Immortality in Sports

Sports have taken on tremendous importance in the world in which we live. Their social significance - economic, political, and personal - both nationally and internationally is unprecedented. What may not be so immediately obvious is the sociological nature of sports. Sport offers one of the most visible public arenas for understanding the role that 'immortality' plays in individual action, group dynamics, and with audiences and the media. Following a brief introduction to the sociology of sport, Leonard explores these dimensions of the sporting world through the idea of the 'post-self' - how individuals regard themselves and want to be remembered by the public. From the individual psyche to the global arena of sports, this book features vivid examples and quotations from star athletes, coaches, and the media, offering poignant insights into the sporting world and about individuals and society.

Wib Leonard is Professor of Sociology at Illinois State University and has served as Faculty Representative to the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics. He is past president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport and the author of multiple editions of A Sociological Perspective of Sport.

Introduction 1. Sport in the Social and Behavioral Sciences 2. Theoretical Background 3. Sport as a Social World 4. Fostering the Postself, 5. Experiencing the Postself 6. The Future of Immortality in Sports: A Theoretical Postscript