This documentary is a must see for any baseball fan:...
sports history
AMAZING! (1969 edition)
Here’s Curt Gowdy: People I recognize in this video: Joe Garagiola, Lindsey Nelson, Joe DiMaggio, and Pearl Bailey. Do you recognize anyone else?...
Mets retire Keith Hernandez’s number
Number 17 goes up in the rafters alongside the numbers of Jackie Robinson (42), Casey Stengel (37), Gil Hodges (14), Tom Seaver (41), Jerry Koosman (36), and Mike Piazza (31). You know this is a big moment in the New...
Episode 96: “Thinking Historically about the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
In this episode we talk with historian Bruce Berglund about Vladmir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Our conversation focuses on Putin’s use of history to justify the invasion, the insufficiency of the Russian military, the international ban on...
What the six California Super Bowl stadiums tell us about The Golden State
The Super Bowl has been (or will be) held in: SoFi Stadium (2022) Levi’s Stadium (2016) Stanford Stadium (1985) The Rose Bowl (1977, 1980, 1983, 1987, 1993) Jack Murphy Stadium (1988, 1998, 2003) Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (1967, 1973) Here...
Is professional wrestling fake?
Of course it is. But that doesn’t really help us understand its historic appeal. In a fascinating piece at the blog of the Journal of Intellectual History, historian Aaron D. Horton offers a brief history of this form of “entertainment.”...
My first John Madden memory
As a kid I was a diehard Miami Dolphins fan. It is thus tough for me, over 46 years later, to post this highlight video from the 1974 AFC Divisional Playoff: To this day I cannot hear the names Ken...
Why Oral Roberts basketball is expecting a miracle
They may need a miracle on Saturday when they play third-seeded Arkansas in the round of 16 at the 2021 NCAA basketball tournament. Here is Baylor University sports historian Paul Putz and Oral Roberts biographer Jonathan Root at Christianity Today:...
Episode 82: The Fastest Game in the World
Ice hockey is now a global sport. Even Brazil, Mexico, Jamaica, and Australia have national teams. The National Hockey League has teams in Miami, Tampa Bay, Dallas, Nashville, and Phoenix. Junior league hockey is played in Shreveport and Amarillo. Anyone...
Leon Spinks, RIP
I will never forget watching Leon drop the Cuban, Sixto Soria, in the light-heavyweight gold medal bout at the 1976 Olympics. RIP, Leon....