A people's history of sport in the United States : from bull-baiting to Barry Bonds - 250 years of politics, protest, the people and play

322 Pages·2008·1.21 MB·English

by  David Zirin

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A New Press PeoPle’s History Sports/American History “Dave Zirin is the conscience lacking in the mainstream sports media.”
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Howard Zinn, SerieS editor —tHe wAsHiNGtoN Post
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A People’s History of Sports in the United States—the culmination
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of Dave Zirin’s pathbreaking writing on sports and politics— l
unabashedly stands with the tradition of radical athletes, sports- e
writers, and fans. In this “thought-provoking, contrarian take on ’s
American sport” (Booklist), Zirin offers a riotously entertaining
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chronicle of larger-than-life sporting characters and dramatic
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contests, sketching an alternative history of the United States as s
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seen through the games its people played—games that Zirin argues
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are a reflection of the political conflicts that shape American society.
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Replete with surprises for even seasoned sports fans, A People’s
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History of Sports in the United States “rescues scores of real sporting
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heroes from the ‘vast realm of the forgotten’” (The Guardian). Anyone
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interested in history will be amazed by the connections Zirin draws
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between politics and pop flies. As Jim Bouton says of the book, “Put
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this first in the line of sports books on your shelf. It will help make
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sense of all the others.” t
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“this sprawling, insightful, and contrarian book is worth N
reading for its portrayal of the rebel athletes to whom it is t
dedicated, and to whom we are all indebted.” H
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“the heroes of the stories Zirin tells seem less lonely in the N
context of his chronicle than they probably felt when they were i
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standing against the various tides of their times.”
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“what dave Zirin does in his new, wonderful, unashamedly
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leftwing [book] is overturn the usual allegories.”
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—fiNANciAl times
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e 250 YEARS of PolItICS, PRotESt, PEoPlE, AnD PlAY
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Dave Zirin is the author of three books, including What’s My Name, Fool?

and Welcome to the Terrordome. He writes the popular weekly online

sports column “Edge of Sports” (edgeofsports.com) and is a regular D
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contributor to SI.com, The Nation, SLAM, and the Los Angeles Times. v
He lives in the Washington, D.C., area. e

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THE NEW PRESS
www.thenewpress.com
Cover photograph © Thomas Hoepker/Magnum Photos
Author photograph by Jared Rodriguez
Cover design by Eric Skillman
THE NEW PRESS
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page i
A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF SPORTS
IN THE UNITED STATES
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page ii
ALSO BY DAVE ZIRIN
Welcome to the Terrordome:
The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports
Muhammad Ali Handbook
What’s My Name, Fool?
Sports and Resistance in the United States
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page iii
A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF SPORTS
IN THE UNITED STATES
250 Years of Politics,Protest,People,and Play
Dave Zirin
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page iv
© 2008 by Dave Zirin
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, in any form,
without written permission from the publisher.
Requests for permission to reproduce selections from this book
should be mailed to: Permissions Department, The New Press,
38 Greene Street, New York, NY 10013.
Published in the United States by The New Press, New York, 2008
Distributed by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York
library of congress cataloging-in-publication data
Zirin, Dave.
A people’s history of sports in the United States : from bull-baiting to Barry Bonds—
250 years of politics, protest, people, and play / Dave Zirin.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-59558-100-6 (hc)
1. Sports—Political aspects—United States—History. 2. Sports—
Social aspects—United States—History. I. Title.
GV706.35.Z567 2008
306.4'830973—dc22 2008020420
The New Press was established in 1990 as a not-for-profit alternative to the large,
commercial publishing houses currently dominating the book publishing industry.
The New Press operates in the public interest rather than for private gain, and is
committed to publishing, in innovative ways, works of educational, cultural, and
community value that are often deemed insufficiently profitable.
www.thenewpress.com
Composition by dix!
Printed in the United States of America
2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page v
To Michele, Sasha Jane, and
Baby Jacob. The Dream Team.
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page vi
27939 Frontmatter 5/29/08 12:56 PM Page vii
Contents
Series Preface ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
1: Until the Twentieth Century 1
2: Rough Riding 33
3: Sports and Leisure 49
4: No Depression 63
5: War and Its Discontents 91
6: Have We Gone Soft? 113
7: Sports on the Edge of Panic 131
8: The Flood Gates 181
9: The 1980s: Welcome to Hell 211
10: C.R.E.A.M. 229
11: More of the Same Versus Change 253
Notes 269
Index 293
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page viii
27939 Frontmatter 5/12/08 3:52 PM Page ix
Series Preface
T
urning history on its head opens up whole new worlds of possibility.
Once, historians looked only at society’s upper crust: the leaders
and others who made the headlines and whose words and deeds sur-
vived as historical truth. In our lifetimes, this has begun to change.
Shifting history’s lens from the upper rungs to the lower, we are learning
more than ever about the masses of people who did the work that made
society tick.
Not surprisingly, as the lens shifts the basic narratives change as well.
The history of men and women of all classes, colors, and cultures reveals
an astonishing degree of struggle and independent political action.
Everyday people played complicated historical roles, and they devel-
oped highly sophisticated and often very different political ideas from
the people who ruled them. Sometimes their accomplishments left tan-
gible traces; other times, the traces are invisible but no less real. They
left their mark on our institutions, our folkways and language, on our po-
litical habits and vocabulary. We are only now beginning to excavate this
multifaceted history.
The New Press People’s History Series roams far and wide through
human history, revisiting old stories in new ways, and introducing alto-