Other History Commons^™

The Sydney Games And Cathy Freeman Overshadow The Corruption And Distortion, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The Sydney Olympics, like all those before it, had both its wonderful moments and its controversies. For Sydney undoubtedly the defining moment occurred when Cathy Freeman took the gold medal in the 400-meter race. A nation stopped and gave its undivided attention as one of its citizens of aboriginal origin ran away from the field. The 110,000 fans in Olympic Stadium cheered wildly, thousands just outside the stadium watching on a large screen television did the same, and in downtown Sydney yet another large vocal crowd screamed in joy at the sight of Freeman's exquisite run. As if to underline …

Australia's Olympics Of Yesterday Today, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It was last Friday and the Olympic Games were about to begin. Little did I know that the time-space continuum was about to collapse in upon me.

Bobby Knight, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

GREAT NEW VIDEO COLLECTION FROM INDIANA UNIVERSITY "PROFESSOR ROBERT MONTGOMERY KNIGHT ON MANNERS" Once you see it, you'll need to own it.

The Bible Belt, The Sun Belt, And Christian Symbols In Sport, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Sometimes I am amazed by the news from the world of sport, but most of the time that's because I forget where I am. The recent flap over the Supreme Court ruling on prayer at high school football games is a case in point. This should not surprise me at all as for the past thirty-five years I have lived in, or all too near, the Bible Belt.

Sport And Sex, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The Orlando Predators, reigning champions of Arena Football for two years running, had a billboard promotion at the beginning of this season showing a close-up of the more than ample breasts of a local woman known as "Laurie." The billboard caption read, "Fake Right. Fake Left." Now I know people around the country are saying, "what do you expect in a state that is the home of a mammary-themed restaurant chain?" but in fact there were people locally who found this in bad taste.

The Pga: Six Hours Of Riveting Golf With Tiger And Bob May, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

At no time in my life could I possibly have imagined that I would sit and watch golf on television for nearly six hours and be able to retain my sanity. I still find it hard to believe that I did just that this past Sunday as the PGA Championship was played to its riveting conclusion.

Is Sydney Ready For The Olymics And Are The Olympians Ready For Sydney?, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It is now less than a month from the opening of the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, where it will be winter when the games begin and spring when they end. It will be fall in the Northern Hemisphere before the games end, and summer nowhere, expect perhaps in Lausanne where the sun always shines at the Court of Juan Antonio the Great.

The Orlando Magic And Their Cloudy Future, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

When we last left the Orlando Magic they had just completed a highly successful season of "Heart and Hustle" basketball under the leadership of novice head coach Glenn "Doc" Rivers. Magic GM John Gabriel cleaned house after Penny Hardaway took his whine and left for the desert and no one expected much from the Prestidigitators. Just barely missing the playoffs the Magic had been a highly entertaining team during the millennial season.

Levels Of Sporting Excellence: Julie Krone And Jerry West, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The week began with major milestones in the sports careers of Julie Krone and Jerry West. Monday Krone was inducted into the Horse Racing Hall of Fame, the first and only woman to be so honored, and West ended a forty year career with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Buying Cuba And Other Absurdities, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

New York(AP)-At a hastily called press conference today the New York Yankees announced that they had purchased Cuba, the island and the country. A Yankee spokesman would not reveal the purchase price, believed to be in the ten or eleven figure range, but did say that Yankees' owner George Steinbrenner would spare no expense to ensure that the Yankees would remain competitive.

Division On Campus Over Athletics, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

How many out there remember the name Jan Kemp? Or Linda Benzel Myers? My guess is that more people are likely to remember the name Murray Sperber? All three have several things in common. They publicly criticized the athletic programs at their universities, and as a result became unwelcome members of their university community and were subjected to harassment. All paid a high price for their insistence on academic integrity and standards.

Mid-Summer Beauty In Sport: The Events And The People, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

We are without a doubt deeply into the dog days of summer. That catatonic look brought on by unrelieved heat is commonplace. The celebrations of the fourth of July, the Wimbledon fortnight, and baseball's All-Star game are all behind us. The grind of baseball's pennant races are beginning to take their toll. Everyone seems to be a bit testier than usual, some even more so than Roger Clemens.

The Excellence Of Tiger Woods, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

If you were lucky enough to watch Tiger Woods at the U.S. Open last weekend you could not help but be impressed by the excellence of play, the poise of this young athlete, and the fact that you were watching an athlete redefining their sport.

Baseball Bashes Itself In Blue Ribbon Report, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Clearly the biggest surprise in this week's blue ribbon panel report on the state of baseball is the fact that George Will prefers a command economy over free enterprise, and that he is foursquare in favor of installing socialist principles into the very fabric of the national pastime. It makes one wonder who really won the Cold War. Say it ain't so, Geo!

The Silly Season For Cubs And Congress, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It could be the full moon again. Or perhaps silliness is now the norm. Whichever the case, two items caught my eye this week. First, the Chicago Cubs are talking about trading Sammy Sosa, and second the U.S. Congress is considering legislation to ban legal betting on college sports. Which is the sillier of the two? Medieval theologians could debate that for decades.

The Stanley Cup Final Has It All And Thensome, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It was one of the best events of the early summer. The finals of the NHL Playoffs, the Battle for Lord Stanley's Cup, hit high gear and produced two of the best games in any sport over recent months. Indeed the last two games were among the best ever.

Maurice Richard And The Canadian Psyche, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It's always difficult to think of Canada as a foreign country. I once went to Canada without a passport or any other legitimate documents for border identification. Oddly, only the U.S. authorities had a problem with that.

[Introduction To] Slippery Characters: Ethnic Impersonators And American Identities, Laura Browder

Bookshelf

In the 1920s, black janitor Sylvester Long reinvented himself as Chief Buffalo Child Long Lance, and Elizabeth Stern, the native-born daughter of a German Lutheran and a Welsh Baptist, authored the immigrant's narrative I Am a Woman--and a Jew; in the 1990s, Asa Carter, George Wallace's former speechwriter, produced the fake Cherokee autobiography, The Education of Little Tree. While striking, these examples of what Laura Browder calls ethnic impersonator autobiographies are by no means singular. Over the past 150 years, a number of American authors have left behind unwanted identities by writing themselves into new ethnicities.

Significantly, notes …

Ioc And Bribery - Bobby Knight And His Temper, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

This week there was a full moon an astronomical event with which strange occurrences often coincide. So perhaps it was no more than lunar destiny that produced a rash of tortuously argued and ludicrous decisions by alleged intelligent people. Or perhaps it was just another case of arrogant defenders of privilege rationalizing themselves silly.

The Public University And Public Pressures, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The headline read, "Nike Cuts Off Funds for 3 Universities." This should surprise no one.

Coaching Methods Not For The Classroom - Ncaa And Reform Again, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

March Madness is long gone but College Basketball is still in the news and madness is still in the air. Robert Knight, tenured professor of basketball at Indiana University, has once again come under a cloud as questions have arisen about his teaching methods and his memory.

Heart And Hustle Are Real With The Magic, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

You know all the cliches. Never watch the first half of an NBA game. Nothing happens in an NBA game until the last two minutes.

The Changing Face Of Spring Training In Florida, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

As another baseball season begins and the optimism of spring training is quickly overtaken by reality, it occurs to me that spring training here in Florida has undergone vast changes over the past two decades and more may be on the way. I have now been going to spring training for thirty years, another reality with which I must deal, and it remains a special time for me and for the sport.

Baseball Around The World With Special Attention To Japan, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Baseball, the national pastime, has always had vast international ambitions. Around the world tours led by Albert Spalding, Japanese tours coming and going in both countries, and the grand Ruth-Gehrig tour to Japan in 1934, all speak to a long relationship between major league baseball and the world.

A Modest Proposal, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Has March Madness ever been madder or is it just me? Each year at this time I am amazed at the amount of media attention given to this multi-million dollar entertainment extravaganza produced by the NCAA. Each year at this time I am increasingly perplexed by how any of this might relate to the educational mission of an American university

Fantasy Sports Come In All Sizes And Shapes And Prices, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

With the opening of spring training camps and the arrival of the players in Florida we begin the season of hopes and dreams in baseball. Young players will dream of making the major league club, and older players will dream of World Series victories and large contracts to follow. For those lesser mortals among us there are other kinds of dreams created and manufactured for our pleasure.

New Life For Monday Night Football?, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

The firing of Boomer Esiason as analyst for ABC's Monday Night Football seems to have caught a number of commentators and fans off-guard. Personally I have wondered why it took so long. That Al Michaels will not be heading out the door with Boomer should be the real surprise, but then Michaels is a golfing partner of Don Ohlmeyer who returns as the producer of Monday Night Football after a 23 year absence.

Initiation Rituals, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

It is called the "elephant walk," an all male single-file procession in the nude in which all participants are connected in a chain by holding on to the penis of the person just behind. This is not a new sport, but it is a part of the sporting atmosphere in many male athletic settings. Most recently this charming ritual was in the news at the University of Vermont where the hockey season has come to an abrupt end.

The Sidney Olympics And Nbc's Bonanza, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Like all of you, I have been worrying a great deal lately about the future of Olympic Television Sponsorship. You can appreciate my relief this week when Dick Ebersol, The Sun King of NBC Sports, announced that his network was about to negotiate a new sponsorship arrangement with John Hancock, the company not the man, for the Sydney games.

Tiger Woods, Ken Griffey, And Tom Landry - Charles Schultz And Sport, Richard C. Crepeau

On Sport and Society

Three men, three stories, three sports, one early in his career, one at mid-career and one at the end of his life: Tiger Woods, Ken Griffey Jr., and Tom Landry. All three were in the news this week, and all three have made a heavy impact on their sports. On Saturday a fourth man joined the list.