True to the spirit of the all-American athlete and our society's seemingly endless pursuit of and passion for leisure activities is Sports & Recreation Fads. This readable and fascinating reference book highlights some of the most notable as well as some long-forgotten pastimes and personalities. Just about every sport and recreation embraced from Colonial America to the present has had its faddish aspects; the fascinating introduction provides a basic understanding of the importance of fads in the development of sports and recreation. Sports & Recreation Fads is a handy guide to our favorite leisure activities of the last 200 years.

Hoffmann, Frank; Ramirez, Beulah B

Contents Introduction

• Hank Aaron: 715
• Aristocratic Pastimes (1880-1910)
• Arnie's Army
• Artificial Turf
• Charles Atlas and Dynamic Tension
• Autographs
• Automobiling
• Bagatelle
• Balloon Jumping
• Barking off Squirrels
• The Rise of Baseball
• Baseball Card Collecting
• The "Battle of the Sexes": Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs
• Bicycling
• Billiards
• Bison Shooting
• Black Power at the XIX Olympics
• The "Black Sox Scandal"
• Blacks in Sports Management Positions
• Boom Cars
• Bowling
• Bridge
• Charades
• Classic Baseball Shirt Reproductions
• Cooperative Sports and Games
• Crossword Puzzles
• The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders
• Dance Marathons
• Joe Di Maggio's Consecutive Game Hitting Streak
• Drive-In Restaurants
• Drive-In Theaters
• Dungeons and Dragons
• The Endless Summer
• Exercise Videos
• Fantasy Baseball
• Mark "Bird" Fidrych
• Bobby Fischer and the Chess Craze
• Flagpole Sitting
• Fletcherizing: A Dietary Route to Fitness
• The Flying Wedge
• Franchise Shifting in Major League Baseball
• Frisbee
• Game Improvement Sports Gear
• Games of Deception
• Gliders
• Gouging
• The Herkie Jump
• Hoosier Hysteria
• Horseless Carriage Races
• The Hot Rod Cult
• Hot Tubs
• Hula Hoops
• Ice Yachting
• The Ickey Shuffle
• Bo Jackson and 2-Sport Athletes
• Lotteries
• Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling for the Heavyweight Championship
• The M&M Boys' Race With Ruth
• Mah Jong
• Mickey Mantle's Race With Ruth
• Marathon Flying
• Medical Electricity as a Tool for Fitness
• Frank Merriwell
• Them Amazin' Mets
• Miniature Golf
• Monopoly
• Muhammed Ali
• Muscular Christianity
• "Broadway Joe" Namath
• North/South Horse Races
• The Notre Dame Mystique
• Ouija Board
• Parachuting
• Parlor Disguises
• Pedestrian Events
• Pelota
• Perestroika in Pro Sports
• Personal Watercraft
• Pick Up Sticks
• Ping Pong
• Platform Tennis
• Pushball
• Quoits
• "The Refrigerator": William Perry
• Jackie Robinson and Baseball's Color Line
• The Pete Rose Gambling Scandal
• Babe Ruth Calls His Shot
• Scandals in College Athletics
• Scrabble
• Skateboarding
• The Slam Dunk
• Slave Fights
• Snow Bat
• Spirit of the Times
• Spiritualism
• Sting Ray Bicycles
• Streaking
• The John L. Sullivan Mystique
• Surfing
• The Topless Bathing Suit
• Trivial Pursuit
• Tug-of-War
• The Mike Tyson-Robin Givens Affair
• Volleyball
• "We Are Family": The 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates
• WrestleMania
• Yo-Yos
• Index