In the past few decades, Spanish football has undergone a significant transformation, both on and off the pitch. Llopis-Goig analyses these trends, questioning the role of football in contemporary Spanish society and examining the historical reasons for its social hegemony.

This study explores the relationship of an ethnic group of vital importance in America's history--the Irish--and a preeminently American art form and business--the movies. Curran maintains that movies reflected and influenced their viewers' perceptions of the Irish and that both the movies and the Irish who made them facilitated the assimilation of the Irish ethnic group into American society. The initial chapter traces the history of Irish immigration to America, concentrating on the experiences of Irish Catholic immigrants to the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. Irish-American involvement in the movie industry dates from its beginnings in the "Nickelodeon Era" at the turn of the twentieth century. From that time until their replacement by sound movies around 1930, silent films helped to popularize the Irish ethnic group while simultaneously transmitting assimilationist values to its members and other ethnic minorities. Three chapters are devoted to the 1930-1960 period--Hollywood's heyday when American motion pictures attained technical maturity and enjoyed their greatest popular influence. During this period the Irish made their biggest gains both in the movies and the nation, as screen personae such as the Irish priest, antihero, and Irish All-American entered popular culture. James Cagney, Spencer Tracy, John Ford, Gene Kelly, and Grace Kelly are just a few of the Irish-American movie greats discussed. Irish success in the movies facilitated and mirrored their rise in America and helped to transform them from "outsiders" to a no-longer readily distinguishable ethnic minority. The culmination of this transformation and integration was the election ofthe first Irish Catholic President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. A final chapter discusses the post-1960 era. The volume is illustrated with stills from some of America's most popular and memorable movies, including such favorites and prototypically Irish films as "Angels with Dirty Faces" "Going My Way," "The Fighting 69th," "The Informer," "The Quiet Man," "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," and "On the Waterfront," among others. As well as having great nostalgic appeal for readers interested in the Irish or movies, Hibernian Green on the Silver Screen is an excellent text for courses in Irish Studies and American Ethnic or Film History.

"The extraordinary story of how Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant and Joe Namath, his star quarterback at the University of Alabama, led the Crimson Tide to victory and transformed football into a truly national pastime."
During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath-two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports-changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different men-Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals that threatened his career, and Namath a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town in Pennsylvania-led the Crimson Tide to a national championship.
To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965-from the Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965 Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation.
Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions-football and Dixie-collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will to win, RISING TIDE captures a singular time in America. More than a history of college football, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen.

This collection focuses on the multi-layered links between international events and identity discourses. With a unique line-up of international scholars, this book offers a diverse range of exciting case studies, including sports competitions, music festivals, exhibitions, fashion shows and royal celebrations.

Focusing on a number of contemporary research themes and placing them within the context of palpable changes that have occurred within football in recent years, this timely collection brings together essays about football, crime and fan behaviour from leading experts in the fields of criminology, law, sociology, psychology and cultural studies.

Spracklen explores the impact of the internet on leisure and leisure studies, examining the ways in which digital leisure spaces and activities have become part of everyday leisure. Covering a range of issues from social media and file-sharing to romance on the Internet, this book presents new theoretical directions for digital leisure.

This book explores seriousness in practice in the unique sports context of contemporary women's flat track roller derby. The author presents a stimulating argument for a sociology of seriousness as a productive contribution to understandings of gender, organization and the mid-ranges of agency between dichotomies of voluntarism and determinism.

This work explores the development of English sport during the eight centuries preceding the industrial era. Focusing on outdoor activities that involved intergroup competition among adults, Thomas Henricks demonstrates that sport was a sophisticated and "rational" experience, connected to society in many subtle yet important ways. Accessible to readers in many disciplines and on many levels, the book charts the changes in sport preceding the modern era, serves as an introduction to the historical literature on English sport, traces the relationship between sport and shifting social patterns, and develops an original thesis of sport as an identity ceremony for its participants. The work begins with a detailed introduction to English sport and the historians, and continues with Henrick's thesis of sporting events as identity ceremonies. The next of five chapters trace the development of sport and society through five periods of English history: the feudal society of the early Middle Ages; the decay of feudalism and the later Middle Ages; the centralized administration and middle-class appeal of the Tudor era; the elitist nostalgia and French influence of the Stuart era, followed by the Puritan Revolution; and the celebration of private property and mixture of snobbery and social mingling of Georgian England. Each chapter is organized in a similar manner, beginning with a brief introduction to the social life of the times, followed by presentations of patterns within individual sports and a summary of dominant themes in sport during that era. A concluding chapter considers some sociological aspects of sport and society. Disputed Pleasures will be an important resource for courses inEnglish social history, sociology, and the history of sport, as well as a significant addition to public and academic libraries.

This book provides an overview of perspectives and approaches to the cultural meaning of sport volunteering in different countries. The main objective is to reflect on the diversity of meanings with regard to volunteering in different cultures and societies. Additionally, this book will shed light on volunteering practices and the impact of volunteering from both an economic and a sociological perspective. The book begins with an introductory section that gives an overview of the rationale of the text and the diversity of sport volunteers in general. From there, the book's 25 chapters each discuss a specific country case study provided by researchers from the respective country. These studies provide a comprehensive overview of volunteering in each country, such as motivations of volunteers, satisfaction of volunteers, their perceived cost and benefits, and many other areas related to the overall study. By having twenty-five different countries represented and a native of each country authoring the respective chapters, this book serves as a comprehensive and diverse review of sports volunteering around the world and can be incorporated into courses in economics - particularly those dealing with sports economics - and can also be used as a reference for volunteer organizations and sports economists worldwide.

This is still the only textbook to introduce the principles of diversity and inclusion in sport management Diversity and inclusion is an essential component of the sport management curriculum Strong focus on how to implement diversity and inclusion strategies in practice Includes a brand new chapter on researching diversity in sport Includes additional material on intersectionality Includes international cases and examples in every chapter Includes useful teaching and learning features in every chapter, and ancillaries include a full test bank and PowerPoint slides

This book examines the cultural, social, political, economic and aesthetic history of Sport in Europe. As sport has grown, progressively replacing religion, in its power to excite passion, provide emotional escape, offer fraternal (and increasingly sororital) bonding, it has become an inescapable reality linking public environment with intimate experience and thus offers the historian an opportunity to inspect and attempt to grasp all the dimensions of the recent past and their relative share in individual and collective experience. This collection considers the evolution of modern sport in Europe and examines its relationshop with politics, gender and class.

This provocative critique of the youth sports movement examines the various issues surrounding children in sports and provides a plan for reform based on a change in philosophy and practice. Many American children spend more than 20 hours a week in organized sports, forgoing free time and unstructured recreational activities for the rigors of training and competition. This book offers a comprehensive critique of the youth sports movement, pitting the reality of adult-run sports programs against the needs and interests of children. It examines whether the tradeoff of "normal play time" for structured sports activities teaches discipline and leads to stronger character development, or if the pressures of the game, the physical strain of practicing, and the general overscheduling of children's lives have eroded the benefits associated with playing sports. Educator and former coach Steven J. Overman contends that youth-based sports programs require a radical change for the well-being of the young participants. The book explores the various problems in organized sports, including stress on the family, physical health hazards, violence, emotional duress, elitism, and hyper-competitiveness. Incorporating the perspectives of coaches, athletes, parents, physicians, and social scientists, the narrative scrutinizes the role of adults as promoters and coaches and concludes with a discussion of current and needed reforms. Contains a separate chapter on youth football that highlights the toxic elements of the sport Features a comprehensive bibliography of some 275 sources containing scholarly and popular books, periodicals, conference papers, and online resources Offers a comprehensive view on the topic, including the expenses, injuries, and exploitation by coaches Explores the damaging culture of hypermasculinity inherent in boys sports

The 2010 South African World Cup launched African football onto the global stage and its footballers are increasingly present at the best clubs in the world, yet it is rare to find compelling scholarship on the subject of African football. This book brings some of the top scholars on African football together to produce a collection that covers the diverse regions of the continent and diverse football topics. Focussing on aspects of identity, it spans issues of race, radicalization and self-identification, exploring the imagined continuation of war in support of a Nigerian club, the use of songs in support of a club and an ethnic community, and the effects of transnational broadcasting on supporter identification with football in Africa. This collection provides a valuable contribution to debates about African sport and identity and also contains an interview with one of Africa's first migrant footballers, Paul Bonga Bonga.

This book explores the significance of sport in the understanding of past and current societal dynamics in the Arab world. It examines sport in relation to cultural, political and economic changes in the Arab World, including nation-state building, the formation of national identity and international relations in post-colonial context.

Major newspapers, news programs, and magazines across the country have recently addressed the current issues of childhood obesity, the link between exercise and improved academic focus, and the importance of diet and exercise in improving the health of our children. As many schools consider cutting recess and removing physical education from their curricula, it has become increasingly important to examine the possible effects of this decision and what it might mean for children and their physical and mental well-being. In Young Athletes, Couch Potatoes, and Helicopter Parents, Jessica Skolnikoff and Robert Engvall look at the important issue of play and its changing role in today's hyper-structured society. The authors conducted countless interviews combined with extensive research in order to gain a comprehensive theory on the current nature of play and how it has affected children's lives. Specific topics addressed include the impact of over-involved parents upon the play of their children, how kids are chosen for sports teams and the effect of these selections on the kids, the lack of unstructured play, and the lasting impression of society's competitive mindset on children. This book is not a criticism of parents who want to be involved in their children's lives, but addresses the structural and cultural issues around the changing role of play and the ways in which kids' sports are viewed in today's society. Intended not only for childhood development studies, education, sociology, popular culture, and sports studies, this book will be of interest to parents, coaches, athletic directors, school administrators, and educators.

The quadrennial summer Olympic Games are renowned for producing the world's biggest single-city cultural event. This mega-event attracts a live audience of millions, a television audience of billions, and generates incredible scrutiny before, during, and after each installment. This is due to the fact that underpinning the 17 days of spectacular sporting events is approximately a decade worth of planning, preparing, and politicking. It is during this decade that prospective host cities must plan and win their bids before embarking upon seven years of urban upheaval and social transformation in order to stage the world's premier sporting event. This book draws on seven years of ethnographic inquiry around the London 2012 Olympics and contrasts the rhetoric and reality of mega-event delivery. Lindsay argues that in its current iteration the twin notions of beneficial Olympic legacies and Olympic delivery benefits for hosting communities are largely incompatible.

While rivalries are a key aspect of the sports world, they are not well understood. It is essential to study how rivalries influence fan behavior in order to predict and identify their effect on social interaction, consumer behavior, and the entertainment industry. Understanding Rivalry and Its Influence on Sports Fans is an essential reference source that discusses what causes and influences rivalry, as well as how it impacts sport fans. Featuring research on topics such as bracketed morality, competitive sports, and social identity, this book is ideally designed for academics, students, and researchers studying the rivalry phenomenon across such disciplines as psychology, sociology, political science, sport and entertainment, consumer behavior, and marketing.

Sport plays a collective social, political and cultural role around the world. In recent years, however, it has become associated with stories of corruption including gambling, consumption of illegal substances and institutional vote rigging. This book examines the level, depth and range of fraud and corruption in sport and the methods used to counteract and prevent fraud and corruption which damages the integrity of sport.Brooks, Aleem and Button argue that sport is often downplayed and defended as 'different' from other businesses. This book demonstrates that sport encounters the same types of fraud and corruption as business everywhere, and those specific to it such as match fixing, point shaving associated with vested gambling interests and tanking to secure better players in the future. Fraud, Corruption and Sport analyses a diverse range of cases internationally from across the sporting world including football, cricket, horse racing, basketball, baseball and boxing.This book presents a new perspective on the security of sport appealing to students, academics, practitioners and sporting enthusiasts alike.

This exciting account of the 1921 heavyweight boxing title fight between champion Jack Dempsey and Frenchman Georges Carpentier relates how it originated and how it became a template for modern sports promotion. Immortalized as the battle of the century by Ring Lardner, the Dempsey-Carpentier heavyweight title bout marked America's first experience with the intersection of show business, high society, politics, and the underworld at a single sporting event. The Battle of the Century: Dempsey, Carpentier, and the Birth of Modern Promotion offers the definitive history of this landmark event's genesis and impact. To explain why the fight had such a far-reaching influence on mass entertainment and modern culture, newspaperman Jim Waltzer invites readers to travel the path to the 1921 heavyweight championship. Along the way, they will meet a cast of outsize characters, including the savage defending champion (and alleged World War I slacker) Jack Dempsey, French pretty-boy war hero Georges Carpentier, promoter Tex Rickard, Dempsey's slippery manager Doc Kearns, and Jersey City boss Frank Hague. As the tale unfolds, so does an understanding of the forces that shaped the Roaring Twenties and established promotional hype as the MO of business. Photographs A bibliography

This book contributes to recent debates in transnationalism, mobilities and migration studies by offering the first in-depth sociological examination of the global phenomenon of action sports and the transnational networks and connections being established within and across local contexts around the world.

Tourism Discourse offers new insights into the role of spoken, written and visual discourse in representating and producing tourism as a global cultural industry. With a view to the interplay between the symbolic and economic orders of global mobility, the book is grounded in empirically-based studies of key tourism genres.

Using the concept of fulfilment and the framework of the serious leisure perspective, this book examines the signposts marking the fulfilment career. This career begins with an interest in a serious pursuit, leading to an efflorescence many years later in amateurism, hobbyism, volunteering, or devotee work - and ultimately deeper fulfilment.

Based on original Stasi and Communist Party archival sources, this text uncovers why East Germany was for two decades running one of the most successful nations in the Summer and Winter Olympics, and explores how the central elite sports system was beset by internal tensions and disputes.

This collection of essays highlights the controversies surrounding racism in sports and African American athletes, examining the racial discrimination that exists in one of the most public arenas in the 21st century. Despite increasing diversity in the American population, race and racial bias continue to be significant issues in the United States. Sports-one of the most visible and important subsets of American culture-directly reflect our society's beliefs about race. This book examines racial controversy and conflict in various sports in the United States in both previous eras as well as the current "Age of Obama." The essays in the work explain how racial ideologies are created and recreated in all areas of public life, including the world of sports. The authors address a wide range of sports, including ones where racial minorities are in the numerical minority, such as hockey. Specific topics covered include the devaluation of black athletes, racism in Major League Baseball, and the treatment of black female athletes. Enables readers to comprehend how sports influence-and are influenced by-society, and grasp that both race and sports are powerful social constructions Contains contributions from sociologist and social theorist Joe Feagin, a highly respected authority on the subject of race Identifies and discusses the institutional barriers and personal practices regarding African Americans that perpetuate racism in sports and our society at large

Representing a detailed analysis of footballers' wives and their role in contemporary British culture, this books explores how the generic and stereotypical 'Wag' has been created by newspaper and magazine coverage, auto/biographies and influential television programmes.