Post-Modern Cowboys: the Transformation of Sport in the Twentieth Century
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UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations 1-1-2004 Post-modern cowboys: The transformation of sport in the twentieth century David Kent Sproul University of Nevada, Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/rtds Repository Citation Sproul, David Kent, "Post-modern cowboys: The transformation of sport in the twentieth century" (2004). UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations. 2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.25669/rwgb-7n85 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Retrospective Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. POST-MODERN COWBOYS: THE TRANSFORMATION OF SPORT IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by David Kent Sproul Bachelor of Arts Southern Utah University 1991 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy Degree in History Department of History College of Liberal Arts Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas August 2005 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number: 3194254 Copyright 2005 by Sproul, David Kent All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI UMI Microform 3194254 Copyright 2006 by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Copyright by David Kent Sproul 2005 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dissertation Approval The Graduate College University of Nevada, Las Vegas July 18 ■ 20 05 The Dissertation prepared by David Sproul______ Entitled Post-Modern Cowboys; The Transformation of Spnrh in the ?nth Century_________________________________________________________ is approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History_____________ Examination Committee Chair Dean of the Graduate College Examirmion Committee Member Examination Committee Member Graduate College Faculty Representative II Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Post-modern Cowboys: the Transformation of Sport In the Twentieth Century by David Kent Sproul Dr. Hal K. Rothman, Examination Committee Chair Professor of History University of Nevada, Las Vegas During the twentieth century, sports that evolved in the American West transformed the landscape of American sport. Driven by combinations of technology, media, and human personalities, sports such as surfing, skateboarding, and mountain biking redefined the meaning of sport and eliminated the traditional limits to the “playing field.” As surfing, skateboarding, and mountain biking evolved, wartime technologies accelerated their progress. Those technologies democratized access to contemporary sports in two ways. Materials such as polyurethane eased the physical requirements of carrying equipment and catching waves. Contemporary sports also expanded access because they focused on individualized competition and participation, eliminating the need for other players as a prerequisite to participation. As contemporary sports evolved in the West, they gradually eclipsed the participatory dominance of traditional team sports. ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank my wife, Alice, and my three sons, Henry, Holden, and Hayden. They are the foundation and inspiration for everything good in my life, including this dissertation. I owe them much and look forward to repaying them all. My committee chair. Dr. Hal Rothman, shepherded me through this project with great care. Over the eight years I spent at University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Dr. Rothman was my advisor, my mentor, and ultimately, my friend. The Department of History and the Graduate College were generous sponsors during my graduate career. It was a pleasure to be of service to them and to the larger university community at UNLV. I also want to acknowledge the hundreds of students I taught during five years in the classroom at UNLV. They taught me a great deal about the importance of making history accessible. IV Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................. iii CHAPTER 1 ALTERNATIVE, ACTION, OR EXTREME: THE NEW FACE OF SPORT IN THE 20™ CENTURY................................................................. I CHAPTER 2 WEST GOES EAST: SURFING AS THE PROTO WESTERN SPORT 42 CHAPTER 3 GUNSLINGERS AND GODS: BIG-WAVE SURFING, FROM PAKI TO PE’A H I........................................................................................................... 82 CHAPTER 4 CONCRETE WAVES: SKATEBOARDING AND URBAN LANDSCAPES ...........................................................................................116 CHAPTER 5 BEYOND HORIZONTAL: FROM DOGTOWN TO HAWKTOWN . 169 CHAPTER 6 THIS AIN’T YOUR DADDY’S SCHWINN: MOUNTAIN BIKING IN THE EXTREME WEST .....................................................................231 CHAPTER 7 OUT OF THE MARGINS: THE FACE OF SPORT IN THE 2U^ CENTURY.................................................................................................. 269 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...............................................................................................................283 VITA ....................................................................................................................................295 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CHAPTER 1 ALTERNATIVE, ACTION, OR EXTREME: THE NEW FACE OF SPORT IN THE 20™ CENTURY I started skateboarding in Burbank, California in 1972.1 was six years old. My first skateboard was a Black Knight my dad bought for me at the Sears Outlet store in San Fernando, California. It was 21" long, 6" inches wide and sported clay composite wheels that locked up and sent me flying if I hit so much as a cigarette butt. I remember liking the feeling of skating, but I was frustrated with the Black Knight’s inability to turn the way I had seen other skaters turn. Finally, after various failed attempts at technological upgrades, I got a break. In 1978, at a family Christmas in San Diego, my Aunt Peggy and Uncle Doug gave me a new skateboard. It was nothing like the boards I had ridden up to that point. This was an Alva skateboard, 28.75" long, 7.75" wide, with Bennett Pro trucks and Cadillac urethane wheels. It was perfect. As I recall it now, it was the greatest day of my young life. My aunt and uncle lived in the hilly section of San Diego near Point Loma. Skateboard in hand, I rushed out of the house and barreled down the street. The wheels gripped the pavement like nothing else, and I carved that street like a god. About fifty yards into my first run with my new board, I got the speed-wobbles and ate the pavement. It hurt badly, 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. but it was perfect. That day I began a relationship with the new category of sports that evolved during my youth. What I did not realize was that I had also begun the research for this project. In a way, this study is autobiographical. I have been, at various times in my life, a skateboarder, a mountain biker, and a surfer. It was always a curious thing to me, the way each of these sports drew me in and gave me a language and currency that I did not have before I encountered it. That is and always will be the most notable feature of sport in the West; here, the uniforms never come off. You are what you do, you live what you play. I know what it feels like to catch air in a pool, to drop into a wave’s barrel, and to bike down a twenty-degree single-track trail as though I were ten-feet tall and bulletproof. This study is something of an ode to sports I have loved and lived. When I began this study, I was sitting in Hal Rothman’s office at UNLV, helping him get ready for a conference in Park City, Utah. Helping