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Multidisciplinary Sportsmanship-New Book Released March 2016

Multidisciplinary Sportsmanship Book
New book on sportsmanship gathers multidisciplinary expertise

Sociology professor Tim Delaney, founder of the college’s annual observance of National Sportsmanship Day, has filled what he saw as a large gap in the literature of sports studies, editing a new cross-disciplinary book on sportsmanship.

Tim Delany with bookIn “Sportsmanship: Multidisciplinary Perspectives,” 26 authors representing 20 disciplines and five countries provide what Delaney calls “the most comprehensive collection of essays on the meaning of sportsmanship in existence.”

Newly available from McFarland & Co., the 277-page book takes on a topic that echoes from a reader’s first recollection of a parent saying, “Be a good sport” to news stories of today that document the myriad ways athletes demonstrate just the opposite.

Among Delaney’s chapter contributors are four other faculty members from SUNY Oswego: Evelyn Benavides of sociology, publishing as Evelyn A. Clark, who takes on issues of gender and sportsmanship; Chris Mack of history, who wrote a chapter on early 20th century golfer Francis Ouimet and sportsmanship in golf; Brian Moritz of communication studies, writing about sportsmanship and sports journalism; and Stephen A. Wurst of psychology, whose chapter is on cognitive psychology and sportsmanship.

The subject is near and dear to Delaney’s heart: Trained as a sports sociologist, he recently hosted his eighth Sportsmanship Day Symposium at SUNY Oswego in honor of National Sportsmanship Day.

“Twelve to 15 years ago, National Sportsmanship Day in March came to my attention,” said Delaney, a prolific author who also recently published “The Sociology of Sport” and long has taught courses on the subject. “I’d ask my classes (about it); nobody had ever heard of it. I started finding it odd that athletes hadn’t heard about it. … That led me to, ‘Well ESPN doesn’t do anything special to highlight or honor Sportsmanship Day.’ Then you begin to realize that everybody in sports, from parents to coaches to league officials, everybody will talk about the value of sportsmanship, they’ll give lip service to it, and yet nobody actually does anything specific about Sportsmanship Day.”

Ethical behavior

Delaney also found “sportsmanship is one of these concepts where everybody supposedly knows what it is.” Yet, he learned, people from different countries and different academic disciplines had different definitions of and ideas about sportsmanship.

Also helping move along Delaney’s idea for a multidisciplinary book on sportsmanship were takeaways from the Sportsmanship Day presentations of faculty from departments such as history and psychology, as well as student presentations.

“One college student was a referee for youth soccer, and he talked about the horror of being a referee at a youth soccer game” for 8- and 9-year-olds, Delaney said. “The coaches talked a good game about sportsmanship, but the parents on the sideline were out of control, screaming at the coach to put their kids in and yelling at the referee.”

Delaney wondered: If parents aren’t teaching and modeling sportsmanship, who is? Additionally, while researching his recent book “Sociology of Sport,” he noted the paucity of literature on sportsmanship geared for adults. Examples of civility and ethical behavior—and the opposite—abound in the new collection of essays.

“How we practice sportsmanship, or don’t, gives us practical and profound insights of our contemporary society,” he said. “It’s reflective of our cultural values, ethics, attitudes and norms. … When we no longer care about sportsmanship, we’ve got far bigger problems in society.”

PHOTO CAPTION: Sportsmanship examined—Sociology professor Tim Delaney recently published “Sportsmanship: Multidisciplinary Perspectives,” a book of essays from 26 contributing writers that provides viewpoints across academic disciplines and cultures on what it means to be a good sport or a poor sport.

http://www.oswego.edu/news/index.php/campusupdate/story/multidisciplinary_sportsmanship_book

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Sports Sociology Revisited-New Book Released September 2015

Sports Sociology Revisited-New Book Released September 2015

From domestic violence, concussions and on-field assaults to video gaming, fantasy sports and online gambling, SUNY Oswego’s Tim Delaney and co-author Tim Madigan of St. John Fisher College have teamed to update “The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction” for the latest generation of students and fans.  The book’s second edition, published in August by McFarland & Co., adds 130 pages, connects sports with popular culture and brings current the “sport as a microcosm of society” theme that infuses today’s sports pages and shows, according to Delaney, professor and chair of sociology.

http://www.oswego.edu/news/index.php/campusupdate/story/sports_sociology_revisited

Tim Delaney with book
Tim Delaney, professor and chair of sociology.

New Book Released July 22, 2015

The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction, 2nd Ed. Paperback – Released on July 22, 2015

In its second edition, The Sociology of Sports takes a fresh approach to the study of sports, presenting key concepts such as socialization, economics, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, politics, the media and the role of sports in society. Other features include up-to-date information–such as statistics on player and owner salaries–and a look at recent controversies in sports, such as performance-enhancing drugs, domestic violence, online gambling and the growing concern over concussions and post-career health problems. The value of sports for people with physical disabilities and special needs is discussed, as well as the development of sports studies programs and the continuing importance of “sportsmanship.” The final chapter explores how social media, as well as new forms of virtual reality and the prevalence of video gaming, are reshaping the concept of what constitutes a sport.

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Baseball Season

The 8th annual Sportsmanship Day Symposium will be held March 3, 2016 at the Morano Campus Center on the campus of SUNY Oswego. Stop by, its free to attend!

We have surpassed the 45,000 Visitor count number (as of 2/10/16).

Tim was interviewed (2/7/16) by the prestigious Le Monde French newspaper regarding the perception of Cam Newton and the 2016 Super Bowl…

http://www.lemonde.fr/sports-us/article/2016/02/04/super-bowl-l-esprit-d-une-nation_4859578_1616670.html

Summer is nearing an end and the Fall Semester is about to begin! The summer goes by faster and faster every year! On the positive side, this means that baseball season is a critical point as teams position themselves for the playoffs and most importantly, FOOTBALL is about to begin!!

We just reached Visitor Count # 44,000!! (June 1, 2015)

Winter is finally over and the Major League Baseball season has started! Here’s hoping everyone has a wonderful spring and summer!

Wishing everyone a very Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The 7th annual Sportsmanship Day Symposium will be held March 5, 2015 at SUNY Oswego.

Tim Delaney will have 2 books released in 2015!

Tim Delaney gave the Keynote Address for the annual Criminal Justice Educators Association of New York State on October 23, 2014, in Utica, N.Y.

…His talk was titled: “From Sesame Street to Street Gang: The Transformation of Play Groups to Street Gangs”

Tailgating Syracuse University style with Tim Delaney grilling!

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10204688663954083

The Puffer Man (KSEN/KZIN) loves our book that provides a positive look at sports–Sports: Why People Love Them! See the Sept 5, 2014 link below:

http://ksenam.com/we-love-sports/?trackback=email

Tim Delaney will be interviewed by a number of radio stations in the near future about his co-authored book (with Tim Madigan) Beyond Sustainability.

Tim was interviewed on CKWR-FM, 98.5 in Kitchener, Ontario on August 20, 2014.

Read this blog (August 19, 2014) from Jerry Puffer at KSEN/KZIN, Shelby, MT:

http://ksenam.com/delaney-and-madigan/?trackback=email

Listen to Tim on WILO in Frankfort, IN 1570AM/94.1FM, on August 12th, 9:00am

Special shout-out to the Liz and Dave at WRNN 95.5FM, Myrtle Beach, SC for having me on as a guest July 30th, 8:00am. It was a great interview. I spoke about, among other things, species extinction and its relationship to the 6th mass extinction.

Tim Delaney was just promoted to (Full) Professor Sociology, effective Fall 2014 semester. Yeah!!!

Tim was recently interviewed by Dianna Troyer of “Ruralite” magazine on the topic of Drive-ins. Publication forthcoming.

Delaney recently returned from a wonderful week in Ireland. Special thanks to a great host and better friend, Tim Madigan, for showing Chris Mack and I around Waterford and Galway!

Tim Delaney discussed the possible new ownership of the Buffalo Bills on WBEN radio, Tuesday, April 8th.

Beyond Sustainability …recently released to the general public!

Learn more: http://www.oswego.edu/news/index.php/campusupdate/story/thrivability_promoted