When the Kansas City Chiefs took the field against the Green Bay Packers nearly a half-century ago in the first Super Bowl, they embodied the most obvious plotline of the game: How would the champions of the upstart American Football League fare against the established titans of the NFL? Less overtly, though, the Chiefs were…

Nearly 50 years ago—when segregation ruled college football in the South—a transformational game took place, pitting a team led by African-American players against one from a powerhouse that was almost entirely white. The black team won, and the cult of white supremacy on the gridiron was shattered. And given football’s powerful cultural influence, the game…

When Bruce Springsteen introduced Clarence Clemons to audiences, he announced him with such titles as the Emperor, the King of the World, the Minister of Soul. As if to match the rhetoric, Clemons often adorned his 6-foot-4 frame in a gaudy three-piece suit and wide-brimmed fedora, flirting with the stereotypes of preacher and pimp. The…