Playing Tough: The World of Sports and Politics - Hardcover

Abrams, Roger I.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1555537537 ISBN 13: 9781555537531

Publisher: Northeastern University Press, 2013

Synopsis

Playing Tough is an entertaining and thoroughly enlightening look at the unique and surprisingly outsized role that sports have played in politics and history. Ever since the bread and circuses of Rome, sports have been used as a tool to entertain the masses and to instill civic pride. Abrams shows both the positive and the negative ways in which sports and politics have coalesced, from the rabid nationalism of the 1936 Nazi Olympics, the political grudge match of the Louis and Schmeling fights, and the “futbol war” between Honduras and Costa Rica to the inspiring stories of South Africa’s rugby nation-building and Muhammad Ali’s brave antiwar stance, which nearly cost him his career. Abrams is an informed and impassioned writer who chronicles the profoundly creative and destructive influence that sports have on the political life of our nation and the world.This book will be of interest to any and all sports and politics enthusiasts and is a wonderful introduction for course creation and adoption.

About this title

About the Author:

ROGER I. ABRAMS is Richardson Professor of Law at Northeastern University. A leader in the field of sports law, he is the author of Sports Justice: The Law and the Business of Sports; Legal Bases: Baseball and the Law; and The First World Series and the Baseball Fanatics of 1903.

Review:

"One of the first analysts to teach us how the law invaded the world of sports, in Playing Tough Roger Abrams turns his encyclopedic knowledge of sports history to the often problematic relationship between politicians and players, owners and fans. The result is a series of entertaining stories, shrewdly observed and wisely told, and a constant reminder of how serious our games can be."―Michael Meltsner, former counsel to Muhammad Ali and Matthews University Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law

"Abrams articulately connects the worlds of two of our favorite national competitive activities―sports and politics. From early baseball to the Olympics and World Cup, from City Hall to Soweto, he probes public issues linking sports, politics, and society―and stretches the reader's imagination as well as understanding about the conflicts." ―Professor Stephen A. Greyser, Harvard Business SchoolCreator of Harvard's Business of Sports course

"Roger Abrams has written a timely and intriguing book. . . . It is a delicious chronicle of how we, as a society, live, breathe, and too rarely search for perspective on questions of winning and losing." ―Richard Bloch, professional labor arbitrator and impartial arbitration chairman for Major League Baseball, the National Football League, and the National Hockey League

About this edition

• Publisher: Northeastern University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1555537537
• ISBN 13: 9781555537531
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 280