Floodlights and Touchlines: A History of Spectator Sport

by Rob Steen

Overview

SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD 2014

Spectator sport is living, breathing, non-stop theatre for all.

Focusing on spectator sports and their accompanying issues, tracing their origins, evolution and impact, inside the lines and beyond the boundary, this book offers a thematic history of professional sport and the ingredients that magnetise millions around the globe.

It tells the stories that matter: from the gladiators of Rome to the runners of Rift Valley via the innovator-missionaries of Rugby School; from multi-faceted British exports to the Americanisation of professionalism and the Indianisation of cricket.

Rob Steen traces the development of these sports which captivate the turnstile millions and the mouse-clicking masses, addressing their key themes and commonalities, from creation myths to match fixing via race, politics, sexuality and internationalism.

Insightful and revelatory, this is an entertaining exploration of spectator sports' intrinsic place in culture and how sport imitates life – and life imitates sport.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781408181379
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	06/26/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Rob Steen is a sportswriter and co-leader of the BA (Hons) Sport Journalism course at the University of Brighton. He has written for the Guardian, the Independent, the Financial Times, the Melbourne Age, the Hindustan Times, the Sunday Telegraph and Sunday Times, where he was deputy sports editor. Winner of the 1995 Cricket Society Literary award and the UK section of the 2005 EU Journalism Award for 'diversity, against discrimination', runner-up for the 1991 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, he has published over a dozen books and written for a multitude of magazines, including the Observer Sports Monthly, The Cricketer and India Today, and is also a longstanding columnist for Cricinfo.
Rob Steen is an award-winning author, sportswriter and freshly retired senior lecturer in journalism at the University of Brighton. He has written for the Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, Sunday Times and Mojo. He has written numerous books on sport and has been shortlisted twice for the prestigious William Hill Sports Book of the Year award.

Table of Contents

Introduction: It's Only Bats And Balls (But We Like It) - Why Spectator Sport Matters More Than It Did (And More Than It Should)

1 The Sound (And Fury) Of The Crowd: Sport and Spectators
2 Class Wars: How Spectator Sport Began
3 Odds and Sods: Sport and Gambling
4 Ringmasters Inc: Sport and Governance
5 Sport and Professionalism
I From “Gentlemen” to Shamateurs
II Pride and Prejudice
6 Well-Paid Slaves: Sport and Players' Rights
7 The Us Syndrome: Sport and Internationalism
8 Reluctant Partners: Sport and Politics
9 No Normal Sport In An Abnormal Society: Sport and Race
I – Disunited States
II - For the Common Wealth
10 The Grass Ceiling: Sport and Sexuality

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2014
Why do we watch sports? When did our fascination with them begin and why are they so ingrained in human culture? Steen seeks to provide us with the answers to these intriguing questions about what he terms the competitive arts. Ten chapters discuss key subjects such as internationalism, gambling, unfair wages, amateurism vs. professionalism, the role that class plays in sports, and the differences in pay between male and female athletes. The author also discusses the origins of English football and American baseball, but his true interest surrounds those in the crowds and not just on the field. Steen provides especially great insight on the close relationship among sport, gambling, and fixed contests that has existed since what feels like the beginning of time. He examines the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, as well as other wretched abuses that have tarnished the purity of sport. Later, Steen deftly shows how these instances affect society as a whole. VERDICT A thoroughly researched history of a most captivating topic. Highly recommended for the sports fan or cultural anthropologist.—Brian Renvall, Mesalands Community Coll., Tucumcari, NM

Library Journal

08/18/2014
Steen's engrossing survey of spectator sport targets its origins, motives, and appeal from the barbarism of ancient Roman gladiator games to highly hyped Olympic contests to rowdy English football brawls. Steen, a sportswriter and a journalism professor at the University of Brighton, explores sport as a unifier of nations, races, social classes and sexes, providing a dramatic distraction from conflict and boredom while tapping into our sense of merit and fair play. He crams every peak and valley into this dense history, covering such topics as gambling, professionalism, athletes as "well-paid slaves" in the worldwide arena, political propaganda, racial triumphs, and social and sexual frontiers such as transgender and homosexual advances. Written in straight-forward, non-sense style, Steen gives the reader a chance to chuckle, writing: "Spectator sport is confrontational theatre, a non-stop people's theatre where fellow thespians do their damnedest to make you muck up your lines." Given the flood of hit-and-miss sports books, Steen's transformative work on the traditions and motives of games sets it apart from the usual entries seen in the genre. B+W Photos (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Engrossing survey of spectator sport . . . Given the flood of hit-and-miss sports books, Steen's transformativework on the traditions and motives of games sets it apart from the usual entries seen in the genre.” —Publishers Weekly

“In his deftly-written and engrossing new book, Rob Steen reminds us again why, beneath the floodlights and along the touchlines, sport has consumed so many of us for so long. It's as compelling as your favorite sporting memory—and more informative and amusing.” —Don McRae, The Guardian

“I believe that you will never fully understand the game behind the game without reading Floodlights and Touchlines. Rob Steen is the perfect guide to take you through this remarkable history.” —Dr. John Carlos, 1968 Olympian

“Rob Steen's intoxication with sport's dramatic qualities, his familiarity with the sporting scene on both sides of the Atlantic, and his writing verve all shine through in this penetrating study.” —Nick Pitt, The Sunday Times

“Rob's obstinate belief that sport and thought are not incompatible is an inspiration to us all.” —Simon Barnes, Chief Sportswriter for The Times

“Floodlights and Touchlines is a triumph. People who dismiss sports as mindless entertainment need to read this. People who love sports but find their ardor doesn't extend beyond the numbers need to read this as well. The sports world is better for its publication.” —Dave Zirin, Sports Editor of The Nation and author of Brazil's Dance with the Devil

“Rob Steen is the wittiest and most astringent English-language sportswriter. And this book provides a brilliant narrative of spectator sport. Internationalist, progressive, cosmopolitan, yet earthy, it is an instant classic.” —Toby Miller, author of Sportsex

“There are few, if any, sport writers today with as incisive and analytical a grasp of global diversity and trajectories in sport culture as Rob Steen; and certainly no one is as possessed as he with the humor and history to create riveting and riotous prose around the hubris and hysteria that play out at the intersection of sport and society.” —Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, University of West Indies

“Rob Steen's brilliant study of spectator sport across the ages is a publishing landmark. Awesome in its depth and breadth, Steen covers every imaginable aspect of his subject with a scholarly yet light touch which will leave the reader engrossed. Generations to come will treat this as the last word on the subject; the book is destined to be a classic.” —Gulu Ezekiel

“Steen is like an extremely well informed fellow fan at a match. He whispers nuggets of information to us as we embark on the journey that professional sports have been on since their inception in the late 19th century. By turns personal and eclectic, the narratives he weaves are richly informed, compelling, and highly entertaining. He offers a fresh take on the changing nature of spectatorship and fandom as he roams widely across sporting cultures, from baseball to cricket, from football to rugby. Steen also captures the importance of the wider cultural and political hinterland that shapes and supports sporting experience from Glasgow to New York. On the journey, he discusses the role gambling, governance, national identity, class, gender, and the media all have in transforming spectator sport. The book is insightful and ranges across material and sporting examples with a sureness of touch and fleetness of foot that is both admirable and hugely enjoyable. Sit back and enjoy the journey.” —Professor Raymond Boyle, Centre for Cultural Policy Research, University of Glasgow

“Rob Steen has written a lively, readable, and wide-ranging popular history of spectator sport which will entertain and enlighten fans across the world, especially in Britain and North America, brimming over with its author's enthusiasm and kaleidoscopic knowledge of sport past and present.” —Professor Dick Holt, author of Sport and the British

“A passionate, thought-provoking view of sport's place in our lives.” —Independent on Sunday

“This book provides one of the best and most illuminating narratives on sport that I have ever read . . . The breadth of subject matter is incredible and the expertise and knowledge of the author on sports—major and minor—on both sides of the Atlantic is mind-blowing. It is a historical account of sport and its intersection with society recounted by an author with a deep knowledge and an irresistible style of telling a story, making it one of the best sports books on the market today.” —Sarah Juggins, Sports Journalist Association

“An epically comprehensive account of the sporting experience, from literal gladiators to the modern metaphorical variety.” —The Independent

From the Publisher

Floodlights and Touchlines is a triumph. People who dismiss sports as mindless entertainment need to read this. People who love sports but find their ardor doesn't extend beyond the numbers need to read this as well. The sports world is better for its publication.

Sports Editor of The Nation and author of Brazil Dave Zirin