Review of HBO’s “Kareem: Minority of One”

“Kareem: Minority of One” documentary, produced by Mike Tollin, Rick Bernstein, and Deborah Morales (HBO Sports, Mandalay Sports Media, 2015) Reviewed by Frank Andre Guridy My earliest basketball memory is of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shooting his patented “skyhook” shot over rival centers Darryl Dawkins and Caldwell Jones of the Philadelphia 76ers during the 1980 NBA Finals.…

Review of Indian Spectacle

Guiliano, Jennifer. Indian Spectacle: College Mascots and the Anxiety of Modern America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2015. Pp. 194. Notes and Index. $80.00 cloth. $27.95 paper. Reviewed by Andrew McGregor Most Americans are familiar with the controversy surrounding American Indian mascots, best exemplified by the current pushback against the NFL’s Washington Redskins. Few,…

Contention on the Court: The Emergence of Women’s Basketball and Its Negotiations with Female Propriety

By Mercedes Townsend In the same way defenders utilizing a “full court press” strategy limit the progression of their opponents across the court, hegemonic gender norms and expectations have historically and continuously stifled the progress of women’s basketball. Despite the gains of storied programs such as the UConn Huskies and University of Tennessee Lady Vols,…

Carlota Gooden’s Athletic Citizenship

By Cat Ariail At the 1959 Pan-American Games in Chicago, Illinois, Carlota Gooden, a twenty-two year-old Panamanian sprinter descended from Barbadian canal workers, won two silver medals and a bronze. Her performances in the 100-meter sprint, 4×100-meter relay, and 60-meter dash entered her name in the official records of international track, a permanent inscription that…

Review of ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire

Vogan, Travis. ESPN: The Making of a Sports Media Empire. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2015. Pp. 256. Notes and Index. $95.00 clothback, $19.95 paperback. Reviewed by Kyle R. King What if I told you that the widening gyre of sports media has a centripetal force? That even as sports media ventures proliferate, they…

Review of Keepers of the Flame

Vogan, Travis. Keepers of the Flame: NFL Films and the Rise of Sports Media. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2014. Pp. ii + 238. Notes and Index. $90 hardback, $25 paperback. Reviewed by Stephen Townsend Travis Vogan has a reputation as a lucid and aggressive interrogator of sporting cultures. So, when I was asked to…

ESPN’s “Trojan War”

Reviewed by Max Rieger History is a powerful muse at the University of Southern California (USC). In the documentary, “Trojan War”, ESPN gives its viewers a look at one of the nations most successful and unique football programs. Before examining the film and its subjects in some depth, I must make a disclosure. I am…