List of Illustrations xii
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
Sports in American Culture 2
Sports and American History 3
Notes 6
1 The Emergence of Organized Sports, 1607-1860 7
Games in Colonial New England 8
Recreations in Southern Colonies 10
The Revolutionary Era and Beyond 14
The Democratization of Racing: The Trotters 17
Racing by Land and Sea 19
The Formative Years of Prizefi ghting 22
Baseball: The Creation of "America's Game" 27
Notes 31
2 Baseball: "America's Game" 33
The Early Professional Era 35
Henry Chadwick and a Game of Numbers 38
Growing Pains 40
Early Years of the Professional Game 42
Emergence of the Modern Game 46
The 1880s: A Decade of Rancor 48
Notes 51
3 Sports and the Emergence of Modern America, 1865-1920 53
Prizefi ghting Enters the Mainstream 54
Sports and Social Class 58
Strong Bodies and Devout Souls 62
America's Greatest Athlete 66
Organized Play for the Modern Era 69
Interscholastic Sports 71
Notes 72
4 The Emergence of King Football, 1869-1920 74
The Early Years of College Athletics 75
Football American Style 76
Yale and the Creation of Football 78
Football Moves West 82
Football as Spectacle 85
Football in Crisis 87
Notes 94
5 The National Pastime: Baseball, 1890-1930 95
The 1890s: Years of Discord 96
Ban Johnson and the American League 98
The Cyclone and the Georgia Peach 100
Masters of Strategy 103
The Federal League Challenge 105
Crisis: Gamblers Fix the World Series of 1919 106
The Babe 112
Baseball's Golden Age 116
Notes 118
6 Playing Nice: Women and Sports, 1860-1945 120
The Early Years of Women's Sports 121
The Demise of Women's Sports 126
Helen and Trudy: America's First Women Sports Stars 127
Babe: The Texas Tomboy 129
Women Play Hardball: The Peaches and the Chicks 134
"The Instinctive Urge to Compete" 136
Notes 137
7 Sports in the Age of Ballyhoo, Depression, and War, 1920-1945 139
Gee Whiz: Sports Journalism during the 1920s 140
Heroes for a Heroic Age 143
Growing Pains: The National Football League 146
Boxing Gains Respectability 148
Baseball's Long Slump 151
Seabiscuit: Sports Star for the Depression Era 157
Baseball during the War Years 160
Notes 161
8 Sports on Campus, 1920-1950 163
The Essential Myth of Big-Time College Athletics 163
Football: Driving the Bus 166
Football's Golden Age: The Twenties 168
Knute Rockne and the Making of Notre Dame Football 171
The Second Challenge to Big-Time Football 176
Hoop Dreams 179
Hoop Nightmares 181
Notes 184
9 America's Great Dilemma 185
The "Fight of the Century" 186
Separate and Unequal: The Negro Leagues 190
Out of the Cotton Fields of Alabama: Jesse and Joe 194
Jackie 200
In the Shadow of Jackie Robinson 204
Gentlepeople and Sanctimonious Hypocrites 206
The Baron and the Bear 210
Notes 214
10 "The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat": Television Revolutionizes Sports 217
The Formative Years of Sports Television 218
Tale of the Tube: Boxing 221
Professional Football Comes of Age 223
Pete and Roone 225
Super Sunday and Monday Night Madness 229
ESPN: All Sports, All the Time 233
Notes 237
11 The Big Business of College Sports 239
The Sanity Code Is Scuttled 240
Creation of a Cartel 241
Emphasis and De-emphasis 242
Woody and the Bear 243
The Wizard of Westwood 249
Madness in March 254
The NCAA as Enforcer 256
Intercollegiate Athletics: Education or Big Business? 259
Turmoil, Realignment, and a Playoff System 263
The Futility of Reform 264
Trouble in Happy Valley 266
Notes 271
12 Play for Pay: Professional Sports in America 273
A Tale of Three Cities 273
Urban Relocation, Redevelopment, and Promotion 276
The Economics of Organized Baseball 278
Baseball's Labor Disputes 284
The Magic of Parity: The National Football League 287
The Wondrous World of Magic, Larry, and Michael 291
Always Turn Left: NASCAR Takes the Checkered Flag 295
Beyond the Bright Lights: Hockey and Soccer 302
Notes 304
13 Do You Believe in Miracles? 306
The Cold War Shapes the Olympics 309
Television Transforms the Olympics 316
The Games Must Go On 320
To Boycott or Not to Boycott 323
The Triumph of Professionalism 325
Athens and Beyond 328
Notes 330
14 The Persistent Dilemma of Race 331
"I'm the Greatest" 333
Boycott, Backlash, and Beyond 337
Breakthrough: A New Era in American Sports 340
Hank Aaron Catches the Babe 347
Can White Men Jump? 349
Tiger 353
Sister Act: Venus and Serena 358
Notes 363
15 Playing Nice No Longer: Women's Sports, 1960-2015 365
Deceit and Deception: The NCAA and Gender Equity 366
Titanic Rivalry: Connecticut/Tennessee Basketball 371
Billie Jean Sparks a Revolution 377
Viva America! World Cup Winners 381
"You've Come a Long Way Baby!" Or Have You? 384
Title IX at Forty 387
Notes 389
16 "Only in America!" 391
Triumph of the Swoosh 392
The World of Jimmy the Greek 396
The Tragedy of Pete Rose 399
The Demise of Boxing 403
Iron Mike and the King of Boxing 405
Whatever It Takes 409
Under a Cloud: Barry Bonds Chases Hank Aaron 416
Notes 419
17 The Democratization of Sports 421
Community Cauldron: High School Sports 421
Youth Sports 425
Golf 's Golden Age: Arnie, the Super Mex, and the Golden Bear 430
A Tale of Two American Cyclists 436
"Sidewalk Surfing" and the Rise of "X-treme" Sports 441
Notes 448
Epilogue 451
Notes 460
Index 462
