December 2022 MBR The Sports Shelf

The Sports Shelf

Underdogs and Newshounds
Chris Scudder
Projectis Publishing
https://projectispublishing.com
9781913984090, 16.99 British Pounds, PB, 250pp

Synopsis: As England head to another World Cup in Qatar with hopes higher than ever and with the publication of "Underdogs and Newshounds: A World Cup Odyssey" former Sky presenter and correspondent Chris Skudder takes his readers on an evocative road trip, a personal journey from 1966 through to the present.

"Underdogs and Newshounds" is a frank and often irreverent on-the-road account viewed through, and beyond the eye of the camera lens that accompanied him around the globe covering the last seven tournaments. This is a compilation of stories that rarely heard and/or that could never be fully told on television. A correspondent who was never shy to tell it like it was, "Underdogs and Newshounds" is part travelogue, part memoir, and essential reading for any dedicated fan who ever hit the road for the big international tournaments or harbors a dream of doing so.

As a lifelong Birmingham City fan, Chris has experienced the lows and lowers that any struggling club or England fan knows only too well. "Underdogs and Newshounds" is comprised of 'up close' stories from one of the most traveled and experienced sports correspondents in British broadcasting, and the club 'education' that got him there. But there's much here for more than just sports fans, from someone who saw the bigger picture. It homes in on the people and the places, littered with wry humour, punctuated by dark tales from the road.

Critique: Fascinating, informative, thought-provoking, and a 'must' for all dedicated soccer fans, "Underdogs and Newshounds: A World Cup Odyssey" is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, community, and academic library Sports History & Memoir collections. (https://chrisskudder.substack.com/p/introducing-underdogs-and-newshounds)

Editorial Note: Chris Skudder is one of the most travelled and experienced sports correspondents in British broadcasting. Chris was one of the original wave of broadcasters from the satellite revolution of the early 90's when Sky News shook up the establishment - one of the pioneers of rolling news and sports news. Chris also earned a place in history as the first person to commit the words 'Sky Sports' to tape, a voiceover for the original commercial tender from the days when the idea of a dedicated sports channel was first in play.

Eye witness to seven football World Cups, he is known for being in the thick of the action - interviewing everyone from die-hard fans to undercover officers and some of the biggest names in sport. With a career spanning more than 35 years - 25 of them with Sky News and Sky Sports News, he now works for ITV News, among others. He is also a podcaster, gig goer and music fan, with each chapter of his debut book, "Underdogs and Newshounds: A World Cup Odyssey", hitting the right note with a musical reference tied to the storytelling.

The Black Athlete as Hero
Joseph Dorinson
McFarland & Company
PO Box 611, Jefferson NC 28640
https://mcfarlandbooks.com
9781476678863, $39.95, PB, 307pp

https://www.amazon.com/Black-Athlete-Hero-American-Breakers/dp/1476678863

Synopsis: Part history, part biography, "The Black Athlete as Hero: American Barrier Breakers from Nine Sports" is an informative and seminal study by Joseph Dorinson (who is a retired history professor from Long Island University) that examines the Black athlete's search to unify what W.E.B. DuBois called the "two unreconciled strivings" of African Americans -- the struggle to survive in black society while adapting to white society.

Black athletes have served as vanguards of change, challenging the dominant culture, crossing social boundaries and raising political awareness. Champions like Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, Wilma Rudolph, Roberto Clemente, Althea Gibson, Arthur Ashe, Serena Williams, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and LeBron James make a difference, even as many in the Black community question the idea of athletes as role models.

Professor Dorinson deftly argues the importance of sports heroes in a panic-plagued era beset with class division and racial privilege.

Critique: A fascinating, ground-breaking sports history, "The Black Athlete as Hero: American Barrier Breakers from Nine Sports" is a seminal and unreservedly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, and academic library American Sports History collections in general, and African-American Sports Biography reading lists in particular.

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