This post is a part of a new series, “Sport History Rewind.” In this series, contributors revisit and reevaluate important texts to determine the degree to which their analyses, arguments, research, and influence resonate in the field today. Of particular concern is how well the works fit into historiographical debates and compare with more recent…
Thomas, Damion L. Globetrotting: African American Athletes and Cold War Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012. 232 pp. $60.00 cloth. Reviewed by Andrew D. Linden In Globetrotting: African American Athletes and Cold War Politics, Damion L. Thomas analyzes the US government’s use of African American athletes as tools in the ideological battle between American…
Thrasher, Christopher David. Fight Sports and American Masculinity: Salvation in Violence from 1607 to the Present. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishing. Pp. 300. Notes and Index. $45.00 clothback. Reviewed by Matthew Hodler “Ambitious” is the first word that came to mind upon reading this book’s title and preface. Christopher David Thrasher, to his credit, attempts to…
By Kate Aguilar The second thing people who understood Miami had in common was the realization that the real and the fake, the dream and the nightmare, the hope and the despair, were inseparable- that, in Miami, the good always came wrapped up in the bad. ~T. D. Allman, Miami: City of the Future (1987) On August…
Crepeau, Richard C. NFL Football: A History of America’s New National Pastime. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2014. Pp. 256. Notes, bibliography, and index. $95.00 clothback, $19.95 paperback. Reviewed by Andrew D. Linden Throughout this weekend, football is king. On Thursday, the Patriots defeated the Steelers, with an impressive performance by embattled quarterback Tom Brady.…
By Andrew D. Linden and Lindsay Parks Pieper There is much to criticize in the National Football League (NFL). From the deplorable off-field antics of the players to the inherent brain-damaging violence of the sport, the NFL stands as a powerful bastion of immorality. Despite the apparent and much-discussed transgressions of the league, many scholars…
Izenberg, Jerry. Rozelle: A Biography. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2014. Pp. 312. Notes and Index. $29.95 clothback. Reviewed by Andrew D. Linden In the environment of big-time sport in North America, few off-the-field individuals garner such media coverage as National Football League (NFL) Commissioner Roger Goodell. Over the past few weeks, as teams begin…
By Michael T. Wood, Guest Contributor On 20 July 2015, the United States and Cuba reopened their embassies in Havana and Washington, D.C. This occasion represents another important step in the normalization of U.S.-Cuban relations, and continues a policy shift that began in December 2014. Even though more action is needed on both sides of…
The NFL: Critical and Cultural Perspectives. Eds. Thomas P. Oates and Zack Furness. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2014. Pp. 268. Forward, contributors list, and index. Paper: $29.95, cloth: $69.50, e-book: $29.95. Reviewed by Andrew D. Linden Two weeks ago, I flipped through various television channels, eventually landing on the NFL Network. While nearly two months removed…
Whenever Chris Rock speaks, I listen [and then I usually laugh]. Rock is a comedic genius or the one comic who possesses the outstanding ability at least to disturb my good manners time and time again with belly-aching guffaws. He has thrived in his role as my generation’s most successful black humorist, plying his craft…
Sport in American History 