Cultural History Commons^™

Women In Sportsworld, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Roger Goodell is the Commissioner of the most popular professional sports league in the United States. This week he demonstrated just how much he learned at the feet of his predecessors, Paul Tagliabue and especially Pete Rozelle.

Little League, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The Little League World Series is often the occasion for comment but usually it involves subjects such as rabid parents or hyperventilating coaches. This time the comments coming out of Williamsport, where fracking rather than baseball usually dominates the landscape, had a feel good aspect to them.

O'Bannon And The Five Giants, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

At this point in August there are those who think that football season is already in full swing. They are probably deceived into thinking this by the increase in the number of assault arrests being made of both the professionals and the collegians. There seems to be little difference between the two, and indeed the myth of that difference was rejected this week by a federal judge in the O’Bannon Case. As if in anticipation of the decision, the NCAA itself negated its claim of amateurism once again by approving a change in its rules that will allow the five …

Re-Entry And Disorientation, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

I have been out of the country for less than three weeks and it is mid-summer when not much happens of note. The first thing I confronted on returning was a total reorganization of the local supermarket. Under the influence of jet lag I found this quite disorienting. As it turned out, this was only one of many changes that faced me.

World Cup, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

I am not a fan of The Beautiful Game, although I do watch and appreciate its beauty especially when it is displayed by the likes of Lionel Messi. Soccer, as with all games, when played with skill and competence is a beautiful game. The same might be said of hockey, baseball, basketball, or curling. When any skill is combined with artistry, whether in sport or some other human endeavor, it has a beauty worthy of admiration.

Huge Week, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

I’m just now getting into the World Cup as the recent sports calendar has been overloaded with prime events. With the battle for Lord Stanley’s Cup raging on, the NBA Finals testing the bounds of credulity, and the U.S. Open Golf Tournament on the menu, trying to fit the World Cup into my thoughts and my schedule was nearly too much to manage. Perhaps foolishly, I will try to do some justice to each of these penultimate sporting events here.

Triple Crown, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

By late Saturday sportsworld will know if there is a Triple Crown winner for the first time in thirty-six years. The last winner was Affirmed in 1978. No one could have guessed that it would be this long before another horse would accomplish this feat again. After all Affirmed was the third horse of the 1970s to win the Triple Crown. Seattle Slew won the Crown in 1977 and the great Secretariat did it in 1973.

Acceptable Violence, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

There are times when marginally related events converge and raise questions about issues related to sport. Such a convergence occurred in my corner of sportsworld over the past week.

Sterling, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

There are times when something happens in the world of sport that is so startling that reactions come hard and fast and seem to overwhelm events. The Donald Sterling soliloquy hit with this sort of force, and the reaction was beyond what could be anticipated but was still more than appropriate. It was required.

A Special Week, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It was one of those very special weeks in SportsWorld. At least three things stood out: two in baseball and one in the bizarre world of the NCAA.

Masters Golf Tournament, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

On Sunday, as I usually do on Master’s weekend, I turned to CBS to get an overdose of saccharine. Jim Nantz was in fine form developing storylines, both real and contrived, to keep the focus on the players and the natural beauty of Augusta National. The camera guys had all the obligatory shots of the dogwoods and redbud trees, the flaming and cooling azaleas, and to complete the scene, an occasional magnolia. Words like “idyllic” were used with abandon and those close ups of tense competitors nearly made golf look like an action sport.

Nw Case, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

For the first time an official body uttered words that did damage to the term “student athlete.” About a week ago a ruling by the National Labor Relations Board defined a football player as an employee of a university. Football players, it concluded, are not primarily students.

An Ernie Banks Season, Steven Gimbel

Philosophy Faculty Publications

The dawn of the baseball season is an existential moment. For big market teams with owners willing to pay for marquee players, and general managers who build playoff-bound teams, it is a time of great anticipation.

It's also a time of hope, albeit dim, for those die-hard fans of teams who are off the playoff pace by double digits year in and year out. Their cautious optimism is one that illuminates the human condition. [excerpt]

Ncaa Madness, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Sitting in the middle of March Madness it is easy to forget that this annual orgy of basketball and money is a relatively new phenomenon. It was the transformation of television with the arrival of cable and all-sports networks that turned the NCAA basketball championship into a national obsession. Whereas in 1960 it was impossible to see the NCAA finals on television outside the major markets, it is now possible to see every game in the six weeks of games involving 68 teams in every market. And if you can’t see it on television you can see it on any …

March Madness, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Sitting in the middle of March Madness it is easy to forget that this annual orgy of basketball and money is a relatively new phenomenon. It was the transformation of television with the arrival of cable and all-sports networks that turned the NCAA Basketball Championship into a national obsession. Whereas in 1960 it was impossible to see the NCAA finals on television outside the major markets, it is now possible to see every game in the six weeks of games involving 68 teams in every market. And if you can’t see it on television you can see it on any …

The Olympics And The American Press, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the Winter Olympics finally under way, is it possible that the American journalists, if we can use that term in these circumstances, will be able to write about something other than the failure of Russia to be the United States? Having traveled to Russia multiple times since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I have witnessed the remarkable transformation of this society. Caught in a time warp created by the failure of the Soviet Union, the standard of living of the average Russian trailed behind that of most of Western Europe and the United States. The Soviet Union was …

Russian Olympics, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the Winter Olympics finally underway is it possible that the American journalists, if we can use that term in these circumstances, will be able to write about something other than the failure of Russia to be the United States? Having traveled to Russia multiple times since the collapse of the Soviet Union, I have witnessed the remarkable transformation of this society. Caught in a time warp created by the failure of the Soviet Union, the standard of living of the average Russian trailed behind that of most of Western Europe and the United States. The Soviet Union was not …

Super Bowl, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Here we are once again at the most important weekend in American sport. The Super Bowl is Sunday and that means that Americans across the land will create scenes reminiscent of Thorstein Veblen’s classic, The Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen’s original vocabulary describing the rich of the late 19th century is as appropriate now as it was then. Such phrases as “conspicuous consumption,” “conspicuous waste” and “conspicuous leisure,” seem to have been coined for the Super Bowl.

The Super Bowl, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Here we are once again at the most important weekend in American sport. The Super Bowl is Sunday and that means that Americans across the land will create scenes reminiscent of Thorstein Veblen’s classic, The Theory of the Leisure Class. Veblen’s original vocabulary describing the rich of the late 19th century is as appropriate now as it was then. Such phrases as “conspicuous consumption,” “conspicuous waste” and “conspicuous leisure,” seem to have been coined for the Super Bowl.

Manhood And Football, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

ESPN, the Worldwide Breeder of ludicrous sports programming, reached a new low this week. The Network that brought you the biggest non-event on the annual sports calendar, the NFL draft, and then took it down another notch by televising the announcement of the NFL schedule, outdid itself once again by having a countdown to the unveiling of Mel Kiper’s mock draft. Did anyone care? Is Mel anything more than a parody of himself? Has ESPN totally lost its way? (The correct answers are no, no, and maybe.)

"The Struggle For The Supremacy Of The Coast": Baseball And Identity In Boothbay Harbor, Maine, Christopher G.F. Hoffman Ma

All Student Scholarship

During the summer months of the first decade of the twentieth century, the Boothbay Harbor region was invigorated with baseball fever. By 1900, Americans had come to understand baseball as its national game, and Boothbay Harbor discovered and nourished the game in the final decades of the nineteenth century. But as the twentieth century began, baseball became more than a game: it was a business, a spectacle, and an opportunity for inhabitants of the region to define themselves based upon the team they supported.

Culture And The Sweet 16 Boys Basketball Tournament, James Corey Sayre

Online Theses and Dissertations

This is a cultural look at the importance of the Kentucky Boys Sweet 16 Basketball Tournament.

Bowling, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Here it is only two days after the bowl pairings were announced and I am already approaching that semi-nauseous state of bowl fatigue. There once was a time not so long ago when that feeling didn’t set in until the second-half of the final game on January 1. Oh, for the good old days.

Major Win Streak, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Two weeks ago the University of Minnesota was defeated 3-2 in hockey by the University of North Dakota. Twenty-two months earlier on February 17, 2012 the University of North Dakota defeated the University of Minnesota in overtime, 2- 1. The next day Minnesota beat North Dakota 5-2 beginning a 62 match winning streak that included two NCAA national championships and one undefeated season of 41 straight wins.

Thanksgiving, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

As with all American traditions, if it happened once or twice it is one. Therefore I present my traditional Thanksgiving piece.

Concussions, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It is a violent game. People who play football are going to be injured and suffer long term consequences. The longer you play football, the more likely you are to suffer from some degree of disability down the road.

Bullying, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Did anyone notice that October was National Bullying Prevention Month? Apparently the Miami Dolphins did not get the memo.

World Series, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

As the baseball season reaches its final few games in this rendition of the World Series, I find myself revisiting some tired but nagging issues including the dreaded Designated Hitter (DH) debate and the hypocritically laced PED controversy. This is not to detract from the excitement of watching two of the most enduring franchises in the game and two of the most successful teams of this new century.

Pay Them Now, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Apparently it took the actions of a wealthy spoiled rich white kid to get the attention of the mainstream of American media on the issue of paying college athletes. The case of Johnny “Football” stirred the nation when the NCAA in its continuing quest to embarrass itself suspended the Texas A & M quarterback for signing memorabilia. Johnny signed not to make money, but so that those entrepreneurs who make a living from collecting signatures of athletes on sporting paraphernalia could cash their tickets.

Concussion Suit, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It was just a bit over a week before the start of the regular season of the National Football League when a settlement was announced in the much anticipated concussion law suit brought by and on behalf of more than 4000 retired NFL players. The number represents about one-third of all retired NFL players.