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Superstition has been a part of baseball from the beginning. From good luck charms to human mascots to ritual statues of Babe Ruth to the curse of Colonel Sanders, there may be almost as many superstitions as players (or fans). Drawing on social science, religious studies and SABRmetrics, this book explores the rich history of supernatural belief in the game and documents a wide variety of rituals, fetishes, taboos and jinxes. Some of these have changed over time but coping with uncertainty on the field through magical thinking remains a constant.
Factual accounts expose how professional sports manipulate the outcomes of games for TV ratings and profits.
The second edition of Sports Journalism: An Introduction to Reporting and Writing has passed the test of time, been used in classrooms internationally, received approval and praise from professors and students, and now it, too, has moved into the new environment of sports media. New chapters on social media and topical issues in the sports world, as well as fresh examples and new references to current technology fill its pages whether you choose to read from a tablet, a Smartphone, a Chromebook or old-fashioned paper wrapped in a cardboard cover. Inside this new edition you’ll find • Three new chapters devoted to the evolution from a daily news source to a 24/7 news cycle. • Interviews with journalists whose circulation is measured in the number of Twitter followers he or she has. • A chapter encouraging discussion of ethical issues affecting today’s athletes: Should college athletes be paid to compete? Can play be too violent? Is there a level playing field for men and women? How should eligibility be determined for athletes who may be transitioning their gender identity? • A glossary that includes terms such as ‘hot takes,’ ‘scrum,’ ‘trolls.’
While many scholars who write about animals deal with animal agency in some way, this volume is the first to position the question of nonhuman agency as the primary focus of inquiry. Section I presents studies of actual animals demonstrating agency; Section II moves agency into new terrain while considering key representations of animal agency in literature; Section III analyzes animals as mediators and as conveyances of human-to-human communication;and Section IV investigates the agency of beings who defy conventional species categories. The Envoi demonstrates how the microscopic polyp is interwoven into notions of agency and mythical superagency. This volume's interdisciplinary explorations press hard on issues of agency to open up space for more questions about how we can understand relationships between the human and the nonhuman.
At their basic level, sporting events are about numbers: wins and losses, percentages and points, shots and saves, clocks and countdowns. However, sports narratives quickly leave the realm of statistics. The stories we tell and retell, sometimes for decades, make sports dramatic and compelling. Just like any great drama, sports imply conflict, not just battles on the field of play, but clashes of personalities, goals, and strategies. In telling these stories, we create heroes, but we also create villains. This book is about the latter, those players who transgress norms and expectations and who we label the "bad boys" of sports. Using a variety of approaches, these 13 new essays examine the cultural, social, and rhetorical implications of sports villainy. Each chapter focuses on a different athlete and sport, questioning issues such as how notorious sports figures are defined to be "bad" within particular sports and within the larger culture, the role media play in creating antiheroes, fan reactions when players cross boundaries, and how those boundaries shift depending on the athlete's gender, sexuality, and race.
Repairing the Athlete’s Image: Studies in Sports Image Restoration, edited by Joseph R. Blaney, Lance Lippert, and J. Scott Smith, offers twenty-one case studies and conceptual frameworks about athletes and their organizations as they attempt to mitigate the effects of malfeasance. Employing traditional Image Restoration Theory (IRT) approaches to athletic communication (and other innovative approaches), the contributors to this volume add to our understanding of which communicative strategies work best for athletes when their reputations are sullied. This comprehensive text presents case studies of varying athletes, sports, and public relations scenarios with prescriptive advice for those...
Ethical business creates social value. That’s the theme of this bold new volume, heralding and defending this rapidly-growing new conception of capitalism making its way into the mainstream. It provides clear and succinct guidelines for how to evaluate what counts as an ethical business as well as how and why ethical businesses tend to succeed better over the long term. The book is jargon-free and targeted primarily at thought leaders and academics in business and philosophy who will want to use it in their business ethics classes. Each chapter has been selected for its ability to engage a wide audience without oversimplifying the content. All twelve chapters are original and authored by l...
This book examines the issue of performance-enhancing drugs and its surrounding arguments. Performance-Enhancing Drugs familiarizes readers with the history of these drugs, the motivators for using them, and their side effects. Some of the biggest scandals involving performance-enhancing drugs are included, and ways to combat use of these drugs are also addressed. Color photos and informative sidebars accompany easy-to-follow text. Features include a timeline, facts, additional resources, web sites, a glossary, a bibliography, and an index.