City of Champions

A History of Triumph and Defeat in Detroit

Stefan Szymanski, Silke-Maria Weineck

• Publisher: The New Press
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781620974438
• Edition: 0
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Social Sciences

The changing fortunes of Detroit, told through the lens of the city's major sporting events, by the bestselling author of Soccernomics, and a prizewinning cultural critic

From Ty Cobb and Hank Greenberg to the Bad Boys, from Joe Louis and Gordie Howe to the Malice at the Palace, City of Champions explores the history of Detroit through the stories of its most gifted athletes and most celebrated teams, linking iconic events in the history of Motown sports to the city's shifting fortunes.

In an era when many teams have left rustbelt cities to relocate elsewhere, Detroit has held on to its franchises, and there is currently great hope in the revival of the city focused on its downtown sports complexes—but to whose benefit? Szymanski and Weineck show how the fate of the teams in Detroit's stadiums, gyms, and fields is echoed in the rise and fall of the car industry, political upheavals ushered in by the depression, World War II, the 1967 uprising, and its recent bankruptcy and renewal.

Driven by the conviction that sports not only mirror society but also have a special power to create both community and enduring narratives that help define a city's sense of self, City of Champions is a unique history of the most American of cities.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Contents
• Introduction: January 1, 2020
• One: 2017 Little Caesar’s Arena Opens. Parking Lots Proliferate.
• Two: 2012 The Tigers Flounder. The City Heads to Bankruptcy.
• Three: 2008 The Lions Go 0–16. The Recession Hits.
• Four: 2004 Malice at the Palace. Detroit vs Its Image.
• Five: 1999 The Last Tigers Game at the Corner. The Lions Come Home.
• Six: 1995 The Russian Five Take Over. Detroit and the Border.
• Seven: 1988 Game Six of the NBA Finals. Rise of the Bad Boys.
• Eight: 1985 Defeat of the Motor City Cobra. The Legend of the Kronk Gym.
• Nine: 1982 Formula One Comes to Detroit. The Big Three Falter.
• Ten: 1977 The Red Wings Stay, the Pistons Leave.
• Eleven: 1970 The Lions Almost Make It. The RenCen Goes Up.
• Twelve: 1968 Can a World Series Heal a Grievously Wounded City?
• Thirteen: 1963: Detroit Loses Bid for Olympic Games. Again.
• Fourteen: 1957 Detroit’s Third NFL Title. Ford’s Edsel Sputters.
• Fifteen: 1952 Red Wings Sweep the Stanley Cup. Bitter Defeat for the Players Union.
• Sixteen: 1951 Joe Louis’s Last Fight. The Small Gains of the War Evaporate.
• Seventeen: 1949 Fred Matthaei’s Doomed Quest for the Olympics.
• Eighteen: 1945 Tigers Triumph. Rosie the Riveter and the Women’s League.
• Nineteen: 1943 LaMotta Takes Down Sugar Ray. Riots Tear Up the City.
• Twenty: 1938 Joe Louis Demolishes Hitler’s Boxer. White Supremacy Thrives.
• Twenty-One: 1936 In the Throes of Depression, the City of Champions Earns Its Name.
• Twenty-Two: 1933 Hunger, Horseraces, Booze, and Blood.
• Twenty-Three: 1930 The Negro League and Detroit’s Polish Community.
• Twenty-Four: 1927 Ty Cobb Returns. How Awful Was Ty Cobb?.
• Twenty-Five: 1921 The Havoc of the Automobile Age. Ford and Public Health.
• Twenty-Six: 1910 Ty Cobb Wins the Chalmers Batting Race—But Did He Really?
• Twenty-Seven: 1901 Henry Ford: Champion Racer, Tycoon, Antisemite.
• Twenty-Eight: 1887 Wolverines Celebrate World Series Victory. Pingree Fools His Rich Backers.
• Twenty-Nine: 1859 A New Sport Rises. Hate Erupts on the Eve of the Civil War.
• Thirty: 1763 Lacrosse as Resistance: British Colonizers Fall into a Trap.
• Epilogue: August 1, 2032
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index
• Copyright