It has been five years since popular classroom teacher and historian Richard O. " Dick" Davies, distinguished history professor emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno, retired from teaching and educating students through his popular course, "The History of American Sports." Once Davies retired, a sports historian was not hired to replace him and consequently his popular book, "Sports in American Life: A History," was no longer used at the University. However, many other institutions, including North Carolina, Murray State, and Texas Tech, use his book in their classrooms today. The popularity of Davies' book provided him the opportunity to produce a third edition, which was released in August 2016 by the London-based publisher Wiley/Blackwell.

"When I decided to offer a class in American sports history back in the early 1990s, I would have 50 students, and soon it was 75, and up to 100 students in the class," Davies said. "Researching and writing the first edition enriched the classes and the feedback from students improved the narrative I was writing."

The third edition of "Sports in American Life: A History" went through extensive revisions and updates, which were necessary as there had been many changes in sports history since the second edition came out in 2011. In the 500-page third edition, Davies focuses on presenting an interpretative history of the relationship of sports to larger themes of U.S. history.

Davies has included new sections on the legendary basketball coach John Wooden of UCLA, and tackles the complex child molestation case that led to the controversial termination of long-time Penn State football coach, Joe Paterno. He also expands his coverage on college sports, Title IX and the growth of sports for females, as well as issues regarding race and racism. His new edition also examines the implications of concussions in college and professional football, raising the question of, "How can any university, which is involved in the business of improving the minds of students, offer a sport in which brains may be injured?"

Davies began writing about sports while he was in high school in the early 1950s. Once Davies went off to college, he worked for the Marietta (Ohio) College newspaper and got a part-time job as a sports writer for the Marietta Daily Times during his senior year. Davies recalls covering high school games, writing against tight deadlines.

"On Tuesday and Friday nights, I would sit in the office and the coaches would call in the basketball or football game reports and give me the box scores," Davies said. "I would have to recreate the game from what they told me."

Davies also covered the Marietta College basketball, football and baseball teams. Even though he was gaining great experience through writing and journalism, he chose to study American history through the support of one of his professors and a graduate assistantship at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, where he earned his master's degree. Davies went on to earn his Ph.D. in American history at the University of Missouri at age 25. This led to appointments at several universities including Northern Arizona University, Memphis State University and the University of Southern California. He came to the University of Nevada, Reno in 1980 where he served as Vice President for Academic Affairs before joining the Department of History in 1988. He is the author or editor of fifteen books and innumerable articles and review essays that range widely over subject matter other than sports, including books on the career of Harry S. Truman, urbanization, the decline of small towns, and conservative political movements. He has received many honors and awards including the induction into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2013.

Ironically, Davies' view of sports has grown increasingly negative over the years as reflected in his treatment of such issues as the corruption of intercollegiate athletics, gender bias, racial discrimination and the use of public funds to support the construction of stadia and arenas for the benefit of billionaire professional team owners.

"I am very pleased and proud of the popularity of the book," Davies said. His four books on American sports history have led to appearances on ESPN and HBO Sports programs, as he relates, "I'll often get calls from journalists from around the country asking for comments on the significance of the Super Bowl, the Final Four or whatever hot issue of the moment might be."

"Sports in American Life: A History," along with other books authored by Davies, is available for purchase through Amazon.