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Lädt ... Pedestrianism: When Watching People Walk Was America's Favorite Spectator Sportvon Matthew Algeo
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"Strange as it sounds, during the 1870s and 1880s, America's most popular spectator sport wasn't baseball, football, or horse racing--it was competitive walking. Inside sold-out arenas, competitors walked around dirt tracks almost nonstop for six straight days (never on Sunday), risking their health and sanity to see who could walk the farthest--500 miles, then 520 miles, then 565 miles! These walking matches were as talked about as the weather, the details reported in newspapers and telegraphed to fans from coast to coast. This long-forgotten sport, known as pedestrianism, spawned America's first celebrity athletes, the forerunners--forewalkers, actually--of LeBron James and Tiger Woods. The top pedestrians earned a fortune in prize money and endorsement deals. The sport also opened doors for immigrants, African Americans, and women. But along with the excitement came the inevitable scandals, charges of doping--coca leaves!--and insider gambling. PEDESTRIANISM chronicles competitive walking's peculiar appeal and popularity, its rapid demise, and its enduring influence"-- Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)796.510973The arts Recreational and performing arts Athletic and outdoor sports and games Outdoor leisure WalkingKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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Unlike many nonfiction books you read, Pedestrianism is easy to read but doesn’t talk down to you. Matthew Algeo brings the athletes alive, and you would not believe how interesting pedestrianism is. Moreover, the book covers so much more than *just* pedestrianism, taking you through the world at the time (that time being 1870s-early 1900s). You learn not just about pedestrianism, but about the creation of other sports: boxing, cycling, and baseball. Algeo also takes you through the British/American pedestrianism rivalry, and the big names in pedestrianism. Dan O’Leary, Edward Weston, Frank Hart (my personal favorite), and Charles Rowell (You will know these names once you’ve read the book and believe you me, you will have a favorite).
I have to commend this book for making sports interesting, and recommend to everyone, regardless of their level of sport interest (which again, I have none). Watching bedraggled men and women walk in circles for six days might not sound interesting, but reading about it sure is! (Which should be the subtitle of the book)
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