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Glad to see The Allrounder, a new site devoted to examining deeper issues in sports, finally go live last week.

The creator is Bruce Berglund, the host of the excellent New Books in Sports podcast and a history professor at Calvin College in Michigan.

The contributors are mostly academics, journalists and authors from the United States and around the world, who examine “how sport impacts communities, shapes culture, and taps bodies and emotions.”

The initial posts this week include the rise of French basketball, the revival of roller derby, the intersection of sports and religion and a panel discussion on top-notch sports interviews.

As a Twitter promo from contributor Peter Alegi declares, the site is aimed at “nerdy jocks and jockish nerds.”

That’s right up my alley and if you have listened to the NBS podcast and liked that, this is for you as well.

Other planned features on The Allrounder include book reviews (the first is about a new biography of Arthur Ashe), conversations with authors and scholars and recommended readings about sports eleswhere in the media.

What I like about what I’ve seen and on the newly launched Sport in American History blog, is the work of academics that is easily accessible for general readers.

Given the relentless immediacy of the 24/7 sports media, The Allrounder is a welcome vehicle to step back from the “hot takes” and take a deeper, more thoughtful look at the sports world.