"What's My Name, Fool?"

In 1972, three hundred active National Football League players signed a statement condemning the on-going criminal disaster that was the Vietnam War. Matters like these are not generally addressed on the sports pages of our daily papers, which is part of the point of "What's My Name, Fool?" (subtitled "Sports and Resistance in the United States"). Like a lot of people who make their living writing about our games, Dave Zirin loves sports. But his concern for justice and fair play is not blinded by his love. He wants the men who own the teams to stop abusing the taxpayers; he wants people to see that the National Anthem and, since 9/11, "God Bless America," have been grafted on to our games to further enhance a partnership between sports and flag-waving that is unique to this country. Dave Zirin's heroes are athletes who have challenged institutionalized racism and transcended their status as entertainers to become activists in various other fights.