An Overlooked Decade.

The second decade of the twentieth century is one of the most overlooked periods in the history of American sport. Overshadowed by the 1920s, the "Golden Age" of American sport, the 1910s saw many of the developments that laid the foundation for that fabulous decade, and if the sports of the 1910s had not been interrupted by World War I, the decade might have earned greater notoriety than did the 1920s. During the 1910s the amateurism of the nineteenth century continued to give way to professionalism. While tennis and track-and-field events remained wholly amateur sports and basketball and football continued to thrive on college campuses, professional basketball and football, though not organized to the extent they would be in the 1920s, gained greater acceptance in the cities. Above all, the 1910s was a decade for many firsts in American sport, such as the first Indianapolis...