University of Wisconsin Press, 1975 Paper: 978-0-87972-867-0 | eISBN: 978-0-87972-877-9 | Cloth: 978-0-87972-112-1 Library of Congress Classification GV863.A1S67 1975 Dewey Decimal Classification 796.3570973
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
This engaging study examines sports as both a symbol of American culture and a formative force that shapes American values. Leverett T. Smith Jr. uses "high" culture, in the form of literature and criticism, to analyze the popular culture of baseball and professional football. He explores the history of baseball through three important events: the fixing of the 1919 World Series, the appointment of Judge Landis as commissioner of baseball with dictatorial powers, and the emergence of Babe Ruth as the "new" kind of ball player. He also looks at literary works dealing with leisure and sports, including those of Thoreau, Twain, Frost, Lardner, and Hemingway. Finally he documents the emergence of professional football as the national game through the history and writings of former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who emerges as both a critic of the business-oriented society and a canny businessman and manager of men himself.
First paperback edition
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Leverett T. Smith Jr. is emeritus Professor of English at North Carolina Wesleyan College and a member of the Society for American Baseball Research.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
Chapter I
Johan Huizinga's World of Work and Play
Chapter II
How To Live In It
Chapter III
Professional Sports: The Case of Ring Lardner
Chapter VI
Professional Baseball: The Black Sox, Judge Landis, Babe Ruth
Chapter V
Vince Lombardi's World
CHAPTER NOTES
INDEX
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