sports

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• SOURCE: Washington Post
  10/15/2021
  

  Comparing Unvaccinated Kyrie Irving to HIV-Positive Magic Johnson? Not So Fast

  "Shut up and dribble" falls by the wayside when right-wing media figures can make a convenient ally out of a prominent athlete. 

• 
• SOURCE: Black Perspectives
  10/12/2021
  

  Jack Johnson and Africa: Boxing and Race in Colonial Africa

  by Abraham Tapiwa Seda

  Jack Johnson's achievement as the world heavyweight champion had cultural significance far beyond the United States, as European colonial regimes that had used sports like boxing as instruments of social control found that they could also be instruments of rebellion and rejection of white supremacy.

• 
• SOURCE: Public Seminar
  10/6/2021
  

  Don't Feel Guilty for Loving Football (Just Be Honest About It)

  by Stephen T. Casper

  "Football is not going away, so don’t feel guilty above loving the game. But do stop quibbling about whether football is dangerous—and be radically honest about how dangerous it is."

• 
• SOURCE: Global Sport Matters
  10/6/2021
  

  MLB Passed on the Chance to Stop the Drain of African American Players from Baseball

  by Lou Moore

  Major League Baseball noticed that the trend of increased Black participation in the pro game was making a sharp U-turn as early as the mid-1970s. MLB ignored the advice of many Black players, managers and scouts to reach out to African American youth to protect the diversity and quality of the game. 

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• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  9/29/2021
  

  Biden NLRB Counsel Says College Athletes are Employees

  "Jennifer Abruzzo took issue with the term “student-athletes,” calling it a misclassification of college players, and warned that using it could be construed as an attempt to lead players to believe that they’re not protected by labor laws."

• 
• SOURCE: In These Times
  9/29/2021
  

  Could a College Football Union Be the Biggest Force for Progress in the South?

  "There are huge numbers of conservative Southerners who would fight against all important progressive reforms — unless doing so threatened their access to college football. Then, they would at least be willing to negotiate."

• 
• 9/26/2021
  

  Group of Historians Recognized for Best SCOTUS Brief of the Year

  by Ronald A. Smith

  A group of six historians has been recognized by the Education Law Association for the best Supreme Court brief of the year. Their historical deconstruction of the myth of amateurism in college athletics influenced a unanimous decision that the NCAA cannot bar college athletes from profiting from the commercial use of their names, images, or likenesses.

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• SOURCE: AV Club
  9/13/2021
  

  Ken Burns's "Muhammad Ali" Well-Crafted, But Not Groundbreaking

  Ken Burns has an irresistable subject for his latest project. The problem isn't the quality of his film, but that so many others have gotten there first. 

• 
• SOURCE: The Nation
  8/31/2021
  

  On September 1, 1971 the Pittsburgh Pirates Fielded the First All-Black Team in MLB History

  The Pirates' lineup 50 years ago was composed of African American and Afro-Latino players, and offers an occasion to reflect on the changing position of Black players in baseball and of baseball in Black America. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  8/17/2021
  

  The Nine: How These Black Ballplayers' Stories Show a Changing Game and Country

  The stories of nine Black baseball players, from Hall of Famer Willie Mays to up-and-coming Tim Anderson, reveal much about changes in the game and the nation. 

• 
• SOURCE: Boston Globe
  8/1/2021
  

  Gloria Ratti: Historian of the Boston Marathon Who Made History Herself

  Gloria Ratti was not a runner, but supported the first generation of women marathoners while pushing race organizers to implement other innovations that added to the growth of marathon running in America. 

• 
• SOURCE: Defector
  7/28/2021
  

  Christopher Columbus And The Replacement-Level Historical Figure

  by Patrick Wyman

  Rather than debate Columbus's heroism or villainy, take a page from sports analytics: consider him a mediocre player and focus on the broader game being played.

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• SOURCE: Smithsonian
  7/26/2021
  

  A History of Gymnastics from Ancient Greece to Tokyo 2020

  From classical civilization to Olga Korbut to Tokyo 2020, here’s what you need to know about gymnastics’ evolution over the past two millennia.

• 
• SOURCE: Perspectives on History
  7/21/2021
  

  Why Japan Forfeited Hosting the 1940 Games

  by Paul Droubie

  Japan's forfeiture of the games amid rising international and internal tensions shows that the Olympics have always been a vehicle for the promotion of national elites' agendas, often at the expense of popular domestic concerns. 

• 
• 7/18/2021
  

  Can Sports Realize Frederick Douglass's Ideal of the Composite Nation?

  by Walter G. Moss

  From Jackie Robinson to Simone Biles and Shohei Otani, sports have been like the point of a knife piercing myths of white supremacy. 

• 
• SOURCE: The New Republic
  7/12/2021
  

  Abolish the Olympics

  Natalie Shure argues that the Games impose too many costs on their host cities to justify a short-lived athletic spectacle. 

• 
• 7/11/2021
  

  The NFL Must Learn Lessons About Inclusion from Women's Sports

  by John Howard

  If the NFL is sincere in wanting to fight against entrenched homophobia, it should follow the example of women's sports (and be prepared to make partnerships and investments with LGBTQ organizations inside and outside of sports.

• 
• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  7/8/2021
  

  What Euro 2020 Has Revealed About Englishness

  Sporting teams are one of the few officially English, as opposed to British, institutions. The national team's multiracial composition and embrace of social and political causes may be advancing a more inclusive form of Englishness. 

• 
• SOURCE: TomDispatch
  5/27/2021
  

  Billie Jean King, Foremother

  by Robert Lipsyte

  Billie Jean King's legacy runs far beyond tennis, and has become even more relevant with the passage of time as challenges to the doctrine of amateurism and the NCAA make clear. 

• 
• SOURCE: Washington Post
  4/27/2021
  

  Fifty Years Ago, Curt Flood Walked Away from the Senators. He Left Baseball Forever Changed

  Curt Flood's legal battle against Major League Baseball opened the doors to free agency and empowered players as never before, but he fought it largely alone and it took a terrible personal toll on him.