Rivals: Legendary Matchups That Made Sports History

"Rivalries are the lifeblood of sport. They're at the heart of what competition is all about. Rivals offers a detailed look at sixteen historic rivalries that shaped the world of sports and still reverberate today."

—Thomas Hauser, author of Muhammad Ali: His Life and Times



"Better than any book I know, this dazzling collection dramatizes the rich range of meanings embodied by modern American sport. The focus on great rivalries, and the contrasts in social and cultural values they come to represent, allow the authors to illuminate many of the key factors that have shaped Americans' views of sport—and of themselves—over a century of tumultuous change."

—Pamela Grundy, author of Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women's Basketball



"Whether intensely local (Massillon vs. Canton High) or global (USA vs. USSR in track), rivalries distill sport to its essence: one on one, Us against Them, Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, however fans choose to define them. These wide-ranging essays are never dull, always illuminating, in bringing sixteen great sporting rivalries to life."

—Michael Oriard, author of Bowled Over: Big-Time College Football from the Sixties to the BCs Era



"Rivalries provide a public purpose that intensifies the meaning of a contest and give it an emotional quality that produces a burning urgency for participant and spectator alike. This well-chosen and well-written volume takes us through some of the best known rivalries on the local, national, and international stage. This is a great book."

—Richard C. Crepeau, author of Baseball: America's Diamond Mind