Despite some enormous differences in salary among professional athletes, most aspects of their daily lives remain surprisingly constant across sports and income levels. In Living out of Bounds author Steven J. Overman mines a wide array of sports biographies, autobiographies, memoirs, and diaries to construct a representative picture of the athlete's life. In the course of the work a portrait emerges that transcends the individual lives lived. The shared experiences of devoted training, of travel and hotels, and of tension within and beyond the clubhouse or gym, force us to appreciate the often oppressive reality of the sporting life, at the same time that the individual lives lived also provide us with a glimpse of the rewards that make sports so compelling to audiences and athletes across America..

PrefaceIntroductionChapter One: The Athletes Family and Youth RootsOpening RoundsThe Influence of ParentsCoaches and Father FiguresLooking BackwardChapter Two: The Narrow World of SportsPart I: Sport as SanctuaryHome Away from HomeSanctum SanctorumPart II: Sport As NeverlandFrom Peter Pan to Pete RoseLiving in NeverlandCoaching as PaternalismThe Wider WorldChapter Three: Public Life, Private SpaceIntroductionCoping with CelebrityChapter Four: In the Arenas ShadowGladiators HolidayPractice TimeOn the RoadHotel LivingTime in; Time outFilling Leisure TimePlaying Cards and GamblingRecreational DrugsLife Styles of the Nouveau Riche and FamousTeammates and BuddiesRevealing the Inner ManChapter Five: Sex and SexualityMale EnclaveCheerleaders, Temptresses, and Centerfolds: Marginalizing WomenHome and AwaySexual AthletesThe Evolving Status of Gay AthletesChapter Six: Team Colors: Sport and RaceA Century of ChangeChapter Seven: The Athlete and His BodyThe Toll of TrainingBetter Living through ChemistryGetting HurtThe Three Rs of Injuries: Repair, Rehab, and RecoveryNo Pain, No GainChapter Eight: Retiring from SportOne Game at a TimeOne-more-year SyndromeTransition and AdjustmentThe Ex-athlete in Search of IdentityRepresentative RetirementsEndnotes