When the NHL Invaded Japan
When the NHL announced in early 1976 that its two worst teams, the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts, would travel to Japan for a four-game exhibition series dubbed the Coca-Cola Bottlers' Cup, fans and media were baffled. The Capitals and the Scouts were both expansion teams, with a combined 46 wins, 236 losses and 38 ties in their first two seasons--stats made more dismal when considering seven of those wins were against each other. Yet lagging so hopelessly behind the rest of the NHL, they were perfect for a one-off event on the other side of the globe. The series was an eye-opening success. Players skated on an Olympic swimming pool ringed with rickety boards hung with fishing nets that boomeranged pucks into their faces, as curious Japanese fans gasped at the gap-toothed Canadians wrestling on the ice. Filled with rare photos and player recollections, this book tells the story of how two league doormats became hockey heroes half-way around the world.
Sugarball
In 1937, the dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo sent his representative, Dr. Enrique Aybar to America to enlist the greatest Negro League players-Satchel Paige, Josh Gibson and Cool Papa Bell-to represent his country in a national baseball tournament. The players quickly found themselves celebrated in a country with no race prejudice. What they couldn't know is that they were pawns in a deadly, winner-take-all political game for the soul of the country.To survive, Satch, Josh and Cool Papa have to discover the real reasons they've been lured to the Dominican. The deeper they dive into the mystery, the more terrifying their adventure becomes. Their host-Rafael Trujillo-reveals himself as a murderous psychopath who will do anything to stay in power, including murdering them.The tale is told by the 12 year old bat boy who watched it all, and was changed forever by what he saw.The lost world of the Negro Leagues and its great heroes comes alive in a tale that would be beyond the imagination... if it weren't true.
Golf
"Funny and thought-provoking quotes. I keep this book on my nightstand to smooth out the day." - Samuel Johnston"I got this book as a part of a secret Santa gift and it was a hit! I got another one for my husband and he also loved it. Would recommend to any golf lovers out there." -- ShivaniThe funniest things ever said about the game we all love!The perfect gift for a golferThe funniest things ever said about the sport we all loveA great stocking stufferGreat for the 19th hole!Share these with friends or read them anytime!Bobby Jones said, "Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots - but you have to play the ball where it lies."Most of us at some point or another have walked off the 18th green swearing to give up the game after an embarrassing disastrous round only to say, "Okay" when asked to play next week.A brief excerpt: "A wife is interested in taking up golf and visits a large retail golf store with her husband to pick out a set of golf clubs. She is amazed at the vast selection on display."Dear, look at all this equipment! How am I supposed to pick out the right set of clubs?""Finding the right set of clubs is like finding a great wife," replied the husband."What! Are you comparing me to a set of golf clubs?""I mean you know right away when you found the right one," replied the husband."Nice recovery," she said."Thanks." - Rick NewellEnjoy and share the observations of many notable people wherever golfers gather especially on the 19th hole! Check it out!
For the Golfer Who Has Everything
"I liked this book. It is funny and enjoyed it!" - Peter Jablonski "Enjoyable, entertaining and interesting. Five big stars!" - Jason Frierson The perfect gift for any golfer! Funny true and little-known golf tales, insane golf courses, golf anecdotes, golf jokes, hilarious quotes, world golf records, and much more in this amusing new book created by bestselling golf writers, Team Golfwell. Their books have sold thousands of copies.This book makes a memorable and enjoyable holiday gift, a great stocking stuffer, birthday gift, Father's Day gift, or a gift for any occasion and will bring a smile to his face. This is a gift a golfer will remember for the laughs it brings and as it was once said, "We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give." - Winston Churchill"Gave this to a golfing friend who has everything! He loved it." - J.G. Five stars.He can share these stories with golfing friends, on the 19th hole, or anytime! A great book to keep on the nightstand, read while traveling, or anytime! Buy this unique book and get him something new to share! He'll love you for it!This book, "For the Golfer Who Has Everything" is also available in a new Hardback Color Edition ISBN 9781991048141.
Cinderella at the Big Dance
One of the biggest draws on the sports calendar, the NCAA men's basketball tournament routinely thrills fans with "bracket buster" upsets. From Loyola Marymount's emotional 1990 run following the death of team leader Hank Gathers to UMBC in 2018 becoming the first 16-seed to defeat a 1-seed, March Madness holds the sporting world captive for a few weeks each year and changes the lives of players. Drawing on dozens of original interviews, this book chronicles the tournament's many underdog tournament runs, with insights into the teams beyond their exploits on the hardwood.
The Ultimate St. Louis Cardinals Time Machine Book
The Ultimate St. Louis Cardinals Time Machine presents a timeline format that not only includes the Cardinals' greatest moments, such as their eleven World Series titles, but also such notable Cardinal achievements as Rogers Hornsby's two batting triple crowns, Dizzy Dean's 30-win season in 1934, Stan Musial's 17 MLB and 29 NL records, Bob Gibson's 1.12 earned run average (ERA) in 1968, Whitey Herzog's Whiteyball, Mark McGwire's single season home run record, and the 2011 championship team's unprecedented comebacks. The Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four seasons and won 100 or more nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. All these highlights and more comprise this essential book for all fans of the national pastime.
The Original
Canadian former professional hockey player Norm Beaudin is best known for being "The Original Jet"-the first to sign with the Winnipeg Jets Franchise in 1972. He played twenty-five games in the National Hockey League (NHL) and 335 games in the World Hockey Association (WHA). Beaudin also played for the Minnesota North Stars and the St. Louis Blues. In The Original, Beaudin shares his chaotic life of over fifty years-from his $2 makeshift Zamboni job as a boy to the success of earning the title of a professional hockey player.
How to Field a Ground Ball
"How to Field a Ground Ball" is a microscopic, detailed explanation of a unique teaching method, one that demands instructive individuality, not group conformity. It is a method whose main asset is that it accommodates, and adjusts, to different athleticisms. In contrast to the time-tested method of using drills to teach infielders how to field ground balls. "How to Field a Ground Ball" promotes a superior method that necessitates the manipulation of an infielder's natural body movements to instill the postures and actions that comprise the fielding process. It teaches the instructor how to utilize never before recognized movements of that process to ensure that an infielder's ability to field a ground ball will be maximized. The art of hitting a baseball has always received the most attention. No one has taken the time to study the art of fielding it. That is, until now. After reading "How to Field a Ground Ball" you will look at infielders differently than you ever have, and whether you agree or not with its teachings, this manual will have an impact on you.
Go The Distance
Born with a rare hip disease that goes undiscovered until he is six years old, Tom Tunison faces years of bed rest, wheelchairs and crutches. Forced intomaking life-changing adjustments, the once active boy begins watching New York Yankees telecasts during his recovery, forming an unlikely bond with Yankees rookie catcher, Thurman Munson.Fascinated with Yankees history, its Hall of Fame players and baseball statistics, Tunison begins a lifelong commitment and study of Munson's career that is sidetracked suddenly with the untimely death of his hero- a tragedy that propels Tunison onto a course of action full of heart-breaking tragedy, heart-warming triumph and personal discovery.In a journey laced with incredible "coincidences," Tunison blends trust, faith and an inner-voice as his guide all the way to the hallowed grounds of Cooperstown.
The Greatest Summer in Baseball History
The vivid story of a young Reggie Jackson on Charlie Finley's A's and the veteran Willie Mays on Yogi's Mets, both destined for the '73 series.--Library JournalA rousing chronicle of one of the most defining years in baseball history that changed the sport forever.In 1973, baseball was in crisis. The first strike in pro sports had soured fans, American League attendance had fallen, and America's team--the Yankees--had lost more games and money than ever. Yet that season, five of the game's greatest figures rescued the national pastime.Hank Aaron riveted the nation with his pursuit of Babe Ruth's landmark home run record in the face of racist threats. George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees at a bargain basement price and began buying back their faded glory. The American League broke ranks with the National League and introduced the designated hitter, extending the careers of aging stars such as Orlando Cepeda. An elderly and ailing Willie Mays--the icon of an earlier generation--nearly helped the Mets pull off a miracle with the final hit of his career. Reggie Jackson, the MVP of a tense World Series, became the prototype of the modern superstar.The season itself provided plenty of drama served up by a colorful cast of characters. The Mets, managed by Yogi Berra, performed another near miracle, rising from last place in the National League East to win the division and take the A's to seven games in the World Series. Pete Rose edged Willie Stargell as the National League's MVP in a controversial vote. Hank Aaron chased Babe Ruth's landmark 714 record in the face of racial threats. Reggie Jackson, the World Series MVP, solidified his reputation as Mr. October. Willie Mays, arguably the best player of the '50s and '60s, hit the final home run of his career and retired, no longer able to keep pace with the younger players of the next generation. Future Hall of Famers Dave Winfield and George Brett played in their first major league games; Luis Aparicio and Mays played in their last.That one memorable summer changed baseball forever.It's a season-ticket to one of the greatest years in baseball history. John Rosengren has given us one of the most enjoyable baseball books to come along in years.-Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig and Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season
Winners!
To start a football club from scratch is not for the faint-hearted. It is a journey that features desolation, pain, joy, excitement and happiness. One day there is an implicit wave of expectation to succeed, this is very quickly met with a purposeful craving to see you decline. The blueprint was not a short-term project, it simply could not be. Being emptied into the foot of the pyramid; quelled, suppressed and stifled, this was a long-term expedition being assembled. Erratically illustrated were names of modern football clubs; what they looked like, how they operated, what structure they had in place. This very quickly allowed the foundations to be solidified, bit by bit. Yes frustration, disappointment and failure is the emotion discerned when four managers in four years scuttle through the revolving door of a reserve team that deserve so much more. Consistent success does not happen overnight. To have achieved four league titles, four back to back promotions, two of the most successful FA Cup runs the club has ever endured and a total of ten trophies for the senior first team, this is about setting standards to reach the very top.
Sport Officiating
The goal of Sport Officiating; Recruitment, Development, and Retention is to provide a 'state of the science' summary in the emerging area of inquiry limited to sport officiating recruitment, development, and retention; and, to provide insight and evidence-based approaches to the development of successful long-term officiating development
Team Sports Training
Team Sports Training: The Complexity Model presents a novel approach to team sports training, examining football (soccer), rugby union, field hockey, basketball, handball and futsal through the paradigm of complexity. Under a traditional prism, these sports have been analysed using a deterministic perspective, where the constituent dimensions of the sportsmen were independently examined and treated in isolation. It was expected that the body worked as a perfect machine and, once all the components were maximised, the sportsmen improved their performance. If the same closed recipe was applied to all of the players who formed part of the squad, the global team performance was expected to be enhanced.As much as these reductionist models seem coherent, when contrasted in practice we see that the reality of team sports is far more different from the closed conditions in which they were idealised. Team sports contain variable, heterogeneous and non-linear constraints which require the development of a different logic to organise their training.During the last few years, ecological psychology, the dynamical systems theory or the constraints-led approach have opened interesting fields of research from which many conceptual foundations can be applied to team sports. Based on this contemporary framework, the current book presents the study of the players and the teams as complex systems, using coordination dynamics to explain the emergence of the self-organisation episodes that characterise them. In addition, this thinking line provides the reader with the ability to apply all of these innovative concepts to their practical training scenarios. Altogether, it is intended to challenge the reader to re-think their training strategy and to develop an original theory and practice of training specific to team sports.
Spies on the Sidelines
The first book to fully explore the extraordinary covert actions NFL teams are willing to take in order to win.Spies disguised as priests. Secret surveillance of targets' movements. Radio frequency jamming. Tapped telephones. These might sound like acts of espionage right out of the Cold War or a spy movie--but in fact came straight from the National Football League. In Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage, Kevin Bryant provides the first in-depth investigation of spying in professional football, as well as the countermeasures utilized to defend against these threats. Spanning across all teams and eras, Bryant shines a light on the shady world of NFL reconnaissance--from clandestine photography and hidden draft prospects to listening devices and stolen documents--along with the permissible, if sometimes questionable, spy techniques teams utilize day in and day out to gain an advantage over their opponents. Written by a former Special Agent with decades of experience collecting and safeguarding information for the Department of Defense, Spies on the Sidelines reveals that, behind the game-day action, professional football can be as cloak-and-dagger as American intelligence agencies. This fascinating and expansive compilation of NFL spy anecdotes exposes the extraordinary measures teams are willing to take in order to win.
Gentle Giant
Disregarding the saying 'what goes on on tour stays on tour', Gentle Giant tells the story of the 'Jubilee All Blacks' through the eyes of player Ron King. Departing Hokitika in August 1935, we join Ron on the five month adventure that took him and his teammates to the other side of the world.At a time when rugby was particularly strong in the 'Home Countries', this story outlines the challenges the team faced on the field, as well as the expectations placed upon them as representatives of their country. In their ambassadorial role, they were expected to showcase how "New Zealand produces first class soldiers, first class footballers, and good fellows generally, as well as the best butter, excellent cheese, good mutton and the very best lamb".Gentle Giant is as much about the All Blacks' social programme as it is about the games the team played. It highlights a time when, with poor radio and no television, print media was paramount, and rugby writers set the scene for the rugby-following public.
The Best Green Bay Football Pet Names
In Wisconsin not only are you born a Green Bay packer fan but your pets must also represent the greatest football team ever. All good pets need a name that represents the green and gold. This book will give you loads of ideas of what to name your new fur baby. The author leaves no stone unturned to find your new pet the perfect Packer name. In fact, Dr. Kester looked at every player from the very first team in 1919, through the Lombardi years and the dark years of the 1970s and 1980s then the return to glory years under Brett Favre, up to the present with Aaron Rodgers. These names may be from Hall of Fame players like Don Hutson or may come from names that just have a nice ring to them like Desmond Bishop.
The Ultimate New York Yankees Time Machine Book
This book covers the entirety of franchise history, from their birth and struggles as the Highlanders to the bludgeoning bats of Murderer's Row and the first Yankees dynasty to the juggernauts of the 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s, to the anomalous mediocrity that followed, to the championships and circus of the Steinbrenner, Jackson and Billy Martin era to, the run of crowns two decades later, to the years of frustration and missed opportunity through the second decade of the twenty-first century. However, how to make a book exceptional when champonships are routine, and scores of a team's player are imortal? Emphasize a variety of players, teams, moments, events and contributors that made the Yankees unique in the annals of American sport, which this book ably does.
The Baseball 100
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year "An instant sports classic." --New York Post * "Stellar." --The Wall Street Journal * "A true masterwork...880 pages of sheer baseball bliss." --BookPage (starred review) * "This is a remarkable achievement." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will. Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious, The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski. In the book's introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, "Posnanski must already have lived more than two hundred years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?" Baseball's legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game's all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, unfairly forgotten All-Stars, talents of today, and more. He doesn't rely just on records and statistics--he lovingly retraces players' origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball's past and present. Just how good a pitcher is Clayton Kershaw in the 21st-century game compared to Greg Maddux dueling with the juiced hitters of the nineties? How do the career and influence of Hank Aaron compare to Babe Ruth's? Which player in the top ten most deserves to be resurrected from history? No compendium of baseball's legendary geniuses could be complete without the players of the segregated Negro Leagues, men whose extraordinary careers were largely overlooked by sportswriters at the time and unjustly lost to history. Posnanski writes about the efforts of former Negro Leaguers to restore sidelined Black athletes to their due honor and draws upon the deep troves of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and extensive interviews with the likes of Buck O'Neil to illuminate the accomplishments of players such as pitchers Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe Williams; outfielders Oscar Charleston, Monte Irvin, and Cool Papa Bell; first baseman Buck Leonard; shortstop Pop Lloyd; catcher Josh Gibson; and many, many more. The Baseball 100 treats readers to the whole rich pageant of baseball history in a single volume. Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, it is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it.
The Art of Pickleball
Pickleball is a fun, fast-paced game that is gaining popularity around the world because it's easy to learn and can be played by all ages. This book describes everything from equipment to tournament strategy in straightforward, conversational language that will benefit novice and seasoned players alike. The Art of Pickleball shows how to perform basic and advanced strokes and provides excellent tips for doubles play, mental conditioning, gamesmanship, and offensive and defensive strategies. Drills are included to help readers develop recommended shots. - Master the fundamentals with step-by-step illustrations and photos - Choose the right paddle and other accessories - Polish your skills, from overhead smashes to dinks - Learn the fine points of safety - Techniques designed to take you to the next level - Quick answers to your questions - Easy to read and understandArizona Book Award Winner
Last Time Out
Most sports fans know that Ted Williams ended his major league career with style, swatting a home run in his final at bat. But what about Babe Ruth? Ty Cobb? Joe DiMaggio? Willie Mays? How did some of baseball's greatest players bow out of The Game? Last Time Out answers that question as it examines how the greatest players in baseball history left the game they once ruled. The stories of these men and how they finished their careers, never collected anywhere before now, show another side of the men whose achievements on the field made them legends. After hours and hours of research, through biographies, microfilm, magazines, and memories, award-winning sportswriter John Nogowski culled the stories of the final games of 25 of The Game's greatest athletes-Babe Ruth, Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, Jackie Robinson, Dizzy Dean, Satchel Paige, Carlton Fisk, Bob Feller, Joe Morgan, and Carl Yastrzemski are among those featured. This impressive work recounts the circumstances surrounding these final games and puts you in a box seat to witness and sense the moment as these glorious careers ceased, most often with little fanfare. Whether it be Shoeless Joe Jackson, Lou Gehrig, Pete Rose, or Cal Ripken, Jr., Last Time Out beautifully captures in words and photographs the essence of these players' last time in uniform and celebrates the magic of the game these famed players mastered and loved.
Football and Risk
This is the first book to look closely at the concept of 'risk' in elite and professional football from a social scientific perspective. Drawing on the wider sociological, criminological and management literature on risk, it shows how football helps us to understand global risk more generally in present-day society.
Rafa Nadal:The King of the Court
This book is the complete guide to one of the greatest tennis players of the 21st century, winner of 22 grand slam men's singles titles, and undisputed King of the tennis court, Spain's raging bull, Rafael Nadal. This fully illustrated biography charts his journey to the top, from his early days being coached by his uncle Toni in Mallorca and dreaming of being a professional footballer, through his early tournament career, turning professional, his first senior ATP win, first grand slam win at Roland Garros, first Wimbledon win, and first Olympic gold medal and record breaking 21st Grand Slam win. Written by Dominic Bliss, a veteran tennis journalist who has followed Nadal's career closely both on and off the court, this biography tracks Rafa's journey from painfully shy pin-up boy to senior statesman on the ATP Tour who continues to conquer worldwide, most recently claiming his 14th Roland Garros and 22nd Grand Slam title at the French Open in June 2022. Structured around 10 key matches in his long career, it takes readers from his first national junior championship win at age 14 (when he played with the pain of a broken finger on his racquet hand) through to his 21st Grand Slam title in January 2022, where he came back from two sets down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in an epic 5-set match. From his need for water bottles to be arranged 'a certain way' on the court, to his charity work raising $17 million to help the Red Cross' efforts to support those impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, this book examines every angle of Rafa as a human being, a model athlete, a serial winner. This definitive work on one of tennis' all time greats is not to be missed!
Boston Red Sox Firsts
In the 111-year-history of the Boston Red Sox, fans have been treated to countless firsts-- the first manager of the franchise (Jimmy Collins), the first American League MVP to play for the Sox (Tris Speaker), the first 20-game winner (Bill Dineen), the first to hit 500 home runs (Ted Williams), and the first Red Sox pitcher to win the Cy Young Award (Roger Clemens). The list goes on.In Boston Red Sox Firsts, veteran Red Sox historian Bill Nowlin presents the stories behind the firsts in Red Sox history in question-and-answer format. More than a mere trivia book, Nowlin's collection includes substantive answers to the question of "who was the first...?" on a variety of topics, many of which will surprise even seasoned fans of the Sox.
The Economics of Gender and Sport
While women's cricket, and women's sport in general, has gained enormously in popularity in terms of both spectators and TV audiences, comparatively little is known about it and its participants, and there are few, if any, quantitative assessments of the game. This book fills that gap.
Baseball Research Journal (Brj), Volume 51 #1
About half of this issue of the Baseball Research Journal is devoted to the topic of women in baseball, ranging from stories on the way newspapers covered "the lady baseballists" as early as 1865 through the pioneers of gender inclusivity in Little League in 1974. The cover features the impractical but unforgettable look of the uniforms worn in the mid-century women's league, the All American Girls Professional Baseball League, which remains the only organized, commercially successful women's baseball league in the United States to date. Featured articles include: "Lizzie Murphy: An "All Star" at Fenway Park" by Bill NowlinTo date, there has only been one woman who played baseball with a team of major leaguers in a big-league ballpark. Her name was Mary Elizabeth "Lizzie" Murphy and she played for a team of "all-stars" against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The year was 1922, and the date August 14. The occasion was Tom McCarthy Day--an exhibition game played at Fenway Park. The game was scheduled to benefit ailing but very popular former ballplayer Tommy McCarthy. Lizzie Murphy's All-Stars beat the Red Sox that day, 3-2."Bernice Gera and the Trial of Being First" by Amanda Lane CummingOn June 24, 1972, Bernice Gera became the first woman to umpire a professional baseball game. Immediately after the game ended, she quit. She fought baseball for five years for the chance to umpire a professional game. Why fight so long for an umpiring career, just to give it up after one game? As Gera was quoted as saying, "Wanting to belong is one of the most powerful things in the world. That's why sports are so popular. Just rooting for a team makes you feel part of it." We think of pioneers as being stoic, strong, and preternaturally gifted at the thing they are pursuing. Although she was the first woman umpire, Gera's story isn't really about her determination to become an umpire. She was just a woman standing in front of organized baseball, asking it to accept her."Black Women Playing Baseball: A Introduction," by Leslie HeaphyThe contributions of Black women in baseball have been largely overlooked and ignored. Few books or articles exist and those that do focus on the names of only a few owners and players such as Effa Manley, Olivia Taylor, Toni Stone, and Mamie Johnson. Their stories are important but are just the tip of the iceberg. What is presented here is an introduction to the incredible contributions made by many Black women as players, owners, coaches, and other baseball personnel. The primary focus centers on those most readers are not familiar with because of the lack of attention paid to these women. News coverage of women playing baseball has always been limited and often not complimentary in tone. For Black women, the press coverage has historically been even worse because they were up against issues due to sex and race.
Manchester United Complete
Finally - a book that lists every single Manchester United first-team match from 1878 to 2022, in chronological order, including all competitive, friendly or war-time fixtures. There are over 7,500 games in all, with almost as many traced lineups, as well as all known scorers and attendances. Over 1,400 footballers have made at least one appearance for United's first team - they are all in here!
The 1951 Los Angeles Rams
The 1951 Los Angeles Rams were one of the greatest teams in professional football history. Led by pioneer owner Daniel Reeves, head coach Joe Stydahar, and future Hall of Famers Bob Waterfield, Norm Van Brocklin, Elroy Hirsch, Tom Fears, and Andy Robustelli, the team won the NFL championship of that season. In doing this, they defeated the defending champion Cleveland Browns in a fantastic rematch of the 1950 title game. The Rams were the first team in a major professional sports league to relocate to the West Coast, forever changing the face of the NFL and professional sports in America. Fueled by an exciting and accomplished lineup of veteran star players and impactful rookies, the product of the Rams' innovative scouting system and their reintegration of the NFL in 1946, the Rams successfully married the NFL to the glamorous world of Hollywood. Delve into the story of the '51 Rams, the NFL's First West Coast Champions.
Peak Performance for Soccer
The world's leading practitioners working in elite soccer all share advanced knowledge of the environment as well as a scientific understanding of the game and players. The content in this book is derived from practical and evidence-based concepts that has been applied at the elite level.
Pee Wee Reese
Harold "Pee Wee" Reese may have been the most beloved Brooklyn Dodgers player of all time. During a 16-year career in the 1940s and 1950s, he delivered timely hits, made countless acrobatic defensive plays at shortstop, and stole hundreds of bases for clubs that won seven pennants and, in 1955, finally overcame the Yankees to win the World Series. Reese may be best remembered, however, for a gesture of solidarity. The year and the location vary with the telling, but witnesses agree on this crucial detail: During one of Jackie Robinson's early tours of the National League, as catcalls and racial taunts rained down on him, the Southern-born Reese draped an arm across the infielder's shoulder and stood alongside him, facing the crowd. In this first full-length biography of Reese, author Glen Sparks digs into Hall of Famer's life and career, his leadership both on and off the field, and the reasons that Brooklyn fans fell in love with the Boys of Summer.
Talent Development
Drawing on the latest evidence and a considerable experience base, this book dispels myths about talent development and offers practical advice on the TD pathway from pre-school to elite level. Aimed at practitioners and other stakeholders involved in the TD process, this is an up-to-date practical guide to TD in sport.
Johnny Mize
During his 15-season Major League career, slugger Johnny Mize was among the preeminent power hitters in baseball, a star for the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Giants, and a clutch player for the New York Yankees when they won five straight World Series in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Raised in rural Georgia, Mize caught the tail end of the Cardinals' Gas House Gang era and had his career interrupted by World War II before achieving greatness at the plate. An MVP, perennial All-Star and four-time National League home-run champion, he made a science of batting and wrote a book on it (How to Hit, 1953). This first full-length biography traces the arc of Mize's career through his prime years in the limelight to his retirement, when renewed interest in his legacy saw him inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Ultimate Detroit Tigers Time Machine Book
The Detroit Tigers have been marked neither by dynasties nor doldrums. The Tigers captured just four World Series championships since becoming a charter member of the junior circuit in 1901. They compiled a record barely above .500 during that 120-year span. They have suffered through seasons of failure so pronounced that they have gone down as some of the worst in the annals of baseball. But their periodic years of greatness have proven so memorable that they have remained in the hearts and minds of Tigers fans forever. They have provided a sense of pride and optimism to even the most fervent and critical followers during the most woeful periods. This book covers the entirety of Tigers history and even delves into the birth of professional baseball in Detroit in the National League to its continuation in the Western League, which morphed into the American League. This book details the Tigers' greatest and most interesting teams, players, moments, and eras.
Attention!! the Secret to You Playing Great Golf
Discover within these pages the tools and practical techniques to release the golfer you are truly capable of becoming. Understand the power of Focused Attention and how you can improve BOTH your golf swing AND your ability to control yourself and your thinking out on the course. With over 20 years of PRACTICAL experience in the REAL WORLD, Karl Morris shares with you the approach that has worked with golfers at ALL levels from Major Winners to High Handicappers. With a refreshing approach that is neither 'It's all in the mind' nor 'It's all about the swing', you will have the opportunity to create a balance in both your thinking and your technique which will reward you with better scores but, above all, more ENJOYMENT of this great game.
Learner-Oriented Teaching and Assessment in Youth Sport
This book provides sport educators with a comprehensive, learner-centred instructional toolkit to empower children and young people in collaborative, independent learning of team sports and games (TSGs).
Environmental Economics
In the 150 years of college football history, the national championship has been decided by unanimous vote only 33 times. This book analyzes the various methods of selecting these champions and what made the teams special. Drawing on archives and early published works, a firsthand description of the 1869 inaugural game between Princeton and Rutgers is provided, along with details of how these earliest teams were managed. The contributions and innovations of Walter Camp, the "Father of Football," are explored, as is the evolution of the game itself. Each unanimous season since the turn of the 20th century--from Yale in 1900 to LSU in 2019--is covered in detail, with a brief history of each school's football program. The question "is there a best ever team" is explored.
The Only Dance in Iowa
Iowa six-player girls' basketball was the most successful sporting activity for girls in American history, at its zenith involving more than 70 percent of the girls in the state. The state tournament was so popular--regularly drawing fifteen thousand fans, more than the boys' tourney--that officials declined a lucrative broadcasting offer from ABC's Wide World of Sports rather than forfeit the Iowa Girls' High School Athletic Union's control of the game. The Only Dance in Iowa chronicles the one-hundred-year history of this Iowa tradition, long a symbol of the state's independence and the people's rural pride. Max McElwain shows how, well before the passage of Title IX in 1972, Iowa six-player girls' basketball was, as Sports Illustrated gushed, "a utopia for girls' athletics." He also demonstrates how, ironically enough, the fallout from Title IX in many ways led to six-girl basketball's demise. Through interviews, careful ethnography, and detailed historical analysis, McElwain exposes the intricate political, sociological, and historical dynamics of this cultural phenomenon. His book reveals how six-girl basketball, flourishing with the passionate support of Iowa's small towns, school districts, and media, came to represent the state's strong traditional beliefs and the public school system's determination to maintain its identity in the face of national educational trends. The Only Dance in Iowa is as much a study of this disappearing culture as of the game it claimed as its own.
Twilight of the Longball Gods
A report from the true heart of baseball, this anthology leaves behind the bad boys and big names of the major leagues to take readers to the places where the spirit of America's game resides. These are a veteran sportswriter's dispatches from the bush leagues and the sandlot, his tributes to the Negro leaguers, mining-town dreamers, and certifiable eccentrics who give baseball its heart and soul, laughter and tears. John Schulian, a long-time Sports Illustrated contributor and former Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist, puts together a portrait of a disappearing America--a place inhabited by star-crossed Negro Leagues slugger Josh Gibson; by a vagabond player still toiling for the Durham Bulls at thirty-six; by the coach who created the Eskimo Pie League for kids in a Utah copper-mining town. When he does venture into the big leagues, Schulian gives us the underdogs and the human touches, from Bill Veeck peg-legging toward retirement as the game's last maverick team owner, to musings on Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe at Christmas, to Studs Terkel's reflections on baseball. In the end, though, this collection belongs to the kid at a tryout camp, the washed-out semipro following the game on his car radio, the players who were the toasts of outposts from Roswell to Wisconsin Rapids--and to the readers who keep the spirit of the game alive.
The Origins of the Jump Shot
Before the jump shot, basketball was an earth-bound game. In fact, inventor James Naismith did not originally intend for players to move with the ball. The inspired invention of the dribble first put the ball handler in motion. The jump shot then took the action upward. But where, when, and how did the jump shot originate? Everybody interested in basketball knows the answer to that question. Unfortunately, everybody knows a different answer. John Christgau delves into basketball's evolution, following the supposed inventors of the jump shot to the games in which they first took to the air. He discovers that a number of pioneer players, independently but from the same inspired possibility, can each claim credit for inventing the jump shot. John Christgau is the author of several books including Spoon, winner of the Society of Midland Authors Best Fiction Award. He played basketball for three years at San Francisco State University and was named to the All-Conference team twice.
Growing Up with Baseball
Long, leisurely summer days playing pick-up games in the neighborhood sandlot; that first, awe-inspiring glimpse of a major league field; playing catch in the backyard; collecting baseball cards; pouring over box scores--for many, baseball is the stuff of an American childhood. The thirty personal recollections in this book reflect the great variety of this uniquely American experience as well as the common spirit that unites all fans of baseball. An anecdotal history of America's pastime from the 1930s to the 1990s, Growing Up with Baseball shows us how it was watched, played, and lived not by superstar athletes and multimillionaire owners but by everyday people. A missionary's son learns to read by comparing the sports reports in Time Magazine with Mel Allen's announcing over Armed Forces Radio; a young girl reaches puberty at approximately the same time that the Red Sox get their "impossible dream" pennant; boys gather by day to play ball on an old Pittsburgh tennis court, then camp there at night while listening to the Pirates on the radio; a young man encounters the Fogarty brothers, of Credence Clearwater Revival, on the sandlots of Berkeley.Here are the moments of youthful innocence and coming of age in America, from the big leagues to the backyard to the tabletop game and baseball solitaire, all narrated with the warmth and spirit that are part of baseball's enduring charm.
More Than Merkle
"I have done a report of some kind on the Fred Merkle story, whether in print, on radio, or on TV, on or about its anniversary, September 23, virtually every year since I was in college. The saga has always seemed to me to be a microcosm not just of baseball, nor of celebrity, but of life. The rules sometimes change while you're playing the game. Those you trust to tell you the changes often don't bother to. That for which history still mocks you, would have gone unnoticed if you had done it a year or a month or a day before. That's who Fred Merkle is. I have often proposed September 23 as a national day of amnesty, in Fred Merkle's memory."--Keith Olbermann, from his foreword.
Baseball and Other Matters in 1941
"This is a baseball book, but whether Creamer intended it or not, it's much, much more."-Sports Illustrated. "[Creamer] recalls this momentous year in baseball and world history. He reprises Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak, Ted Williams's .406 batting average, Hank Greenberg and the draft, the furious Dodgers-Cardinals pennant fight, and the ensuing World Series. All this is portrayed against the looming U.S. entry into World War II."-Library Journal. Robert W. Creamer, one of the best and most perceptive writers on baseball, remembers the baseball-and other matters-of 1941 in a tribute to the game that is also part memoir. Creamer was a long-time writer and editor at Sports Illustrated. He is the author or coauthor of numerous books, including the following Bison Books: Stengel: His Life and Times, Rhubarb in the Catbird Seat, Jocko, and The Quality of Courage.
Cinderella Ball
For most of the twentieth century, West Virginia was a college basketball hotbed. Its major programs were a success, but perhaps even more successful was the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, composed of fifteen schools that rarely earned headlines but set many records and became an identifiable part of small town culture and a source of state pride. This ethos exists today in small town Kentucky and Indiana but struggles to survive in West Virginia. Part of the reason is the state's population decline since the 1950s. That, author Bob Kuska argues, along with the rise of cable and satellite TV and the major college basketball empire, stole the thunder--and the crowds--from these small town communities. And yet, these teams play on in obscurity and still find success. Against the backdrop of West Virginia's great small college history, Kuska chronicles the day-to-day struggles and triumphs of one modern school, Alderson-Broaddus College in Philippi, West Virginia. What happened to that team during a rags-to-riches yearlong stretch would've been remarkable at any level, let alone at a school with very low athletic department budgets and low visibility that makes recruiting talented players almost impossible. As he alternates between coaches and players, past and present, Kuska contrasts the fan enthusiasm of the conference's early years with the apathy that plagues the teams of the twenty-first century. If sports fans can get past the media and the madness that has made college basketball increasingly similar to professional basketball in its self-indulgence and sensationalism, they are left with leagues like the West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference--scrappy, intelligent, and spirited--and still finding ways to succeed and thrive.
The Worst Team Money Could Buy
Even before the New York Mets began the 1992 season, they had set a critical record: the highest payroll ever for a major-league team, $45 million. With players Bobby Bonilla, Vince Coleman, Bret Saberhagen, and Howard Johnson, winning another championship seemed a mere formality. The 1992 New York Mets never made it to Cooperstown, however. Veteran newspapermen Bob Klapisch and John Harper reveal the extraordinary inside story of the Mets' decline and fall--with the sort of detail and uncensored quotes that never run in a family newspaper. From the sex scandals that plagued the club in Florida to the puritanical, no-booze rules of manager Jeff Torborg, from bad behavior on road trips to the downright ornery practical "jokes" that big boys play, The Worst Team Money Could Buy is a grand-slam classic.
The Tour to End All Tours
During the winter of 1913 and the spring of 1914 the New York Giants and the Chicago White Sox took a trip around the world. Organized by crusty John McGraw of the Giants and the White Sox's Charles Comiskey, it was a trip of epic proportions--a tour to end all tours recreated here in all its monumental sweep and comical detail. This book follows the two teams, whose members include Christy Mathewson, Jim Thorpe, and half a dozen other future Hall-of-Famers, as they barnstorm across the United States and sail the seas to Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, finishing with a game before twenty thousand fans and King George V. Along the way, baseball's envoys meet such dignitaries as Pope Pius X, tea magnate Thomas Lipton, and the last khedive of Egypt. They play the tables of Monaco, survive a near-shipwreck, and cram a lifetime's worth of adventures into six months. Their story, told here for the first time, gives readers a glimpse into baseball history and the innocence and spirit of a long-gone era.
The Tropic of Baseball
In a new afterword Rob Ruck looks at the current state of baseball in the country that has produced Sammy Sosa and many other major league stars. Rob Ruck teaches history at the University of Pittsburgh and is the author of Sandlot Seasons: Sport in Black Pittsburgh and other books. He was project director for the film Kings on the Hill, an Emmy-winning documentary on Negro League baseball.
