Watterson, John Sayle 1939-

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Watterson, John Sayle 1939-

PERSONAL:

Born 1939. Education: University of Virginia, B.A.; Case Western Reserve University, M.A.; Northwestern University, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of History, James Madison University, MSC 2001, Harrisonburg, VA 22807; fax: 540-568-6556.

CAREER:

Academic and sports historian. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, assistant professor.

WRITINGS:

Thomas Burke, Restless Revolutionary, University Press of America (Washington, DC), 1980.

College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 2000.

The Games Presidents Play: Sports and the Presidency, Johns Hopkins University Press (Baltimore, MD), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

John Sayle Watterson is an academic and sports historian. After earning a Ph.D. at Northwestern University, Watterson began working as an assistant professor at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He published his first book, Thomas Burke, Restless Revolutionary, in 1980.

In 2000 Watterson published College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy. The book outlines the way the business was run in its early days. However, even in its infancy, Watterson shows how would-be sports headlines of the early 1900s mimic those found nearly one hundred years later, with various scandals, recruiters taking students out of preparatory school early to start playing football at the university level, and dirty techniques on the field. Watterson chronicles the sport's start and the challenges it faced from certain institutions that wished to see it banned. Watterson also looks at the number of reforms that have been implemented in the game.

A contributor to Coach and Athletic Director wrote that the book is "thoroughly" researched, but contains a few solutions on the running of corporate sport business that are "uninspired." The same contributor observed that College Football is "an awesomely researched historical text on America's most glamorous sport." Morey Berger, writing in Library Journal, thought that "this frank account is a good fit for most" libraries, noting Watterson's penchant for recording details "painstakingly." Booklist contributor Wes Lukowsky called the book "a thoughtful, intellectually challenging historical examination." Lukowsky opined that Watterson's suggestions to fix college football were "too radical," but nevertheless, found the book to be "carefully researched and thoroughly documented."

Watterson published The Games Presidents Play: Sports and the Presidency in 2006. In the book Watterson suggests that the athletic backgrounds of U.S. presidents gives some indication to the type of governing style they will enact and the decisions they will make. Watterson primarily covers presidents in the twentieth century, such as Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, and Bill Clinton, although he does touch upon certain individuals in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Watterson outlines how many earlier presidents often played sports while holding the executive office, but claims that Theodore Roosevelt was responsible for changing the notion that American presidents should be vigorously active figures in some capacity. Watterson shows how certain presidents used sports as an attempt to dispel notions that they were not masculine enough to hold the presidency. He also shows how too much of an affection for sports was detrimental to certain presidents, like Eisenhower and his fondness of golf.

Booklist contributor Gilbert Taylor described Watterson's book as "a wry and perceptive work," adding that it is "consistently entertaining" and "abundantly anecdotal." Taylor concluded that "Watterson's history rises above trivia." Jim Burns, writing in Library Journal, "recommended" the book. He noted that "this well-researched, nicely written work will appeal to history buffs and sports fans alike." A contributor to Publishers Weekly remarked that "occasionally, Watterson overstates his case," singling out his discussion on how Woodrow Wilson's emphasis on reforming college football over national banking reforms was an example of how sports have become a defining aspect of the U.S. presidency. The contributor concluded that, "nonetheless, this is an enjoyable study of politics and culture."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Studies, spring, 2002, Michael Oriard, review of College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy.

Booklist, September 1, 2000, Wes Lukowsky, review of College Football, p. 55; September 1, 2006, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Games Presidents Play: Sports and the Presidency, p. 50.

Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, October, 2001, J. Davenport, review of College Football, p. 348; August, 2007, B. Miller, review of The Games Presidents Play, p. 2167.

Christian Science Monitor, November 30, 2000, review of College Football, p. 20.

Chronicle of Higher Education, October 27, 2006, Nina C. Ayoub, review of The Games Presidents Play.

Coach and Athletic Director, August, 2000, review of College Football, p. 62.

Journal of American Culture, September, 2007, Max Skidmore, review of The Games Presidents Play, p. 368.

Journal of American History, March, 2002, Murray Sperber, review of College Football, p. 1584.

Library Journal, September 15, 2000, Morey Berger, review of College Football, p. 84; September 1, 2006, Jim Burns, review of The Games Presidents Play, p. 161.

Publishers Weekly, August 7, 2006, review of The Games Presidents Play, p. 43.

Reference & Research Book News, August, 2001, review of College Football, p. 74.