POPSspot is just getting started, but thankfully many other folks have been calling out Power, Oppression, and Privilege in Sports throughout 2011. Here is a sampling of 16 articles that either investigated new ground, tackled many of the year’s hottest issues, or challenged the dominant sports media narrative. Many thought-provoking articles have been missed no doubt, but this 16-pack should give folks a flavor of the type of ground POPSspot will be covering or supporting in 2012.
Happy hat-tips and holidays to all for their great work!
- Punched Out: The Life and Death of a Hockey Enforcer - 3-Part New York Times Article Series on Derek Boogaard
by John Branch, New York Times, December 2011
- Emancipate the NBA: Struggling for Justice in the NBA – One of many chronicling NBA Lockout. Check the links.
by David J. Leonard, New Black Man, November 2011
- Penn State and Berkeley: A Tale of Two Protests - Two crowds, two causes, two behaviors, two responses…
by Dave Zirin, The Nation, November 2011
- The Shame of College Sports - Aren’t there bigger fish to fry for a Civil Rights historian than the NCAA?: Nope.
by Taylor Branch, The Atlantic, October 2011
- What Serena Was Saying to Us All - The context surrounding Serena seems to be overlooked. Here’s a translation.
by D.K. Wilson, D.K. Wilson Island, September 2011
- Angola: Faith-Based Slavery in Louisiana Prison – Does American slavery still exist? Yes, and you can buy a ticket.
by Liliana Segura, Colorlines, August 2011
- Sex Sells Sex, Not Women Sports - Article tackles one of most enduring myths in sports.
by Mary Jo Kane, The Nation, July 2011
- Lebron vs. Oscar Grant & Mehserle’s Sentence in Perspective – Lebron covers up crime, Plaxico gets more time.
by Stephanie Robinson, News One June 2010; Hamed Aleaziz, Mother Jones, June 2011
- Will Sheridan: “I’m Proud of Who I Am”? – Gay and at peace, former Villanova starter expresses his coming out story.
by Dana O’Neill, ESPN, May 2011
- Carlos Santana Slams [SB 1070] Immigration Laws at Civil Rights Game - “I am here to give voice to the invisible”.
by Ray Glier, USA Today, May 2011 (more here, here, and here)
- AP Sports Editors Racial-Gender Report Card - Editors are 97% white, 94% male, and report calls for “The Wiley Rule”.
by Richard Lapchick with Austin Moss II, Christina Russell, and Rodney Scearce, TIDES, April 2011
- TSF Jalen Rose Interview: The Fab Five Were Five Times The American Dream - For real scoop go to TSF & skip Bayless
by Michael Tillery and Jalen Rose, The Starting Five, March 2011
- No Hype for Women’s Hoops - Study: Only 1.6 percent of TV sports-news airtime devoted to women athletes. Seriously.
by Michael Messner, Ms. Magazine Blog, March 2011
- Why the NFL and NBA Players Unions Need to Pay Attention to What’s Happening in Wisconsin
by Mark Anthony Neal, New Black Man, February 2011
- Does Football Have a Future?: The NFL and the Concussion Crisis - follows up great work from NY Times Alan Schwarz
by Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, January 2011
