Departments

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sports

  • SOURCE: TomDispatch
    1/27/2022

    Is Ali the Last American Hero? Who Else is There?

    by Robert Lipsyte

    "I’ve been wondering lately just how Ali actually reached such heights. There are plenty of people alive today who once hated him and yet, in American popular culture, he’s now a secular saint."

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    1/19/2022

    The Existential Crisis of the Winter Games is a Long Time Coming

    by Bruce Berglund

    Avery Brundage of the International Olympic Committee had many faults, but he understood that the Winter Olympics were increasingly out of step with a sporting world less focused on Europe and North America and less tolerant of the massive expenditure needed to host the games.

  • 1/23/2022

    The Art of Swimming (Excerpt)

    by Bill Hayes

    Unline many recognizable modern sports, for most of human history swimming was treated as a utilitarian activity (and occasionally as a pleasure), unsuited for competition or spectatorship.

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    12/14/2021

    Baseball's Lockout Shows the Growing Power of Labor

    by Gwendolyn Lockman

    "In many ways, the twists and turns of baseball’s labor battle over salaries, pensions and more have reflected the ebbs and flows of labor power in the United States."

  • SOURCE: TomDispatch
    12/7/2021

    Has the Age of Trump Ruined Sports Fandom?

    by Robert Lipsyte

    Sports offer no refuge from the politicized cultural battles over cheating, racism, vaccination, and mental health. It may be time to bury forever the idea that sports represent a moral high ground.

  • SOURCE: Sports Illustrated
    11/5/2021

    The History of Women in the New York City Marathon

    Amateur Athletic Union rules in the 1970s didn't sanction any competitive race for women longer than 1.5 miles. Kathrine Switzer and other pioneering women marathoners discuss a half-century of change. 

  • SOURCE: Black Perspectives
    10/12/2021

    Jack Johnson and Africa: Boxing and Race in Colonial Africa

    by Abraham Tapiwa Seda

    Jack Johnson's achievement as the world heavyweight champion had cultural significance far beyond the United States, as European colonial regimes that had used sports like boxing as instruments of social control found that they could also be instruments of rebellion and rejection of white supremacy.

  • SOURCE: Global Sport Matters
    10/6/2021

    MLB Passed on the Chance to Stop the Drain of African American Players from Baseball

    by Lou Moore

    Major League Baseball noticed that the trend of increased Black participation in the pro game was making a sharp U-turn as early as the mid-1970s. MLB ignored the advice of many Black players, managers and scouts to reach out to African American youth to protect the diversity and quality of the game. 

  • SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
    9/29/2021

    Biden NLRB Counsel Says College Athletes are Employees

    "Jennifer Abruzzo took issue with the term “student-athletes,” calling it a misclassification of college players, and warned that using it could be construed as an attempt to lead players to believe that they’re not protected by labor laws."

  • 9/26/2021

    Group of Historians Recognized for Best SCOTUS Brief of the Year

    by Ronald A. Smith

    A group of six historians has been recognized by the Education Law Association for the best Supreme Court brief of the year. Their historical deconstruction of the myth of amateurism in college athletics influenced a unanimous decision that the NCAA cannot bar college athletes from profiting from the commercial use of their names, images, or likenesses.