One Game at a Time: Why Sports Matter

“The spirit of Walt Whitman, cheered on by the ghost of A. J. Liebling, moves Matt Hern’s pen in this street-tough but joyful celebration of bodies electric and hopes defiant. The bottom line? Be kind, be tough.” —Mike Davis, author of In Praise of Barbarians

Sports are serious stuff. Football, basketball, tennis, mixed martial arts, and beyond: these are arenas of immense power, with mass appeal, yet far too many of us have abandoned the sporting world as a legitimate site of contestation a...