Steven A. Riess, Horse Racing the Chicago Way: Gambling, Politics and Organized Crime, 1837-1911. (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 2022). Reviewed by Nicholas E. Sarantakes As the title indicates, Steven A. Riess studies the rise and fall of horse racing in Chicago in Horse Racing the Chicago Way: Gambling, Politics and Organized Crime, 1837-1911. However, as the…
Catsam, Derek Charles. Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2021. Pp. xxviii + 213. 10 unnumbered pages of plates and index. $34.00 hardcover, $32.00 e-book. Reviewed by Tony Calandrillo In Flashpoint: How a Little-Known Sporting Event Fueled America’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, Derek Charles Catsam, Professor of History…
Mitchell, Lincoln A. The Giants and Their City: Major League Baseball in San Francisco, 1976-1992. The Kent State University Press. 2021. Pp. 251. Acknowledgments, end notes, index, introduction, photographs, $25.95 paperback. Reviewed by Bob D’Angelo. The Giants are a proud baseball franchise. With 23 pennants and eight World Series championships, the team is second only to their…
Stell, Marion and Reid, Heather. Women In Boots: Football and Feminism in the 1970s. North Melbourne: Australian Scholarly Publishing, 2020. xvii+167. 12 unnumbered pages of plates: illustrations, portraits. Acknowledgements, sources, notes, index. $24.95 paperback. $11.99 eBook. Reviewed by Russ Crawford In Women in Boots: Football and Feminism in the 1970s, Marion Stell and Heather Reid…
Gryzbowski, David. Mr. All-Around: The Life of Tom Gola. Philadelphia, Temple University Press, 2019. Pp 181. Foreword by Bill Raftery, introduction, appendices. Reviewed by Murry Nelson Mr. All-Around: The Life of Tom Gola is a pleasant little book. However, David Gyrzbowski’s biography of Gola is more geared to general readership, especially those with Philadelphia interests,…
Sarantakes, Nicholas Evans. Fan in Chief: Richard Nixon and American Sports, 1969-1974. Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 2019. ix+349. Appendix, notes, timeline, bibliographical essay, sources, and index. Reviewed by Russ Crawford Nicholas Evans Sarantakes has written a comprehensive analysis of President Richard M. Nixon’s interaction with the sporting world in Fan in Chief. It is…
Sweet, David A. F. Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2019. Pp. 225. Bibliography, illustrations, index, and source notes. $29.95 hardback. Reviewed by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes The President of the United States was livid. Richard Nixon was meeting with his chief of staff, H.R. “Bob” Haldeman, and…
By Timothy J. Lombardo A familiar refrain accompanied the Philadelphia Eagles’ unlikely trek toward Super Bowl LII. It was perhaps best explained by Ed Rendell. Predicting an Eagles victory, Rendell said, “This team reminds me of the 1993 Phillies, just a bunch of working stiffs, not glamourous whatsoever. So blue-collar.” Rendell was uniquely qualified to…
Editor’s Note: “Sport in American History” is excited to cross-post Richard C. Crepeau’s “Sport and Society” column. This post was originally published on June 2, 2018. A full archive of his Crepeau’s columns can be found by clicking here. I’ve been on the road over the past two weeks and have not been able to react to any of…
By Cat Ariail On May 5, ESPN NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a “Woj bomb.” The Milwaukee Bucks intend to interview Becky Hammon, a fourth-year assistant coach with the San Antonio Spurs and, of course, the first woman to serve as an NBA assistant coach, for their vacant head coach position. Instantly, I was excitedly…
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