My interest in the sociology of sport goes back over 3 decades. As a sociology graduate student at the University of Notre Dame I was fascinated by the social importance of sports on the campus. I had played sports, but never stood back to view sports as social phenomena.

The sociology department at Notre Dame did not offer a course on sport in society, but I began to read whatever I could about sport and social issues as I finished my degree. I taught my first course on sport and culture in 1970 and have taught it nearly every semester since then.

I began doing research on youth sports in the early 1970s and published the first edition of Sport in Society: Issues and Controversies in 1978. Since then I served as the founding editor of the Sociology of Sport Journal and was elected to terms as president of the Sport Sociology Academy in the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, and president of the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport.

I teach in the sociology department at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. My courses include introductory sociology, popular culture, social psychology, race and ethnic relations, and the sociology of aging, as well as the sociology of sport.

I continue to do research, publish articles, and make presentations at professional conferences. I have given speeches on sociology of sport topics to academic and community groups in many countries, and I frequently talk with journalists who cover social issues in sports in the media.

Every edition of Sport in Society has been different from the previous edition because research in the field has expanded rapidly over the past 20 years. Furthermore, every new group of students teaches me something new about sports in their lives and their communities. This 7^th edition reflects my recent conversations with students and with athletes at all levels of competition. It also reflects research that has been published in many books and journals since the 6^th edition was published in late 1997.

Recently I have co-edited two other books on sports: Inside Sports (© 1999, Routledge) with Peter Donnelly from the University of Toronto, and the Handbook of Sports Studies (© 2000, Sage) with Eric Dunning from the University of Leicester in England.

I became hooked on sociology while I was an undergraduate student-athlete. My goal over the past 3 decades has been to use concepts and theories in sociology to critically examine sports and to promote changes that will make sports and society more democratic and humane. This continues to be an enjoyable passion in my life.