Modern Sport

Modern Sport and the African American Experience is a collection of essays from some of America's most brilliant and vibrant sport sociologists and race scholars. This text highlights more of the experiences of African Americans in modern sport than any of its kind. Among its diverse topics, this book examines predictions about African American sports performance and participation in the 21st century, discusses the role of sport in African American culture, and gives a candid look at the experiences of African American athletes attending America's predominantly white colleges and universities. It also discusses the experiences of African American women in these environments, a largely ignored topic. A book of this type would not be complete without also examining racism, discrimination, and the conflict black athletes and coaches encounter with the white establishment. This volume is a representation of Dr. Gary Sailes' well-known, much-respected scholarship and work as a consultant in American commercial sports.

Sport has become more than a simple physical expression or game- it now pervades all societies at all levels and has become bound up in nationalism, entertainment, patriotism and culture. Now a global obsession, sport has infiltrated into all areas of modern life and despite noble ideals that sport stands above politics, religion, class, gender and ideology, the reality is often very different. These essays by leading academics and rising new talent consider the phenomenon of modern sport and its massive influence over global society. Together, this collection is also a tribute to the pioneering and inspirational work of Professor J.A. Mangan on the political, religious, class and gender-based aspects of modern sport, from academics greatly influenced by him and his writing. This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.

The descriptions and examples of unethical behaviors in sport in this book will challenge readers to rethink how they view sport and question whether participating in sport builds character-especially at the youth and amateur levels. Sport potentially can teach character as well as social and moral values, but only when these positive concepts are consistently taught, modeled, and reinforced by sport leaders with the moral courage to do so. The seeming moral crisis threatening amateur and youth sport-evidenced by athletes, coaches, and parents alike making poor ethical choices-and ongoing scandals regarding performance-enhancing drug use by professional athletes make sports ethics a topic of great concern. This work enables readers to better understand the ethical challenges facing competitive sport by addressing issues such as gamesmanship, doping, cheating, sportsmanship, fair play, and respect for the game. A compelling read for coaches, sport administrators, players, parents, and sport fans, the book examines specific examples of unethical behaviors-many cases of which occur in amateur and educational sports-to illustrate how these incidents threaten the perception that sport builds character. It identifies and investigates the multiple reasons for cheating in sport, such as the fact that the rewards for succeeding are so high, and the feeling of athletes that they must behave as they do to "level the playing field" because everyone else is cheating, being violent, taking performance-enhancing drugs, or doing whatever it takes to win. Readers will gain insight into how coaches and sport administrators can achieve the goals for youth, interscholastic, intercollegiate, and Olympic sport by stressing moral values and character development as well as see how specific recommendations can help ensure that sport can serve to build character rather than teach bad behavior in the pursuit of victory.

The book attempts to provide a wide overview of key ethical matters in the philosophy of sport: What is fair play? Is strategic fouling legitimate? What is the role of cheating and gamesmanship in sport? What can be said about doping and physical enhancement? How can we approach gender issues that come from the core of the practice of sport? Does sport share any common characteristics, or even roots, with racism, violence or nationalism? Should cyborgathletes compete in equal conditions with organic athletes? What can we do with new technologies in sport? In the book there is an analyse of all possible solutions that the main authors or contemporary sport philosopher has brought forward on a topic, and after having laid out the current panorama, the author deal with each of them directly and personally.

Nature and culture are embodied in the landscapes of modern sport. This is the first book to explore the distinctive character of those landscapes. Not only does sport play a central role as a modern cultural phenomenon, the landscapes in which sport takes place have a distinctive and pervasive form which impact considerably on quality of life, in both positive and negative ways.

Should scientific congresses take place in connection with Olympic Games, and should science be represented not only in the form of applied science engaged in the care of athletes, but also as an informing, reflecting and critical authority? The Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXth Olympiad answered this question in the affirmative, and the results have justified this decision. The invitation sent out by the Organizing Committee was accepted by numerous eminent scholars and many participants from all over the world; it was their merit that the general topic of the congress could be discussed in manifold ways under various aspects and without prejudice. For this reason, they deserve our gratitude and appreciation. By now, the congress report has been completed. It is part of the total scientific concept which includes the preparatory publication, "The Scientific View of Sport Perspectives, Aspects, Issues", the congress itself and the present report; and, in close connection therewith, the exhibitions, "100 Years of German Excavation Work in Olympia", "Sport and Medicine" and the literary exhibition. It is to be hoped that this report will prove an important source of information and a stimulus for discussion among participants and scholars, students, teachers and coaches; and that it will safeguard the fruitful continuation of the work initiated by the Munich congress. Thanks are due to those who took pains in preparing this document. It will be an essential element within the framework of all that will remain of the Olympic Games of 1972.

Sport has become more than a simple physical expression or game- it now pervades all societies at all levels and has become bound up in nationalism, entertainment, patriotism and culture. Now a global obsession, sport has infiltrated into all areas of modern life and despite noble ideals that sport stands above politics, religion, class, gender and ideology, the reality is often very different. These essays by leading academics and rising new talent consider the phenomenon of modern sport and its massive influence over global society. Together, this collection is also a tribute to the pioneering and inspirational work of Professor J.A. Mangan on the political, religious, class and gender-based aspects of modern sport, from academics greatly influenced by him and his writing. This book was previously published as a special issue of The International Journal of the History of Sport.