Politics is nothing new to Washington, D.C., even in the arena marked with base paths and outfield grass. The stadium for the expansion Washington Nationals baseball team cost over $600 million and while opponents decried the waste of taxpayer money, supporters promised the stadium would stimulate economic development. Land swaps, closed-door deals, and valuable parking-lot strategies were as complex as any game plan employed on the diamond. The district's past stadiums, tracks and Olympics facilities are archived and described in this history, along with their political backdrops. The book features numerous drawings and photographs.

Washington DC isn't celebrated for basketball. But the Washington area stands second to none in its contributions to the game. Countless figures who have had a significant impact on the sport over the years have roots in the region, including E.B. Henderson, the first African-American certified to teach physical education in public schools in the United States and Earl Lloyd, the first African-American to take the court in an actual NBA game. The District of Columbia's Spingarn High School produced two players - Elgin Baylor and Dave Bing - that are recognized among the NBA's 50 greatest at the League's 50th anniversary celebration. No other high school in the country can make that claim. These figures and many others who have been a part of Washington's basketball past are chronicled in this book, the first-ever comprehensive look at the great high school players, teams and accomplishments in the DC metropolitan area. Based on more than 150 interviews, The Capital of Basketball is first and foremost a book about basketball. But in discussing the trends and evolution of the game, the books also uncovers the turmoil in the lives of the players and area residents as they dealt with issues such as prejudice, education, politics, and the ways the area has changed through the years.

Sport and architecture are two elements of contemporary life that have a broad and profound impact on the world around us. The role architecture plays in shaping buildings and societies has occupied historians for centuries. Likewise, the cultural, economic, and political importance of sport is the subject of sustained academic inquiry. When sport and architecture converge, as in the 2012 London Olympics or the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, then the impact of these two forms of social activity is redoubled. This book presents a new and dynamic study of the complex relationship between sport and architecture. It explores the history of sport architecture and examines the buildings and events that create sites where sport and architecture converge in particularly telling ways. Its chapters discuss the following topics: sport architecture and urban redevelopment sport architecture and technology sport architecture and nationalism sport architecture as social activism sport architecture and global capitalism. By considering the importance of architectural form alongside these key themes, this book represents a landmark study for anybody interested in the social and cultural significance of architecture or sport.

Since the 1970s, a “Polynesian Pipeline” has brought football players from American Sāmoa to Hawaii and the mainland United States to play at the collegiate and professional levels. In Gridiron Capital Lisa Uperesa charts the cultural and social dynamics that have made football so central to Samoan communities. For Samoan athletes, football is not just an opportunity for upward mobility; it is a way to contribute to, support, and represent their family, village, and nation. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, archival research, and media analysis, Uperesa shows how the Samoan ascendancy in football is underpinned by the legacies of US empire and a set of imperial formations that mark Indigenous Pacific peoples as racialized subjects of US economic aid and development. Samoan players succeed by becoming entrepreneurs: building and commodifying their bodies and brands to enhance their football stock and market value. Uperesa offers insights into the social and physical costs of pursuing a football career, the structures that compel Pacific Islander youth toward athletic labor, and the possibilities for safeguarding their health and wellbeing in the future. Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award recipient