Sports Case Studies

Is it ever ok to refuse a post-game handshake? Should a team be removed from its league because it wins too much? Should a team ever try to lose a game because it will help them advance further in a tournament?


Twenty-five different situations from the (not necessarily professional) sports world where there is no easy decision or answer, where both sides have valid arguments. How do you choose? What factors do you consider? How do you manage the inevitable backlash from whatever side isn’t chosen? (This volume is intended as a jumping off point to discussion and debate rather than a ‘book’ in the sense that you read it straight through.)


Each case study is initially presented with the basics of information; this approach is intended to keep reading time down and discussion time up. After that basic introduction to the case and the ensuing discussion, further details are provided that might change people’s opinions. The intention of this structure is to remind readers that oftentimes the way a story is initially presented ignores, whether intentionally or not, details that might sway public opinion. 



The book organizes the case studies into three sections, one arranged by theme, one by sport, and one (reverse) chronologically, with the most recent cases first. The case studies in each section are the same but organized differently, i.e. you won’t find some case studies in the theme section and some in the sport-specific section; all case studies will appear in all sections. For some case studies, links to further reading are included. These links will sometimes lead to articles behind paywalls. Just an FYI. 



This book is being published in mid 2025; the case studies run current to then but are also idiosyncratic in terms of stories to which I’ve been exposed, e.g. I live in Massachusetts and grew up outside Philadelphia and so am exposed to stories local to there that weren’t necessarily national news as well as not being exposed to other local stories that might be appropriate for this volume.