In this study, we systematically examine the relevance of five bodies of social movement theory to the outcomes of two sport-related social movements — struggles over funding of sport facilities and struggles over Native American mascots. Thirty-eight themes were culled from the five bodies of social movement theory and explored via 83 semi-structured interviews with social movement and countermovement actors from 20 different sites in the United States. Surprisingly, we found only eight of the 38 themes that we studied are pivotal to the outcomes of both social movements. The analysis also reveals that no single theoretical approach adequately explains the outcomes of both movements. Parts of Resource Mobilization theory are useful, while Political Process and Cultural theories offer the most explanatory power. We find that a few internal aspects of social movement groups interact with some cultural and structural forces external to these groups to shape social movement outcomes. Sport sociologists are urged to continue the systematic study of social movement theory, but to move beyond the limitations of this study to focus on other social movements, geographical locations, and aspects of social movements.

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Based on semistructured interviews with 56 women who had at least one same-sex relationship prior to age 30, I conclude that sport both nurtures, and to a lesser degree hinders, development of these relationships. Homophobia on particular teams, sometimes triggered by the masculine reputation of sport, often hindered the development of these women's same-sex attractions/relationships. In contrast, sport often nurtured these attractions/relationships due to its: sex-segregation, demonstration of women's capabilities, lack of heteronormative climate, emotional intensity, time-consuming nature, and similarity-inducing tendencies. In addition, sport more often nurtured these attractions/relationships when lesbian/bisexuals were present, teams were accepting of same-sex relationships, and the sport was perceived as gender neutral. I discuss the occupation of coaching, and the sport of softball, relative to these more general trends.

Most studies that report apologetic behavior by female athletes employ observation or in-depth interviews. Although these studies provide great insight, they do not enable us to systematically compare apologetic behavior across a wide variety of athletes, sports, geographical locations, and time periods. The authors developed a questionnaire for such comparative purposes. The authors then used this questionnaire to study apologetic behavior on three collegiate teams. Most respondents reported that they either engaged in numerous apologetic behaviors on an occasional basis or a few apologetic behaviors on a more regular basis. The most common apologetic behaviors involved efforts to look feminine, apologize for aggression, and mark themselves as heterosexual. Softball players engaged in more apologetic behavior than soccer and basketball players. The authors urge others to utilize this questionnaire for comparative purposes.