sports

Sports fandom — often more than religious, political or regional affiliation — determines how millions of Americans define themselves. In his new book, “We Average Unbeautiful Watchers: Fan Narratives and the Reading of American Sports,” Noah Cohan, lecturer in American Culture Studies in Arts & Sciences, focuses on sports culture as narrative.

Adult depression has long been associated with shrinkage of the hippocampus, a brain region that plays an important role in memory and response to stress. Now, new research from Washington University in St. Louis has linked participation in team sports to larger hippocampal volumes in children and less depression in boys ages 9 to 11.

Remarks made during the recently settled NBA lockout brought the subject of race and sports back into the forefront. Gerald Early’s A Level Playing Field: African American Athletes and the Republic of Sports, is a series of essays that give historical perspective to the issue of race and sports through distinct personalities such as baseball’s Jackie Robinson and Curt Flood and NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb. Early, PhD, is the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis.

Missouri lawmakers should give serious consideration to a proposed bill requiring medical examinations for high school athletes who suffer a head injury, according to recent testimony by WUSTL sports medicine expert Mark E. Halstead, M.D.

How much are these seats really worth?That teams sell tickets at prices far lower than their market value may seem to contradict economic logic. On average people who buy NFL tickets from scalpers online pay more than 50 percent above a ticket’s face value. Markups are even higher in football-loving locales such as Green Bay and New England. Despite the disparity between face value and street value, a professor at the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis says it actually makes sense that owners don’t jack up ticket prices even more.