Reference Reviews

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Sports Scandals, by Peter Finley, Laura Finley and Jeffrey Fountain. 190 p. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2008. ISBN 13: 978-0-313-34458-9, ISBN 10: 0-313-34458-2. $45.00.

As with politics, many people recall the history of their favorite sports by noting both exceptional feats and larger-than-life scandals. As a reflection of our broader society, in fact, the scandals in major American sports chronicle a social history of our time. Basketball fans old enough to remember Len Bias play for the University of Maryland may recall the grace and power of his game and the potential he held as the Boston Celtics’ first round pick in 1986. Some called his overdose from cocaine before he played a single professional game a tragedy; others called it a waste, a sign of just how pervasive this dangerous drug had become in American society. The sheer number of athletes involved in violent altercations reflects the widespread resort to violence in the broader community. O.J. Simpson’s alleged murder of Nicole Simpson, football player Rae Carruth’s plot to kill his girlfriend, linebacker Ray Lewis’s implication in the stabbing death of a man at a post Super Bowl Party and the melee involving fans and basketball players from the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers all verify the perception that Americans live in an unacceptably violent society. Atlanta Braves’ pitcher John Rocker’s candid expression of his unsavory opinions about gays, Asians, Hispanics and women only confirmed contentions about the strength of bigotry in this country. Divided into seven thematic chapters, this volume highlights the major scandals in American sports history. 86 entries are included in chapters about violence, drugs, gambling, sex, cheating, outrageous commentary and odds and ends. Virtually all the major scandals of the past fifty years are covered, including the (first) O.J. Simpson trial, Tonya Harding’s henchmen attacking skater Nancy Kerrigan, Pete Rose betting on baseball and the BALCO Lab’s supply of steroids to prominent athletes from several sports, most notably, to Barry Bonds. Each entry lays out the essential facts of the case in two or three pages, concluding with a one or two-paragraph analysis of the significance of the episode to the sport or to American society. While collections of this sort benefit from generous inclusion of color photographs highlighting key figures, this volume includes only occasional black and whites photos. Nevertheless, students will enjoy the variety of extreme stories told here and may use several events as a springboard to other research. A helpful timeline of all the included events precedes the first chapter and a bibliography provides a means for students follow up with more extensive research. Recommended for high school and public libraries.