Howard P. Chudacoff is George L. Littlefield Professor of American History and Professor of Urban Studies at Brown University and a faculty representative to the NCAA. His books include Children at Play: An American History.

"Changing the Playbook is a timely, thoughtful, persuasive book, a welcome addition to the scholarship on big-time intercollegiate athletics. It will help many readers understand some of the key turning points in the history of college sports since 1950, moments that have greatly contributed to making this unique cultural institution and practice bigger than ever, for better and (mostly) worse."--Daniel A. Nathan, President, North American Society for Sport History"Anyone seriously interested in the future of college sports should first look backward. In a book as timely, lively, and compelling as the most vivid sports headlines, one of this country's most distinguished historians brilliantly demonstrates that the current disputes over amateurism, academic standards, and gender equity in sports have a long and contentious history, and that any resolution to the current controversies surrounding concussions and unionization of athletes must draw upon the lessons of the past."--Steven Mintz, author of Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood"Historian Howard P. Chudacoff is both a good sport and a great scholar in his fresh analysis of the transformation of college sports in our modern era. Changing the Playbook leads the reader through a logical, lively succession of chapter topics which demonstrate again and again that intercollegiate athletics are integral to the vital aspects of American culture--race relations, commercialism, media coverage, and the politics of power and money. This is a timely new interpretation that concludes with significant questions about the character and future of college sports."--John R. Thelin, author of Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics

• CoverTitleContentsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction1. Abolishing the Sanity Code and Launching the Modern College Sports Establishment2. Integrating the Team3. Television and College Sports as Mass Entertainment4. "Earthquake": Board of Regents v. NCAA5. The Civil Rights Restoration Act and Enforcement of Title IX6. Scandal, Reorganization, and Devolution of the Student Athlete7 . M Connection: Media and Money8. What's to Become of College Sports?NotesIndex