Sociology of Sports

Socially and racially divided, Odessa isn't known to be a place big on dreams, but every Friday night from September to December, when the Panthers play football, dreams can come true....

Sweating may be one of our weirdest biological functions, but it’s also one of our most vital and least understood. In The Joy of Sweat, Sarah Everts delves into its role in the body - and in human history....

In 2016, amid an epidemic of police shootings of African Americans, the celebrated NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick began a series of quiet protests on the field, refusing to stand during the US national anthem....

In this extraordinary tour de force, David Goldblatt tells the full story of soccer's rise from chaotic folk ritual to the world's most popular sport - now poised to fully establish itself in the USA....

Provocative and controversial, Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of Black athletes in the United States, from the plantation to their beginnings....

The Forgotten First tells the story of one of the most significant cultural shifts in pro football history, as four men opened the door to opportunity and changed the sport forever....

College football has never been more popular - or more chaotic. Millions fill 100,000-seat stadiums every Saturday; tens of millions more watch on television every weekend.....

Does team chemistry actually exist? Is team chemistry as real and relevant as on-base percentages and wins above replacement? In Joan Ryan's groundbreaking audiobook, we discover that the answer to all of the above is a resounding "Yes"....

A heartbreaking and inspiring true story - Friday Night Lights meets Ghettoside - of a New Orleans high school football team and their head coach's mission to protect his players’ lives....

For fans of The Boys in the Boat and In the Garden of Beasts, a pulse-pounding tale of triumph over Hitler’s fearsome Silver Arrows during the golden age of auto racing....

Never have the best sportspeople seemed so far removed from the rest of us. So how are these extraordinary athletes made, and what do their achievements tell us about success? The Best reveals how the most incredible sportspeople in the world got that way....

In the 21st century football is first. First among sports themselves, but it now commands the allegiance, interest and engagement of more people in more places than any other phenomenon.... 

Whether running is your recreation, your religion, or just a spectator sport, Adharanand Finn’s incredible journey to the elite training camps of Kenya will captivate and inspire you....

For the past year, John U. Bacon has received unprecedented access to Jim Harbaugh’s University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes....

The companion to Ken Burns’s magnificent PBS television series—updated and expanded to coincide with the broadcast of a new, two-part "Tenth Inning"....

Every year, more than 3.5 million children under age 15 require medical treatment for sports injuries, nearly half of which are the result of simple overuse....

So concluded the National Football League in a December 2005 scientific paper on concussions in America's most popular sport....

This is a complex and inspiring tale of a small town becoming a global community and an account of the ingenious and complicated ways we create a home in a changing world....

Are you ready to join the club? If your desire is to build a stronger and well-chiseled body naturally without steroids; then this is the book for you! It will not only enable you shape the body of your dreams, but it will also empower you to stay the course.... 

Today, sports arenas have been transformed into staging grounds for American patriotism and the hero worship of law enforcement. As journalist Howard Bryant reveals, this has always been more complicated for black athletes....

12 is the story of Tom Brady's gritty comeback. It's a drama that unfolds in the locker room, the court room, and under the brightest lights in all of sports - the Super Bowl. Now for the first time, listeners will have an exclusive look into Tom Brady's experience....

Essential for modern fans, Loving Sports When They Don't Love You Back challenges the status quo and explores how we might begin to reconcile our conscience with our fandom....

Sports media superstar Clay Travis wants to save sports from the social justice warriors seeking to turn them into another political battleground....

When a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym moves in across the street from his office, Jonathan Gottschall sees a challenge and an opportunity....

The 1988 Seoul Olympics played host to what has been described by some as the dirtiest race of all time, by others as the greatest....

Do you want to know the best to do AAU basketball? This book holds the answers to all of your questions about the new world of AAU basketball. Inside its chapters are step-by-step directions on how to navigate the AAU basketball landscape successfully for you and your young player....

This audiobook is a funny, engaging, and sharply pointed appraisal of how the sports complex is bankrupting our cities....

This Is Your Brain on Sports is the audiobook for sports fans searching for a deeper understanding of the games they watch and the people who play them....

Inside the Empire is a riveting look at what is really said and done behind closed doors with the New York Yankees, the most famous and wealthiest sports franchise in the world....

Pedro Martinez. Sammy Sosa. Manny Ramirez By 2000, Dominican baseball players were in every Major League clubhouse, and regularly winning every baseball award....