The Game is Not a Game: The Power, Protest and Politics of American Sports

by Robert Scoop Jackson

Part play-by-play, part op-ed, The Game Is Not a Game is an illuminating and unflinching examination of the good and evil in the sports industry. Liberating and provocative, with sharp wit and generous humor, Jackson’s essays explore the role that sports plays in American society and the hypocritical standards by which the athletes are often judged. The Game Is Not a Game is distinctly intended to challenge accepted ideology and to push the boundaries of mainstream sports media beyond the comfort zone. Chapters expose “Our Miseducation of LeBron James,” “#ThemToo: The UnRespected Worth of the Woman Athlete,” the duplicity of the NFL in its treatment of Colin Kaepernick and the anthem protests, the cultural bias of analytics, and the power of social activism versus the power and politics of professional sports ownership—all from the sharp, savvy, and self-critical perspective of one of the leading voices for social justice in sports media.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Politics

180 pages, Hardcover

Published June 16, 2020

Reviews

[Ramiro Guerra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love sports. Do sports love me back? Probably not.

Everything I have learned about the world around me: how we as a society value (or undervalue) women, how we feel about race, about the working class vs rich class, etc I have always learned through the intersection of these issues and the sports I love and watch.

This book was a great and timely read considering our current climate. I’ve always found the “stick to sports” mantra to be condescending and unrealistic so I always gravitate to books examining sports and politics. Scoop has been one of my favorite writers for a long time and it was great to hear his thoughts on what’s going on today.

His chapters read like long essays you might have found him sharing on ESPN or Slam magazine. Easy to read and understand, fun and engaging. I’d recommend to all sports fans who care about the people they see performing on the field, and how sports relates to society as a whole.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Because sports is not just sports. It is not a game. Hardly ever has been. Let’s no longer fool ourselves into believing sports is just a form of athletic entertainment , that is is a ‘privelidge’ for those who participate in it and get paid for it at the highest level. We can no longer be that naive, no longer be those people.” - Scoop

Eye opening book. For an awkward, white girl that never understood, or had the coordination, to play any sport let alone the desire to understand sports, there is so much I have been utterly oblivious. This book goes in the life-changing stack for helping me to understand so much of the next level goings on in American sports, and the level after that. Levels that we all should be aware of, sports fans or not.

[Marley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book about the power and protest in professional sports. It is a bit difficult to get through at times if you aren't familiar with certain athletes, teams, or coaches, and I think I am pretty knowledgable. Definitely still accessible for non sports connoiseurs.

[Shant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if I was in the right audience for the book, because I went from nodding in indignation at Jackson's points (The chapters about women in sports, Colin Kaepernick, college athletes not being able to make money, and the children who were not allowed to swim at the pool were all great rage reads) (Meant in the best way possible), to not knowing what he was talking about. But then again, most of what I learned about sports came from my subscription to Time magazine. The Jemele Hill interview was great.

[Sam Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have enjoyed this more if I liked sports

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book starts strong and stays true to its analysis of power dynamics within sports, but quickly devolves into the same barely-below-surface-level analysis that you'd find Outside The Lines. The chapter about LeBron is essentially "we shouldn't compare him to Jordan - we should compare him to Magic instead!". There's an entire chapter comparing Tiger and Roger Federer's greatness - but only talking about stats. For a book about power and analysis, it fails to consider the component race played a role into the treatment of Tiger and Roger.

Overall, this is a good book for a "beginner" who has never looked at sports from any perspective other than pure fandom. It leaves a lot to be desired if you come from a more leftist political attitude. It spends too much time comparing statistics, instead of getting into why someone like Tiger Woods might be looked at differently than Roger Federer in America.

[Jay Coyden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A timely book for the current environment of sports. In addition to being a multi-billion dollar industry, sports as a large place in our society, and with it comes responsibilities that sports as a whole have ignored. I liked Scoops writing style and his view on a variety of subjects needs to be heard more on the greater landscape of sports talk. An unapologetic Black man from the South Side of Chi, his voice represents the thoughts and voices of many who often go unheard, yet it is still his personal views, which have a right to be challenged. In light of what happened this week with the Brian Flores lawsuit and Blackhawks Owner Rocky Writz losing his cool in a town hall meeting, The Game is Not a Game is a highly recommended read in order to get a better understanding of what is happening in the world of sports.

[Mare · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few great essays, it really lost momentum as the book progressed. I started reading Scoop's columns in the late '90s and they were great. I'm not sure what has changed, him or me. I think it's difficult to pull off the hip name-dropping when he has aged beyond getting those references himself. See the fictionalized piece on the NCAA's exploitation of college athletes where Jackson goes out of his way to talk about the player wishing to attend Tyler, the Creator's festival - and mocks the fictionalized classmate for probably not even knowing what the festival IS - while misspelling the yearly festival throughout the essay as Fog Gnaw. Remarkable that no editor or Haymarket staffer caught that.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I both loved this book and was frustrated by it. Certain essays were excellent, like the ones covering female athletes, the power of coaches like Popovich and Kerr, the Colin Kaepernick saga, and the Lebron and Jordan debate, but others made me feel like I dropped in on the middle of a conversation. Readers who haven't kept up with specific statistics and trade decisions by NBA players and coaches may feel a little lost in the essays on fake news and analytics.

While it's probably closer to a 3.5 rating, I think there are enough solid essays in here to warrant the 4 stars, though readers might want to be choosy in selecting which ones to read.

[Hannah Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s some good chapters, and some just meh ones. Wanted more depth on certain issues but just felt very surface level. That being said, a decent book for a casual or new sports fan needing their eyes opened to the world of sports outside of just “entertainment value.”

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as passionate and controversial as I would have liked--he does work for ESPN, after all. The LeBron chapter was good.

[Marga Sison · Rating 5 out of 5]

“What happens is because doll so few people are willing to piss off people in the process, a lot of people don’t have the guts to cover these intersections honestly.” 😮‍💨

[Kaleb Springer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this 3 years past published date. A lot had changed since then but still very topical, worthwhile

[Jean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish this book had an editor. I don't think it did; I can't believe that it did.

[Alexander Veee · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Because for us, "the game" is life.

To cry out. To resist. To complain. To right wrongs. To expose both rights and wrongs. To use the games played as platforms. To gain power. To assert it. To sustain it. To know, as a journalist who covers sports, that FOX pundit Laura Ingraham was speaking to me as much as she was LeBron (and all other black/of color/woke athletes) when she said, "Shut up and dribble." Which translates to: "Shut up and write." Yes, ma'am."