sports’ history film. Numerous papers arrive on Jackie Robinson, the Miracle on Ice, All American Girls Professional Baseball League, Michigan’s Fab Five, the Black Sox Scandal, or Notre Dame Football. While drafting these papers, I…
Gitlin, Martin. The Greatest College Football Rivalries of All Time: The Civil War, The Iron Bowl, and Other Memorable Moments. New York: Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Black and White Photos, Notes, Selected Bibliography, Index. Pp. 345. $40.00 hardback, $39.99 eBook. Reviewed by Mercedes Townsend In the fall, I will be pursuing my J.D. at Tulane University…
Mumau, Thad. “Had ‘Em All the Way”: The 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates. Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Co., 2015. 17 Photographs, Notes, Bibliography, Index. Pp. 240. $29.95 softback. Reviewed by Charles R. Westmoreland On Thursday afternoon, October 13, 1960, the Pittsburgh Pirates delivered one of the most dramatic episodes in modern sports history. In Game Seven of…
By Andrew McGregor The NFL Combine is currently underway at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, IN. The annual event is billed as a showcase where players exhibit their talent and skills in front of scouts and team executives in hopes of increasing their draft stock. It is an important event for the league as it…
By Jorge E. Moraga *Author’s Note: For the spring 2016 semester, I was fortunate to be assigned ‘The Cultural Politics of Sport’, an upper division course housed in the Department of CCGRS at Wazzu. As a new teaching prep, I chose to pivot our class around American football: a sport that sells campus identity, ensures…
Sport in American History 