Guest Book
This Guestbook is designed specifically for homeowners in Augusta, GA who rent their homes during the week of the Masters Golf Tournament. The homeowner will leave the Guestbook on their coffee table each year during Masters week. Each year their guests, the patrons, will share their experience and leave recommendations for future guests.
We Showed Baltimore
In We Showed Baltimore, Christian Swezey tells the dramatic story of how a brash coach from Long Island and a group of players unlike any in the sport helped unseat lacrosse's establishment. From 1976 to 1978, the Cornell men's lacrosse team went on a tear. Winning two national championships and posting an overall record of 42-1, the Big Red, coached by Richie Moran, were the class of the NCAA game. Swezey tells the story of the rise of this dominant lacrosse program and reveals how Cornell's success coincided with and sometimes fueled radical changes in what was once a minor prep school game centered in the Baltimore suburbs. Led on the field by the likes of Mike French and Eamon McEneaney, in the mid-1970s Cornell was an offensive powerhouse. Moran coached the players to be in fast, constant movement. That technique, paired with the advent of synthetic stick heads and the introduction of artificial turf fields, made the Cornell offensive game swift and lethal. It is no surprise that the first NCAA championship game covered by ABC Television was Cornell vs. Maryland in 1976. The 16-13 Cornell win, in overtime, was exactly the exciting game that Moran encouraged and that newcomers to the sport wanted to see. Swezey recounts Cornell's dramatic games against traditional powers such as Maryland, Navy, and Johns Hopkins, and gets into the strategy and psychology that Moran brought to the team. We Showed Baltimore describes how the game of lacrosse was changing-its style of play, equipment, demographics, and geography. Pulling from interviews with more than ninety former coaches and players from Cornell and its rivals, We Showed Baltimore paints a vivid picture of lacrosse in the 1970s and how Moran and the Big Red helped create the game of today.
Lore of the Bambino
More than seventy years after his death, Babe Ruth continues to fascinate generations of fans. His exciting adventures on and off the field have become essential reading for students of baseball and pop culture. While most Ruth biographies are filled with mundane facts, Lore of the Bambino is the equivalent of a greatest hits compilation. Ruth's extraordinary (and at times incredulous) tales carry readers on an enthralling journey through the life of the most celebrated sports figure of the twentieth century. All of the most popular anecdotes (such as the Babe's alleged "called shot" in the 1932 World Series) are thoroughly covered along with many lesser known narratives. The book is divided into two sections. In Part One, Ruth's life and career are recounted chronologically. Part Two contains assorted stand-alone anecdotes in shorter form. Appendices include statistics, a chronology, and salary details among other bits of pertinent information.
Stumbling Around the Bases
From the late 1950s to the 1980s, baseball's American League mismanaged integration and expansion, allowing the National League to forge ahead in attendance and prestige. While both leagues had executive structures that presented few barriers to individual team owners acting purely in their own interests, it was the American League that succumbed to infighting--which ultimately led to its disappearance into what we now call Major League Baseball. Stumbling around the Bases is the story of how the American League fell into such a disastrous state, struggling for decades to escape its nadir and, when it finally righted itself, losing its independence. The American League's trip to the bottom involved bad decisions by both individual teams and their owners. The key elements were a glacial approach to integration, the choice of underfinanced or disruptive new owners, and a consistent inability to choose the better markets among cities that were available for expansion. The American League wound up with less-attractive teams in the smaller markets compared to the National League--and thus fewer consumers of tickets, parking, beer, hot dogs, scorecards, and replica jerseys. The errors of the American League owners were rooted in missed cultural and demographic shifts and exacerbated by reactive decisions that hurt as much as helped their interests. Though the owners were men who were notably successful in their non-baseball business ventures, success in insurance, pizza, food processing, and real estate development, didn't necessarily translate into running a flourishing baseball league. In the end the National League was simply better at recognizing its collective interests, screening its owners, and recognizing the markets that had long-term potential.
Cheers to Baseball
"Cheers to Baseball is a down to Earth, fun loving, real life look into what athletics truly teaches and the many stories behind those lessons. Darren Munns captures the true essence of these lifetime lessons you learn through sports and through life." Larissa Anderson, Head Softball Coach, University of Missouri"In crafting a lengthy career which has molded countless young men, Coach Munns has accumulated a wealth of knowledge on how the vicissitudes of life are mirrored in baseball. This is a must-read for anyone looking to gain insight into effective qualities of leadership in any endeavor." Doug Feldmann, Author and former Major League Scout"Coach Munns is one of the greatest baseball minds I've ever encountered, and a larger than life character. Cheers to Baseball pulls back the curtain on a one-of-a-kind baseball life and career. Once you pick it up, you won't put it down." Roy Hallenbeck, Coach for the Major League Baseball Identification Tour and former high school and college baseball coach"I've known Coach Munns for 30 years. His coaching anecdotes, leadership advice, and entertaining stories are on full display in Cheers to Baseball. This is a true baseball masterpiece!" John Szefc, Head Baseball Coach, Virginia Tech University---"I have coached college baseball for nearly three decades, but in reality baseball has coached me." Darren MunnsEnjoy the insightful and wildly entertaining story of a college baseball coach that transformed four college baseball programs, who either didn't exist or were perennial losers, into improbable winners against all odds. Coach Munns details his keys to successful leadership including Contrarian philosophies, unique strategies for developing people skills, and the importance of having FUN.Cheers to Baseball by Darren Munns is a baseball jewel, but this easy read is truly beneficial for coaches of other sports, entrepreneurs, supervisors, and all aspiring leaders. Prepare to have your thoughts provoked and laugh out loud while gaining valuable leadership lessons.
Invitation to World Religions
Rucker Basketball Wars is the book basketball fans of all ages, ethnic backgrounds, and economic backgrounds have been waiting for. This is not your usual sports folderol book. It is a dialogue with the reader that allows him to make up his own mind about what he thinks, according to the reader's own personal code of conduct. After reading this book the reader may realize that Phillip Rucker writes like people talk around the dinner table at home or around the water cooler at work. He gives you straight talk ignoring political correctness. Street basketball's influence on basketball evolution and American culture has never been so clear. Unlike previous attempts at street ball books or movies, this is the information all the hype is based upon, in the real evolution of modern basketball since Dr. Naismith invented the game. Whether you like this book or not is not the issue. It is required reading for any self respecting, serious basketball fan. Sports writers and movie companies have been fighting for years to tell this story of the Rucker Basketball Tournament. Finally someone from the inside, the son of Holcombe Rucker, decided to open Pandora's box; and the truth will change basketball history forever. You find out why there have been imitation Rucker books and movies, but the real deal has never been presented to the sports world. This book is the first and last word on street basketball's true beginnings. Some of the topics and targets Phil takes on along the way include: - The War in Iraq: Portions of this book were written while the war in Iraq was in full swing. The Rucker Basketball Wars have some interesting parallels. - Rucker Park: Why the cathedral of street basketball is Rucker Park and why NBA pro basketball players have continued to defy politically correct mandates from the NBA for fifty plus years to make the pilgrimage to Rucker Park. - Black Community Youth Politics: Phil takes a look at the Rucker Family and Rucker Clan politics dealing with youth. He also examines some of the motivations of the black leadership establishment regarding youth politics. - Rucker Glamour: Unlike some other Rucker media events you get the glamour of Rucker Park the way it really is and was. It's vibrancy makes all street ball media events pale beside the truth of Rucker Basketball glamour. It shows the luster of Rucker Street Basketball rubbing off on American advertising, the NBA, and the Hip Hop community. - Black/White Family Relationships: Phil takes a look at what's right and wrong with families on both sides of the race scale sparing neither side. Along the way he takes on sacred cows, like certain disruptive media types and the black leadership decision-making process. Of course Phil is also very solution oriented. He gives and he takes but always says what he thinks clearly. The bottom line is you are a serious basketball fan and you want to find out the basketball environment the NBA players really grew up in and not some hyped, stereotyped, inner city basketball "B" movie or book; then "Rucker Basketball Wars" is the book you've been waiting for. The only street basketball book you will ever have to read again. It's a page-turner you may try to read in one sitting. It's that good!
Baseball from Providence to Prominence
Dan's second book on baseball is an outgrowth of his passion to educate people and keeping the game of Baseball alive through his writings.Baseball: From Providence to Prominence is broken down into three sections: first, baseball quotes; second, all original baseball stories on ballplayers from 1880 to 1970; third is Dan's own poems on baseball and the men that brought the game to life. Dan grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and is a proud graduate of Central High School. He also graduated from Rhode Island Junior College and the Community College of Rhode Island. He has one son, Richard Mickey D'Alessio, in California and a granddaughter named Alice. Dan was a sportswriter for Sports Journal magazine in Rhode Island in 2006-07. Some of his work was published by the Providence Journal, Rhode Island, College Anchor Newspaper and the Valley Breeze. Dan is a member of the Nap Lajoie chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research. He has received letters from Bud Selig and Robert Manfred on his poem titled "Dear Mr. Commissioner" about Shoeless Joe Jackson.
The College Golfer
Are you a college golfer aiming to elevate your game? Or a high school player with dreams of competing at the collegiate level? The journey to success in golf is filled with opportunity but requires serious preparation and mental resilience. From tough competition to mastering both the physical and mental demands of the game, the path isn't easy.Imagine stepping into college tournaments with unshakable confidence, prepared to handle any pressure. Picture hitting precise shots in the toughest conditions, knowing that your mindset is as strong as your swing. This level of performance, the one that sets top players apart, is within your reach.In The College Golfer, I've distilled decades of experience as both a college coach and competitive player into a comprehensive guide. Inside, you'll discover the essential principles to thrive in golf and beyond, including: The 5 Pillars of Mental StrengthOptimizing Your Practice Routine for ResultsCompeting with Confidence at the Collegiate LevelBuilding Effective Player-Coach RelationshipsNavigating the Recruitment Process with ClarityBut this book is more than a guide to golf-it's a roadmap for building the focus, discipline, and resilience that lead to success in all areas of life. Learn what's expected at the collegiate level and approach your recruitment journey with confidence.Private coaching can be costly and sometimes incomplete. For a fraction of that price, The College Golfer offers comprehensive, practical advice you can revisit again and again, equipping you with strategies that extend far beyond the course. Invest in your game and your future-get your copy today and start building the skills to reach your full potential.
Baseball Rebels
Finalist for the 2023 Seymour Medal Foreword INDIES Finalist in History In Baseball Rebels Peter Dreier and Robert Elias examine the key social challenges--racism, sexism and homophobia--that shaped society and worked their way into baseball's culture, economics, and politics. Since baseball emerged in the mid-1800s to become America's pastime, the nation's battles over race, gender, and sexuality have been reflected on the playing field, in the executive suites, in the press box, and in the community. Some of baseball's rebels are widely recognized, but most of them are either little known or known primarily for their baseball achievements--not their political views and activism. Everyone knows the story of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color line, but less known is Sam Nahem, who opposed the racial divide in the U.S. military and organized an integrated military team that won a championship in 1945. Or Toni Stone, the first of three women who played for the Indianapolis Clowns in the previously all-male Negro Leagues. Or Dave Pallone, MLB's first gay umpire. Many players, owners, reporters, and other activists challenged both the baseball establishment and society's status quo. Baseball Rebels tells stories of baseball's reformers and radicals who were influenced by, and in turn influenced, America's broader political and social protest movements, making the game--and society--better along the way.
How Baseball Happened
The fascinating, true, story of baseball's amateur origins. "Explores the conditions and factors that begat the game in the 19th century and turned it into the national pastime....A delightful look at a young nation creating a pastime that was love from the first crack of the bat."--Paul Dickson, The Wall Street Journal Baseball's true founders don't have plaques in Cooperstown. The founders were the hundreds of uncredited amateurs -- ordinary people -- who played without gloves, facemasks or performance incentives in the middle decades of the 19th century. Unlike today's pro athletes, they lived full lives outside of sports. They worked, built businesses and fought against the South in the Civil War. But that's not the way the story has been told. The wrongness of baseball history can be staggering. You may have heard that Abner Doubleday or Alexander Cartwright invented baseball. Neither did. You may have been told that a club called the Knickerbockers played the first baseball game in 1846. They didn't. You have read that baseball's color line was uncrossed and unchallenged until Jackie Robinson in 1947. Nope. You have been told that the clean, corporate 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings were baseball's first professional club. Not true. They weren't the first professionals; they weren't all that clean, either. You may have heard Cooperstown, Hoboken, or New York City called the birthplace of baseball, but not Brooklyn. Yet Brooklyn was the home of baseball's first fans, the first ballpark, the first statistics--and modern pitching. Baseball was originally supposed to be played, not watched. This changed when crowds began to show up at games in Brooklyn in the late 1850s. We fans weren't invited to the party; we crashed it. Professionalism wasn't part of the plan either, but when an 1858 Brooklyn versus New York City series accidentally proved that people would pay to see a game, the writing was on the outfield wall. When the first professional league was formed in 1871, baseball was already a fully formed modern sport with championships, media coverage, and famous stars. Professional baseball invented an organization, but not the sport itself. Baseball's amazing amateurs had already done that. Thomas W. Gilbert's history is for baseball fans and anyone fascinating by history, American culture, and how great things began.
Buck Shaw
Blocking for the Gipper, Lawrence "Buck" Shaw was one of Knute Rockne's star players at Notre Dame during 1919 through 1921. However, it was his nearly four decades of college and pro coaching that earned him esteem. Viewed as a "player's coach," Shaw was talented at relating to young men and molding them into a winning team. His college teams won two Sugar bowls. Shaw's successful coaching with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles also played an integral role in helping the NFL grow into a billion-dollar business. A contemporary of Vince Lombardi, Shaw's Eagles won the NFL championship in the pre-Super Bowl era. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Shaw never received serious consideration for enshrinement at Canton for his professional career. This complete biography tells the colorful story of Shaw's college and pro years, shedding light on Shaw's over-looked achievements in the professional ranks, which saw him earn a higher winning percentage a half-dozen Hall of Fame coaches.
Lost in the Game
For players, coaches, writers, and fans, basketball is a science and an art, a religious sacrament, a source of entertainment, and a way of interacting with the world. In Lost in the Game Thomas Beller entwines these threads with his lifetime's experience as a player and journalist, roaming NBA locker rooms and city parks as a basketball flaneur in search of the meaning of the modern game. He captures the magnificence and mastery of today's most accomplished NBA players while paying homage to the devotion of countless congregants in the global church of pickup basketball. He shares his own stories from the courts, meditating on basketball's role in city life and its impact on the athlete's psyche as he moves from youth to middle age. Part journalistic account, part memoir of a slightly talented player whose main gift is being tall, Lost in the Game charts the game's inexorable gravitational hold on those who love it.
Coach's Playbook
"Coach's Playbook" is an accumulation of 35 years of coaching experience. In addition, it contains chapters on philosophy, teamwork, motivation, overcoming adversity, advice, faith and more. Coach Larkin also chronicles the time spent at three high schools where he was the head football coach, along with the ups and downs that come with high school sports. Starting with a modest upbringing in a small town in Michigan, to a Hall of Fame career, it will give you insight to leadership strategies developed through years of experience. It's the true story of a man who loved football, family, the players he coached and the satisfaction of preparing those young men for the real world through the sport of football. This is an excellent playbook for coaching and for life.
The Book of Joe
Lessons in baseball enlightenment from three-time MLB Manager of the Year Joe Maddon. No one sees baseball like Joe Maddon. He sees it through his trademark glasses and irrepressible wit. Raised in the "shot and beer" town of Hazleton, PA, and forged by 15 years in the minors, Maddon over 19 seasons in Tampa Bay, Chicago, and Anaheim has become one of the most successful, most colorful, and most quoted managers in Major League Baseball. He is a workplace culture expert, having engineered two of the most stunning turnarounds in the past quarter century: taking the Rays from the worst record in baseball one year to the World Series the next and leading the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years. Like his teams, Maddon defies convention. He is part strategist, part philosopher, part sports psychologist, and part motivational coach. In THE BOOK OF JOE, Maddon gives readers unique insights into the game, including the tension between art and data, the changing role of managers as front offices gain power, why the honeymoon with the Cubs did not last, and what it's like to manage the modern player, including stars such as Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, Yu Darvish, and Kris Bryant. But you expect even more from a manager who meditates daily, admires Twain, and has only one rule when it comes to a team dress code: "If you think you look hot, wear it!" And Maddon delivers. Built on-old school values and new-school methods, his wisdom applies beyond the dugout. His mantras about leadership, mentorship, team building, and communication are meditations on life, not just baseball. Among those mantras are: "Do simple better." "Try not to suck." "Don't ever permit the pressure to exceed the pleasure." "See it with first-time eyes." "Tell me what you think, not what you've heard." THE BOOK OF JOE is Maddon at his uniquely holistic best. It is a memoir of a fascinating baseball journey, an insider's look at a changing game, and a guidebook on leadership and life.
The Golden Dream
2022 will be the 20th Anniversary of the 2001-2002 Kent State Men's Basketball Team's great run to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight. One of the greatest runs in NCAA College Basketball History by a Mid-Major School. This team put Kent State on the College Basketball Map.- Best season in program history 30-6 record.- Advancing to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament field of 64.- Defeating 7th seed Oklahoma State.- Upsetting 2nd seeded Alabama and 3rd seeded Pittsburgh before falling to eventual National Runner-Up Indiana.The team set school and Mid-American Conference records for 30 overall wins in a season and 17 conference wins. The team's 21 game winning streak set both the MAC and team records for a single season.This book will capture that magical season, 20 years later with emotion, relationships, and stories people never heard before. It will go behind the scenes to capture how this team was built, how this team rallied after a bumpy start to the season, how it came together for one of the greatest runs in College Basketball History, and how it brought the entire community together.
Red Barber
2023 SABR Baseball Research Award A Booklist Top 10 Sports & Recreation Book Finalist for the 2023 Seymour Medal Finalist for the 2022 CASEY Award Born and raised in rural Mississippi and the even balmier climes of central Florida, Red Barber, at the age of thirty-two, became one of New York City's most influential citizens as the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. When he arrived in 1939, Barber brought the down-home drawl and idioms of his southern roots to the borough, where residents said they could walk down any street and never miss a pitch because his voice wafted out of every window and every passing car. From his colorful expressions like "rhubarb" and "sitting in the catbird seat" to his vivid use of similes--a close game was "tighter than a new pair of shoes on a rainy day"--Barber's influence on his contemporaries and the many generations of broadcasters who followed him cannot be overstated. But behind all the base hits, balls, and strikes lies a compelling story that dramatizes the shifting expectations and roles of a public figure--the sports broadcaster--as he adapted to complex cultural changes throughout the course of twentieth-century American life. Red Barber follows the trajectory of Barber's long career from radio and television play-by-play man for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Yankees to his work calling college and professional football games, his nine-year tenure as director of sports for CBS Radio, and his second acts as an Episcopal lay reader, sportswriter, and weekly guest with Bob Edwards on NPR's Morning Edition. This talented public figure was also a private man committed to rigorous self-examination and willing to evolve and grow under the influence of changing times. When the Dodgers first signed Jackie Robinson and smashed the color barrier in Major League Baseball, Barber struggled to overcome the racism he had absorbed from his culture as a child. But after observing the vicious abuse Robinson endured from opposing fans, Barber became an ardent supporter of him and the many Black players who followed. Barber was also bothered deeply by the strains that his single-minded careerism imposed on his family. He was challenged to navigate longtime family tensions after his only child, Sarah, came out as a lesbian. And his primary role during the later years of his life was caretaking for his wife, Lylah, during her decline from Alzheimer's disease, at a time when the ailment was something many families concealed. Ultimately Red Barber traces the career of a true radio and television pioneer who was committed to the civic responsibility of mass media. Barber firmly believed the most important role of a broadcaster was telling the truth and promoting public well-being.
Huddle Up! A Coach's Playbook for Program Success
Are you new to coaching? Are you assigned to turn a failing program around? Want to help your athletes reach optimal performance on and off the court? Huddle Up! Coach G has the play-by-play on how to get your team ready for game day and the game of life.
All-In Men Men Going All-In
MEN GOING ALL IN serves as a devotional for the Men's Ministry of Christian Sports International, a sports ministry that reaches out to men and children through sports in evangelism and discipleship. The book profiles eight former athletes and a former umpire who serve or served in the ministry with their career highlights and their faith stories. Each man has a unique story that will resonate with the reader to lead him to a deeper walk with Christ. The book includes discussion questions and devotionals for each day in a 9-week format and serves well as a study book for group study. Yet you can also use it as a personal devotional. Please contact Christian Sports International at teamcsi.org to involve yourself with their men's ministry or in their outreach to youth. We pray that this book helps you to go ALL-IN for Christ. Greg Spalding has devoted his whole life to sports ministry in many different ways, through television, print media, mission work and the local church. He had the privilege of working with Tom McGough on the Cornerstone TV show Sportsweek as the Research Analyst. This 1980 graduate of Grove City College has written athletic profiles of Christian athletes for Sports Spectrum magazine He has published 13 books, most of them sports books focusing on history as well as the Christian faith, including titles such as THREE RIVERS THAT SPAWNED THE CITY OF CHAMPIONS and RUN THE GREATEST RACE. Spalding served on five Sports Ambassadors missionary basketball teams and one Professional Athletes Outreach team. He has run a basketball league in his local church for over 35 years as well as a sports camp. Spalding has been married to Lilly for 24 years and has three sons named Carlos, Willard and Trey.
Stolen Dreams
Finalist for the 2023 Anthology Book Award from North American Society for Sport History Shortlisted for the 2024 Indiana Authors Award When the eleven- and twelve-year-olds on the Cannon Street YMCA All-Star team registered for a baseball tournament in Charleston, South Carolina, in June 1955, it put the team and the forces of integration on a collision course with segregation, bigotry, and the southern way of life. White teams refused to take the field with the Cannon Street All-Stars, the first Black Little League team in South Carolina. The Cannon Street team won the tournament by forfeit and advanced to the state tournament. When all the white teams withdrew in protest, the Cannon Street team won the state tournament. If the team had won the regional tournament in Rome, Georgia, it would have advanced to the Little League World Series. But Little League officials ruled the team ineligible to play in the tournament because it had advanced by winning on forfeit and not on the field, denying the boys their dream of playing in the Little League World Series. Little League Baseball invited the Cannon Street All-Stars to be the organization's guests at the World Series, where they heard spectators yell, "Let them play! Let them play!" when the ballplayers were introduced. This became a national story for a few weeks but then faded and disappeared as Americans read of other civil rights stories, including the torture and murder of fourteen-year-old Emmett Till. Stolen Dreams is the story of the Cannon Street YMCA All-Stars and of the early civil rights movement. It's also the story of centuries of bigotry in Charleston, South Carolina--where millions of enslaved people were brought to this country and where the Civil War began, where segregation remained for a century after the war ended and anyone who challenged it did so at their own risk.
Golf Game Coloring Book
This ready-to-color illustrated golf coloring book is for adults and children of all ages who love this challenging game first played in the kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century. Benefits - Make your work look great using colored pencils, pens, markers or crayons - Illustrations on separate pages to protect your colorful masterpiece - Artist name & date box on back of each illustration - Share and give your colored art work to friends, family and loved ones as gifts or precious keepsake - Full color examples on back cover - Enjoy therapeutic, stress relieving effect coloring can bring - Relax, unwind and spend time together Just hit the buy button and start your coloring journey now!
Soccer Coloring Book
This ready-to-color illustrated soccer/football coloring book is for adults and children of all ages who love this team sport played by over 250 million people in over 200 countries making it the world's most popular sport. Benefits - Make your work look great using colored pencils, pens, markers or crayons - Illustrations on separate pages to protect your colorful masterpiece - Artist name & date box on back of each illustration - Share and give your colored art work to friends, family and loved ones as gifts or precious keepsake - Full color examples on back cover - Enjoy therapeutic, stress relieving effect coloring can bring - Relax, unwind and spend time together Just hit the buy button and start your coloring journey now!
The Umpire Is Out
Dale Scott's career as a professional baseball umpire spanned nearly forty years, including thirty-three in the Major Leagues, from 1985 to 2017. He worked exactly a thousand games behind the plate, calling balls and strikes at the pinnacle of his profession, working in every Major League Baseball stadium, and interacting with dozens of other top-flight umpires, colorful managers, and hundreds of players, from future Hall of Famers to one-game wonders. Scott has enough stories about his career on the field to fill a dozen books, and there are plenty of those stories here. He's not interested in settling scores, but throughout the book he's honest about managers and players, some of whom weren't always perfect gentlemen. But what makes Scott's book truly different is his unique perspective as the only umpire in the history of professional baseball to come out as gay during his career. Granted, that was after decades of remaining in the closet, and Scott writes vividly and movingly about having to "play the game" maintaining a facade of straightness while privately becoming his true self and building a lasting relationship with his future husband. He navigated this obstacle course at a time when his MLB career was just taking off--and when North America was consumed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Scott's story isn't only about his leading a sort of double life, then opening himself up to the world and discovering a new generosity of spirit. It's also a baseball story, filled with insights and memorable anecdotes that come so naturally from someone who spent decades among the world's greatest baseball players, managers, and games. Scott's story is fascinating both for his umpiring career and for his being a pioneer for LGBTQ people within baseball and across sports.
The 50 Greatest Players in Philadelphia Phillies History
The 50 Greatest Players in Philadelphia Phillies History examines the careers of the 50 men who made the greatest impact on one of Major League Baseball's most iconic and successful franchises. The author ranks, from 1 to 50, the top 50 players in team history. Quotes from opposing players and former teammates are provided along the way, as are summaries of each player's greatest season, most memorable performances, and most notable achievements.
Burn Your Chair
Our bodies have the amazing ability to spontaneously self heal. However, in an age dominated by one shape--the chair shape--our natural capacity for regeneration is being suppressed. To solve this problem, scientists are studying people of traditional cultures who don't share our symptoms of lifestyle-based disease. A remarkable, yet simple truth is emerging: our ability to self heal is activated by moving and resting in active postures. If we avoid staying in one shape all day, our bodies are free to heal. This book explores the practices of people living without chair-based chronic pain, and includes eight shapes essential for healing the human body. By reconnecting with our self healing instincts and freeing our bodies from the trappings of modern life, we too can live lives free from pain.
Hoops
From its early days as a sport to build "muscular Christianity" among young men flooding nineteenth-century cities to its position today as a global symbol of American culture, basketball has been a force in American society. It grew through high school gymnasiums, college pep rallies, and the fits and starts of professionalization. It was a playground game, an urban game, tied to all of the caricatures that were associated with urban culture. It struggled with integration and representations of race. Today, basketball's influence seeps into film, music, dance, and fashion. Hoops tells the story of the reciprocal relationship between the sport and the society that received it. While many books have celebrated specific aspects of the game, Thomas Aiello presents the only contemporary cultural history of the sport from the street to the highest levels of professional mens and womens competition. He argues that the game has existed in a reciprocal relationship with the broader culture, both embodying conflicts over race, class, and gender and serving a s public theater for them. Aiello places cultural icons like Bill Russell, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant in the context of their times and explores how the sport negotiated controversies and scandals. Hoops belongs on the bookshelf of every reader interested in the history of basketball, sports, race, urban life, and pop culture in America.
Automatic Athlete Training System - Football Sport Specific Training
This sport specific training module based off of Micro Circuit Training provides a comprehensive guide to becoming your best for your specific sport. Football requires a specific type of athlete for each position, and with Leo Costa's workout program you will find yourself in some of the best shape of your life at a remarkably quick pace.
Men in Blazers Present Gods of Soccer
From the hosts of the popular podcast and tv show Men in Blazers, comes their completely scientific, 100% definitive, defend-to-the-death list of the greatest soccer players of all time. Every fan has their own list of the 100 soccer players they consider the greatest ever to play the game. A list based on triumphs, sublime moments of skill, superhuman tenacity, and telenovela-esque backstories. To the list-maker, that 100 feels objective. Unequivocal. An absolute truth. This is one such list. Written with the same signature Men in Blazers humor found in their New York Times bestseller Encyclopedia Blazertannica, and accompanied by Nate Kitch's iconic photographic illustrations, Men in Blazers share the stories of household names like David Beckham and Alex Morgan, along with cult icons such as Garrincha, the Brazilian star of the 1960s who was born with one leg six inches shorter than the other, and Briana Scurry, a trailblazer who paved a path for young Black soccer-playing women. Page by page, you will revel in the depictions of players you adore, discover tales you have never heard, and experience vivid stories of dreams, loyalty, perseverance, creativity, and luck. Together, they form an alternative telling of the history of soccer, tracing the evolution of the men's and women's games around the globe, one unlikely, unbelievable, unforgettable career at a time. Thanks to the transcendent career arcs depicted within, Gods of Soccer is rife with tales that will make readers' hearts soar. Encourage them to dream. And then quickly rush off to make their own lists. FOR READERS OF: Complete Book of Soccer, The Baseball 100, Encyclopedia Blazertannica, and Reborn in the USA A COMPANION TO MEN IN BLAZERS PODCAST AND SHOWS: This is the perfect companion for avid fans of the Men in Blazers podcast, one of the largest soccer podcasts in the world, and their weekly NBC show. A GREAT GIFT: Surprise the soccer fans in your life or introduce someone to the sport with God's of Soccer. This will make a fantastic gift for both novice and die-hard players and soccer fans of all ages.
Messi vs. Ronaldo
Essential World Cup Reading Featured in The New York Times' 'What to Read During the World Cup'Wall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg offer a deeply reported account of the intertwined sagas and legacies of two of the greatest soccer players of all time--Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo--examining how their rivalry has grown from a personal competition to a multi-billion-dollar industry, paralleling the stunning rise, overwhelming excesses, and uncertain future of modern international soccer.For over fifteen years, almost any conversation about international soccer has always come back to two players--Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo--undoubtedly the greatest of their generation but with styles, attitudes, and fanbases that couldn't be more different. For millions of people around the world "Messi or Ronaldo?" isn't simply a barroom argument, or an affirmation of fandom, so much as a statement of philosophy, of values, of what global soccer is today and of what it will be tomorrow.Now Wall Street Journal reporters and co-authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, unite the stories of Messi and Ronaldo into a single modern epic of a global sports rivalry, detailing how one rivalry changed both the game and the business of international soccer--forever. Based on dozens of firsthand accounts and years of original reporting, Messi vs. Ronaldo weaves together the stakes, color, and characters at the heart of each man's story, going inside the locker rooms and boardrooms where their legends were forged and revealing off-field drama as gripping as anything that happened on it. From their contrasting origin stories to their divergent career arcs and their conflicting reputations, these players have built their successes on opposite paths, yet each, in his own way, offers a riveting tale of triumph and excess. Taken together, their story embodies the astronomical growth of international soccer, how social media has revolutionized the power of sports celebrity, and how the desire to capitalize on the billions of dollars these players represent electrified some of the most storied clubs in Europe--Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United among them--and cost them almost everything.With the 2022 World Cup almost certain to be the last for both of these figures, Messi vs. Ronaldo offers a deeply researched look at their legacy and grapples with the impact that their talents have had on the game for better and for worse. Much more than a retelling of the dual accomplishments of these great players, this definitive soccer biography is truly a biography of a rivalry, one that has become a crucial lens for understanding the past, present, and future of global soccer.This definitive account of the modern game's biggest sports rivalry explores: The GOAT Debate: Go beyond the barroom argument to see how the nonstop comparison between Messi and Ronaldo fueled their ambition, defined their legacies, and changed the conversation around international soccer.The Business of Soccer: A deeply reported look at how two players became a multi-billion-dollar industry, revolutionizing sports celebrity, and pushing storied clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid to the brink.Locker Rooms and Boardrooms: Based on years of original reporting, this book takes you inside the closed-door meetings and training ground clashes where their legends were forged.A Rivalry That Defined an Era: Uniting their contrasting origin stories and divergent careers, this is the complete biography of a rivalry that captured the world's attention and transformed the global game forever.
Pickleball Is Life
The ultimate keepsake for every pickleball fan--from a dink shot to the kitchen, everything a pickleballer needs to know in this fully illustrated guide to the world's greatest recreational sport, packed with lots of joy, good humor, and even a little bit of wisdom.Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in America. Easy to learn, but impossible to master, it's no wonder that nearly 5 million people nationwide have picked up their paddles and taken to the court. But people aren't just dabbling in this up-and-coming activity, they are obsessed; some hit the court as many as five, six, even seven times a week. As Vanity Fair put it, pickleball has "won over everyone, from Leonardo DiCaprio to your grandparents."Pickleball Is Life is the first book of its kind celebrating the weird and wonderful world of pickleball. It will take readers on a journey from the sport's quirky origins to its modern-day cult following. Along the way, visual info graphs and illustrations will share even more pickleball knowledge, including etiquette tips, a DIY court, obscure rules, and pointers for (good-natured) trash talk. Also included are interviews with members of the three founding families from Bainbridge Island who are still very much involved in the sport and its growth.People of all ages, athletic abilities, and backgrounds have fallen in love with pickleball. Sure, it's a good workout, but it's also a cheerful way to interact with others--something folks crave now more than ever. So, whether they're uninitiated or obsessed, this book will help readers find even more to love about the world's greatest sport.
Classic Baseball
A collection of iconic, unbelievable, and intimate stories from baseball history that celebrate the enduring impact of the national pastime. Baseball--rooted as it is in tradition and nostalgia--lends itself to the retelling of its timeless tales. So it is with the stories in Classic Baseball, a collection of articles written by award-winning journalist John Rosengren and originally published by Sports Illustrated, The New Yorker, Sports on Earth, VICE Sports, and other magazines. These are stories about the game's legends--Ty Cobb, Christy Mathewson, Josh Gibson, Bob Feller, Frank Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Kirby Puckett--and its lesser-knowns with extraordinary stories of their own. They cover some of the game's most famous moments, like Hank Aaron hitting No. 715, and some you've never heard of, like the time the Ku Klux Klan played a game against an all-Black team. Whether it be the story of John Roseboro forgiving Juan Marichal for clubbing him in the head with a bat, Elston Howard breaking down the Yankees' systemic racism to integrate America's team, or the national pastime played on snowshoes during July in a remote Wisconsin town, these are stories meant to be read and read again for their poignancy, their humor, and their celebration of baseball.
Mendoza's Heroes
Baseball's honor rolls are filled with legendary deeds of batting prowess. Throughout history, crowds have risen to cheer the majestic trajectory of a white sphere "crushed" by the likes of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, and Barry Bonds. But, what about the players who repeatedly produced little more than squibbers to third base, infield pop-ups, or ego-bruising strikeouts? What could possibly be their values to a baseball club? Plenty. Al Pepper reveals the unique, offbeat, and remarkable stories of fifty of these men in Mendoza's Heroes. Using eye-opening statistics, interviews with players, and anecdotal biographies, Pepper also presents these players in context of their time. In effect, the book serves as a rollicking tour of baseball history as well. The Foreword is written by ex-big leaguer Mike Stenhouse.
18 Holes with Belichick and Brady
In February 2014, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady played in the same group in the PGA Tour's Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Weather kept the galleries small for the Friday round. Except for Brady's parents (all 18 holes) and Belichick's girlfriend (for 12 of the 18 holes), their caddies and pro partners, only the author saw every shot. Spend a day by the Pacific Coast with Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and those closest to them in this unique glimpse at a rare moment in history.
Marion Motley
As a star linebacker for the Cleveland Browns in the 1940s and 1950s, Marion Motley invented the modern concept of the fullback. In 1946, he and three other players broke professional football's color barrier, helping set the stage for Jackie Robinson's desegregation of Major League baseball in 1947. Retiring with five championships and the universal respect of his peers, Motley returned to ordinary life as a black man in pre-Civil Rights Act America. Because his career pre-dated nationally televised football, Motley's name is largely unknown today, when a figure of his stature would enjoy celebrity as a coach or owner. This first ever biography tells the story of the football player Sports Illustrated's Paul "Dr. Z" Zimmerman described as the greatest ever to take the field.
Caught by Don Hutson!
Revered pass catcher Don Hutson played for three Green Bay Packers championship squads between 1935 and 1945 and was a charter-class member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. An All-American wide receiver for the University of Alabama, the Pine Bluff, Arkansas, native was a pioneer of the position, mastering the passing game just as it was reaching maturation. Hutson invented many of the pass routes still in use today and retired from the game with 19 NFL records, some of which stood for decades. This first book-length biography chronicles Hutson's life and career during football's leather helmet era of the Great Depression and World War II.
Hole by Hole
From the outside, it appears Billy Newman has it all. A successful businessman with a beautiful family, Billy has not only achieved his dreams of financial success, he also has realized his dream of playing golf around the world. As a sports writer for a national magazine, he has seen and experienced nearly all the world's greatest golf courses, from Pinehurst to Pebble Beach to St. Andrews and beyond.There's just one problem, but it's a big one. As successful as Billy seems, the truth is that deep down he feels like a failure. Instead of being exhilarated by his years of outward success, he has become exhausted.Frustrated, confused and lost at heart, Billy finally sets foot on the one elite golf course he has not yet visited - the gorgeous, lonely Prairie Dunes in the middle of Kansas. Tom Watson once said about the course, "It's a little bit of Scotland in the land of Oz...Like Scotland, the wind usually blows."On this impressive golf course, struggling against the land's natural challenges and his own billowing questions about life, Billy may just find, among this great inland links on this cold windy autumn day, the answers that have been eluding him. With God walking with Billy hole by hole, this day perhaps he will finally reconcile his past and find a life worth really living.
Baseball’s Union Association
Hastily formed in 1883 as a rival, third major league, the Union Association upset the moguls of the baseball world and disrupted the status quo. Backed by Henry V. Lucas, an impetuous 26-year-old millionaire from St. Louis, the UA existed for one chaotic season in 1884. This first full-length history of the Union Association tells the captivating story of the league's brief and enigmatic existence. Lucas recruited a wild mix of disgruntled stars, misfits, crooks, has-beens, drunks, and the occasional spectator--along with a future star or two. The result was a bizarre experiment that sowed both turmoil and hope before fading into oblivion.
Quote, Unquote
A trip down memory lane.Journalist Philip Micallef has written on football (soccer) in Australia for more than 30 years. Now retired, this is a personally curated anthology of his top 100 football stories ranging from the Socceroos, the global game, the A-League, the big-name interviews, the 'Socceroos Greats', obituaries and the administration.It is a potted and subjective history of the game - by no means complete - as seen by someone who in many ways was an ultimate 'insider' as a journalist, but who never lost touch with his love of the game as a fan.
Baseball in Occupied Japan
How was baseball used to promote U.S. values in occupied Japan? The first post-war Japanese professional baseball game was held on November 23, 1945, just 100 days after the end of World War II. During the occupation of Japan, GHQ sought to suppress and regulate budo (Japanese martial arts) as a relic of Japanese pre-war militarism but encouraged the playing and watching of baseball games as an effective teamwork- and sportsmanship-building tool. Baseball in Occupied Japan examines the revival of Japanese baseball in the occupation era, focusing on how the U.S. government carried out its cultural diplomacy policy within the arena of sports. The chapters hone in on various means by which the U.S. via GHQ controlled and fostered sports in Japan as a form of cultural diplomacy, including the propagation of the image of Jackie Robinson as an example of American unification, the San Francisco Seals' tour of Japan, the promotion of sports through CIE films, and the prohibition of martial arts such as kendo.
Big Game, Small World
During the late 1990s, eminent basketball journalist Alexander Wolff traveled the globe to determine how a game invented by a Canadian clergyman became an international phenomenon. Big Game, Small World presents Wolff's dispatches from sixteen countries spread across five continents and multiple US states. In them, he asks: What can the game tell us about the world? And what can the world tell us about the game? Whether traveling to Bhutan to challenge its king to a pickup game, exploring the women's game in Brazil, or covering the Afrobasket tournament in Luanda, Angola, during a civil war, Wolff shows how basketball has the power to define an individual, a culture, and even a country.This updated twentieth anniversary edition features a new preface in which Wolff outlines the contemporary rise of athlete-activists while discussing the increasing dominance within the NBA of marquee international players like Luka Dončic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. A loving celebration of basketball, Big Game, Small World is one of the most insightful books ever written about the game.
Big Game, Small World
During the late 1990s, eminent basketball journalist Alexander Wolff traveled the globe to determine how a game invented by a Canadian clergyman became an international phenomenon. Big Game, Small World presents Wolff's dispatches from sixteen countries spread across five continents and multiple US states. In them, he asks: What can the game tell us about the world? And what can the world tell us about the game? Whether traveling to Bhutan to challenge its king to a pickup game, exploring the women's game in Brazil, or covering the Afrobasket tournament in Luanda, Angola, during a civil war, Wolff shows how basketball has the power to define an individual, a culture, and even a country.This updated twentieth anniversary edition features a new preface in which Wolff outlines the contemporary rise of athlete-activists while discussing the increasing dominance within the NBA of marquee international players like Luka Dončic and Giannis Antetokounmpo. A loving celebration of basketball, Big Game, Small World is one of the most insightful books ever written about the game.
Green Bay’s Greatest
Highlighting each of the 27 Green Bay Packers enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame--including such luminaries as Earl "Curly" Lambeau, Bart Starr, Vince Lombardi, Brett Favre and Charles Woodson--this book takes a comprehensive look at each player. Biographical information, key facts and figures, anecdotes and little-known facts are provided, along with their own recollections of their biggest games. Appendices cover Packers of honorable mention (who should be or perhaps will be HOF inductees), and player stats.
Canadian Minor League Baseball
During 75 seasons of baseball (1946-2020), 71 teams in 21 minor leagues represented 35 Canadian cities, playing either under the aegis of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues (called Minor League Baseball since 1999) or independently. Sixteen teams operated for less than a year, including the eight teams of the Canadian Baseball League of 2003. Another 14 lasted three seasons or less. Seven have played continuously for 20 years or more, among them the Winnipeg Goldeyes of the independent Northern League and American Association, with 27 consecutive seasons since 1994. Chronicling their year-by-year fortunes, this history includes accounts of individual award winners, former Negro League players and future Hall-of-Famers, and traces of the rise and fall of independent league teams and the exodus of Canadian teams to the U.S.
Supplementing Your Income In Sports Pre and Post Retirement
Supplementing income is a necessary procedure in today's world. If you love sports, this book will give you a one up in supplementing income through the sports medium. James Anderson is a sports enthusiast who loves spending his tine at a sports venues either working, or just being a fan or both. He is a member of his High School Athletic Hall of Fame. A Golden Microphone award Winner from the state of New Hampshire for Football Play by Play, A National Tournament Umpire, A Golf Club Champion, A Sports Journalist, and Author.
Supplementing Your Income In Sports Pre and Post Retirement
Supplementing income is a necessary procedure in today's world. If you love sports, this book will give you a one up in supplementing income through the sports medium. James Anderson is a sports enthusiast who loves spending his tine at a sports venues either working, or just being a fan or both. He is a member of his High School Athletic Hall of Fame. A Golden Microphone award Winner from the state of New Hampshire for Football Play by Play, A National Tournament Umpire, A Golf Club Champion, A Sports Journalist, and Author.
Mantle
"Mantle's life story has been told many times, but it's never received as loving a treatment as this one." Booklist, Starred Review Mickey Mantle is one of baseball's all-time greats. Playing for the New York Yankees for his entire professional career, Mantle was named to the All-Star team for 11 consecutive seasons, won three MVP awards, and was a seven-time World Series champion. He quickly became an icon who achieved hero status even while playing through injuries for most of his career. In Mantle: The Best There Ever Was, Tony Castro makes the impassioned argument that Mickey Mantle truly was the greatest ballplayer of all time. Acclaimed by the New York Times as the definitive biographer of baseball's fabled number 7, Castro shares many of his personal conversations with Mantle, demystifying the legend and revealing intimate, never-before-published details from Mantle's personal life. In addition, Castro offers illuminating new insights into Mantle's extraordinary career, including the head-turning conclusion based on the evolution of analytics that the beloved Yankee switch-hitting slugger may ultimately win acclaim as having fulfilled the weighty expectation once placed on him: being even greater than Babe Ruth. Drawing from hundreds of interviews with ex-teammates, friends, and family, Castro masterfully blends Mantle's public and private selves to present a fully rounded portrait of this complex, misunderstood national hero.
Castleford's Semi-finals Story
The author is a dedicated follower of Castleford Tigers in the sport of rugby league and has previously published 25 books featuring this club and sport in general. His full portfolio adds five animal stories, both fictional and real, describing their adventures plus another seven books detailing interesting memoirs and thoughts and how he has overcome the odds. This book, released in winter 2021, analyses Castleford's 81 semi-finals in history.
