Takes you on a journey from the Olympic Games in Athens to the World Cup in Germany - via the Ashes series, the Ryder Cup, Wimbledon, and more. This book examines why sport holds us all in such thrall, how it uplifts and crushes us - and can seem to matter more than life itself.

In The Meaning of Sports, Michael Mandelbaum, a sports fan who is also one of the nation's preeminent foreign policy thinkers, examines America's century-long love affair with team sports. In keeping with his reputation for writing about big ideas in an illuminating and graceful way, he shows how sports respond to deep human needs; describes the ways in which baseball, football and basketball became national institutions and how they reached their present forms; and covers the evolution of rules, the rise and fall of the most successful teams, and the historical significance of the most famous and influential figures such as Babe Ruth, Vince Lombardi, and Michael Jordan. Whether he is writing about baseball as the agrarian game, football as similar to warfare, basketball as the embodiment of post-industrial society, or the moral havoc created by baseball's designated hitter rule, Mandelbaum applies the full force of his learning and wit to subjects about which so many Americans care passionately: the games they played in their youth and continue to follow as adults. By offering a fresh and unconventional perspective on these games, The Meaning of Sports makes for fascinating and rewarding reading both for fans and newcomers.

This exciting new undergraduate textbook introduces the reader to the broad and complex relationship between sport, culture and society, and critically examines the key assumptions that we hold with regard to the nature of sport.

This classic anthology analyzes the sociological implications of sports in modern society through a series of interesting and informative essays. Sport in Contemporary Society can be used in a variety of ways, as a primary text for courses in the sociology of sport, as a supplementary text for a sociology course, or even for general readers who wish to deepen their understanding and appreciation of sport. 35 articles, 21 new to this edition, are included.

This book is accessible to a wide range of teachers, researchers and students in the world of sport. The central research question in the book is how values and norms manifest themselves in sport and what societal meanings they have. Different contributions provide a number of different perspectives.

This book explores the deeper meaning of sports. Drawing on contemporary research, the author makes a strong case for why we should see sport not only in terms of religion but--more importantly-as a possible location for spiritual meaning. Taking this a step farther, she considers how gene editing, robotics, and other biomedical technological enhancements affect not only sports performances but experiences of sport as sacred. In addition, the author explores what difference it might make to the enhancement debate if sports’ spirituality is taken seriously. The author is not afraid to explore the issue in all its complexity. Yet, the argument she presents is both meaningful and accessible. This investigation applies insights from Christian theology, applied ethics, psychology, and sports studies. From lightweight tennis racquets to anabolic steroids, athletes have long used technology and science to improve their performances. But, until now, no one has asked how biomedical technological enhancements might affect the undervalued spiritual dimension of sport. This book presents rich insights into the connection between sports, spirituality, and human enhancement technologies. It will appeal to researchers, athletes and sports followers, and undergraduate and graduate students in ethics, sport, religion or theology.