By Linda Hauck

Falvey now has access to premium data on the Sports Business Research Network (SBRnet), which conducts twice yearly consumer surveys of a representative sample of U.S. consumers 13 years and older.  The surveys include questions about sport and team fandom by demographic characteristics (gender, age, income, geography, and education), media usage (social media, device usage, and channels watched), spending on merchandise, sports travel behavior, and select food and beverage consumption patterns and insurance, banking, and credit usage.

This new content compliments the news, directories and additional data sets in SBRnet. There are directories for sports venues, marketing agencies,  sport associations and team and player performance sites.  Its a one-stop shop for sporting goods spending, participation, attendance, fan demographics, and media usage data, downloadable in Excel format. Use it to keep up to date on business developments on everything from baseball to fantasy football, sports gambling, pickleball, and sports law to name just a few topics.

SBRnet is a top pick for sports analytics, marketing and management students.

Linda Hauck, MLS, MBA is Business Librarian at Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash

Even to those who never played sports, there is something uniquely compelling and inspirational about sports fiction. Movies like Rocky, Remember the Titans, A League of their Own, and The Blind Side move us. They make us root for the underdog and feel the valor of the victory (or the crushing weight of their defeat).

As we quickly approach the end of the semester and (the dreaded) finals season, we could probably all use a little extra motivation to push us through. This weekend’s recs will feature some sports fiction recs to spark some positive thoughts and determination.

If you have 4 minutes and 5 seconds…and need the perfect song to get you into game mode, listen to the quintessential “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor.

Bonus: for some more motivation, watch “Sweet Victory” from SpongeBob Squarepants.

If you have 9 minutes and 15 seconds…and want to watch a breakdown of the movie magic (and athletic feat) of the triple axle scene in I, Tonya, watch this Vanity Fair video.

Bonus: if you’re looking for a sports movie packed with dark humor, true crime, and drama, watch I, Tonya, my personal favorite sports film. Although it’s technically nonfiction, as it follows real-life world class figure skater Tonya Harding, the film plays with its dramatized nature and (somewhat) one-sided narrative.

If you have 10 minutes and 44 seconds…and need an end-of-the-semester motivation boost, watch this video ranking some of the best sports movie speeches. One of the best (and most cliche) aspects of sports movies are its motivating speeches, and these are some of the most memorable.

Photo from Carol M. Highsmith on Wikimedia Commons

If you have 1 hour and 47 minutes…and love 80s movies, watch Field of Dreams, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. This late 80s film stars Kevin Costner as a humble farmer who turns his cornfield into a baseball field to allow the ghosts of famed baseball players to play the greatest American past time.

If you have 1 hour and 48 minutes…and think race car driving is a sport, watch Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, available in Falvey’s DVD Collection. Starring Will Ferrel and Sascha Baron Cohen, this racing film adds just the right amount of comedy to the inspirational, underdog narrative sports films have perfected.

If you have 2 hours and 4 minutes…and want to add some romance to your queue, watch Love and Basketball. This 2000s classic follows Monica and Quincy from childhood to young adulthood, bonding through their love of basketball. If that’s not enough, Love and Basketball also features an amazing cast, including Sanaa Lathan, Omar Epps, Kyla Pratt, Alfre Woodard, Dennis Haysbert, Regina Hall, and Gabrielle Union.

If you have 7 hours…and prefer books, read Trophy Son by Douglas Brunt, available through interlibrary loan. This novel dives into the crippling perfectionism and high expectations placed on athletes through tennis prodigy Anton’s journey to navigating the pressure from his overbearing father and finding himself.

Bonus: for more book recs, check out this list of some popular sports fiction novels.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Happy Friday, Wildcats! Falvey Library is delivering you another semester of Weekend Recs, a blog dedicated to filling you in on what to read, listen to, and watch over the weekend. Annie, a graduate assistant from the Communication department, scours the internet, peruses the news, and digs through book stacks to find new, relevant, and thought-provoking content that will challenge you and prepare you for the upcoming week. 

With games having started Nov. 20, Qatar is currently hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where 32 of the best national soccer (or football) teams compete tournament-style for the title of champion and global recognition. (Typically, the tournament is held during the summer, but due to the extremely high temperatures it would reach in Qatar, the decision was made to hold it now, when the weather is more favorable to play). Today, with only 8 teams remaining (Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, England, France, Morocco, Netherlands, and Portugal), the Quarter-finals begin.

Unlike the U.S. Women’s Team, which currently holds the world record for national team with the most FIFA Women’s World Cup wins (with a whopping 4 wins, including the 2 most recent), the U.S. Men’s Team has never taken home the title. Last Saturday, the U.S. Men’s Team got knocked out by the Netherlands in the Round of 16, so if you were (somewhat naively) dreaming of rooting for the U.S., you’ll have to choose another team.

Still, even with the U.S. team not progressing to the Quarter-finals, watching the World Cup is truly a fun and worthwhile experience (though, as a former soccer kid, I might be a bit biased), especially if you have passionate company. This weekend’s recs will give you some of the background and highlights of the tournament so far and what to expect in the coming weeks, leading up to the ultimate game on Dec. 18.

Photo by Fauzan Saari on Unsplash

If you have 3 minutes and 22 seconds…and need the perfect game-day song, listen to “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” by Shakira. This song is not only an absolute bop, it was also the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

If you have 5 minutes…and want to find out which teams will be going head-to-head, check out the current bracket, courtesy of the New York Times. Today’s games will be Croatia v. Brazil at 10:00 a.m. and Netherlands v. Argentina at 2 p.m.

Bonus: if you’re not sure how to pronounce the name of the host country, Qatar, check out this article. (Spoiler: you’re definitely not the only one, as it is somewhat difficult for English-speakers with no experience speaking Semitic languages).

If you have 10 minutes…and want live updates, check out the 2022 FIFA page on the New York Times.

If you have 15 minutes…and are looking for a rundown on all the teams that made it to the tournament and which “groups” they were/are in, read this article from the New York Times.

If you have another 15 minutes…and don’t know about the human rights abuse controversy Qatar found itself in, read this NPR article. In preparing to host the World Cup, namely building stadiums and other important infrastructure, Qatar has exploited migrant workers and, although the numbers are disputed, directly lead to the deaths of (at least) 3 people.

If you have 38 minutes…and want to see all the goals scored during the Group Stage, watch this highlight reel from Fox Soccer. Many of the comments and sports commentators, cite Richarlison’s (Brazil) goal at 28:00 as being the most impressive, but I personally also liked Cho Gue-sung’s (South Korea) header at 34:50.

Bonus: if you want to see an interactive model of 3 of the most impressive goals, including Richarlison’s, as they happened, check out this New York Times article.

Photo by Matthieu Joannon on Unsplash

If you have 1 hour and 30 minutes…and want to see the action for yourself, tune into a game. For those who have cable, all World Cup matches will be broadcast on Fox Sports in English and Telemundo in Spanish. For those without cable, check out this article to find out how you can stream games.

If you have 8 hours…and want to learn about the U.S.’s history with soccer (and why it’s not as big as American football or basketball), read Gregory G. Reck and Bruce Allen Dick’s American Soccer: History, Culture, Class.

Annie Stockmal is a graduate student in the Communication Department and graduate assistant in Falvey Library.

Addison Drone ’22 VSB, 2022 Falvey Scholar (Photo by Andrew McKeough)

The Falvey Scholars Program is an annual program established by Falvey Library to recognize outstanding undergraduate research. Now in its 20th year, the program is a collective initiative of the Library and the Center for Research and Fellowships. The recipients of this award are selected from a pool of candidates nominated by Villanova faculty and reviewed by Library staff and faculty.

This year, eight students received awards, their work reflecting the breadth and depth of undergraduate research at the University as well as the support the Library, its resources and staff, provide student-scholars.

This blog is the third of seven installments, which will introduce our scholars and cover their research in their own words. Look for additional coverage of the Falvey Scholars in the fall issue of Mosaic.

Congratulations to all of our Falvey Scholars, past and present!

Scholars Summary

Addison Drone ’22 VSB

• Project Title: “50 Years of Sports Teams in Work Teams Research: Missed Opportunities and New Directions for Studying Team Processes”
• Faculty Mentor: Narda Quigley, PhD, Associate Professor of Management and Chair of the Department of Management and Operations, Villanova School of Business
• Hometown: Summit, N.J.
• Other Honors: Presidential Scholarship, Honors Program

Describe your research in your own words.
We conducted a literature review on sports teams studies over the last 50 years. We looked at what topics have been covered, what has not been covered, and how these outcomes/findings within sports samples can be applied to broader work teams.

How did the Library’s staff impact your research and academic experience?
I worked with the Library staff during both the research and within my academic career through my Competitive Effectiveness course. They made sure that I knew how to utilize the databases and helped me get started with research ideas.

How did Falvey’s resources and databases impact your research?
I utilized Falvey’s database library to conduct a thorough scan of the existing literature on the topic. Ultimately, we found over 250 applicable articles covering over 270 applicable studies.

What’s next for you?
Working postgrad at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a Japanese investment bank, within New York City.

Will you continue this research direction or has it inspired you to new research interests?
While my professional career is within a finance field and not sports/management, this remains an interest that I will continue to foster as I enter my postgraduate career.

We may not be able to be in the stands this basketball season, but that doesn’t mean we can’t show our Wildcat Pride and cheer on our team! This week’s TBT takes us back to a photo inside the Villanova Field House in the 1970s during a basketball game. This photograph comes from the University Archives and can be found in Villanova’s digital collection.

Jenna Newman is a graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a graduate student in the Communication Department.

The spirit of the Villanova Wildcats is strong in all that we do – whether it’s dominating in the sports realm, succeeding academically, or “proving them wrong” by wearing our masks on- and off-campus. Above you can see a picture depicting the 1958 football schedule along with two pictures of Wildcats. Although Will D. Cat’s look may have evolved over the years, ultimately the ability of Wildcats to successfully survive and adapt is the spirit the Villanova community embodies. 

Here are a couple of fun throwback facts about the Villanova Wildcats:

1. Villanova’s Wildcat most closely resembles the bobcat, which is found in the Southwest part of the United States.
2. In 1930, 1945, 1947, and 1949 Villanova acquired a wildcat that was kept in a cage on campus at the Fieldhouse and traveled to both home and away games.
3. For a short period during the late 1970s and early 1980s the word “cat” was added to the name of the individual sports: “Trackcats”, “Watercats”, and “Polocats.”

To read and see more about the evolution of the Wildcats, visit the digital library exhibit Wildcats Past & Present: Moments from the History of Sports at Villanova.

Jenna Newman is a graduate assistant in Falvey Memorial Library and a graduate student in the Communication Department. Current mood: Rocking my Villanova mask around campus.

Are you interested in sports medicine? Athletics marketing and advertising? Sports psychology? The sociology of sport? Sports studies is an interdisciplinary field and it can be hard to know where to search for information. Falvey Memorial Library has a solution for you!

We have arranged for campus-wide trial access to SPORTDiscus with Full Text, an online database for articles and other materials on all aspects of the study of sport.

SPORTDiscus provides access to the scholarly and popular literature of sport, including medical, social, biomechanical, business and management, public health, and psychological aspects of the topic. It offers indexing and full text of scholarly journals, magazines, books, conference proceedings, dissertations, and more. Coverage is international and goes back to 1800.

Full text journals covered include everything from NCAA News, Soccer & Society, and the Journal of Sport History, to Kinesiology Review, the International Journal of Performance Analysis in Sports, and the Entertainment & Sports Law Journal.

“Sport studies is a very interdisciplinary area, and until now Villanova hasn’t had a library resource that could help a researcher get access to all facets of the topic at once. SPORTDiscus with Full Text is the premier resource for the study of sport,” says Susan Turkel, Social Sciences Librarian.

To access, click here: SPORTDiscus with Full Text  or navigate to the database from the library’s Databases A-Z listing.

Villanova has trial access to this resource through November 30, 2019. Please contact Susan Turkel (susan.turkel@villanova.edu) or another subject librarian if you’d like to recommend this database for purchase by the library.

On this day in 1922, the Supreme Court ruled that organized baseball is not a business, but a sport. Celebrating America’s pastime, the Curious ‘Cat asked Falvey Library staff,

“If you were a professional baseball player, what position would you play?”

Jeannine Ahern, Finance and Administration Specialist

Jesse Flavin, Acquisitions and Electronic Resources Coordinator

Jackie Smith, Finance and Administration Specialist

Brian Warren, Library Technology Developer

Lorraine Holt, Finance and Administration Specialist

Interested in learning more about the game? Check out the resources below and view more on our website:

• Baseball: An Illustrated History
• Baseball: The Early Years
• Baseball: A History of America’s Game (Sport and Society)
• Baseball and Philosophy: Thinking Outside the Batter’s Box
• Baseball Without Borders: The International Pastime

Students at Villanova College played baseball, and indeed had great sport at playing other teams. Not only did they play other local colleges but they also played amateur teams, like the St. Charles Seminary team, throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. Two newly digitized scorebooks document these early Villanova College baseball games and show the historic development of collegiate baseball. Indeed the earliest recorded Villanova game of the “Villanova 9” just after the end of the U.S. Civil War, November 12, 1866 was a great blowout with the Villanova College team scoring a winning 46 runs to 13 against the amateur team, the “Picked Nine”.

As part of the growing Athletics Collection of the Villanova Digital Library, these box scores allow the reader to visualize the games as they transpired.

There is no one method of scoring a baseball game. Many different methods prevailed during the development of the modern game. In 1874 Henry Chadwick, known as the father of baseball score keeping, noted, “It is about time that one system of scoring should be adapted throughout the country” [Dickson, 9]. That development never happened, as different publishers produced competing versions. From the 1860’s to the mid-1890, Villanova used a more free form of scorebook, but Villanova scorers switched to the more detailed Caylor System in the late 1899s that included the now common “box score” for recording hits, runs, and fielding outs. The first known scorecard for a professional game was produced for the game between the Brooklyn Atlantics and the Philadelphia Athletics on October 11, 1866 [Light, 832]. Collegiate records are much more fragmented, but the dates of these Villanova scorebooks makes them among the earliest in the country.

Scorebooks remain an essential part of documenting athletic competitions. Indeed today every major league baseball game is required to have an official scorekeeper and scorebook [Light, 833].

Sources:

Paul Dickson. The Joy of Keeping Score: How scoring the game has influenced and enhanced the history of baseball. New York: Walker and Company, 2007.

Jonathan Fraser Light. The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball. Second edition. McFarland & Company, 2005.

The reigning champion of the world of boxing in 1894 was Gentleman Jim Corbett. Or was he? Corbett was one of the first to treat the sport of boxing as a science and did much to create the modern sport, moving the contest from bare knuckled brawlers of prior days to more “gentle” gloved boxers of the 20th century.

The Pugilistic Publishing Company of Philadelphia was one of the promoters of this movement toward a more educated sport. In 1894, they published a glamorous large photograph laden volume: Portrait gallery of pugilists of America and their contemporaries from James J. Corbett to Tom Hyer. This title features sketches and photographs of famous current fighters, not just from America but from around the world. These oft mustachioed men performed with a theatrical air, even applying makeup before a match, and are somewhat reminiscent of the modern World Wide Wrestling scene. With ear grabbing sobriquets like: “The Marine”, Professor Clark, “The Cleveland Trumpeter”, Sailor Brown, “The Ithica Giant”, “The Brooklyn Strong Boy”, “The Prussian”, “The Nonpareil “, and “The Thunderbolt”, these were the sports celebrities of the Gilded Age. Contained within this title also are a number of plates detailing and describing the best of the modern boxing and footwork techniques.

Like other historical cultural objects this book is a product of the times that created it. At that point in time, race divided and segregated athletes. This book does include boxers of different races and nationalities, but the irrational prejudices that still pervaded the sport can be seen manifested in the ways that awards and boxing titles were awarded and contests scheduled. While Jim Corbett is titled the “World Champion”, George Godfrey is given the title “First Colored Heavy-Weight Champion of America”. Indeed, the white boxer John L. Sullivan refused to fight Godfrey for the championship because of his race. So who was really the best boxer of the bare knuckle era? The defining competition never took place so we can only speculate.

Photo of Godfrey: