“Although it is often celebrated for its sunshine, palm trees, and movie stars, Los Angeles also boasts a rich sporting history. Through compiling the essays for this volume, Wayne Wilson and David K. Wiggins offer an insightful cross-section of the city’s sporting culture. From biographical essays to analyses of specific sporting events, there is something in this collection for every sports enthusiast, sports scholar, and sports historian.”
—Bennie Niles IV, Journal of Sport History, Volume 47, Number 2, Summer 2020
LA Sports brings together sixteen essays covering various aspects of the development and changing nature of sport in one of America’s most fascinating and famous cities. The writers cover a range of topics, including the history of car racing and ice skating, the development of sport venues, the power of the Mexican fan base in American soccer leagues, the intersecting life stories of Jackie and Mack Robinson, the importance of the Showtime Lakers, the origins of Muscle Beach and surfing, sport in Hollywood films, and more.
LA Sports is part of the Sport, Culture, and Society Series. The series publishes monographs and collections for academics and general readers in the humanities and social sciences. Its focus is the role of sport in the development of community and the forging of individual, local, regional, and national identities. Sport, Culture, and Society is edited by David K. Wiggins.