New Books in Sports

Brad Balukjian, "The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife" (U Nebraska Press, 2020)

06 Feb 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Brad Balukjian, author of the book The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball’s Afterlife (University of Nebraska, ...

K. Linder et al., "Going Alt-Ac: A Guide to Alternative Academic Careers" (Stylus Publishing, 2020)

30 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

If you’re a grad student facing the ugly reality of finding a tenure-track job, you could easily be forgiven for thinking about a career change. How...

Christopher J. Phillips, "Scouting and Scoring: How We Know What We Know About Baseball" (Princeton UP, 2019)

29 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The so-called Sabermetrics revolution in baseball that began in the 1970s, popularized by the book—and later Hollywood film—Moneyball, was suppose...

Andrew R. M. Smith, "No Way But To Fight: George Foreman and the Business of Boxing" (U Texas Press, 2020)

28 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Andrew R. M. Smith, author of No Way But To Fight: George Foreman and the Business of Boxing (University of Texas Press, 2020)....

John N. Singer, "Race, Sports, and Education: Improving Opportunities and Outcomes for Black Male College Athletes" (Harvard Ed Press, 2019)

10 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

College sport is a multi-billion dollar industry. The men and women who lead the teams in the most important conferences often make millions of dollar...

Maria Veri and Rita Liberti, "Gridiron Gourmet: Gender and Food at the Football Tailgate" (U Arkansas Press, 2019)

03 Jan 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Maria Veri, Associate Professor of Kinesiology at San Francisco State University, and Rita Liberti, Professor of Kinesiology at...

Seán Crosson, "Gaelic Games on Film" (Cork UP, 2019)

30 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Seán Crosson, leader of the Sport and Exercise Research Group at NUI Galway, co-director of the MA in Sports Journalism and Co...

Evan Friss, "On Bicycles: A 200-Year History of Cycling in New York City" (Columbia UP, 2019)

26 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Evan Friss, an associate professor of history at James Madison University, historicizes the bicycle’s place in New York City’s social, economic, i...

Gabe Logan, "The Early Years of Chicago Soccer, 1887-1939" (Lexington Books, 2019)

12 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The thriving metropolis of Chicago was the land of opportunity for a wide variety of ethnic groups. As individuals from nations where soccer reigned ...

Asher Price, "Earl Campbell: Yards After Contact" (U Texas Press, 2019)

04 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Earl Campbell was a force in American football, winning a state championship in high school, rushing his way to a Heisman trophy for the University of...

Alberto Cairo, "How Charts Lie: Getting Smarter about Visual Information" (Norton, 2019)

03 Dec 2019

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve all heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what if we don’t understand what we’re looking at? Social media has made charts, i...

Peter Kerasotis, "Alou: My Baseball Journey" (U Nebraska Press, 2018)

26 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

All aficionados of baseball are familiar with the pathbreaking role of Jackie Robinson in reintegrating the game back in 1947. What many fans are less...

Rebecca Scofield, "Outriders: Rodeo at the Fringes of the American West" (U Washington, 2019)

25 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Rodeo is one of the indelible images of culture in the American West. The John Wayne-like cowboy tenaciously hanging on to the bucking bronc is a clas...

Lincoln A. Mitchell, "San Francisco Year Zero" (Rutgers UP, 2019)

21 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

1978 was the year that changed San Francisco forever, writes Lincoln A. Mitchell in San Francisco Year Zero: Political Upheaval, Punk Rock and a Third...

Derrick E. White, "Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football" (UNC, 2019)

08 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Derrick E. White's new book Blood, Sweat, and Tears: Jake Gaither, Florida A&M, and the History of Black College Football (University of North Car...

Trevor Thompson, "Playing for Australia: The First Socceroos, Asia, and World Football" (Fair Play, 2018)

07 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Trevor Thompson, a journalist who has reported on association football in Australia and around the world since the 1980s. He is...

Kathryn Conrad on University Press Publishing

03 Nov 2019

Contributed by Lukas

As you may know, university presses publish a lot of good books. In fact, they publish thousands of them every year. They are different from most trad...

J. Neuhaus, "Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers" (West Virginia UP, 2019)

24 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The things that make people academics -- as deep fascination with some arcane subject, often bordering on obsession, and a comfort with the solitude t...

Noah Cohan, "We Average Unbeautiful Watchers: Fan Narratives and the Reading of American Sport" (U Nebraska, 2019)

18 Oct 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Noah Cohan, Lecturer in American Culture Studies at Washington University in St. Louis, and the author of We Average Unbeautifu...

David A. F. Sweet, "Three Seconds in Munich: The Controversial 1972 Olympic Basketball Final" (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

24 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

One. Two. Three. That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the...

Rob Ruck, "Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Journey of Samoans to the NFL" (The New Press, 2018)

17 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Rob Ruck, Professor of History at the University of Pittsburgh, and the author of Tropic of Football: The Long and Perilous Jou...

Bernardo Ramirez Rios, "Transnational Sport in the American West: Oaxaca California Basketball" (Lexington Books, 2019)

09 Sep 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The game of basketball is not necessarily associated with Mexicans or Mexican Americans.  In Mexico, soccer (futbol) is the number one sport, followe...

Roy Hay, "Aboriginal People and Australian Football in the 19th Century" (Cambridge Scholars, 2019)

29 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Roy Hay, Honorary Fellow at Deakin University, and the author of Aboriginal People and Australian Football in the 19th Century:...

Vanessa Heggie, "Higher and Colder: A History of Extreme Physiology and Exploration" (U Chicago Press, 2019)

26 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Vanessa Heggie talks about the history of biomedical research in extreme environments. Heggie is a Fellow of the Institute for Global Innovation at th...

Susan Brownell, "The Anthropology of Sport: Bodies, Borders, Biopolitics" (U California Press, 2018)

15 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

As my first guest, I’d would like to introduce Susan Brownell, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Missouri – St Louis, one of the auth...

Kerry Eggers, "Jail Blazers: How the Portland Trail Blazers Became the Bad Boys of Basketball" (Sport Publishing, 2018)

11 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the late ’90s and early 2000s, the Portland Trail Blazers were one of the hottest teams in the NBA. For almost a decade, they won 60 percent of t...

Stephen Hardy and Andrew Holman, "Hockey: A Global History" (U Illinois Press, 2018)

03 Jul 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Stephen Hardy, retired professor of kinesiology and affiliate professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, and Andr...

Gregory H. Wolf, "Wrigley Field: The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison" (SABR, 2019)

25 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Wrigley Field is one of a handful of sports stadiums to have transcended its athletic purpose to become a true American landmark. Nestled in its neigh...

Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel, "Futbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America" (U Texas Press, 2019)

25 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Brenda Elsey and Joshua Nadel’s new book, Futbolera: A History of Women and Sports in Latin America (University of Texas Press, 2019), uncovers the ...

Chris Donnelly, "Doc, Donnie, The Kid and Billy Brawl: How the 1985 Mets and Yankees Fought For New York’s Baseball Soul" (U Nebraska Press, 2019)

18 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Donnelly's new book Doc, Donnie, The Kid and Billy Brawl: How the 1985 Mets and Yankees Fought For New York’s Baseball Soul (University of Neb...

Bonita Mersiades, "Whatever It Takes: The Inside Story of the FIFA Way" (Powderhouse Press, 2018)

05 Jun 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Bonita Mersiades, former Head of Public Affairs with the Football Federation Australia, and author of Whatever It Takes: The In...

Gregg Bocketti, "The Invention of the Beautiful Game: Football and the Making of Modern Brazil" (UP of Florida, 2016)

31 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Gregg Bocketti, Professor of History at Transylvania University, and author of The Invention of the Beautiful Game: Football an...

Alexander Barnes, "Play Ball! Doughboys and Baseball during the Great War" (Schiffer Publishing, 2019)

28 May 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Alexander Barnes, who co-wrote Play Ball! Doughboys and Baseball during the Great War (Schiffer Publishing, 2019) with Peter F....

Lincoln A. Mitchell, "Baseball Goes West: The Dodgers, the Giants, and the Shaping of the Major Leagues"

11 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Ask a Brooklynite over the age of fifty and they’ll likely tell you that baseball’s golden age ended the day the Dodgers and Giants packed up and ...

Roger Robinson, "When Running Made History" (Syracuse UP, 2018)

10 Apr 2019

Contributed by Lukas

“A race can mean more than a race,” Roger Robinson writes in his new book, When Running Made History. “It can show that human beings are still c...

Ron Keurajian, "Baseball Hall of Fame Autographs: A Reference Guide" (McFarland, 2018)

26 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Ron Keurajian, author of the book Baseball Hall of Fame Autographs: A Reference Guide (Second Edition)(McFarland, 2018). Keuraj...

Discussion of Massive Online Peer Review and Open Access Publishing

19 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

In the information age, knowledge is power. Hence, facilitating the access to knowledge to wider publics empowers citizens and makes societies more de...

Keith Gave, "The Russian Five: A Story of Espionage, Defection, Bribery and Courage" (Gold Star Publishing, 2018)

19 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Keith Gave spent six years in the NSA during the Cold War, but his most daring mission may have come later, while working as a sports writer. In the l...

Natalie Koch, "Critical Geographies of Sport: Space, Power, and Sport in Global Perspective" (Routledge, 2017)

12 Mar 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Natalie Koch, Associate Professor of Geography at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, ...

Danyel Reiche, "Success and Failure of Countries at the Olympic Games" (Routedge, 2016)

05 Feb 2019

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Danyel Reiche, Associate Professor of Comparative Politics at the American University of Beirut, and the author of Success and ...

Peter Hopsicker and Mark Dyreson, "A Half Century of Super Bowls: National and Global Perspectives on America's Grandest Spectacle" (Routledge, 2018)

31 Jan 2019

Contributed by Lukas

The Super Bowl is a singular spectacle in American culture. More than just a championship football game, the Super Bowl has become an unparalleled dis...

Robert C. Trumpbour and Kenneth Womack, "The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Life of Houston's Iconic Astrodome" (U Nebraska Press, 2016)

12 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

It rose against the Texas sun in all its architectural audacity: a domed stadium big enough to cover a baseball field. When it opened in 1965, the Hou...

McKenzie Wark, "General Intellects: Twenty-One Thinkers for the Twenty-First Century" (Verso, 2017)

06 Dec 2018

Contributed by Lukas

McKenzie Wark’s new book offers 21 focused studies of thinkers working in a wide range of fields who are worth your attention. The chapters of Gener...

Grant Farred, "The Burden of Over-Representation: Race, Sport, and Philosophy" (Temple UP, 2018)

28 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Grant Farred, Professor of Africana Studies and English at Cornell University.  Farred is the author of The Burden of Over-Rep...

Howard W. Rosenberg, “Ty Cobb Unleashed: The Definitive Counter-Biography of the Chastened Racist” (Tile Books, 2018)

09 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Howard W. Rosenberg, author of Ty Cobb Unleashed: The Definitive Counter-Biography of the Chastened Racist (Tile Books, 2018). ...

Shelby Yastrow and Tony Jacklin, “Bad Lies” (Mascot Books, 2017)

01 Nov 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Questions about freedom of the press, defamation, libel and slander have been in the news quite a bit lately. Bad Lies (Mascot Books, 2017) tells th...

Jenifer Parks, “The Olympic Games, the Soviet Sport Bureaucracy, and the Cold War: Red Sport, Red Tape” (Lexington Books, 2016)

26 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Jenifer Parks, Associate Professor of History at Rocky Mountain College. Parks is the author of The Olympic Games, the Soviet S...

Jack Gilden, “Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL” (U Nebraska Press, 2018)

05 Oct 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Jack Gilden, author of the book Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL (University of Neb...

Antonio Sotomayor, “The Sovereign Colony: Olympic Sport, National Identity, and International Politics in Puerto Rico” (U Nebraska Press, 2016)

20 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Antonio Sotomayor, Assistant Professor and Librarian of Latin American and Caribbean studies at the University of Illinois at U...

D. G. Surdam and M. J. Haupert, “The Age of Ruth and Landis: The Economics of Baseball during the Roaring Twenties” (U Nebraska Press, 2018)

03 Sep 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by David George Surdam, co-author with Michael J. Haupert of the book The Age of Ruth and Landis: The Economics of Baseball during...

Skip Desjardin, “September 1918: War, Plague, and the World Series” (Regnery History, 2018)

27 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Skip Desjardin, author of the book September 1918: War, Plague, and the World Series (Regnery History, 2018). In this work, whi...

Gerald Gems, “Sport and the American Occupation of the Philippines: Bats, Balls, and Bayonets” (Lexington Books, 2016)

14 Aug 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Gerald Gems, Professor of Kinesiology at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, and the author of several books on spor...

Gregory Snyder, “Skateboarding LA: Inside Professional Street Skateboarding” (NYU Press, 2017)

14 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Gregory Snyder, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Baruch College, City University of New York (CUNY), and author of Skateb...

Jesse Berrett, “Pigskin Nation: How the NFL Remade American Politics” (U Illinois Press, 2018)

09 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Jesse Berrett, author of Pigskin Nation: How the NFL Remade American Politics (University of Illinois Press, 2018). Berrett is ...

David Wanczyk, “Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind” (Swallow Press, 2018)

03 May 2018

Contributed by Lukas

We all know baseball as one of America’s fondest pastimes, but did you know there’s a version of the sport designed specifically for the blind? It...

Averell Smith, “The Pitcher and the Dictator: Satchel Paige’s Unlikely Season in the Dominican Republic” (U Nebraska Press, 2018)

26 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Averell “Ace” Smith, The Pitcher and the Dictator: Satchel Paige’s Unlikely Season in the Dominican Republic (University ...

Kevin Simpson, “Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance during the Holocaust” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016)

12 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Kevin Simpson, the author of Soccer under the Swastika: Stories of Survival and Resistance during the Holocaust (Rowman and Lit...

Amy Bass, “One Goal: A Coach, A Team, and the Game that Brought a Divided Town Together” (Hachette Books, 2018)

04 Apr 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Amy Bass, author of the book One Goal: A Coach, A Team, and the Game that Brought a Divided Town Together (Hachette Books, 2018...

David Rapp, “Tinker to Evers to Chance: The Chicago Cubs and the Dream of Modern America” (U Chicago Press, 2018)

30 Mar 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by David Rapp, author of the book Tinker to Evers to Chance: The Chicago Cubs and the Dawn of Modern America (University of Chicag...

Douglas Hartman, “Midnight Basketball: Race, Sports, and Neoliberal Social Policy” (U Chicago Press, 2016)

12 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

The concept of late-night basketball gained prominence in the late 1980s when G. Van Standifer founded Midnight Basketball League as a vehicle upon wh...

Sridhar Pappu, “The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age” (HMH, 2017)

01 Feb 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Sridhar Pappu, author of the book The Year of the Pitcher: Bob Gibson, Denny McLain and the End of Baseball’s Golden Age (Hou...

Monica Mattfeld, “Becoming Centaur: Eighteenth-Century Masculinity and English Horsemanship” (Penn State UP, 2017)

19 Jan 2018

Contributed by Lukas

Monica Mattfeld’s Becoming Centaur: Eighteenth-Century Masculinity and English Horsemanship (Penn State University Press, 2017) explores the complex...

Paul Hensler, “The New Boys of Summer: Baseball’s Radical Transformation in the Late Sixties” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017)

21 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Paul Hensler, author of the book The New Boys of Summer: Baseball’s Radical Transformation in the Late Sixties (Rowman and Li...

Brett L. Abrams, “Terry Bradshaw: From Super Bowl Champion to Television Personality” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017)

15 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Brett L. Abrams, author of the book Terry Bradshaw: From Super Bowl Champion to Television Personality (Rowman & Littlefield, 2...

Paul Beston, “The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled the Ring” (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017)

05 Dec 2017

Contributed by Lukas

We are joined by Paul Beston, author of the book The Boxing Kings: When American Heavyweights Ruled The Ring (Rowman & Littlefield, 2017.) Beston link...

Adam J. Criblez, “Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2017)

16 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by Adam J. Criblez, author of the book Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and The Birth of the Modern NBA (Rowman & ...

David Goldstein, “Alley-Oop To Aliyah: African American Hoopsters in The Holy Land” (Skyhorse Publishing, 2017)

11 Nov 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Today we are joined by David A. Goldstein, author of the book Alley-Oop To Aliyah: African American Hoopsters in The Holy Land (Skyhorse Publishing, 2...

Jeffrey Kidder, “Parkour and the City: Risk, Masculinity, and Meaning in a Postmodern Sport” (Rutgers UP, 2017)

26 Oct 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The meaning assigned to architecture is complex and varied. Urban architecture is often stripped of meaning when people abandon the neighborhoods or a...

Tom Carhart, “The Golden Fleece: High-Risk Adventure at West Point” (Potomac Books, 2017)

15 Sep 2017

Contributed by Lukas

If you were a cadet at West Point and knew with virtual certainty that upon graduation you would be sent into the teeth of the Vietnam war, what would...

Don Nunley with Marshall Terrill, “Steve McQueen: Le Mans in the Rearview Mirror” (Dalton Watson, 2017)

02 Aug 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Steven McQueen was known as a great action star, but he also sometimes had a reputation for being troublesome on the set. Don Nunley worked with him a...

Carlo Rotella and Michael Ezra, eds. “The Bittersweet Science: Fifteen Writers in the Gym, in the Corner, and at Ringside” (U. Chicago, 2017)

26 May 2017

Contributed by Lukas

“Boxing has always attracted writers because it issues a standing challenge to their powers of description and imagination, and also a warning–rea...

Kelly Belanger, “Invisible Seasons: Title IX and the Fight for Equity in College Sports” (Syracuse UP, 2016)

20 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

As I write this, the women’s basketball team for the University of Connecticut is in the midst of a 107 game winning streak. It’s quite reasonable...

Tony Collins, “The Oval World: A Global History of Rugby” (Bloomsbury, 2015)

19 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

The 2017 Six Nations rugby tournament concluded this weekend. England successfully defended its championship, despite losing the last match against a ...

Ronojoy Sen, “Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India” (Columbia UP, 2016)

06 Mar 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Covering sporting activities from ancient times right up to the modern day, Ronojoy Sen’s Nation at Play: A History of Sport in India (Columbia Univ...

Mitchel Roth, “Convict Cowboys: The Untold History of the Texas Prison Rodeo” (U. North Texas Press, 2016)

01 Feb 2017

Contributed by Lukas

For more than 50 years, Huntsville prison put on an annual rodeo throughout the month of October to entertain prisoners, locals, and visitors from acr...

Steve Tripp, “Ty Cobb, Baseball, and American Manhood” (Rowman and Littlefield, 2016)

30 Jan 2017

Contributed by Lukas

Many scholars of baseball and American sports have focused on Ty Cobb as an integral and controversial character in the history of baseball. However, ...

Carroll Pursell, “From Playgrounds to PlayStation: The Interaction of Technology and Play” (Johns Hopkins UP, 2015)

29 Dec 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Carroll Pursell‘s From Playgrounds to PlayStation: The Interaction of Technology and Play (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015) explores how play r...

Roman Sieler, “Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets: Medicine and Martial Arts in South India” (Oxford UP, 2015)

28 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Roman Sieler’s

 Lethal Spots, Vital Secrets: Medicine and Martial Arts in South India (Oxford University Press, 2015) is a fine-grained ethnogr...

Jessamyn R. Abel, “The International Minimum: Creativity and Contradiction in Japan’s Global Engagement, 1933-1964” (U. of Hawaii Press, 2015)

24 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Jessamyn R. Abel’s new book carefully traces the rise and transformations of an internationalist worldview in modern Japan, from its withdrawal from...

Bob Mionske, “Bicycling and the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist” (VeloPress, 2007)

13 Oct 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Bob Mionske is a Portland, Oregon based attorney whose practice focuses on representing cyclists. He gained his cycling experience at the highest leve...

Jules Boykoff, “Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics” (Verso, 2016)

11 Aug 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Since the birth of the modern Olympics movement in the late nineteenth century, its leaders have attempted to maintain a strict separation of athletic...

Simon Creak, “Embodied Nation: Sport, Masculinity, and the Making of Modern Laos” (U. of Hawaii Press, 2015)

27 Jul 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In the introduction to Embodied Nation: Sport, Masculinity, and the Making of Modern Laos (University of Hawaii Press, 2015), historian Simon Creak wr...

Norman L. Macht, “The Grand Old Man of Baseball: Connie Mack in His Final Years, 1932-1956” (U. of Nebraska Press, 2015)

28 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

At the start of The Grand Old Man of Baseball: Connie Mack in His Final Years, 1932-1956, the third volume of Norman L. Macht’s biography of basebal...

Yago Colas, “Ball Don’t Lie! Myth, Genealogy and Invention in the Cultures of Basketball” (Temple University Press, 2016)

08 Jun 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Leading up to this year’s NBA Finals, sports media outlets offered their take on the most important storylines of the series between the Cavaliers a...

Randy Roberts and Johnny Smith, “Blood Brothers: The Fatal Friendship Between Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X” (Basic Books, 2016)

30 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Is there a figure in sports more admired and beloved than Muhammad Ali? Widely revered not only as one of boxing’s greatest champions but also as on...

Howard P. Chudacoff, “Changing the Playbook: How Power, Profit, and Politics Transformed College Sports” (U of Illinois Press, 2015)

11 Apr 2016

Contributed by Lukas

March Madness is big business. Each year the NCAA collects $700 million for television rights to the men’s college basketball tournament, under the ...

Adam Kucharski, “The Perfect Bet: How Science and Math Are Taking the Luck Out of Gambling” (Basic Books, 2016)

31 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Adam Kucharski, who won the 2012 Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize, has delivered another winner in an area rife with both winners and losers. The ...

Alexander Wolff, “The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama” (Temple UP, 2015)

30 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

Alexander Wolff is the author of The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama (Temple University Press, 2015). Wolff is a senior writer at Sp...

Alan McDougall, “The People’s Game: Football, State and Society in East Germany” (Cambridge UP, 2014)

24 Mar 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In The People’s Game: Football, State and Society (Cambridge University Press, 2014), Alan McDougall looks at football from the top-down and bottom-...

Julie Des Jardins, “Walter Camp: Football and the Modern Man” (Oxford University Press, 2015)

06 Feb 2016

Contributed by Lukas

In anticipation of Super Bowl 50, Sports Illustrated and WIRED magazines teamed up to speculate about the state of football fifty years from now, at t...

Charles Fountain, “The Betrayal: The 1919 World Series and the Birth of Modern Baseball” (Oxford UP, 2015)

20 Nov 2015

Contributed by Lukas

Gambling and sports have been in the news lately in the US. Authorities in Nevada and New York have shut down the fantasy sports operatorsDraftKings a...

David Zang, “I Wore Babe Ruth’s Hat: Field Notes from a Life in Sports” (University of Illinois Press, 2015)

13 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

How would you write your sports memoir? Maybe you’d recall a memorable trip to the stadium when you were young, or even getting an autograph from on...

Annie Blazer, “Playing for God: Evangelical Women and the Unintended Consequences of Sports Ministry” (NYU Press, 2015)

08 Oct 2015

Contributed by Lukas

In her new book, Playing for God: Evangelical Women and the Unintended Consequences of Sports Ministry (NYU Press, 2015), Annie Blazer shows through a...

David Snowdon, “Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan’s Boxiana World” (Peter Lang, 2013)

04 Sep 2015

Contributed by Lukas

When ESPN anchor Stuart Scott passed away from cancer this past January, he was widely hailed for his innovative style, which mixed heavy does of Afri...

David George Surdham, “The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989” (U of Illinois Press, 2015)

24 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

David George Surdham is the author of The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989 (University of Illinois Press, 2015)....

Eric Reed, “Selling the Yellow Jersey: The Tour de France in the Global Era” (University of Chicago Press, 2015)

17 Jul 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The Tour de France is happening right now! The 2015 edition started on July 4th and will continue until July 26th. I’m excited to be able to share t...

James A. Holstein, Richard S. Jones, George Koonce, Jr., “Is There Life After Football? Surviving the NFL” (New York UP, 2014)

17 Mar 2015

Contributed by Lukas

The health of former NFL players has received plenty of attention in recent years. The suicides of Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, along with stories of...

Jules Boykoff, “Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London” (Rutgers University Press, 2014)

22 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

A new chapter in the history of the Olympic Games appears to be opening. As one city after another has dropped out of the bidding for the 2022 Winter ...

Bruce Babington, “The Sports Film: Games People Play” (Wallflower Press, 2014)

11 Dec 2014

Contributed by Lukas

One of the most enduring film genres is the sports movie. From the earliest attempts at narrative motion pictures to the present day, movies devoted t...

Eric Allen Hall, “Arthur Ashe: Tennis and Justice in the Civil Rights Era” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2014)

04 Nov 2014

Contributed by Lukas

When he died from AIDS in 1993, Arthur Ashe was universally hailed as a man of principle, grace, and wisdom–a world-class athlete who had transcende...