Hoffmann, Melody L. Bike Lanes Are White Lanes: Bicycle Advocacy and Urban Planning. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 210. Notes, bibliography, and index. $40.00 hardcover. Reviewed by Cat Ariail Although a slim book, Melody Hoffmann’s Bike Lanes are White Lanes is powerfully relevant. Hoffmann, a communication studies scholar (and avid bicyclist), critiques the…
Branson, Douglas M. Greatness in the Shadows: Larry Doby and the Integration of the American League. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. 336 + Photographs, Tables, Notes, Bibliography, Index. $34.95 Hardcover. Reviewed by Josh Howard As Douglas Branson himself admits, Greatness in the Shadows is not a biography. Instead, his work is an analysis of the literature—or…
By Kate Aguilar “What is happening today amounts to a revolt by the black athlete against the framework and attitudes of American sport, and that such a thing could occur in his own pet province has astonished the white sports follower. The reason for the astonishment is that the man in the grandstand knows nothing…
This week we’re offering our thoughts and reflections on the recently completed Rio Olympics. Today is part two of our roundtable. It features a Q&A with four of our contributors — Cat Ariail, Josh Howard, Andrew McGregor, and Lindsay Parks Pieper — about their views on the Rio Olympics and its legacy as both scholars and sports fans. Feel…
Last night NBC aired the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Olympics, officially ending the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. The contributors to Sport in American History watched many of the 306 athletic events over the past 19 days with enthusiasm and interest. This week on the blog we offer our thoughts and reflections as both scholars…
By Jorge E. Moraga Introduction: Your 2016 Baseball Hall of Famers… On July 27th, retired Major League Baseball (MLB) players George Kenneth “Ken” “Junior” “The Kid” Griffey Jr. and Michael Joseph “Mike” Piazza joined the ranks of baseball’s most elite club. In a near unanimous decision, the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) voted in…
This post is a part of the 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 sport-related…
By Cat Ariail At the upcoming summer Olympics in Rio, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will attempt to win her third consecutive gold medal in the 100 meters. Her countryman Usain Bolt also will have the opportunity to accomplish the feat in both the 100 and 200 meters. If they three-peat in the 100, Fraser-Pryce and Bolt…
By Thomas P. Oates, Guest Contributor I frequently teach about OJ Simpson’s public career. In fact, I have probably assigned Leola Johnson and David Roediger’s classic essay “Hertz, Don’t It: Becoming Colorless and Staying Black in the Crossover of O.J. Simpson” more often than any other reading. The authors interrogate Simpson’s purported “colorlessness,” arguing that…
By Kate Aguilar “There is power in looking.” “By courageously looking, we defiantly declared: ‘Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality.’” ~ bell hooks, “The Oppositional Gaze: Black Female Spectators” in Black Looks: Race and Representation (1992). On May 20, former NBA player Etan Thomas boarded a crowded train and…
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