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Book Cover
E-book
Author Lindaman, Matthew, author

Title Fit for America : Major John L. Griffith and the quest for athletics and fitness / Matthew Lindaman
Edition First edition
Published Syracuse New York : Syracuse University Press, 2018
©2018

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Description 1 online resource (xiii, 280 pages)
Series Sports and entertainment
Sports and entertainment.
Contents Introduction : leaving a legacy in athletic administration -- Off and running -- War and fitness -- The ballyhoo years, 1919-1925 : Griffith's philosophy at the national level -- Becoming commissioner : regional administration during the ballyhoo years -- In defense of athletics and administration, 1926-1930 -- John L. Griffith and the depression years -- To war again! -- Defending ground in the war's fourth quarter -- Conclusion : Griffith's legacy
Summary "Fit for America is about the career of Major John L Griffith in relation to his involvement as a key figure in the promotion and organization of intercollegiate athletics over the first half of the twentieth century"-- Provided by publisher
Fit for America is at once an intellectual biography of Major John L. Griffith, one of the preeminent intercollegiate athletics administrators of the twentieth century, and an in-depth look at how athletics shaped national military preparedness in a time of war and anticommunist sentiment. Lindaman traces Griffith's forty-year career, one that spanned both world wars and included his appointment as the first Big Ten commissioner from 1922 until 1945. Griffith also served as NCAA president in the 1930s and later became the secretary-treasurer during World War II. Throughout his career, he worked tirelessly to advance the role and importance of collegiate sports on a regional and national level. In an era of heightened fears of communism, Griffith saw intercollegiate athletics as a way to prepare young men to become fit, disciplined military recruits. Griffith also founded his own publication, the Athletic Journal, in 1922 in which he published opinion pieces and solicited the opinions of other leading coaches and administrators nationwide. Through these pages, Lindaman explores not only Griffith's philosophy but also the emergence of a coaching and athletic administration network. Drawing on voluminous primary source material and the many writings Griffith left behind, Fit for America brings long-overdue attention to a figure who was instrumental in shaping the world of American intercollegiate sports. -- Provided by publisher
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on June 28, 2018)
Subject Griffith, John L., 1877-1944.
Athletic directors -- United States -- Biography
Coaches (Athletics) -- United States -- Biography
College sports -- United States -- Management
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY -- Sports.
GAMES -- Gambling -- Sports.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Business Aspects.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Essays.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- History.
SPORTS & RECREATION -- Reference.
TRAVEL -- Special Interest -- Sports.
HISTORY -- United States -- 20th Century.
Athletic directors
Coaches (Athletics)
College sports -- Management
United States
Genre/Form Biographies
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2018016512
ISBN 9780815654353
0815654359