The Game Is Not a Game: The Power, Protest and Politics of American Sports

The Game Is Not a Game is part theory, part op-ed, and an affecting, sobering, and unflinching examination of both the promise and the pitfalls of the sports industry. Both liberating and provocative, Scoop Jackson explores the role sports play in American society while exposing the hypocritical standards by which athletes are often judged.

The Game Is Not a Game is not intended to be a “safe space.” It breaks from the conventions of traditional sports writing, challenging accepted ideologies and pushing the boundaries of mainstream sports media. The book examines topics including America’s miseducation of LeBron James, the disrespect of Serena Williams’s G.O.A.T. status, the NFL’s duplicity in its treatment of Colin Kaepernick, the cultural bias embedded in analytics, and the intersection of social activism, power, and professional sports ownership—all through the perspective of one of the leading voices in social, political, and racial commentary in sports journalism.