14| Texas & The Sports Revolution of the 1960s & 70s w/ Historian of Sport & Society, Dr. Frank A. Guridy
I am joined this week on the podcast by Dr. Frank Andre Guridy, historian of sport and society at Columbia University. Frank is also the author of the new book, The Sports Revolution: How Texas Changed the Culture of American Athletics.
Frank provides a well-researched and historical analysis of how Texas revolutionized sports in the U.S. during the civil rights era. For example, the University of Houston and Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas embraced the end of Jim Crow by integrating their football and basketball teams; while powerhouse football programs such as the University of Texas and Texas A&M were slow to integrate their programs. Frank also explained the importance of the Houston Astrodome in not only Texas but in the US during the 1960s and 70s; The “Eighth Wonder of the World” hosted legendary sporting events that revolutionized the culture of American athletics, such as the “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billy Jean King and Bobby Riggs, at the height of the second-wave feminist movement.
Frank also talks to me about the connection between the San Antonio Spurs and the working-class Tejano/Mexican community of South Texas, plus much more. I also award this episode’s Molotov MVP to former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader and Xicana Tina Jimenez. In the summer of 1978, Jimenez and other ex-Cowboys cheerleaders started their own professional cheerleader organization known as the Dallas Cowgirls, Inc., to seek better opportunities and pay for their labor. To end the podcast, I introduce a new segment, “Xicano Sports History.”
As always, you can listen, subscribe, and download the podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Deezer…and now on Amazon Music, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and Pandora!
Follow SAAW Podcast on Social Media:
