Review of “Game On”

A book on the history of sports media? Sounds like something that would be the subject of a scholarly work. If it was it sure didn’t read like one but still was as informative as one. Here is my review of “Game On.”

Title/Author:

“Game On: How Sports Media Grew Up, Sold Out, & Got Personal With Billions of Fans ” by David Bockino

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review: Sports fans today have so many different ways to enjoy sports or associated aspects such as betting and fantasy games. How we got here today from the humble beginnings of a boxing match being broadcast on the radio in 1921 is told in this excellent book by David Bockino. 

This is certainly more than a simple retelling of the history of media. How Bockino makes this so interesting is how he connects the new form of media he is describing with the societal norms of the time. Usually this means something is going to change drastically.

One example is professional football exploding in popularity after the famous televised 1958 championship game between the Colts and the Giants. This is well known to even casual fans, but the way Bockino writes about it and his references to other coverage of the game, especially newspaper writers, makes this even better than the commonly known account of the game and telecast. 

The latter chapters, from the creation of ESPN to sports talk radio to fan “experiences” is also excellent writing. This is mainly due to Bockino’s personalization of the events. The reader will get to know people who took chances, financially and professionally. There are far too many people to name her and it’s difficult to provide a great example because every chapter and every innovation Bockino describes is excellent. It should be noted that even though the topic could easily become dry, it never becomes that. The pages will be turned quickly by a reader, who will be entertained and educated on a topic that has undergone dramatic changes in the century covered in the book.

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a review copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own. 

Link: https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496233172/