Aiello, Thomas. Hoops: A Cultural History of Basketball in America. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2022. Pp. 304. $34 paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Writing a comprehensive history of anything is a hard task, one requiring much discipline, devotion… and selection. Establishing what made a particular historical activity or development what it…
Wernicke, Luciano. Incredible World Cup Stories: Wildest Tales and Most Dramatic Moments from Uruguay 1930 to Qatar 2022. Sutherland House, 2022. Pp. 368. $24.95 paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Spanning almost 100 years, World Cup tournaments have been––without a doubt––some of the most exciting and popular sport competitions. Compiling just one book of stories about…
Stark, Douglas, ed. The James Naismith Reader. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2021. Pp. 251. $29.95. hardback and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Basketball’s initial function was to correct and contain the seemingly endless energy of young students, who found themselves in need of physical and intellectual occupation during long and dark winter months in…
Abel, Allen. The Short Life of Hughie McLoon: A True Story of Baseball, Magic and Murder. Sutherland House, 2020. Pp. 211. Acknowledgments, dedication, epilogue, end notes, photographs, $22.95 hardback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo Baseball mascots today are cheery, funny and engaging figures, interacting with crowds and providing comic relief. The San Diego Chicken and the Phillie…
Surgent, Scott. The Complete World Hockey Association 11th Edition. CreateSpace, 2018. Pp. 536. Photos (black & white). $29 softcover. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales “Well, pioneers always suffer. I don’t care [who has] been the first to embark upon things… but it had to be done.” –Bobby Hull, 82, Hall of Fame hockey player Scott…
Knepper, Paul. The Knicks of the Nineties: Ewing, Oakley, Starks and the Brawlers That Almost Won It All. McFarland, 2020. Pp. 288. Acknowledgments, bibliography, endnotes, introduction, photographs, prologue, $35 paperback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo Gritty, tough and talented. On paper, the New York Knicks of the 1990s should have won at least one NBA title,…
O’Brien, Jim. Looking Up Once Again: A Basketball Memoir. Pittsburgh, Pa.: James P. O’Brien Publishing, 2020. Pp. 480. Photos and illustrations, color and black & white. $28 paperback. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales “Most ABA ballplayers had a considerable chip on their shoulders. Someone had wronged them; didn’t want them in their game. Didn’t pay…
Crippen, Kenneth R. and Matt Reaser, eds., The All-America Football Conference: Players, Coaches, Records, Games and Awards, 1946-1949. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland, 2018. Pp. 361. Index. $45 softcover. Reviewed by Richard A. Macales Vince Lombardi, the legendary Green Bay Packers’ coach for whom the Super Bowl Trophy is named, did not win a championship in his…
Gems, Gerald and Pfister, Gertrude, eds. Touchdown: An American Obsession. Great Barrington, Ma: Berkshire Publishing Group LLC, 2019. Pp. 364. Appendices, notes, glossary, index. $49.95 paperback. $125 hardcover. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Gridiron football is the most popular team sport in the United States, and the history of the sport has been explored by a…
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…
Sport in American History 