44 used & new from $0.01

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

Tell the Publisher! I�d like to read this book on Kindle Don�t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.

Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational Values (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Sarah A. Levin (Author), James L. Shulman (Contributor), Colin G. Campbell (Contributor), Susanne C. Pichler (Contributor), Martin A. Kurzweil (Contributor) "IN NO OTHER country in the world is athletics so embedded within the in structure of higher education as in United States..." (more)
Key Phrases: athletic divide, adjusted admissions advantage, coed liberal arts colleges, University of Chicago, Bryn Mawr, Appendix Table (more...)

3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Available from these sellers.

15 new from $8.99 28 used from $0.01 1 collectible from $39.95

Formats		Amazon Price	New from	Used from
Hardcover Available from these sellers. Published July 13, 2003	Hardcover, July 13, 2003	--	$8.99	$0.01
Paperback $29.95 In Stock. Published March 20, 2005	Paperback, March 20, 2005	$29.95	$22.95	$12.83

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values

by James L. Shulman

3.3 out of 5 stars (6) $26.48

Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Education

by Murray Sperber

3.6 out of 5 stars (31) $12.24

Intercollegiate Athletics and the American University: A University President's Perspective

by James J. Duderstadt

4.0 out of 5 stars (3) $19.84

Unpaid Professionals: Commercialism and Conflict in Big-Time College Sports

by Andrew Zimbalist

3.5 out of 5 stars (2) $26.75

Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics

by John R. Thelin

5.0 out of 5 stars (2) $17.95

› Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Clearly, the system is broken, and fixing it will require more than sideline cheering". -- Gordon Gee, Chancellor of Vanderbilt University, The Washington Post

A work of extensive research, impressive statistical analyses, and excellent writing. -- John Savant , Commonweal

Rooted in convincing data, this powerful, thought-provoking work will likely receive wide national attention and will have a substantial impact on campus discussion. -- Review

This powerful, thought-provoking work will likely receive wide national attention and will have a substantial impact on campus discussion. -- , Library Journal

Unlike other proposals for the reform of college sports, Bowen and Levin's . . . actually work. -- Murray Sperber, Academe

Review

This powerful, thought-provoking work will likely receive wide national attention and will have a substantial impact on campus discussion.
(Library Journal )

A work of extensive research, impressive statistical analyses, and excellent writing.
(John Savant Commonweal )

Unlike other proposals for the reform of college sports, Bowen and Levin's . . . actually work.
(Murray Sperber Academe )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

Hardcover: 488 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press (July 14, 2003)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0691116202
ISBN-13: 978-0691116204
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds

Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #337,557 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

› Visit Amazon's William G. Bowen Page

Inside This Book (learn more)

First Sentence:
IN NO OTHER country in the world is athletics so embedded within the in structure of higher education as in United States. Read the first page

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
athletic divide, adjusted admissions advantage, coed liberal arts colleges, recruited male athletes, recruited female athletes, recruit status, recruited athletes, other coed colleges, athletes underperform, other male applicants, male minority students, entering cohort, incoming credentials, essential educational purposes, admitting athletes, academically selective schools, high school athletic participation, academic underperformance, high profile athletes, conference alignments, other liberal arts colleges, substantial proportionality, athletic recruitment, postseason competition, profile sports

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
University of Chicago, Bryn Mawr, Appendix Table, Early Decision, University Athletic Association, Washington University, New England Small College Athletic Conference, New York University, Amy Campbell, Centennial Conference, Princeton University, Sears Cup, Wesleyan University, Ivy Group, Phi Beta Kappa, Carnegie Mellon, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Richard Rasmussen, Brown University, Colleges Source, Connecticut College, Ivy Agreement, Williams College, Middlebury College, Carleton College

New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats

Citations (learn more)

This book cites 17 books:

The Shape of the River by William G. Bowen on 6 pages
The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values by James L. Shulman in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
The Gold and the Blue: A Personal Memoir of the University of California, 1949 - 1967: Volume 1, Academic Triumphs by Clark Kerr in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
Games Colleges Play: Scandal and Reform in Intercollegiate Athletics by Professor John R. Thelin in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
The Anatomy of Racial Inequality (The W. E. B. Du Bois Lectures) by Glenn C. Loury in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)

See all 17 books this book cites

5 books cite this book:

Air Ball: American Educations Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics by John R. Gerdy on page 21, page 99, and Back Matter
Doing Christian Ethics From The Margins by Miguel A. de la Torre in Back Matter
The Meaning of Sports: Why Americans Watch Baseball, Football, and Basketball and What They See When They Do by Michael Mandelbaum on page 152
One Hundred Semesters: My Adventures as Student, Professor, and University President, and What I Learned along the Way by William M. Chace on page 305
Admission Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting Into College (Jossey Bass Education Series) by Sally P. Springer in Back Matter

Books on Related Topics (learn more)

The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2007 by Yale Daily News Staff

Discusses:

The Chosen by Jerome Karabel

Discusses:

The Making of Princeton University by James L. Axtell

Discusses:

The Game of Life by James L. Shulman

Discusses:

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	75% buy the item featured on this page: Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational Values 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)
	11% buy The Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values 3.3 out of 5 stars (6) $26.48
	6% buy Beer and Circus: How Big-Time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate Education 3.6 out of 5 stars (31) $12.24
	5% buy Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities $18.45

Explore similar items

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).

affirmative action(4)

higher education(4)

college sports(2)

ivy league(2)

athletics(1)

murray sperber(1)

baseball(2)

football(2)

nonprofits(1)

college admissions(1)

elite privilege(1)

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

Customer Reviews

3 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Convincing, June 20, 2004

By	R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

A measure of the tortured relationship between higher education and sports is the fact that this is the second substantial book by William Bowen on this topic. The former President of Princeton and the present head of the Mellon Foundation, Bowen deployed the considerable resources of the Mellon Foundation to address this topic. The prior book, The Game of Life, was controversial because of conclusions that athletics have had a distorting effect on admissions and academic life at institutions thought to be free of the gross distortions seen at American Universities with scholarship driven athletic programs. After studying prestigious and very selective schools like the Ivy League universities and smaller schools like Amherst, Williams, and Wesleyan, Bowen and his co-author concluded that athletes enjoyed substantial and unmerited advantages in admissions, tended to relatively underperform academically, and actually had a negative effect on campus life. There conclusions were assailed, sometimes with some force, on the basis of limited data samples and reliance on anecdotal information.
In the present book, Bowen returns with a considerably expanded dataset and a number of new analyses. The effect is to overwhelmingly confirm the prior conclusions. While one could probably find defects in some of the individual analyses, Bowen and Levin have done so many evaluations reaching the same conclusions that it is inescapable to conclude that they are correct. For example, they analyze data from 3 groups of schools with differing admissions policies towards recruited athletes and find a strong correlation between the relative advantage enjoyed by recruited athletes and academic underperformance. This kind of dose-effect relationship is very strong data. In addition, the conclusions drawn from their dataset are consonant with qualitative impressions and with the conclusions of independent studies done at individual schools in their dataset. Bowen and Levin have successfully overcome the challenges of their critics. A corollary point is that their critics have never offered any substantial data to back the implied claim that athletics produce unique benefits.
Bowen and Levin conclude with a series of recommendations for reform which are quite sensible. It has to be mentioned that one of the goals of their reform program is actually to broaden participation in college athletics. These suggestions should be pursued.
Bowen and Levin have a nice discussion of how this unfortunate state of affairs developed. The problems with athletics at these schools mirror and to some extent are driven by parallel changes in larger society. As these colleges have come to overvalue athletics, so has youth sports become semi-professionalized. This has created a typical vicious circle; parents, knowing that good colleges highly value athletics, drive their children down the road of early specialization in a sport and year round competition. In turn, the strong interest of these types of students in sports at a relatively high level is a partial driver of the overemphasis of college athletics. Bowen and Levin suggest that restoring balance to college sports would help to break this cycle. This may be correct and is certainly worth trying.
It is worth mentioning in this context that attempting to reverse the overemphasis on college and youth sports has implications beyond education. Bowen and Levin are particularly concerned with the effects of athletics on education, which is entirely proper. But, it is very likely that the semi-professionalization of youth sports is a contributing factor to the general decline in fitness occuring in younger Americans. By the end of elementary school, competitive sports increasingly become the province of a relatively select group of talented children. Coupled with the declining emphasis on physical education in schools and other relevant phenomena, the result is a large pool of increasingly inactive children. The long term consequences are likely to be a significant increase in cardiovascular disease and other significant medical problems.

Comment Comment (1) | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Telling it like it is, February 19, 2004

By	J. H. Hall (Wayne,ME) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The authors have collected an enormous amount of data and presented it lucidly and tellingly. That alone is worth the price of the book. However one feels about elite institutions using different admission standards for recruited athletes,the authors should be given credit for illuminating the facts.

Most of the criticism I have seen has been of the "Kill the Messenger" variety, from people who clearly have "an axe to grind." To those whose minds are not already made up, I suggest reading the book.

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

6 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Intellectually Dishonest, December 11, 2003

By A Customer

When he was president of Princeton, William Bowen was responsible for the "problem" he now criticizes. As president of the Mellon Foundation, he is responsible for millions of dollars of grants to Ivy and similar universities, and thus wields enormous power with them as he picks and chooses recipients of the largess he controls. Coincidentally, the "co-author" of this volume is the daughter of one of those recipients--the president of Yale. Just look at the list of people who "helped" him with drafts of the book.
People are entitled to write biased books; the problem here is that Bowen pretends he is not biased, and he obviously is(although more subtly than in his prior effort, Game of Life).
The data (which may represent a federal privacy violation by the colleges that revealed them) are manipulated into statistics to suit the biases and are fundamentally flawed. Data contrary to the biases is avoided or explained away, sometimes in the most Machiavellian manner. For a good rebuttal check out [website]

Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 3 customer reviews...

.jsOffDisplayBlock { display: block; } .jsOffDisplayInline { display: inline; } .jsOffVisibility { visibility: visible; } .jsOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jsOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jsOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; } .jsOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jsOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayBlock { display: none; } .jqOnDisplayInline { display: none; } .jqOnVisibility { visibility: hidden; } .jqOnDisplayNoneBlock { display: block; } .jqOnDisplayNoneInline { display: inline; }

Customer Discussions

This product's forum

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight

Start a new discussion

Topic:

First post:

Receive e-mail when new posts are made

Prompts for sign-in

Guidelines

Active discussions in related forums

Discussion	Replies	Latest Post
textbook Textbooks for Kindle DX?	61	10 hours ago
education Obama says longer school days and years will bring the US up to par.	2356	11 hours ago
education The value of a broad liberal college education	24	12 hours ago
education alternatives to standardized testing	6	21 hours ago
sports Best High School Football Film Ever?????	4	1 day ago
sports The Greatest College footbal program of all time.	109	4 days ago
textbook textbook scam	66	5 days ago