(from The Science Of Sport)

How much do we expect from our sporting heroes?

We are avid readers at The Science of Sport, and as is often the case our reading material provides inspiration for posts. So today we will have a look at the “Social Science of Sport” because I have just finished “A People’s History of Sports in the United States,” by Dave Zirin. It takes the format of the “People’s History of. . .” books, mostly by Howard Zinn. Zirin’s book is a pretty fast read and encompasses all the sports and many different aspects of them over the last few hundred years in the USA.

Much of the section on the 20th century examines how athletes, especially those of color, had to choose whether of not to be part of the struggle for civil rights. For many of the great non-white athletes it was very much a case of choosing sides, because there was very real pressure for them to take the up the struggle and promote the cause of civil rights. Failure to do so often brought criticism from civil rights leaders and advocates because the athletes had most certainly been on the receiving end of discrimination as they made their way up to the professional ranks. (more…)

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Hope all is rocking with you today.

If you have been on a foreign planet or stuck sandwiched between Angelina Jolie and Jenny Shimizu I excuse you but if you havent – you naughty child you! Speedo have released a new product onto the market called LAZR and to put simply, it makes you break world records. Loads of them.

Dr Ross Tucker at the Sport Science Institute has a few articles going on it, read here. Magic stuff. Plus a few other links from sore as hell Arena, who ALSO just released a suit, but are not happy as they have only broken 1 world record, and are now crying like a drunken girl from Parow at Dizzy`s on a Tuesday night kareoke when “Hit me baby, one more time” wasnt on the list.

Enjoy.

Ross Tucker.

Arena`s Supersuit.

Arena Throwing Toys.

Ta.

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