Lowenfish, Lee. Baseball’s Endangered Species: The Craft of Scouting by Those Who Lived It. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023. Pp. 344. $34.95 Hardcover and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Rarely has a man been more suited to produce a book on the history of a given issue than is Lee Lowenfish fit to write the…
MacCambridge, Michael. The Big Time: How the 1970s Transformed Sports in America. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2023. Pp. 496. $26.49 Hardcover and ebook. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski It is important to point out at the beginning that The Big Time is not marketed as an academic book. In fact, it does not aspire or pretend…
Muchnick, Irvin. Without Helmets or Shoulder Pads: The American Way of Death in Football Conditioning. Toronto: ECW Books, 2023. Pp. 180. $26.95 CAD paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski When thinking about the causes of football-related deaths, the first thing that comes to mind is concussions, which continue to be a subject of conversation. However, Irvin Muchnick’s…
Ingrassia, Brian M. Speed Capital: Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America. University of Illinois Press, 2024. Pp xii+ 286. $24.95 paper. Reviewed by Ari de Wilde In Speed Capital: Indianapolis Auto Racing and the Making of Modern America, Brian M. Ingrassia chronicles the history of America’s most famous race: the Indianapolis 500.…
Muchnick, Irvin. Chris & Nancy: The True Story of the Benoit Murder-Suicide and Pro Wrestling’s Cocktail of Death, The Ultimate Historical Edition. ECW Books, 2021. Pp. 280. $26.95 CAD paperback. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Chris Benoit was my favorite wrestler. Chris Benoit murdered his wife and son, and then took his own life. These two truths…
Brown, Ashley. Serving Herself: The Life and Times of Althea Gibson. New York: Oxford University Press, 2024. Pp. 616. $29.95 hardcover. Reviewed by Bill Pruden Before there was the Williams sisters, there was Althea Gibson. In the late 1950s, her efforts cracked open the formerly-closed door to the historically all-white, upper-class world of tennis to the…
Kaliss, Gregory J. Beyond the Black Power Salute: Athlete Activism in an Era of Change. University of Illinois Press, 2023. Pp. 280. $24.95 paper. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Inspired by Colin Kaepernick’s 2016 protest, Gregory J. Kaliss digs through the history of African-American activism, skipping past decades of “colorblind icons, like Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods,…
Elder, Adam. New Kids in the World Cup: The Totally Late ‘80s & Early ‘90s Tale of the Team That Changed American Soccer Forever. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Pp. 360. $34.95 hardcover and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski The US men’s national team was one of the 13 teams that appeared in the original World…
O’Neil, Sean. Spirit and Sport: Religion and the Fragile Athletic Body in Popular Culture. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2022. Pp. 210. $50.00 paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Sean O’Neil introduces himself in the Preface to his book as “an ordained Christian minister and a bishop” (p. xi). And both occupations set the tone for…
Bogues, Tyrone with Jacob Uitti. Muggsy: My Life from a Kid in the Projects to the Godfather of Small Ball. Triumph Books, 2023. Pp. 256. $28 paper. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Asked whether there would ever be another Larry Bird, Bird himself answered that the proper question should be whether there would ever be another Muggsy…
Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023. Pp. 240. $27.95 paper. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Steven Secular’s book is a combination of two approaches, intertwining first-hand observations and academic works about media studies and geopolitics, most notably globalization. Prompted to write the…
Squadron, Alex. Life in the G: Minor League Basketball and the Relentless Pursuit of the NBA. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2023. Pp. 288. $34.95 hardcover and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski As Alex Squadron himself points out, the NBA G League is “a place nobody wants to be,” yet every season basketball players crowd to get…
Crawford, Russ. Women’s American Football: Breaking Barriers On and Off the Gridiron. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Pp. 408. $34.95 hardcover and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski As pointed out by Russ Crawford at the beginning of the first book devoted solely to women’s American football, “Women and girls on more than 150 teams play tackle…
Hornbaker, Tim. The Last Real World Champion: The Legacy of “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. Toronto: ECW Press, 2023. Pp. 392. $29.95 CAD paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski Ric Flair has been involved in wrestling for over 50 years. Following his recent appearance on AEW Rampage, it seems that, as long as his body allows, he…
Cornwell, Lisa. Troublemaker: A Memoir of Sexism, Retaliation, and the Fight They Didn’t See Coming. New York: Triumph Books, 2023. Pp. 256. $30 paperback and e-book. Reviewed by Łukasz Muniowski In the first sentence of the foreword to Troublemaker, Hillary Clinton informs the reader that this is not a book about golf and it can…
Sport in American History 