Sports History
The sport that Alfie Harmer argues does not fit the definition of a true sport, played by 61 million people worldwide.
Golf
The initial purpose/role of early gladiatorial games
Initially they were not for entertainment, but were a religious rite/funeral activity that offered a blood offering to the dead. This was based in the idea that the dead are just missing the liquid of life --> blood can give dead a transitory existence.
The cause of the battle of Agincourt, which ended in English victory on 25 October 1415 (during the Hundred Years' War) over France. (Hint: Described by Shakespeare)
An example of a holiday during which people go out to play various games and contests. Give the significance
Shrove Tuesday.
Significant because, since it was right before Lent, it was the day before many Christians would give up sports for the next 40 days
Father of the modern olympics. A french aristocrat who became enamoured with sports.
Pierre de Coubertin (1863-1937)
NYU Business school professor, author, and moral philosopher who gives us the notion of elevation
Johnathan Haidt
The Gladiatorial Spirit: People did not go to games for technique or for physical endurance -- people went to see how people faced death
The dominant social system in Medieval Europe based on an exchange of land for service and protection
Feudalism
A game of the middle ages and early modern period that eventually disappears due to enclosures
Mob football
Takes sports from local to national in sport; enables promoters to say when teams will be arriving.
Railways
The two reasons to study sports, as given by Professor Bellamy (hint: thesis, flu game)
1. Sports are a reflection of society rather than an exception to it.
2. Elevation -- moving from a neutral or depressed state to a positive inspired state; makes us feel connected
One of the the principles types of gladiator in Ancient Rome, from the latin word to chase. Carries a gladius, shield, guard on fighting arm, shin guards, sandals, and helmet.
Secutor
Three reasons Beggataway games were played
1. To honour the creator (religious)
2. Settle disputes (diplomatic)
3. Prepare players of various native communities for war
Cricket
Who was John Molson (1763-1836)?
Canadian brewer born in Lancashire. Significant because he was an early sports promoter and entrepreneur in the 1820s. He set up a brewery outside a barracks. He also ran steam ships between Montreal and Quebec to bring people see the cricket matches
The name and significance of this athlete: #42 for the Brooklyn Dodgers, one of the first Black Baseball players in MLB in 1947.
Jackie Robinson (1919-1972). Robinson faced adversity -- he was called slurs, injured intentionally, and discriminated against. His experience provides insight into the state of race relations in the Jim Crow law period.
1. Celebrities -- images everywhere, painted on bottles, lovers of rich women, sweat bottled and sold.
2. Scum / lowly -- use bodies to entertain others. Grouped together with prostitutes and actors
The idea that proposes that a land bridge connected Siberia (in Asia) to North America during the ice age, which allowed human migration
Notably: this theory sometimes conflicts with Indigenous ways of knowing and understanding the land, such as the story of turtle island.
Three basic principles of capitalism, discussed in class.
1. Capital accumulation for investment purposes
2. Private property.
3. Price system
William George Beers (1841-1900)
Identify and explain the importance of the dominant Western ideology that separates genders into 2 binary roles -- women are in the private sphere (home), men are in the public sphere.
Separate Spheres Ideology. Significant for our purposes because it helps explain why women are not in sports until the 1880s, and most especially until the mid 20th C.
The three main parts of the gladiatorial games
(What does a day at the games look like?)
1. Animal Hunts -- Bestiari.
2. Public Executions
3. Gladiatorial Fights
The trickster creator of the Blackfoot people, or 'The Old Man'
Broughton's rules (name 3)
1. Square in the middle of the ring with chalk. Two fighters square off before fight.
2. If a man goes down, he has 30 seconds to get back to the square before the fight ends. No time limit for a round.
3. Can't hit someone when they're down.
4. No grappling below the waist / fighting on the ground.
5. Only the fighters and seconds could be in the ring
6. Contestants each pick a judge to settle disputes
1. Humanism: Belief that humans determine the course of global history. Hard work can overcome anything
2. Gentlemanly ideal: Good sportsmanship
3. Muscular Christianity: Body and mind, outward strength is a manifestation of inner strength