We Matter

by Etan Thomas

  Ballydehob, Co. Cork, Ireland

  Twitter: @AkashicBooks

  Facebook: AkashicBooks

  E-mail: info@akashicbooks.com

  Website: www.akashicbooks.com

  ABOUT Edge of Sports

  an Imprint of Akashic Books

  We Matter is the latest release in Dave Zirin’s Edge of Sports imprint. Addressing issues across many different sports at both the professional and nonprofessional/collegiate level, Zirin brings to the table select stories of athletes’ journeys, what they are facing, and how they evolve.

  A Note from David Zirin

  One of the great lies endlessly repeated is that sports and politics don't mix. This is not only absurd historically—think Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Billie Jean King—but it is revealed as ridiculous on nearly a daily basis. The idea that stories emanating from the sports world can be neatly contained in your newspaper’s sports section is about as old-fashioned as the newspaper itself.

  Some of the most analyzed political issues of our time are often debated and processed through the lens of sports. The discussion of the Black Lives Matter movement is also a discussion about the ways in which star athletes have supported and amplified that movement. The incredible advances in LGBT rights over the last several years are also stories about athletes like Michael Sam, Jason Collins, and soccer star Megan Rapinoe. The emerging consciousness about sexual assault on campuses is intertwined with big media stories about the ways that athletic departments have attempted to cover up alleged rapes involving star athletes. Jock culture more than ever is a political culture.

  The Edge of Sports imprint at Akashic Books is an effort to provide an even deeper articulation about the daily collision between sports and politics, giving cutting-edge writers the opportunity to fully explore their areas of expertise in book form. We think that the creation of such an imprint, at the risk of cliché, is a game-changer: something that will not only reflect the debates and discussions raging in the sports world, but in fact shape them. —Dave Zirin

  Dave Zirin is the sports editor for the Nation magazine. He is host of Sirius XM Radio’s popular weekly show, Edge of Sports Radio. He also cohosts the radio program The Collision: Sports and Politics, alongside Etan Thomas. Zirin is the the author of eight books on the politics of sportsm most recently Brazil's Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics & the Fight for Democracy (Haymarket Books). He is the recipient of the 2015 New York Press award for sportswriting.

  Also Available from EDGE OF SPORTS

  Unsportsmanlike Conduct: College Football and the Politics of Rape by Jessica Luther

  “Not to reckon with Luther’s book would be an abdication not only of one’s moral faculty but also of one’s fandom . . . Luther doesn’t just want to save future victims; she wants to save college football.” —New York Times Book Review

  “Jessica Luther studied history and the classics before marshaling her writing talent toward of-the-moment topics like sexual assault and college sports culture. Now she’s an investigative journalist, working from her adopted hometown, Austin, Tex., in what is perhaps the nation’s most college-obsessed state. Ms. Luther’s new book, Unsportsmanlike Conduct, examines the ‘programmatic manner’ in which sexual assaults are “swept under the rug by institutions both on campus and in the media.’”—New York Times, event preview

  “Of all the many problems facing college football, the most severe by far is the shocking number of rape cases involving athletes. And, as Luther makes abundantly clear in this impeccably researched volume, those numbers are only the tip of the iceberg, thanks to the contagion of cover-ups instigated by coaches and university officials, often with the support of police . . . Most important, Luther devotes part two of her book to changing the playbook, offering specific suggestions like ‘fire people’ and ‘hire women’ that throw down a gauntlet to those in power. Unsportsmanlike Conduct is not always easy to read—the text necessarily relies on numerous statistics and detailed summaries of court cases—but, nevertheless, it is almost certainly the most important sports book of the year.”—Booklist, Starred Review

  “Unsportsmanlike Conduct . . .is an intensely detailed look into what happens (and what doesn’t) when college athletes face charges of sexual violence and how administrators, schools, coaches and fans are reluctant to hold them accountable as long as they win games and make their colleges money . . . [It] is a significant and riveting look at how one of the greatest cultural tragedies of the millennial generation—the silencing of sexual violence against women on campus—is nurtured by a system of cover-ups and corporatized crises management.”—Playboy

  “In Unsportsmanlike Conduct, [Luther] draws on years of research and reporting to outline what she calls the ‘playbook’—all the standard, predictable ways that football programs, universities, the NCAA, and sports media typically respond when athletes are accused of rape or assault. It’s an infuriating, exhaustively researched catalogue of problems, from denial and toothless language to ignoring or discrediting the victim.”—Elle

  “Highly relevant, hard-hitting, much-needed information that reveals the widespread existence of rape by sports players on college campuses.”—Kirkus Reviews

  “Jessica Luther is a Texas-based investigative reporter who broke the story of Sam Ukwuachu, a football player at Baylor University who was then on trial for sexual assault. Since then she’s kept track of the dozens of sexual-assault claims made against college football players every year. Here, she looks at the relationship between football and sexual assault, the people and systems that perpetuate it, and how we can change the narrative going forward.”—New York Magazine

  “[Luther] knows too much — about how teams, like her own, fail to adequately handle allegations of rape and sexual assault. It’s hard for her to reconcile that with blindly supporting a team as a fan. So she literally wrote the book on the topic. Her book is one of two playbooks — the first describes how college football programs and the sports media currently respond to allegations like this, and the second gives suggestions of how teams, schools, media and the NCAA could respond to them better, with genuine compassion for survivors and an actual understanding of the life-changing effects of such violence.”—USA Today Sports/Football Four Podcast

  “It’s not an easy read, but it’s important one. And in the end, it’s a hopeful read, too. After deconstructing the many factors that feed into this decades-long crisis, Luther pieces together a new playbook for college football—one that can be followed by everyone from athletes to fans—to stop this troubling trend.”—SportsNet (Canada), a Best Sports Book of 2016

  “A culmination of [Luther’s] dedication to finding truth in often murky waters.”—ESPN-W

  “Investigative journalist Luther catalogues the abuses created and enabled by college football programs and suggests workable reforms.” —Boston Globe, One of the best books of 2016, Sports

  “I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It imbues the conversation of what’s happening on our college campuses with deep research and examples. And it’s really must reading for all of us who claim to want to be a part of the solution.”—Dallas Morning News

  “In her first book, Jessica Luther challenges the college sports establishment to hold athletes accountable when they commit rape, sexual assault and domestic violence.”—Texas Observer

  “The book delves into instances of sexual violence perpetrated by football players and the response to their crimes by their athletic departments, universities, the NCAA and the media, to show there is a “playbook” for dealing with violence in football that is common to football institutions nationwide.”—Dallas Observer

  Football teams create playbooks, in which they draw up the plays they will use on the field. If all goes well, the large amount of work that goes into a single play suddenly looks like a natural flow of bodies moving in unison that results in the movement of the ball down the field or the successful stop of the other team’s offense. P
laybooks are how teams work and why they win.

  This book is about a different kind of playbook. Over the last three years, sexual assault on college campuses has been a hot topic as people are wondering aloud and often about it, especially when it involves star football players. Unsportsmanlike Conduct explores that playbook: the one coaches, teams, universities, police, communities, the media, and fans seem to follow whenever a college football player is accused of sexual assault. It’s a deep dive into how different institutions—the NCAA, athletic departments, universities, the media—run the same plays over and over again when these stories break. If everyone runs their plays well, scrutiny dies down quickly, no institution ever has to change how it operates, and the evaporation of these cases into nothingness looks natural. In short, this playbook is why nothing ever changes.

  Unsportsmanlike Conduct unpacks this societal playbook piece by piece, and not only advocates that we destroy the old plays, but also suggests we replace them with ones that will force us to finally do something about this issue.

  Jessica Luther is an independent writer and investigative journalist living in Austin, Texas. Her work on sports and culture has appeared in the Texas Observer and the Austin Chronicle, and at Sports Illustrated, Texas Monthly, Vice Sports, Guardian Sport, and Bleacher Report. Luther’s work gained national attention in August 2015 when writing for Texas Monthly; she and Dan Solomon broke open the story about a Baylor football player on trial for sexual assault, a case known by only a few in the community and not reported in the media for nearly two years.

  Unsportsmanlike Conduct will be available in September 2016 in paperback from our website and in bookstores everywhere. The e-book edition will be available wherever e-books are sold.

  Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian, by Anthony Ervin & Constantine Markides

  “Here Ervin and swim trainer and journalist Markides combine talents to create a biography that is part first-hand narrative by Ervin, with Markides filling in the details and providing context. The formula works, pulling readers into Ervin’s experience of the thrill of victory and search for meaning. . . . Featuring more depth, breadth, truth, and the effects of reckless choices than found in traditional athlete biographies, this gripping account is just in time for the gear up to the Rio 2016 Olympics. Readers will understand the psyche and life of elite athletes as never before, then cheer Ervin on in his attempt to make another Olympic team.” —Library Journal

  “A celebrated Olympian recounts how he rose to the top of his sport, crashed, and found redemption. . . . This book, which tells his story through a narrative that interweaves the former gold medalist’s memories with commentary by his friend and colleague Markides, reveals the extreme highs and lows that characterized Ervin’s remarkable life and career. . . . The author never flinches at revealing his less-than-perfect past, and the humility he demonstrates at coming to terms with his own egotism and personal shortcomings makes the book frequently compelling. A provocative and refreshingly honest redemption memoir.” —Kirkus Reviews

  “Markides smartly combines his own journalistic account with a parallel narrative in which Ervin . . . explains his life and style. Some talents simply defy explanation, however, and Ervin may be in that category. . . . The story of his comeback at 31 (ancient for a swimmer) is rendered more amazing by the contrast with what went before.” —Booklist

  “Most memoirs from Olympians are puff pieces, ghost-written so blandly you fall asleep trying to make it to the end of the first chapter. Chasing Water is the opposite of that, an intimate, visceral experience you will appreciate.” —SwimSwam

  “On the surface, a biography about a swimmer with just one individual Olympic gold medal might seem a stretch. Anthony Ervin’s story, however, transcends that shining moment in the 50-meter freestyle sprint at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, when he won a relay gold. After becoming the first swimmer of African American descent to medal in Olympic swimming, Ervin auctioned off his most prized medal in order to donate to tsunami relief. He retired from competitive swimming and entered a period of self-discovery that led to some questionable decisions and lessons learned the hard way. He resurfaced in 2012 to make the US Olympic team with a personal-best time, yet finished fifth at the Games in London. Now he’s training for a shot at swimming in a third Olympics this summer in Rio de Janeiro. His roller coaster ride to this point is told alternately by journalist and swim trainer Constantine Markides and by Ervin in his own revealing words.” —Christian Science Monitor, 6 Eclectic Sports Books

  “However one may be compelled to slap a bar code on Ervin—the Charlie Sheen of the U.S. Swim Team may even be in consideration—part of the complex context of his odyssey toward making the 2016 roster this summer comes in owning up to a new book, Chasing Water: Elegy of an Olympian, which Ervin co-writes in an interesting authorship divide with [Constantine Markides], a competitive swimmer himself.” —Los Angeles Daily News

  “[Chasing Water] intentionally shucks athlete biography conventions in exchange for a seesaw of first-person memories written like diary entries (plus some of Ervin’s actual dairy entries) and third-person exposition interspersed with quotes from key characters.” —San Diego Jewish Journal

  “A refreshingly unexpected athlete biography void of eye-rolling, clichéd, self help propaganda bullshit.” —Gary Hall, Jr., swimmer, ten-time Olympic medalist

  “[Ervin] is the most talented swimmer I’ve ever seen . . . He just has amazing feel for the water. He doesn’t power through; he has finesse.” —Natalie Coughlin, swimmer, twelve-time Olympic medalist

  “The most original character in the world of swimming . . . Ervin’s story will inspire, astonish, and challenge your notions of what it means to be an Olympic athlete. Forget the surface-deep stories you see every four years on television, this is the raw wet truth of a monstrous talent with the demons to match. Like Andre Agassi’s Open, it’s a story of mighty potential both realized and abandoned, and found again. Olympic champion, rock ’n’ roll wastrel, cerebral mind, and physical freak, Ervin defies categorization and cuts his own path through a high wire life.” —Casey Barrett, Olympic swimmer

  “Anthony Ervin is not only the most beautiful swimmer in the water I have ever seen, he is also one the great stories of triumph and perseverance in the midst of tremendous adversity. I am so proud to call him my friend and I know his life’s challenges will inspire generations to come.” —Rowdy Gaines, swimmer, three-time Olympic gold medalist

  Every four years in the Olympic cycle the surge of national interest in swimming grows, and with it a desire to be captivated by its stars. This book tells the dramatic, surprising, and sometimes provocative path that Anthony Ervin has taken to become one of those captivating Olympic heroes. Not your typical sports memoir, Chasing Water also contains arresting black-and-white drawings and a graphic story extra, as well as an inventive and mercurial narrative style that morphs chapter by chapter to reflect Ervin’s restless, multifaceted life.

  Ervin won a gold medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games at the age of nineteen. He is an athlete branded with a slew of titles including being the first US Olympic swimmer of African American descent, along with Jewish heritage, who also grew up with Tourette’s syndrome. He shocked the sporting world by retiring soon after claiming two world titles following the 2000 Olympics. Auctioning off his gold medal for charity, he set off on a part spiritual quest, part self-destructive bender that involved Zen temples, fast motorcycles, tattoo parlors, and rock ’n’ roll bands. Then Ervin resurfaced in 2012 to not only make the US Olympic team twelve years after his first appearance, but to continue his career by swimming faster than ever before, and faster than anyone else. He is currently training for the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

  Political sportswriter and Edge of Sports imprint curator Dave Zirin (the Nation) has never shied away from criticizing that which die-hard sports fans hold dear. The Edge of Sports titles will address issues across many different sports—football, basketball, swimming, te
nnis, etc.—and at both the professional and nonprofessional/collegiate levels. Furthermore, Zirin brings to the table select stories of athletes’ journeys and what they are facing and how they evolve both in their sport as well as against the greater backdrop of one’s life’s odyssey.

  Chasing Water is available in paperback from our website and in bookstores everywhere. The e-book edition is available wherever e-books are sold.

  Fair Play, by Cyd Ziegler

  “This important and accessible book about the evolving treatment of LGBTQ athletes in organized sports should be required reading for anyone involved in the playing, coaching, and administration of organized sports.” —Publishers Weekly

  “Long regarded as a leading voice in the space, Zeigler has written the definitive book on LGBT issues in sports. By turns informative, insightful, poignant, and (rightly) impatient, Zeigler shows how LGBT attitudes in sports mirror the broader cultural shift—and how sometimes they don’t.” —Jon Wertheim, executive editor of Sports Illustrated

  “Cyd Zeigler is right: courage is contagious. Sometimes all it takes is knowing others have come before and prevailed to spark a personal revelation and create another ally. More and more coaches, athletes, and fans are ready to embrace their LGBT teammates, even if—truth be told—there is still a lot of work to be done to change engrained mindsets and behaviors within sports at every level.” —John E. Amaechi, former NBA player

  “Fair Play is an essential read and one that is desperately needed to help break down stereotypes and myths with LGBT athletes and the community at large. There is still so much work to be done, but Zeigler and many of the brave athletes he chronicles—gay and straight—are literally helping to save lives.” —Amy K. Nelson, award-winning sports journalist

  “Cyd Zeigler has to be listed among the great pioneers for making it possible for LGBT Americans to come out in the sporting world. His writing is filled with passion, insights, and a deep belief in equality. Fair Play fills a void of a critical part of LGBT history and we are fortunate that Zeigler has told it with such power and grace.” —David Mixner, author of Brave Journeys: Profiles in Gay and Lesbian Courage