Sports in American Life

Richard O. Davies is Distinguished Professor of History, Emeritus, at the University of Nevada, Reno. His books include Rivals! The Ten Greatest American Sports Rivalries of the 20th Century (Wiley, 2010), Sports in American Life: A History (Wiley, 2007, 2012), Betting the Line: Sports Wagering in American Life (2001), and Main Street Blues: The Decline of Small-Town America (1998). Davies was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2013 and  continues to pursue an active retirement.

• List of Illustrations xiiAcknowledgments xvIntroduction 1Sports in American Culture 2Sports and American History 3Notes 61 The Emergence of Organized Sports, 1607–1860 7Games in Colonial New England 8Recreations in Southern Colonies 10The Revolutionary Era and Beyond 14The Democratization of Racing: The Trotters 17Racing by Land and Sea 19The Formative Years of Prizefi ghting 22Baseball: The Creation of “America’s Game” 27Notes 312 Baseball: “America’s Game” 33The Early Professional Era 35Henry Chadwick and a Game of Numbers 38Growing Pains 40Early Years of the Professional Game 42Emergence of the Modern Game 46The 1880s: A Decade of Rancor 48Notes 513 Sports and the Emergence of Modern America, 1865–1920 53Prizefi ghting Enters the Mainstream 54Sports and Social Class 58Strong Bodies and Devout Souls 62America’s Greatest Athlete 66Organized Play for the Modern Era 69Interscholastic Sports 71Notes 724 The Emergence of King Football, 1869–1920 74The Early Years of College Athletics 75Football American Style 76Yale and the Creation of Football 78Football Moves West 82Football as Spectacle 85Football in Crisis 87Notes 945 The National Pastime: Baseball, 1890–1930 95The 1890s: Years of Discord 96Ban Johnson and the American League 98The Cyclone and the Georgia Peach 100Masters of Strategy 103The Federal League Challenge 105Crisis: Gamblers Fix the World Series of 1919 106The Babe 112Baseball’s Golden Age 116Notes 1186 Playing Nice: Women and Sports, 1860–1945 120The Early Years of Women’s Sports 121The Demise of Women’s Sports 126Helen and Trudy: America’s First Women Sports Stars 127Babe: The Texas Tomboy 129Women Play Hardball: The Peaches and the Chicks 134“The Instinctive Urge to Compete” 136Notes 1377 Sports in the Age of Ballyhoo, Depression, and War, 1920–1945 139Gee Whiz: Sports Journalism during the 1920s 140Heroes for a Heroic Age 143Growing Pains: The National Football League 146Boxing Gains Respectability 148Baseball’s Long Slump 151Seabiscuit: Sports Star for the Depression Era 157Baseball during the War Years 160Notes 1618 Sports on Campus, 1920–1950 163The Essential Myth of Big-Time College Athletics 163Football: Driving the Bus 166Football’s Golden Age: The Twenties 168Knute Rockne and the Making of Notre Dame Football 171The Second Challenge to Big-Time Football 176Hoop Dreams 179Hoop Nightmares 181Notes 1849 America’s Great Dilemma 185The “Fight of the Century” 186Separate and Unequal: The Negro Leagues 190Out of the Cotton Fields of Alabama: Jesse and Joe 194Jackie 200In the Shadow of Jackie Robinson 204Gentlepeople and Sanctimonious Hypocrites 206The Baron and the Bear 210Notes 21410 “The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat”: Television Revolutionizes Sports 217The Formative Years of Sports Television 218Tale of the Tube: Boxing 221Professional Football Comes of Age 223Pete and Roone 225Super Sunday and Monday Night Madness 229ESPN: All Sports, All the Time 233Notes 23711 The Big Business of College Sports 239The Sanity Code Is Scuttled 240Creation of a Cartel 241Emphasis and De-emphasis 242Woody and the Bear 243The Wizard of Westwood 249Madness in March 254The NCAA as Enforcer 256Intercollegiate Athletics: Education or Big Business? 259Turmoil, Realignment, and a Playoff System 263The Futility of Reform 264Trouble in Happy Valley 266Notes 27112 Play for Pay: Professional Sports in America 273A Tale of Three Cities 273Urban Relocation, Redevelopment, and Promotion 276The Economics of Organized Baseball 278Baseball’s Labor Disputes 284The Magic of Parity: The National Football League 287The Wondrous World of Magic, Larry, and Michael 291Always Turn Left: NASCAR Takes the Checkered Flag 295Beyond the Bright Lights: Hockey and Soccer 302Notes 30413 Do You Believe in Miracles? 306The Cold War Shapes the Olympics 309Television Transforms the Olympics 316The Games Must Go On 320To Boycott or Not to Boycott 323The Triumph of Professionalism 325Athens and Beyond 328Notes 33014 The Persistent Dilemma of Race 331“I’m the Greatest” 333Boycott, Backlash, and Beyond 337Breakthrough: A New Era in American Sports 340Hank Aaron Catches the Babe 347Can White Men Jump? 349Tiger 353Sister Act: Venus and Serena 358Notes 36315 Playing Nice No Longer: Women’s Sports, 1960–2015 365Deceit and Deception: The NCAA and Gender Equity 366Titanic Rivalry: Connecticut/Tennessee Basketball 371Billie Jean Sparks a Revolution 377Viva America! World Cup Winners 381“You’ve Come a Long Way Baby!” Or Have You? 384Title IX at Forty 387Notes 38916 “Only in America!” 391Triumph of the Swoosh 392The World of Jimmy the Greek 396The Tragedy of Pete Rose 399The Demise of Boxing 403Iron Mike and the King of Boxing 405Whatever It Takes 409Under a Cloud: Barry Bonds Chases Hank Aaron 416Notes 41917 The Democratization of Sports 421Community Cauldron: High School Sports 421Youth Sports 425Golf ’s Golden Age: Arnie, the Super Mex, and the Golden Bear 430A Tale of Two American Cyclists 436“Sidewalk Surfing” and the Rise of “X-treme” Sports 441Notes 448Epilogue 451Notes 460Index 462