By Andrew McGregor Major League Baseball doesn’t care. If you have been paying attention to the sport over the last several months, it’s difficult to come to any other conclusion. Amidst the uproar and panic of the global COVID-19 pandemic and a summer of intense social unrest and protests against systemic inequality and police brutality,…
Alou, Felipe, and Peter Kerasotis. Alou: My Baseball Journey. Forward by Pedro Martinez. Pp 336, 35 photographs, 1 illustration, and 1 index. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2018. $29.95 hardcover. A few years ago, a popular brand of beer (associated with one of the Major League clubs) ran a commercial that demonstrated the dramatic demographic…
Since taking office, Donald Trump’s immigration policies have been controversial, to say the least. His attempts at banning people from certain countries from traveling to the United States has caused an uproar and affected the daily lives of thousands of people. International college students, refugees, and asylum seekers are among those impacted. These policies are…
Editor’s Note: Much has been written about the Johnson-Jeffries fight. The following post is an excerpt from Stephen Ayres’ undergraduate history thesis from the University College London (2014). It serves as a reminder of “the Battle of the Century” and demonstrates the potential of undergraduate sport history students to use their research to engage the public.…
By Paulina A. Rodriguez Burciaga Yesterday, in a discussion over immigration policies with senators and other lawmakers, president Donald Trump reportedly said, in reference to Haiti, El Salvador, and African countries, “Why are we having all these people from shithole countries come here?” suggesting that the U.S. instead welcome immigrants from countries such as Norway.…
By Apryl Lewis Since Colin Kaepernick started protesting during the national anthem in 2016, other NFL players also engaged in similar protests to bring attention to social injustices against people of color. As national anthem protests gained momentum, many white sports fans questioned Black athletes’ patriotism, rather than concerning themselves with the issues athletes are…
Snell, David Kingsley. The Baron and the Bear: Rupp’s Runts, Haskins’s Miners, and the Season That Changed Basketball Forever. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. Pp. xii + 312. 20 unnumbered pages of plates and index. $29.95 hardcover, $14.99 e-book. Reviewed by Tony Calandrillo In The Baron and the Bear: Rupp’s Runts, Haskins’s Miners,…
By Louis Moore Fifty years ago, on July 23, 1967, routine arrests at a blind pig (an illegal after hours’ establishment) in Detroit ignited an explosive rebellion that lasted five days. That night, hometown hero, Willie Horton, of the Detroit Tigers, drove his car into the rebellion to quell the flames. It didn’t work. This…
This post is the fifth post in our Life and Legacy of Muhammad Ali Series guest edited by Andrew R.M. Smith. Muhammad Ali was a complex figure and he had a large influence beyond the United States. The goal of these posts is to explore various aspects of Ali’s life and reflect on his legacies, offering insight into understudied themes…
By Andrew D. Linden Amidst the ongoing Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement in sport, highlighted by the recent protest led by San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, many writers, pundits, and editorialists have looked back at the cultural peak of the 1960s “revolt of the black athlete” (See here, here, and here.) Many of the…
Sport in American History 