On Rhetorical Theory and Criticism in Sport Communication

Using Cummins and Hahn’s review of Communication & Sport as an invitation to consider future directions in research, this commentary suggests sport communication scholars can do more to engage with the contributions of rhetorical theory and criticism. While Cummins and Hahn rightly point to the field’s overall limited engagement with method and theory, they may miss the epistemological assumptions at play which guide the use of method and theory in rhetorical studies. This essay offers some counterpoints, using several representative publications to demonstrate rhetoric’s guiding epistemology.