The Theater of Sport - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080184908X ISBN 13: 9780801849084

Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995

Why is it more fun to watch a baseball game at Fenway than at Three Rivers? Why is football more exciting at Notre Dame or Alabama than in Ames, Iowa? Arguing that there is such a thing as the "perfect" place to watch or participate in a sporting event, Karl Raitz and his co-authors explain that it's not whether you win or lose, but where you play the game that counts.

As sport evolved from "pure play" to "performance" to "entertainment," they explain, the places where sport took place evolved as well -- becoming more complex, adding more elements with which a spectator or participant could interact. But at the same time, such innovations as the multipurpose stadium ("Hey, is that Cincinnati or Pittsburgh?") tended to separate the place from the event, rendering the event "placeless" and devoid of enriching character.

The authors show precisely why the new baseball stadiums in Baltimore, Cleveland, and Arlington "work" better than the concrete doughnuts of the 1960s and 70s. They explain why cricket is best enjoyed in an English village green, against the backdrop of a church tower (preferably with clock), half-timbered pub, haystacks, and elm trees. They analyze the ways in which the infield and grandstand form an essential part of the ambience at Churchill Downs -- and how tailgate parties do the same at the Talladega stock car races.

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From Publishers Weekly:

In this erudite study, University of Kentucky geography professor Raitz and his fellow contributors assert that the physical theater of the sporting arena is as important to players' and spectators' enjoyment as the game itself. Brian J. Neilson traces the baseball field from the original ``park'' to Toronto's Skydome, which the author views more as a shopping center where baseball is the main attraction. Robert L.A. Adams gives a colorful glimpse at the nuances, some calculated, some aesthetic, of the famous golf courses throughout the world. ``In golf, the participant is simultaneously engaged in contests against fellow competitors and against the course itself. The course is thus at once a stage and an adversary.'' In his essay on stock-car racing, Richard Pillsbury offers convincing insight on why fans travel extensive highway hours not to learn the outcome of the race, but for the tailgate parties and the grandstand shenanigans. Perhaps the highlights of the collection are John F. Rooney Jr. and Audrey B. Davidson's chapter on football, and Robert L. Janiskee's narrative on climbing. These authors truly adhere to the thesis of the collection, focusing on the distinguishing factors of place in these respective sports. Other pieces sometimes go astray from the original intent while others are sometimes burdened by didactic prose defining conventions and regulations. Still and all, The Theater of Sport offers a wealth of facts and anecdotes for a generalist's view into the history of 13 sports.

Review:

""The authors provide excellent analyses of the architecture, construction, landscaping, and uses of open and enclosed space as applied to 12 sports, from baseball and soccer to rodeo and fox hunting. They also offer neat capsule histories of the evolutions of their sports and the places in which the events occur." -- Lexington Herald-Leader

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