Comparisons take a number of forms in sport history.
Most comparisons in the field are simple allusions – to another person, place, event, practice or text.
For example,
to exemplify the rigid codes of conduct and peculiar masculinity associated with German pistol duelling in the late nineteenth century, Kevin McAleer compares it with British boxing.
Most historians use allusions to evoke sentiments and convey impressions
rather than systematically build arguments, and the number of practitioners making
systematic comparisons to argue specific cases or to offer an historical explanation or interpretation is quite small.