American Sports

by Rader, Benjamin G.

• ISBN13: 9780130801128
• ISBN10: 0130801127
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1999-01-01
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Summary

The revised edition of this widely-acclaimed book offers a gracefully written, analytical history of American sports from the colonial era to the present. It gives special attention to the historical relationship between sports and such major social cleavages as class, race, ethnicity, gender, region and the power that sports have exercised in binding diverse peoples together.

Author Biography

Benjamin G. Rader is James L. Sellers Professor of History at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and is co-editor of the Sport and Society Series of the University of Illinois Press.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	vii
1 SPORTS IN EARLY AMERICA	1	(18)
Britain's Festive Culture	2	(3)
The Puritan Assault upon Britain's Festive Culture	5	(2)
"Lawful Sport" in New England and the Middle Colonies	7	(2)
Sporting Ways of the Southern Colonies	9	(5)
Backcountry Sporting Ways	14	(1)
Pastimes of the Revolutionary Era	15	(1)
Conclusion	16	(1)
Notes	17	(2)
2 THE SETTING FOR NINETEENTH-CENTURY SPORTS	19	(15)
Conquering Space and Time	20	(2)
The New, Middle-Class Victorian Culture	22	(1)
From "Rational" Recreation to the Strenuous Life	23	(2)
A Victorian Counterculture	25	(3)
Enclaves of the Oppositional Culture	28	(3)
Nineteenth-Century Sporting Groups	31	(1)
Conclusion	32	(1)
Notes	32	(2)
3 THE SPORTING FRATERNITY AND ITS SPECTACLES	34	(16)
John Cox Stevens: Wealthy Patron of Antebellum Sporting Spectacles	35	(2)
Pedestrianism, Rowing, and Billiards	37	(2)
Early History of American Prize fighting	39	(1)
Meanings of Prizefighting	40	(2)
Prizefighting in the Post-Bellum Era	42	(2)
Enter John L. Sullivan	44	(3)
Post-Bellum Thoroughbred Horse Racing	47	(1)
Conclusion	48	(1)
Notes	48	(2)
4 THE RISE OF THE NATIONAL GAME	50	(15)
The Club-Based, Fraternal Game	50	(3)
Baseball as a Commercial Enterprise	53	(3)
The National League	56	(1)
The Players Revolt	57	(3)
Ethics and African Americans	60	(1)
Between the Foul Lines and in the Stands	61	(2)
Conclusion	63	(1)
Notes	64	(1)
5 NINETEENTH-CENTURY SPORTING COMMUNITIES	65	(16)
Ethnic Sporting Communities	66	(2)
Turner Societies	68	(2)
African American Sporting Communities	70	(1)
The Wealthy New York Sporting Community	70	(2)
The Quest for Elite Communities	72	(1)
The Formation of Athletic Clubs	73	(2)
Amateurism and Its Uses	75	(2)
Cricket Clubs and Country Clubs	77	(2)
Conclusion	79	(1)
Notes	80	(1)
6 THE RISE OF INTERCOLLEGIATE SPORTS	81	(17)
The First Intercollegiate Sport	81	(2)
Early Intercollegiate Baseball, Track, and Football	83	(2)
Walter Camp: Father of American Football	85	(4)
Football and the Making of College Communities	89	(3)
Football Becomes a Public Spectacle	92	(3)
Conclusion	95	(1)
Notes	96	(2)
7 THE RISE OF ORGANIZED YOUTH SPORTS, 1890-1920	98	(18)
The Social Context	98	(2)
The Cultural Context	100	(1)
Luther Halsey Gulick, Jr.	101	(3)
The Evolutionary Theory of Play	104	(2)
The Public Schools Athletic League	106	(2)
The Playground Movement	108	(1)
High School Sports	109	(4)
Conclusion	113	(1)
Notes	113	(3)
8 THE SETTING FOR ORGANIZED SPORTS, 1890-1950	116	(18)
The Media and Sports	116	(3)
The Consumer Culture	119	(1)
Islands of Pleasure	120	(3)
The Strenuous Life	123	(3)
Changing Ideals of Physical Beauty	126	(2)
An Age of Racial Segregation	128	(3)
Conclusion	131	(1)
Notes	131	(3)
9 THE AGE OF SPORTS HEROES	134	(19)
Babe Ruth	135	(5)
Red Grange	140	(3)
Jack Johnson	143	(3)
The Golden Age of Boxing	146	(5)
Conclusion	151	(1)
Notes	151	(2)
10 BASEBALL'S GOLDEN AGE	153	(20)
Baseball's Coming of Age	153	(4)
The Age of the Pitcher	157	(1)
Ty Cobb	158	(2)
Organized Baseball's Quest for Order	160	(2)
The Black Sox Scandal and the Reign of Kenesaw Mountain Landis	162	(3)
An Age of Team Dynasties	165	(5)
Black Baseball	170	(1)
Conclusion	171	(1)
Notes	171	(2)
11 INTERCOLLEGIATE FOOTBALL SPECTACLES	173	(18)
The Critical Era	174	(3)
The Formation of Conferences	177	(3)
The Issue of Brutality	180	(1)
The Revolution of 1906	181	(2)
The Growing Popularity of Intercollegiate Football	183	(4)
Continuing Intercollegiate Controversies	187	(2)
Conclusion	189	(1)
Notes	189	(2)
12 THE CLUB SPORTS GO PUBLIC	191	(17)
Tennis Goes Public	192	(3)
Golf Goes Public	195	(3)
The Emperor, Bobby Jones	198	(2)
Track and Field	200	(1)
The Revived Olympic Games	201	(5)
Conclusion	206	(1)
Notes	206	(2)
13 THE RISE OF ORGANIZED WOMEN'S SPORTS	208	(16)
The Athletic Girl	208	(3)
Early Women's Basketball	211	(2)
The Arrival of Women Sports' Heroes	213	(3)
The War over Turf and Principles	216	(3)
The Rise and Decline of Women's Softball and Baseball	219	(3)
Conclusion	222	(1)
Notes	222	(2)
14 THE SETTING OF ORGANIZED SPORTS SINCE 1950	224	(17)
The Sprawling Metroplises	224	(3)
The Inner City and the Suburbs	227	(3)
The Self and the Fitness Cult	230	(2)
The Advent of Televised Sports	232	(3)
The Battle of the Networks	235	(3)
The Social Role of the Media	238	(1)
Conclusion	239	(1)
Notes	240	(1)
15 PROFESSIONAL TEAM SPORTS	241	(20)
The Woes of Baseball	241	(3)
Responses of the Big Leagues	244	(1)
The Demise of Dynasties	245	(3)
The Early Days of Pro Football	248	(2)
The Making of Pro Football	250	(3)
The Golden Age of Pro Football	253	(2)
Packaging Pro Football for Television	255	(1)
Professional Basketball	256	(3)
Conclusion	259	(1)
Notes	259	(2)
16 COLLEGE SPORTS IN A NATIONAL ARENA	261	(17)
The NCAA Becomes a Cartel	261	(2)
The Soaring Popularity of College Football	263	(3)
Joining the Top Ten	266	(3)
College Basketball Enters the National Arena	269	(2)
The Rising Popularity of College Basketball	271	(2)
The Triple Crisis	273	(3)
Conclusion	276	(1)
Notes	276	(2)
17 AMERICAN SPORTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA	278	(16)
The Politics of the Olympic Games	279	(3)
The Escalation for the Stakes	282	(5)
Television and the Ascent of Golf	287	(3)
Tennis--Open to All	290	(3)
Conclusion	293	(1)
Notes	293	(1)
18 THE QUEST FOR RACIAL EQUITY IN SPORTS	294	(12)
The Origins of Desegregation	294	(3)
Rickey and Robinson Integrate the National Game	297	(2)
Muhammad Ali	299	(2)
The Black Athletic Revolt	301	(2)
The Continuation of Discrimination	303	(2)
Conclusion	305	(1)
Notes	305	(1)
19 THE QUEST FOR EQUITY IN WOMEN'S SPORTS	306	(12)
Continuing Issues in Women's Sports	306	(2)
The Impetus for Change	308	(2)
Rising Hopes and Expectations	310	(3)
Resistance to Equity in Women's Sports	313	(3)
Conclusion	316	(1)
Notes	316	(2)
20 THE ATHLETES	318	(18)
Heroes and Celebrities	319	(2)
Interleague Competition for Players	321	(2)
The Player Associations	323	(2)
Free Agency	325	(3)
The Implications of the New Status	328	(2)
Youth Athletes	330	(3)
Conclusion	333	(1)
Notes	334	(2)
21 AMERICAN SPORTS	336	(2)
PHOTO CREDITS	338	(1)
INDEX	339