Spectator Sport: Books about Fan Culture

This post was originally written by M. Elwood for Toronto Public Library's web site. It was first published on May 24, 2016.


 
At the course, Labour Day in Harriston
At the course, Labour Day in Harriston, 1910


The Raptors are in the Eastern Conference Final of the NBA playoffs even though a CBS sports poll identified them merely as the "other" team. The Marlies are in the Eastern Conference Final of the Calder Cup. The Toronto Blue Jays are brawling in Texas. The Toronto Maple Leafs have the first draft pick. It's a pretty good time to be a sports fan in Toronto -- if there is ever a "good" time. It's a hard thing to be a sports fan. The thrill of victory is sweet but rare, and requires suffering through plenty of agony of defeat moments. 

These books are about the passion and pain of being a sports fan:

Boys of summer Federer and me Fever pitch Hope and heartbreak

The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn
Kahn recalls his boyhood in Brooklyn, the borough's devotion to the Dodgers and his career covering the team in the 1950s. 

Federer and Me: A Story of Obsession by William Skidelesky
• eBook
Skidelesky examines his consuming passion for tennis player Roger Federer. Trying to understand the psychology of the obsessed fan, he dissects his own personal history. 

Fever Pitch by Nick Hornby
• Audiobook
• eBook
A passionate Arsenal FC fan, Hornby tells the story of his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood through a series of essays, each about a football match he watched.

Hope and Heartbreak in Toronto: Life as a Maple Leafs Fan by Peter Robinson
• eBook
It is hard to be a Maple Leafs fan and Peter Robinson understands. In this book, he tries to explain the irrational (and sometimes unrequited) love Leafs fans feel towards the team. 

I don't care if we never get back Secret life of sports fans Wait till next year World is a ball


I Don't Care if We Never Get Back: 30 Games in 30 Days on the Best Worst Baseball Road Trip Ever by Ben Blatt and Eric Brewster
• eBook
Baseball fan Ben Blatt wrote an algorithm for the ultimate baseball road trip -- 30 games in 30 stadiums in 30 days and decided to give it a try. His companion for the trip is Eric Brewster, a man who doesn't really like the sport.

The Secret Life of Sports Fans: The Science of Sports Obsession by Eric Simons
Why do some of us love sports so much when others really don't care? Science writer Simons investigates the scientific reasons we are so committed to our favourite sports and teams.

Wait Till Next Year by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Award-winning historian Goodwin relates the role baseball, especially the Brooklyn Dodgers, played in her childhood providing bonding moments with her father and heartbreak when the team moved to Los Angeles in 1957.

The World is a Ball: the Joy, Madness and Meaning of Soccer by John Doyle
• eBook
A lifelong soccer fan, Doyle was thrilled when he was given a chance to cover the World Cup but he found himself becoming more interested in the fans and began studying them.

 

The postcard used at the top of this post is from Toronto Public Library's Digital Archive. The Digital Archive includes rare historical pictures, maps, manuscripts, ephemera and digitized books from our Special Collections and other library collections for research, study and discovery.

 

 

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