Blood Sweat And Cheers

A look at the contribution of sport to the making of the Canadian nation, focusing on the gradual transition from rural sporting practices to the emphasis on team sports that accompanied the industrial and urban transition.

The story not of what happens inside the ring in front of the fans. Rather, it is a "not too pretty" look at the world of a sick, sadistic man who will sink to the depths to attain what he wants. Taken from behind the scenes of today's world of professional wrestling, this book is not for the faint of heart

Blood, Sweat, and Cheers looks at the contribution of sport to the making of the Canadian nation, focusing on the gradual transition from rural sporting practices to the emphasis on contemporary team sports that accompanied the industrial and urban transition. The book also analyzes sport's pre-eminent place in our contemporary consumer-oriented culture, and the sometimes ambivalent contribution of sport to a sense of Canadian identity. Intended as an introduction to the way in which social historians approach the history of sport, rather than as an exhaustive narrative of our sporting heritage, Colin Howell introduces readers to a number of important issues, including amateurism and professionalism, race and ethnicity, regionalism and nationalism, the impact of British and American sporting traditions upon Canadian sporting life, and the contemporary meaning of sport in a globalizing capitalist economy. He also investigates discourses about respectability and the display of the body, gender construction and sexual identities, the changing nature of the sporting marketplace over time, as well as the involvement of spectators, the media, and the state in the production of our national sporting life. While theoretical in approach, Blood, Sweat and Cheers also looks at the accomplishments of individual athletes, including Ned Hanlan, Maurice Richard, Barbara Ann Scott, Wayne Gretzky, and Donovan Bailey, as well as major sports teams, and covers a wide array of activities from hunting, rodeo, and native sporting traditions to those associated with the Olympic Games.

For pure spectacle, passion and tradition, nothing in sports beats a college football rivalry--and the Big Ten has some of the best. Whether it's Wisconsin and Minnesota renewing thier ancient battle for Paul Bunyan's Axe, or Ohio State and Michigan scrapping for conference dominance, you'll discover the history, ritual, and color of some of football's oldest and greatest blood feuds.

"This book helped me understand that other athletes around the country endure similar stressful experiences that go along with sports and teenage life. And it's definitely useful in making a realistic plan for college." Tanner Starbard, 16, Basketball, California "Wow this is cutting edge honesty. I would highly recommend this book to parents, 'F' bombs and all, if they really want to know who their kids are, how they feel, what they dream, how they talk, how hard they work. It's sometimes harsh, sometimes tender, but ALWAYS REAL. A great read, insightful in a very unexpected way." Marshell Ann Wright, 41, Parent, Louisiana