"Sportscaster Howard Cosell dubbed it "rule number one of the jockocracy": sports and politics just don't mix. But in Game Over, celebrated alt-sportswriter Dave Zirin proves once and for all that politics has breached the modern sports arena with a vengeance. From the NFL lockout and the role of soccer in the Arab Spring to the Penn State sexual abuse scandals and Tim Tebow's on-field genuflections, this timely and hard-hitting new book from the "conscience of American sportswriting" (The Washington Post) reveals how our most important debates about class, race, religion, sex, and the raw quest for political power are played out both on and off the field. Game Over offers new insights and analysis of headline-grabbing sports controversies, exploring the shady side of the NCAA, the explosive 2011 MLB All-Star Game, and why the Dodgers crashed and burned. It covers the fascinating struggles of gay and lesbian athletes to gain acceptance, female athletes to be more than sex symbols, and athletes everywhere to assert their collective bargaining rights as union members. Zirin also illustrates the ways in which athletes are once again using their exalted platforms to speak out and reclaim sports from the corporate interests that have taken it hostage. In Game Over, he cheers the victories but also reflects on how far we have yet to go. Combining brilliant set pieces with a sobering overview of today's sports scene in Zirin's take-no-prisoners style, Game Over is a must read for anyone, sports fan or not, interested in understanding how sports reflect and shape society--and why the stakes have never been higher"--
Pro basketball player Rasheed Wallace often exclaimed the pragmatic truth Ball don't lie! during a game. It is a protest against a referee's bad calls. But the slogan, which originated in pickup games, brings the reality of a racialized urban playground into mainstream American popular culture.In Ball Don't Lie!, Yago Colas traces the various forms of power at work in the intersections between basketball and language from the game's invention to the present day. He critiques existing popular myths concerning the history of basketball, contextualizes them, and presents an alternative history of the sport inspired by innovations. Colas emphasizes the creative prerogative of players and the ways in which their innovations shape and are shaped by broader cultural and social phenomena. Ball Don't Lie! shows that basketball cannot be reduced to a single, fixed or timeless essence but instead is a continually evolving exhibition of physical culture that flexibly adapts to and sparks changes in American society.
Selected as One of Media & Values' Best Books Using varying approaches, researchers have tried to capture the actual dynamics and role of media in culture and society, but do we really understand this relationship? Super Media introduces and illustrates the newly emerging cultural studies approach to understanding the media in society. Drawing from both humanities and the social sciences, cultural studies centers its analysis in text, meaning, representation, interpretation, conflict, ideology, hegemony, and culture. In his analysis, Michael Real first provides a critical review of previous traditions of media research and theory--illustrated with tables and comparative charts--and then reintegrates media study around cultural studies. He then presents extensive case studies that illustrate the concepts and theories of the cultural studies approach. Included are the most widely available expressions of culture in history: the Olympics, superpower politics, Oscar-winning films, prime time television, and other transnational cases. Original in perspective, Super Media examines top research in media communication and provides a synthesis between research and the media experiences that affect people's everyday lives. The result is a provocative volume that will provide useful insights to professionals and advanced students in all areas of communication and popular culture. --Publisher description.
Competitive video and computer game play is nothing new: the documentary King of Kong memorably portrays a Donkey Kong player's attempts to achieve the all-time highest score; the television show Starcade (1982--1984) featured competitions among arcade game players; and first-person shooter games of the 1990s became multiplayer through network play. A new development in the world of digital gaming, however, is the emergence of professional computer game play, complete with star players, team owners, tournaments, sponsorships, and spectators. In Raising the Stakes, T. L. Taylor explores the emerging scene of professional computer gaming and the accompanying efforts to make a sport out of this form of play. In the course of her explorations, Taylor travels to tournaments, including the World Cyber Games Grand Finals (which considers itself the computer gaming equivalent of the Olympics), and interviews participants from players to broadcasters. She examines pro-gaming, with its highly paid players, play-by-play broadcasts, and mass audience; discusses whether or not e-sports should even be considered sports; traces the player's path from amateur to professional (and how a hobby becomes work); and describes the importance of leagues, teams, owners, organizers, referees, sponsors, and fans in shaping the structure and culture of pro-gaming. Taylor connects professional computer gaming to broader issues: our notions of play, work, and sport; the nature of spectatorship; the influence of money on sports. And she examines the ongoing struggle over the gendered construction of play through the lens of male-dominated pro-gaming. Ultimately, the evolution of professional computer gaming illuminates the contemporary struggle to convert playful passions into serious play.
"Feet of the Chameleon is a comprehensive study of African football, tracing the development of the world's favourite sport through the tangled history and complex social and political life of this fascinating continent. Drawing on a range of sources, including interviews conducted with individuals involved in all levels of the African game, his own extensive experience and years of research, Ian Hawkey, international football correspondent for the Sunday Times, has crafted a unique and remarkable book to satisfy the surge of interest in African football as South Africa prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2010. The book explains the rise to prominence of today's African players; a real force in world football --^ strong, athletic midfielders like Chelsea's Michael Essien and Barcelona's Yaya Toure; and skillful, deadly strikers like Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor, Chelsea's Didier Drogba and Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o. They have supplied some of the most memorable and audacious moments in modern football, whether playing in domestic leagues like the Premier League and La Liga or in international competition. Their talents excite millions of fans, but Eto'o, Essien, Adebayor and others of their class are just the most recent crop of African players to capture the imagination of the public. Feet of the Chameleon shows that the scramble for African talent is not a new phenomenon, placing the search for the next football prodigy in historical context and presenting as evidence the careers of Larbi Ben Barek, Salif Keita and Eusebio, who were all great footballing successes in twentieth-century Europe.^ Analysing these cases, the author reveals such sporting 'exports' to be rooted in Africa's colonial past, when African players first had isolated success in Europe --^ notably Arthur Wharton, the first black professional footballer in the 1890s, Hassan Hegazi, Fulham's 'Egyptian wizard' and Matateu, Eusebio's predecessor and the first great Mozambican-born Portuguese footballer. Although these breakthroughs would seem to be positive, the negative side of this tradition is also highlighted. In the modern age, hundreds of football 'academies' have sprung up throughout Africa, some of which are genuine portals to European stardom, while others prey on the dreams of young footballers. In 2006, for example, 34 teenage footballers were found crammed into a house in the Malian city of Sissako, having been enrolled into an 'academy' that had promised trials with dozens of top European clubs. The boys' families had paid thousands to the academy, lured by false promises of fame and football stardom." Publisher description.
