Rodney Marsh

Rodney Marsh is a British footballer who found his sporting success in his home country and the United States in the 1960s and 1970s. This chapter frames Marsh as a maverick, as a result of his drinking, womanizing, gambling, but also his blatant disregard for the rules of the game and society. Largely based on Marsh’s own words, from interviews and his autobiography, the chapter examines the ways Marsh was understood as a maverick in the sport of football.

The Many Faces of Samuel Eto’o Fils

Samuel Eto’o has been called a football prodigy, achieving recognition for his football acumen as a teenager. First playing in Spain and later through Europe, including a stint in Russia, Eto’o’s position on the Cameroonian national team, the Indomitable Lions, contributed to his perception by football fans and media. His often challenging personality has also kept him in the discussion of world football, even late in his career.

From Out of the Shadows of Invisibility

Marta, one of the few football (soccer) stars to be known by only her first name was raised in abject poverty in the football crazy Brazil, also home to male star Pele. Her inclusion on a boys’ team led to her joining the women’s national team and ultimately leaving Brazil to play in Sweden and the United States. Marta’s scoring and dominance in the women’s game have made her a worldwide star in sport, though often to greater gains outside of her home country where she continues to play under Pele’s enormous shadow.

Afterword: The Wide Worlds of Sport Text

Often in academic life, we encourage our students to develop what we now call a global perspective. We perhaps assume that there is value in situating ourselves and our students—intellectually, perhaps even physically—outside of national and cultural boundaries. Indeed, at my university in the United States, I am part of a faculty group that created a new interdisciplinary major we call Global Studies. We require interdisciplinary coursework on the study of globalization. We require language study. We require study abroad. We do all this with the hope that our students attain in the classroom, in careers, and in daily life a global perspective. But this is not just an American educational phenomenon. Around the world, millions of students leave their nations and families for an opportunity at global study....

Valentino Rossi

Italy’s Valentino Rossi is the most popular motorcycle racer of his day. This chapter examines Rossi’s dominance in motorsport, while also providing the reader with a broad understanding of motorsport, as well as the risk involved in motorsport. Rossi has served as an international ambassador for his sport, helping to popularize motorcycle racing around the globe.

The Interaction of Personal, Local, and Global Forces

Yao Ming, while not the first Chinese athlete to play in the NBA, is the most well known and regarded Chinese athlete to star in America’s professional league. Groomed at a young age to follow his parents into the sport of basketball, Yao Ming has competed for the Chinese national team, in addition to the NBA. Yao Ming’s stardom in the NBA translated into the NBA’s successful expansion of the league into one of the world’s largest populations. The all-star appeared in a number of commercial endorsements, making him a familiar face to Chinese and American consumers.

Suzanne Lenglen

This chapter examines the athletic career of French tennis star, Suzanne Lenglen, who participated during the Golden Age of sports in the 1920s. Lenglen was one of the first female athletes to achieve worldwide recognition and acclaim for her tennis success, as well as her influence on the sport, including her fashion. Lenglen’s appeal extended beyond the tennis courts, and part of her lasting image rests on her ability to both challenge and reinforce ideas around femininity in sport during the 1920s.

Grete Waitz

Grete Waitz of Norway is marathon running’s first female star. Waitz had trained as a distance runner and found success at various distances before turning her attention to the longer race. Her first marathon race was the famous New York City marathon and expectations for her were low. It was surprising to herself and others when she won her first marathon race. Eventually, Waitz won the NYC marathon nine times and helped establish a foothold for women in the long distance event.

Murali and Sanga

This chapter examines two cricket stars from the small island nation of Sri Lanka: bowler Muttiah Muralitharan, aka Murali, who led his team to a World Cup title in 1993, and batsman Kumar Sangakkara (aka Sanga). National icons of rivalrous ethnic cultures, the Tamil and the Sinhalese, during a bloody period of civil war, they came to embody cricket-mad Sri Lanka.

Chad Rowan

Chad Rowan is the first non-Japanese to reign in the sport of Sumo. Using the ring name, Rowan’s foreign status in the sport made him an anomaly that was exceedingly problematic for Japan. This chapter explores the ways the athlete represents the essence of being Japanese against the backdrop of the challenges that Rowan’s presence brings to the culture.