A People's History of Sports in the United States

June 16, 2008
Zirin (What's My Name, Fool!
), writer of a politically minded online sports column, examines the intersection of sports and politics, chronicling the struggles of America's oppressed, starting with Choctaws playing lacrosse and slaves in the South, and reaching all the way to a critique of Michael Jordan as an apolitical athlete. There are many worthy and deserving stories of courage and conscience in this vast canvas; however, the telling suffers from Zirin's term paper–like prose that relies far too much on overly long quotes from source material. For example, three pages about NFL player Dave Meggyesy has a short introductory paragraph by Zirin and then excerpts Meggyesy's autobiography for the bulk of the section. This book would have been more engaging and logically organized as a reference book with entries on each athlete or group, rather than a linear historical narrative of sports.

September 1, 2008
This account by blogger Zirin (edgeofsports.com) is not really a peoples history so much as it is a 250-yearchronicle of the nexus between sports and politics in America. True to its blog roots, the book has a casualness to it (Zirin details the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, for example, without naming the crime for which they were convicted), yet the author has done his legwork (and cites sources). More important, he shows how powerfully sports and politics, with a touch of class warfare, have interacted over the centuries, much to the denial of both sides that theres any connection. Most of the story, unsurprisingly, takes place after the Civil War, with Zirintracing the development of the major sports in the context of the political events of their times. Emphasis is given to the sixties, particularly Muhammad Alis role in the advancement of racial equality. A thought-provoking, contrarian take on American sport.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)