Chapter 13

Sport in the Twentieth Century

Mechikoff /Estes, A History and Philosophy of Sport and Physical Education, Fourth Edition © 2006,
The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
Sport in America
Model for sport in place by late 1800s
Movement to the cities supported the push
for sport and recreational activities
Technological advancements were used in the
sport world
Telegraphs, radio, and television contributed
in the spread of sport information
Sports journalism developed
Sport and Playful Activities
Became increasingly accepted because
Americans felt more
Comfortable with the body
Became free of religious restrictions
Became related to the physical aspect
of humans
Attitude Towards Sport
Many different views
Generalizations difficult to make
Sport is practiced in rural and urban areas
Sport exists in premodern and modern form
Sometimes viewed as exercise of body only
Also viewed as means of achieving
integration of mind and body
Changes in attitude occurred and are
illustrated by trends in sports
College Football
Evolved into the most popular sport on
American college campuses
“King of Intercollegiate Athletics”
Coaches became national heroes
Bowl games began with Rose Bowl in
1902
Trophies and awards were granted
Heisman Trophy
Intercollegiate football, 1902
College Football
Integration of football programs began in the late
1800s
1892: first game between two black colleges
Safety of the game was in question
1905: 18 football players were killed
Pres. Roosevelt called meeting to reform the game
Agreement to keep football
Formed a governing agency for football
Recruiting violations were also a problem
College Football
1910: governing agency was renamed
the NCAA
Held an educational role
Adopted minimum eligibility rules
38 charter members who developed the
forward pass rule
Professional Football
Played as early as 1894
Players were blue-collar workers and former
college football players
Struggled to gain legitimacy
1920: the American Professional Football
Association (APFA) was formed
Jim Thorpe was the first president
Teams were first of modern professional football
Professional Football
APFA name changes to National Football
League (NFL)
Early struggle for respect and popularity
Key players and advertising help build fan base
1946: Color barrier broken when Kenny
Washington and Woody Strode join the Los
Angeles Rams
Professional Football
1960: American Football League (AFL)
is formed
1966: First Super Bowl
1970: Merger of AFL and NFL
Baseball
Hugely popular at all levels (professional,
community, school)
Reflected societal trends: whites played in the
Major League and African Americans played
in the Negro League
Jackie Robinson joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in
1947, the first black to play in the Major League
Eddie Kelp, a white man, briefly played in the
Negro League
Both men were the object of racial taunting
Baseball

First Negro League World Series, 1924

Basketball
1891: Dr. James Naismith invented basketball
at Springfield College (originally the YMCA)
Game was an instant success
YMCA became the “hotbed” of basketball
High school and colleges adopted the sport
Popular with both men and women
Colleges, YMCA, and the AAU all had different
sets of rules
Basketball
1915: Joint Committee developed
Representatives from the NCAA, AAU, and YMCA
Agreement on uniform rules
Game caught on quickly around turn of 20th
century
1896: first basketball leagues formed in Denver
1901: Eastern colleges formed Intercollegiate
League
American military introduced the game around the
world during World War I
New York University, winner of AAAU basketball championship, ca. 1920
Boxing
Outlawed in many states in early 20th
century
Popular sport for betting
Matches often took place in remote
locations to avoid bans on boxing and
gambling
Boxing: Jack Johnson (1879-1946)
First African American heavyweight champion
(1908-1914)
Often barred from fighting champion white
boxers
Flouted social conventions of the time
Authorities misapplied the Mann Act; Johnson
convicted
Johnson lived abroad but eventually returned
to the U.S. and served his sentence
Boxing

Jack Johnson (left); Jack Dempsey (right)

Volleyball
1895: William Morgan developed the game
Massachusetts YMCA
Originally called “minonette” and played over
nine innings
July 1896: first published account of game
Game was promoted by the YMCA
Also adopted by the American military
Women and Sport
Attitudes reflect cultural biases about play
and sport
Sport builds manliness—so not for women
Dance became integral component of physical
education programs
Some women’s colleges did provide athletic
programs
Female physical educators discouraged
competitive events
Women and Sport
Key early figures
Blanche Trilling
Mabel Lee
Agnes Wayman
Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias
Success in 1932 Olympics and as professional
golfer
Undermined idea that women were unsuited for
athletic competition
Women and Sport
1957: Formation of organization to administer
women’s athletics, eventually called Association for
Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW)
1972: Title IX
All teams in high schools and colleges are open to
both sexes
Equal opportunities and financial support must be
provided
1975-1983: NCAA takes control of women’s
intercollegiate sports, AIAW disbands