“Bad Boys” and Girls in Sports

At their most basic level, sporting events are about numbers: wins and losses, percentages and points, shots and saves, clocks and countdowns. However, when it comes to sports narratives—the expert commentary before, during and after, the athlete interviews and press conferences, the fan debates around a television or in online forums, etc.—the stories quickly leave the realm of analytics and enter into mythos. Sometimes an athlete is villainized for a game or a season, but occasionally a player breaks from social expectations so often or in such a dramatic fashion that (s)he is labeled a “bad boy” in the sport. From John McEnroe and Pete Rose to Tonya Harding and Michael Vick, sporting history is punctuated by these bad boys, and what it takes to be placed in this category varies depending on many factors: the particular sport, social trends, race, gender, relationship with the fans or media, etc.

For the 2018 Popular Culture Association of the South conference, held in New Orleans from October 4-6, we are seeking abstracts exploring the issue of bad boys and girls and their role in society and individual sports. We are particularly interested in projects that explore a specific sporting figure and how that the narrative of that individual is shaped by his/her status as a “bad boy.” 

By July 30th, 2018, please submit a 200-400 word abstract, brief bio, and A/V requirements to Dr. John Lamothe, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, at john.lamothe@erau.edu