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AMST 379-01: Sports Personalities of the 20th Century
Georgetown University: American Studies Program
Spring 2013 Thursday, 12:30pm – 3:00pm New South M34A
Stephen Skip Lane
Office Hours @ CarBarn 318k: Thursday 11:00am and/or by appointment
Telephone: 609.468.0444
Email: sl322@georgetown.edu
Overview
This course deals with both the role and significance of sports personalities in American
society for the past century. We will explore the social significance of figures such as
Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Tiger Woods on race;
Babe Zaharias, Billy Jean King and Mia Hamm on gender; and Babe Ruth, Joe
DiMaggio, and Hank Greenberg on issues relating to ethnicity and class.
As society has changed, so have the representations and interpretations of its sports
personalities. Do these individuals gain a special notoriety due to events/cultural
attitudes of a time period? Conversely, do they affect those events/cultural attitudes? For
example, did the exploits of Jackie Robinson to some degree foster better understanding
between blacks and whites in American communities and open new opportunities for
blacks in other arenas? What role did Billy Jean King and women’s tennis play in the
national discourse on Title IX and financial inequities relating to gender?
Throughout the semester, we will seek to view these relationships, and more in the larger
context of 20th Century United States history. We will interpret the role of heroes to our
culture. Meanwhile, we will explore the impact emerging communication technologies
have on the creation of these heroes and the growth of sports within our culture.
Objective
The objective of this course is to supply the student with tools that enable him, or her, the
ability to analyze how certain cultural productions can reflect changes in American
Society. This course uses sports as the lens through which to see these effects; by
semester’s end, the student should be able to apply the same methodologies to other
cultural phenomena that thrust personalities and actors into the public square.
REQUIRED TEXTS (available @ Bookstore or online):
Hablestam, David. The Best American Sportswriting of the Century. Ed. David
Halberstam and Glenn Stout. New York. Houghton Mifflin. 1999.
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Inabinett, Mark. Grantland Rice and His Heroes: The Sportswriter as Mythmaker in the
1920’s. Knoxville. University of Tennessee Press. 1994.
Robinson, Jackie. I Never Had it Made, New York, Harpers, 1995.
In addition there will be readings posted on Blackboard and at the library website
through E-Reserves.
READINGS AND PARTICIPATION:
I would like this to be a true seminar, a course where you learn from each other. I will
give brief talks, at least in the first few weeks, drawing on both your readings and other
material. I will not repeat the readings in my talks. Each class will begin with a brief
discussion of current events. Please bring to class any topics relating to our coursework
that interests you. Your classmates and I want to hear from you. We want to know what
you think about, and what you’ve read and learned from other courses.
I am a big fan of the Internet tool, Blackboard. Therefore, we will be relying heavily on
its resources. Please visit our site often to check for additions. Part of your class
participation grade will be determined by the contributions you provide on our
blog.
You should post at least once a week; during weeks in which there is limited
readings and/or a Sport Personality is “bulleted” on the syllabus, you MUST POST
AT LEAST ONE COMMENT OF SUBSTANCE! I appreciate that everyone is not
equally comfortable speaking up in class. Therefore, it is especially important for those
that do not frequently contribute verbally to compensate by posting & commenting more
often.
I intend to post on Blackboard any PowerPoint slides used in class prior to the time that
we meet. This should NOT be interpreted as a substitute for attendance.
Assigned readings are to be completed before the date on the syllabus. As this course
emphasizes close textual analysis, it is to your advantage to read carefully the daily
assignments. Again, be prepared to participate!
CLASS ATTENDANCE:
Arriving on time is mandatory. Attendance is mandatory. Cellphones are to be turned
off. Absences beyond two sessions will result in grade reductions. For example, upon
the third absence, a grade of A would become an A-; at the fourth absence, it would
become a B+, etc. Persistent lateness will be treated as an absence. In addition,
university holidays begin & end on the date and the hour so designated in the registrar’s
calendar.
GRADING:
An A represents outstanding or exceptional work. A B grade indicates competent,
satisfactory work. A C grade is assigned to work that merely fulfills the conditions of the
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assignment. A D grade will be given to work that does not fulfill the conditions of the
assignment or is lacking in some important way. An F is a failing grade and would be
given only if assignments were extremely poorly executed, or in the case of plagiarism or
other failure to adhere to norms of academic honesty.
Final Grading Scale:
92% and higher:
90-91
88-89:
82-87:
80-81
78-79:
70-77:
60-69:
Below 60%:
A
AB+
B
BC+
C
D
F
Your final grade will be determined from the following distribution:
20% - Class & Blog participation
10% - Blog Moderator Assignment
5% - 1 Pop-Quiz
15% - Group Projects
20% - Movie paper
30% - Final paper
WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS:
PLEASE NOTE: Written assignments are due at beginning of class! A hard copy
should be brought to class, and a digital copy should be submitted through Blackboard. I
utilize the service, turnitin®. Late assignments will be marked down at a rate equivalent
to one plus/minus letter grade per 24 hours.
All assignments must be typed, double-space, following these guidelines:
A. Margins: No larger than 1” around
B. Font size: No larger than 12 pt.
C. Indent paragraphs
D. Staple securely
E. White paper and black ink only.
F. APA or MLA style of documentation for research papers
G. Proof read & edit!!!
Movie Paper (7-10 pages in length) Select two movies and write an analysis about the
representations of each while comparing the two. What does the era in which each film
was made tell us about the way the media presents sports personalities? How does the
film portray the time-period, and how is this portrayal different from what we are
accustomed? The basic tenets of our course’s analysis must be included.
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Group Presentations The objective is to analyze and explain the assigned subject with
the intent to describe how (if) it has broader cultural significance in today's environment.
You are required to incorporate the theories we discuss in class, identify any historical
precedents, and argue how/why the topic is relevant on the broader scale. You are
encouraged to incorporate some type of media into the presentations. The assignment is
purposely general in its contours to maximize flexibility & freedom. Each group will
make its presentation, lead a discussion, and answer questions afterwards from the class.
Additionally, each member of the group will be required to write a short statement
explaining his or her contribution to the project.
Final Project (17-20 pages in length) Select a personality (of your choice) that was not
featured in this course that you feel could have been included. Your argument should
include background and representations of the individual, the cultural context of his/her
significance, what texts are contained in the media’s representation of him/her, and why
you feel s/he is worthy. The focus must be on what the subject reveals about culture and
society as much as the career of the individual (or team.) This assignment can be a
traditional research paper or you may be creative and develop a nontraditional project
(with prior approval.) If a paper, it should be 17-20 pages in length, adhere to the proper
form (Chicago Manual of Style, MLA, etc.), and contain footnotes and a bibliography.
If a nontraditional presentation, you can employ any number of formats–a PowerPoint
presentation, a short film, a website, etc. Whatever format is employed, the project must
meet the same criteria. You should state a clear thesis/position on the issue. You should
support your argument using the course readings, lectures, and discussions, as well as
real-world observations. You are encouraged to bring in other sources.
Grading will be based on whom you select, knowledge of the time-period & subject, and
strength of argument. Projects will be evaluated on thesis, organization, evidence, and
style.
ACADEMIC HONESTY AND STUDENT RIGHTS:
You are required to uphold academic honesty in all aspects of the course, especially on
papers. If you have any questions about conforming to rules regarding the proper format
for citations, or what constitutes plagiarism, I will be happy to talk with you.
Students agree that by taking this course all required papers may be subject to
submission for a Textual Similarity Review to Turnitin.com for the detection of
plagiarism. All submitted papers will be added as source documents in the Turnitin.com
reference database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers in the
future. Use of the Turnitin.com service is subject to the terms of use agreement posted on
the Turnitin.com site.
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Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement:
It is Georgetown University’s policy to provide reasonable accommodations to students
with disabilities under the ADA. At the beginning of each semester, any student with a
disability should inform the course instructor if instructional accommodations or
academic adjustments will be needed.
January 10: Introduction
The objective of this class is to review the upcoming semester and get to know oneanother. Please submit your Introduction on the blog.
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Expectations, introductions, and all that housekeeping stuff…
Assignments – Grading Criteria
Inter-disciplinary approach
Why should we care?
Understanding the impact sports has on society, and the impact society has
on sports.
Readings:
James Rosenau and Mary Durfee, The Need for Theory, in Rosenau and Durfee, Thinking
Theory Thoroughly: Coherent Approaches to an Incoherent World (Bouder, CO:
Westview Press, 1995), pp. 1-8. (Blackboard)
Jurgen Habermas, The Public Sphere (Blackboard)
ASSIGNMENT: Please post your Introduction on our course
blog AND bring in your survey to class.
January 17: Theoretical Constructs
The objective of the first two classes is to introduce theoretical constructs and
terminologies that will enable us to better understand the texts, sub-texts and
representations within cultural productions and their actors (in other words... Sports
Personalities!)
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Is there a difference between Personality, Celebrity, Hero, and Icon?
What are “representations”? How are they transmitted?
How does the diffusion of a new communication platform affect cultural
production?
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Readings:
David Andrews and Steven Jackson, Sports Stars, Introduction (Blackboard)
Stanley Teitelbaum, Sports Heroes, Fallen Idols, The Need for Heroes, University of
Nebraska Press, (pg. 1-16) (Blackboard)
Deborah V. Tudor, Hollywood’s Vision of Team Sports, Chapter 1: The Athlete as Hero,
Star and Celebrity, (pg. 3 – 43; thru 17, assigned.) (Blackboard)
Review the Glossary terms on Intertextuality/Intermediality & Multimedia
Semiotics/Multimodal Semiotics/Social Semiotics. (Blackboard)
January 24: Theoretical Constructs (Cont.)
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So, what’s the story with “Narratives”?
Is it all about “codes"?
Or, is it Propaganda?
Readings:
Stuart Hall, “Encoding/Decoding” (Blackboard)
Lazarsfeld and Merton, “Mass Communication, Popular Taste, and Organized Social
Action” (Blackboard)
Garry Whannel, Media Sports Stars: Masculinities and Moralities, Chapter 5: Narrativity
and Biography and Conclusion (Blackboard)
Phil Schaaf, Sports, Inc.: 100 years of Sports Business, Sports Stew (pg. 97 – 117)
(Blackboard)
January 31: Mythology (& an American example: Babe Ruth)
What do we mean by “myth”? In which parts of sport does it exist?
Babe Ruth might be the best-known name in American Sports history. The name
signifies even more today than it did back then. This inspection represents our first
expedition into iconic celebrity.
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What is “Myth”?
Who is this “Babe” guy, anyway?
Why did he become ‘Bigger than Life’?
What would the Babe’s image be if he played today?
Readings:
Roland Barthes, Mythologies, Myth Today (Blackboard)
Roland Barthes, Mythologies, The World of Wrestling. 1957 (Blackboard)
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William C. Rhoden, Seeing Through the Illusion of the Sports Hero, NY Times, October
22, 2012, D8 (Blackboard)
Halberstam, The Babe Was Always a Boy, (pg. 156 – 161); Game Called, (pg. 140 – 143)
Inabinett, Chapter 4: Babe Ruth (pg. 37 – 49)
Additional Resources: Frank Deford video on Blackboard (in External Links.)
February 7: Show Me The Money!!! Sports Media in 20th Century America –
Football: Super Bowl XLVII
The Super Bowl is a transnational cultural event (and features some really cool
commercials!) Currently, it is the preeminent event of American football and the most
watched television program in America. But, what is this game all about? Moreover, is
there any greater signifier of money in sports?
WATCH: Rollerball, directed by Norman Jewison (available @ Blackboard:Sharestream)
Readings:
Michael Oriard, King Football : Sport and Spectacle in the Golden Age of Radio and
Newsreels, Movies and Magazines, the Weekly and the Daily Press, Introduction
(Blackboard)
William M. O’Barr. "Super Bowl Commercials: America’s Annual Festival of
Advertising." Advertising & Society Review 13.1 (2012). Project MUSE. Web. 2 Jan.
2013. (Blackboard)
http://muse.jhu.edu.proxy.library.georgetown.edu/journals/advertising_and_society_revie
w/v013/13.1.o-barr.html
Derek Thompson, If You Don’t Watch Sports... The Atlantic.
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/12/if-you-dont-watch-sports-tv-is-ahuge-rip-off-so-how-do-we-fix-it/265814/#.UMod_4Q7iM0.gmail
Additional Resources: http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/47
ASSIGNMENT DUE: Movie Paper Topic Due.
February 14: Writers & Images
Before there was television, which allowed the sports’ fan to see and hear athletes at play,
there were writers and journalists that brought these personalities into the public sphere.
This week introduces those that created the first Golden Age of Sports.
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Who were they?
How has their role changed over the years?
What effect do they have in the making of a personality’s image? Of
MYTH?
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Readings:
Halberstam, Introduction (pg. xix – xxxiii)
Inabinett, Beginnings (pg. vii – xi), Chapter 1, 2, & 9: Grantland Rice (pg. 1 – 12),
The Golden Age (pg. 13 – 24), Rice’s Legacy (pg. 99 – 106)
Michael Oriard, King Football : Sport and Spectacle in the Golden Age of Radio and
Newsreels, Movies and Magazines, the Weekly and the Daily Press, Chapter 1: Reading,
Watching, and Listening to Football (Blackboard)
George Plimpton, “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch,” Sports Illustrated. New York:
Apl 1, 1985 (Blackboard)
Mark Hofmann, “Where have you gone, Sidd Finch?” Sports Illustrated. New York:
Jul 31, 2000. (Blackboard)
Suggested additional material:
Halberstam, Read a chapter, or two, from those not assigned the course.
February 21: Heroes, Icons, or just Really Good at What They Do?
The objective of this class is to examine the relationship between an athlete and the
Time/Space from which s/he originates. What does the celebrity represent within the
overall context of the Time and Space from which s/he emerges? How does our
understanding of her/his notoriety help explain other cultural events of the moment?
WATCH: Joe Louis: America’s Hero...Betrayed (available @ Blackboard:Sharestream)
Readings:
Rice, The Tumult and the Shouting, Jim Thorpe, the American Indian. (pg. 227 – 236);
The Negro Race, (pg. 247 – 254) (Blackboard)
NY Times, March 29, 1953 “Jim Thorpe Obituary.” (Blackboard)
http://www.jimthorperestinpeace.com/
Biography from web site: http://www.jesse-owens.org/about1.html
Halberstam, Pure Heart (pg. 548 – 563)
“The Wow Horse Races into History” from Time Magazine June 11, 1973 (Blackboard);
McDonald & Andrews, Michael Jordan, Corporate sport and postmodern celebrityhood
(Blackboard)
Additional Resources:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11359/1199266-454.stm
http://www.jesseowens.com/index.php ; NY Daily News Article (Blackboard.)
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ASSIGNMENT: Movie Papers due.
February 28: Ethnicity
This week we explore the role that the sport personality plays in defining America’s
“melting pot.” Did sport heroes allow immigrants to assimilate into a local society while
retaining their ethnic identity?
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Knute Rockne
Lou Gehrig
Hank Greenberg
Joe DiMaggio
Roberto Clemente
WATCH The Hank Greenberg Story (available @ Gelardin)
Readings:
Halberstam, The Silent Season of a Hero, (pg. 3 – 22)
Inabinett, Chapter 7 & 8: Red Grange (pg. 74 – 86), Knute Rockne (pg. 87 – 98)
Grantland Rice, The Tumult and the Shouting, Knute Rockne and the Four Horsemen
(pg. 175 – 191) (Blackboard &/or E-Reserves)
Michael Oriard, King Football : Sport and Spectacle in the Golden Age of Radio and
Newsreels, Movies and Magazines, the Weekly and the Daily Press, Chapter 4: Players’
or Coaches’ Whose Game Is It? (Blackboard &/or E-Reserves)
“Global Celebrity Athletes and Nationalism: Fútbol, Hockey, and the Representation of
Nation,” by Lloyd L.Wong and Ricardo Trumper (Blackboard)
Additional Resources: http://robertoclemente.si.edu/
Suggested additional readings: King Football, Chapter 8: Ethnicity (Blackboard)
March 7: SPRING BREAK – NO CLASS!
March 14: Race
It wasn’t just Jackie and Cassius… throughout the 20th Century sports has been a vehicle
for Afro-Americans to emerge within the public sphere. Meanwhile, often other texts
accompanied that of race.
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Jack Johnson
Joe Louis
Jesse Owens
Tommie Smith and Juan Carlos - U.S. Olympic runners
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WATCH Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (available @
Blackboard:Sharestream)
Readings:
Joseph Dorinson, “Black Heroes in Sport: From Jack Johnson to Muhammad Ali.”
Journal of Popular Culture. (Blackboard);
NYTimes Article Jul 28, 1935, (Blackboard)
Richard Lewis, “Caught in Time: Black Power salute, Mexico, 1968.” The Sunday Times
UK, Oct 8, 2006, (Blackboard)
Additional resources: http://www.pbs.org/unforgivableblackness/
March 21: Jackie Robinson – The Noble Experiment
His number is retired. His presence still resonates within American culture. Remarkably,
the country knew how significant his role was back then, just as it does 60+ years later…
or did it? By learning of the Noble Experiment, through the eyes of Jackie – himself, we
can better appreciate its true impact on American culture (please note: this is the only
autobiography we read during the semester... why’s that?)
Readings:
Robinson, Jackie I Never Had it Made.
Roger Kahn, “The Jackie Robinson I Remember”, The Journal of Blacks in Higher
Education. No. 14 (Winter, 1996-1997) (pp. 88-93) (Blackboard)
Suggested additional readings:
Tygiel, Jules. Baseball’s Great Experiment: Jackie Robinson and His Legacy.
March 28: EASTER BREAK – NO CLASS!
April 4: Muhammad Ali
A boxer? The most famous person on the planet? From Louisville to the Supreme Court;
both in Harlem and Zaire. You can’t make this stuff up!!! And, you thought Michael
“Air” Jordan was big… the objective behind appreciating Ali is understanding the onset
of global celebrity and the power of television.
1. Race
2. Pacifism
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3. Masculinity/femininity
4. Globally mediated messages
5. Ali & Cosell
Readings:
Halberstam, Muhammad Ali Then and Now, (pg. 702 – 712); Ego, (pg. 713 – 737)
Jeffrey Sammons, Muhammad Ali, the People’s Champ, Gorn, Elliott J., ed. Rebel with
a Cause: Muhammad Ali as Sixties Protest Symbol, Chapter 7 (pg. 154 – 180) (EReserves)
Garry Whannel, Media Sports Stars: Masculinities and Moralities, Pretty boys, the 1960s,
and Pop Culture, (pg. 114 – 128) (Blackboard)
Additional Readings:
Cosell, I Never Played the Game Prologue (pg. 13 – 17) (Blackboard)
ASSIGNMENT: Final Paper Topic Due (w/ Bibliography)
April 11: The Masters & Tiger Woods, The Haig, Arnie, et al.
Sports historically target the lower and middle classes. However, each April the stage
features Cadillacs, brokerage firms, and until recently no women or people of color.
Readings:
Halberstam, “The Haig”: Rowdy Rebel of the Fairways (pg. 276 – 288)
Inabinett, Bobby Jones (pg. 50 – 62)
Grantland Rice, The Tumult and the Shouting, The Other Babe and Women Sports, pg.
237 – 243. (E-Reserves)
Halberstam, The Chosen One (pg. 611 – 629)
David L. Andrews, ed., Sports Stars, C.L. Cole & David L. Andrews, America’s new son:
Tiger Woods and America’s Multiculturalism (Blackboard)
Phil Schaaf, Sports, Inc.: 100 years of Sports Business, Sell, Sell, Sell (pg. 317 – 341)
(Blackboard)
Additional Resources:
http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=sbd.main&storyID=SBD2007
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Hugo Ceron-Anaya, “An Approach to the History of Golf: Business, Symbolic Capital,
and Technologies of the Self”, Journal of Sport & Social Issues, August 2010. 34: 339358 (Blackboard)
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April 18: Gender - Billy Jean King
At the time, it was billed as the “Battle of the Sexes:” a P.T. Barnum-type of event that
set forth the financial potential of televised sports. Decades later, we see one of its
principle actors as a symbol for feminism, gay rights, and equity in higher education.
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Title IX
Women’s Tennis
Mia Hamm
Pat Summit
WATCH “Portrait of a Pioneer” – the HBO documentary on BJK
Readings:
Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972,
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/titleix.htm
Kathryn Jay, More Than Just a Game : Sports in American Life since 1945, Chapter 5:
Walking the Picket Line and Fighting for Rights, pg. 146 – 179 New York. Columbia
University Press 2004. (Blackboard & E-Reserves)
Theresa Walton, Reaganism and the dismantling of civil rights: Title IX in the 1980s.
Women in Sport & Physical Activity Journal 19, (1): 14-25, 2010.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/750368991?accountid=11091.
Michael A. Messner, Taking the Field: Women, men, and Sports, Chapter 4: Center of
Attention: The Gender of Sports Media (E-Reserves)
Additional Resources: http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014147.html ;
http://espn.go.com/sportscentury/features/00014149.html ;
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/siforwomen/top_100/2/
April 25: Open Date for Catching up
Readings:
TBD
May 9: FINAL PAPER DUE