Search results for ""triumph books""

Jenkins' life story—from Chatham, Ontario, to Cooperstown—is compelling, and Fergie tells it himself in his own unique and inimitable style. A tremendous all-around athlete who has always been proud of his roots and representing his country during a lifetime in the game, Jenkins established a reputation as one of the greatest pitchers of not only his era but of all time. A strikeout king who whiffed more than 3,000 batters, Jenkins earned the trust of his managers as a pitcher who completed what he started. This is the story of a man who refused to be leveled by sadness and disappointments away from the playing field. It is also the story of behind-the-scenes good humor in clubhouses and what takes place on baseball teams as they live and play together for months at a time, as only Fergie can tell it.

Read more less

A celebration of this extraordinary era of Ohio State football, season-by-season from 2001 to 2008, this resource features stunning full-color photographs that capture virtually every key moment of Buckeye football. Historic moments such as the touchdown run by Ted Ginn Jr. during the 2004 Michigan game, the "Holy Buckeye" reception at Purdue in 2002, Chris Wells' 52-yard touchdown vs. the Wolverines in 2007, and the National Championship win of 2002 are all included. Readers will relive each monumental game through this spectacular collection of images, coupled with compelling recaps throughout. Buckeye fans will continue bleeding Scarlet and Gray as they bask in the glory of an era that will be remembered for years to come.

Read more less

A celebration of the sport of tennis and a spectacle of its most electrifying event, this book brings to life the historical moments, exciting highlights, and overall emotion of the US Open. From the early years of Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe to current players like Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, each of these household names have made their mark competing on the game's biggest stage. The pages are filled with background information for each champion, interesting tidbits from their winning years, and highlights from the past four decades. The stunning photographs allow readers to feel the enthusiasm that surrounded each champion during their journey to victory, and the accompanying US Open Court of Champions DVD features video tributes to the 15 greatest singles champions in the history of the US Open with footage never made available before.

Read more less

Examining the legends, the myths, and the overhyped moments of America’s most popular game, Sal Paolantonio goes behind the highlights, the drama, and the numbers to set some things straight—once and for all—about the game played on Sundays. The Paolantonio Report includes chapters analyzing the most underrated and overrated quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, defensive backs, defensive linemen, offensive linemen, linebackers and specialists. For example: The Catch—Joe Montana to Dwight Clark—overrated. Not even in the top ten moments in NFL history. And Chuck Bednarik, the Eagles linebacker who knocked out Frank Gifford? He wasn't that fearsome, and was considered slow and not a very good tackler. Also look for chapters on the most underrated and overrated coaches, teams, offensive and defensive units, Hall of Famers, Super Bowls, and some of the most underrated and overrated moments in the sport's storied history—with plenty of fun sidebars peppered throughout the book. Using an analytical approach that considers decades of stats, trends, and historical data, The Paolantonio Report is certain to settle many arguments—and probably just as certain to start many more.

Read more less

The stars of the most popular sport in the world are featured in this fun guide to soccer's prime athletes that includes personal information to get to know the talent behind the sport as well as important stats and facts. Going above and beyond the player biographies offered through the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA), the book details the brightest stars from around the globe through entertaining biographies, fun trivia, and thrilling action photography. Readers from any team allegiance will enjoy the information presented.

Read more less

For over 40 years, millions of newspaper readers have delighted in solving Jumble®, which appears in hundreds of national papers and in these puzzle books that offer hours of challenging wordplay and fun. Each page features a series of mixed-up words coupled with a cartoon clue, and one letter from each word is used to form the answer to the puzzle.

Read more less

Teeing Off gives one of golf's most unique and well-traveled personalities a chance to, well, "tee off" on some of the most unforgettable characters and experiences he's had in a lifetime of playing and covering the royal and ancient game. Partly a memoir about a lifetime association with golf's greatest performers and most colorful characters, it is also a collection of fascinating inside reminiscences and anecdotes about the game's elite that will entertain, amuse, enlighten, and perhaps surprise readers. Included are stories about Hagen and Hogan, Nelson and Nicklaus, Palmer and Player, Sarazen and Snead, Watson and Woods, and many others by an author who has known them all, up close and personal.

Read more less

Over the past 40 years, Summerfest's 11-day festival has grown to become the centrepiece of summer in Milwaukee -a place to party, play, shop, eat, drink, dance, people-watch and soak up the sun. But what has always defined Summerfest is the music. Some of the biggest acts in popular music have played on those stages, for a fraction of the cost to see them elsewhere. No other major festival cuts a wider swath through the American songbook. Summerfest's stages have been a gathering place for legends: Duke Ellington, Johnny Cash, Bob Hope, Bob Dylan, Van Cliburn, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles -- the list goes on and on. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has been witness to every Summerfest. Its reporters and photographers have documented the attendees at play, the music legends at work, and every fun, memorable moment over the 40 years of Milwaukee's well-known festival. Summerfest presents 128 pages of hundreds of historic, amusing, heart-warming, and just plain silly photos from 40 years of the best time Milwaukeean¹s have had at the lakefront.

Read more less

Whether rediscovering the best team moments or initiating into the traditions of Sun Devil fandom, this book about Arizona State University's football team is both a useful resource and cherishable memorabilia. Packed with anecdotes from key figures, explanations about the beginnings of rivalries and traditions, detailed histories about the greatest players and moments in the school’s history, lists of the most successful seasons, recaps of the most exciting games ever played, and year-by-year statistics, this collector's book is the primary source for anyone eager to be an expert regarding anything about the Sun Devils.

Read more less

In Farha on Omaha, Sam Farha, the world's greatest Omaha player, and Storms Reback, a noted poker writer, offer those new to the game of Omaha poker simple strategic tips that will help transform them into winning players. The authors provide strategies on how to beat the three most popular forms of Omaha—limit, eight-or-better, and pot-limit—in both cash games and tournaments. Providing practical advice and advanced strategy tips, and discussing specific hands from his victories at the World Series of Poker and high-stakes cash games in which millions of dollars were on the line, this book promises to turn beginners into winning players and winning players into champions.

Read more less

Every baseball fan knows New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter is a great all-around player. But how about Alex Rodriguez, Jeter's teammate, former American League MVP, and probable future Hall of Famer? Many would argue he's even better than Jeter. And what about Jeter's seemingly unassailable status as one of the greatest Yankees of all time? Such discussions highlight one of the great joys of being a baseball fan: arguing over who's really great and who falls just short, who doesn't get the respect he deserves and who gets too much. In other words, who's overrated and who's underrated. In this book, baseball analyst, writer, and researcher Jayson Stark of ESPN considers the entire history of professional baseball and picks the most overblown and underappreciated players in the history of the game. His results, based on extensive research using both traditional and more modern methods of evaluating baseball players and performance, are provocative, entertaining, and go a long way toward settling many of baseball's most persistent debates. No book can hope to settle every baseball argument, but this book takes one of baseball's most enduring debates and provides some compelling and stunning clarity.

Read more less

A round up of the most outrageous group of malcontents, characters, rebels, nut jobs, reprobates, wing-nuts, wackos, space cadets, head cases, goofs, free thinkers, and oddballs who ever livened up the grand old game of baseball, this collection not only describes their most bizarre antics in often-hilarious detail, but also includes the unique thoughts of Bill “Spaceman” Lee, a man known for his colorful quotes and offbeat personality.

Read more less

A one-stop record containing everything Indian fans want to know about their favorite baseball team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

Read more less

No luck is required to win with the scrambled word puzzles in this collection, just a bit of wit and a sense of humor. For more than 40 years, millions of newspaper readers have delighted in solving Jumble®, which appears in hundreds of national papers and in these puzzle books that offer hours of challenging wordplay and fun. Each page features a series of mixed-up words coupled with a cartoon clue, and one letter from each word is used to form the answer to the puzzle.

Read more less

A one-stop record containing everything Cowboys fans want to know about their favorite football team, this resource is packed with anecdotes, history, explanations of traditions, statistics, trivia, and photos.

Read more less

A confessional story that reads like fiction, this is the true story of a famed tennis star who went from being ranked fourth in the world, dueling the sport’s greatest players to lying to police in several countries to avoid jail. Roscoe Tanner’s life is a complicated story that include years of one-night stands with groupies, a private fortune amassed and then lost, multiple failed marriages and relationships, business plans that fizzled, fleeing to Europe for a last chance, the pounding on the door by two German detectives that led to an involuntary stay in the Karlsruhe jail, and, ultimately, finding redemption. Double Fault is Tanner's story-arrests, cons, lies, and all in an attempt to share it with others to prove that when you hit bottom you can still pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep moving forward.

Read more less

Written for both coaches and fans who love the game, this extraordinary book features the offensive coaching insights of 33 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coaches, including Larry Brown, John Wooden, Jody Conradt, Pete Newell, and Adolph Rupp. Each coach has his own section consisting of his legacy with bullet points highlighting their contributions to the game, followed by their biography, a scouting report, and lessons and instruction accompanied by easy-to-read diagrams.

Read more less

Famed former Cubs player Ron Santo lists the top five players at every position in the history of the franchise with explanation for each decision, along with statistics for every player and dozens of photos throughout.

Read more less

This bestselling, highly-acclaimed account is a hilarious but scathing baseball tell-all. After being voted the 1977 American League Cy Young Award winner, Sparky Lyle was rewarded for his efforts by being benched. The Yankees, a leader of free agency, signed Goose Gossage as their closer. Things only went downhill from there and the 1978 season turned out to be one of controversy, firings, fights and acrimony. In short, it was a zoo.

Read more less

More than just a book, a pratical guide, or a refernce manual, The Illustrated Golf Rules Dictionary is as essential to golfers as a putter and a good pair of spikes. Photos and illustrations accompany answers to questions about specific golf situations, while color-coded keys explain basic rules, penalties, and procedures for the real-life problems that many golfers experience. A must-have for the beginner as well as the experienced player, this compact guide is consulted by TV commentators, tournament committees, professional golfers, golf schools, and golfers all over the world.

Read more less

Complementing the many tributes to victims and heroes of the 9/11 tragedy, this book connects readers to their heritage by showing what makes the United States such a unique culture by highlighting the best, quirky, and abiding about being an American.

Read more less

An ideal way to take a break while keeping the mind active, these fun and challenging puzzles bring entertainment and humor to a bit of downtime. For more than 40 years, millions of newspaper readers have delighted in solving Jumble®, which appears in hundreds of national papers and in these puzzle books that offer hours of challenging wordplay and fun. Each page features a series of mixed-up words coupled with a cartoon clue, and one letter from each word is used to form the answer to the puzzle.

Read more less

A comprehensive, colorful look at everything to know and love about Super Mario, with character profiles, gameplay tips, and little-known triviaFor over 35 years, gamers young and old have gone on fantastic adventures with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and friends. The Big Book of Super Mario is a colorful celebration of that rich history from the 1980s to today!This deluxe guide also features exclusive content and strategy on recent Nintendo Switch games like Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Maker 2, plus an in-depth look at the new Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury. With dozens of full-color game images, this journey into the Mushroom Kingdom is a must-have for all Mario fans.

Read more less

Few music groups have been able to sustain a fan base as passionate and dedicated as that of Phish, and this entertaining guide rewards those fans with everything they need to know about the band in a one-of-a-kind format. Packed with history, trivia, lists, little-known facts, and must-do adventures that every Phish fan should undertake, it ranks each item from one to 100, providing an indispensable, engaging road map for devotees old and new.

Read more less

Bobby "Slick" Leonard has etched his name forever on the Mount Rushmore of Indiana basketball, and in Boom, Baby! he shares memories from his storied career. Leonard takes readers inside the Indiana locker room with legendary head coach Branch McCracken and onto the court when he hit the deciding free throws as the "Hurrying Hoosiers" topped Phog Allen's Kansas Jayhawks. He recalls the NBA's early years, including being drafted by a Baltimore Bullets team that folded soon after selecting him. He tells of his time as the winningest coach in the ABA's nine-year history, securing three championships in his first five seasons with the Indianapolis Pacers. In his final act, "Slick" endeared himself to new generations of Hoosier hoops fans as the longtime Pacers radio voice, with his trademark call "Boom, Baby!" for a successful three-point shot.

Read more less

Darryl Belfry is hockey's premier development coach, with clients including Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane, John Tavares, and Auston Matthews. But his highly sought-after training methods aren't only for elite NHL stars; Belfry's unique approach has helped players of all levels uncover new pathways to performance excellence. Belfry Hockey details this powerful curriculum, developed over years of studying relentlessly to identify strategic advantages others were missing. It's a system that emphasizes discovering authentic identity, pinpointing translatable skill, building a personal performance matrix, and more. Belfry also expounds on topics including his "leading from behind" technique and how to create time and space through stick handling, skating, and body position.

Read more less

A fascinating and immersive chronicle of hockey's original maskless warriors More than 400 stitches decorated Terry Sawchuk's face during his 16 years as a goaltender in the National Hockey League, the result of high-speed collisions and slapshots that whizzed directly at his skull. All in a day's work for an elite goalie of his era. Before facemasks became standard equipment in the 1960s and '70s, men like Sawchuk, Glenn Hall, and Jacques Plante—the first goalie to ever wear a mask in the NHL—put their bodies on the line in the name of hockey, enduring broken bones, damaged organs, and even psychological turmoil. In this thoroughly researched book, Rob Vanstone illuminates the stories of these intrepid warriors while examining how the goaltender position has changed throughout the decades. As masks evolved from ghoulish-looking creations not out of place in horror films to today's caged helmets with custom artwork, goalies' body positioning and tactics were similarly transformed along with NHL regulations.Told with charm and verve, this is an essential portrait of a uniquely brutal and harrowing chapter in hockey history.

Read more less

The Kansas Jayhawks are your 2022 NCAA men's basketball champions! The Kansas Jayhawks were guided in 2022 by wisdom from the late Bill Self Sr.: "Don’t worry about the mules, just load the wagon." This call to focus on the little things, the fundamentals of their game, paid off on the biggest stage as Kansas captured the national championship for the first time since 2008. Their triumph was the culmination of a demanding regular season and a hard-fought March run. After the what-ifs of 2020 and a disappointing exit in 2021, Bill Self’s squad made their intentions known with wins over Texas Tech and Creighton. Anchored by senior Ochai Agbaji and energized by Remy Martin, they knocked off Providence and then Miami to punch their ticket to a thrilling Final Four matchup against Villanova. Load the Wagon is a celebration of this historic college basketball season, featuring insightful, probing coverage from The Athletic alongside stunning photography, documenting the Jayhawks’ remarkable run all the way up to the ultimate celebration in New Orleans. This commemorative edition also includes in-depth profiles of Self, Agbaji, Martin and Christian Braun, plus an essential retrospective on the unforgettable 1997 KU team featuring Paul Pierce and Roy Williams.

Read more less

“Basketball gave me a life; Parkinson’s taught me how to live it.” —Brian Grant After 12 years of playing basketball at the highest professional level, Brian Grant could have been forgiven for thinking that the hardest part of his life was behind him, that he’d be able to kick back and enjoy the fruits of his considerable labors. But soon after his retirement from the NBA, Grant was diagnosed with Young-Onset Parkinson’s disease, ushering in a challenge greater than any he’d faced before, as well as an opportunity to embrace what really matters. With esteemed basketball writer Ric Bucher, Grant shares his story in raw and candid fashion, as he takes readers to Sacramento, Portland, Miami, and beyond; to the airplane 30,000 feet in the air where he first came to understand the source of the tremors in his hand; and to the summit of Mount St. Helens alongside five others with PD, where he once again put himself to the test and defied expectations. In Rebound, Grant shares his remarkable life before, during, and after those NBA years with no shortage of compassion and wit.

Read more less

An expansive and compelling chronicle tracing the rise of modern women's basketball Elvera Peps Neuman got lost in the sounds and rhythms of basketball, dribbling and shooting on a hoop affixed to her family's barn in Eden Valley, Minnesota. In the years preceding Title IX, Neuman's dreams of playing the game professionally meant a life away from home on barnstorming tours and even forming a team of her own, the Arkansas Gems. Sixty years later, she got to witnesswhat a sold-out Target Center in downtown Minneapolis looked like on the Friday night of the 2022 Women's Final Four. Neuman's cheers joined with a crowd of 18,268 to send a wall of sound toward Paige Bueckers and her Connecticut teammates.The 5'11 Bueckers may have worn her ponytail a little differently than Neuman, but Neuman certainly saw something of herself in the young superstar. This is the storyof the pioneers who shaped so much of the modern infrastructure for women's basketball, whose histories intersect and wi

Read more less

A behind-the-scenes perspective on Fighting Irish history After making his mark in the Notre Dame record books as a running back and later joining the school's athletic department, Reggie Brooks knows what it means to live and breathe Fighting Irish football. In If These Walls Could Talk: Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Brooks provides insight into the inner sanctum of one of the most iconic college football programs, from The Snow Bowl under legendary coach Lou Holtz to the modern rosters guided by Brian Kelly. Featuring conversations with players and coaches past and present as well as off-the-wall anecdotes only Brooks can tell, this indispensable volume is your ticket to Notre Dame history. Triumph Books' If These Walls Could Talk series takes fans behind the scenes with their favorite college and pro teams.

Read more less

When John Farrell was introduced as the new Red Sox manager in the fall of 2012, he took over a last-place team lacking talent and cohesion. A franchise that once made Boston proud had become an embarrassment. Just one year later, the Red Sox have won the World Series, their third title in a decade. There were many keys to the team’s success: General manager Ben Cherington remade the roster with a series of mid-range free-agent signings. The returning players recommitted themselves, bonds were formed, and beards were grown. The Red Sox never had more than a three-game losing streak and led the majors in runs scored. They regained the respect of Red Sox Nation and lifted a city still reeling from the senseless violence that marred its beloved marathon just as the baseball season was getting underway. With emotions running high and “B Strong” signs cheering them on at Fenway, the Red Sox wrote their own worst-to-first story that brought them to a World Series meeting with who else but the St. Louis Cardinals, the longtime foe who had denied Williams, Pesky, and Doerr in 1946, as well as the Impossible Dream team of 1967, while providing the foil for the lovable “idiots” of 2004. The 2013 season was destined to be just as drama-filled and unforgettable. As in 2004, it would end in victory for the Red Sox. No more curses; in just one season, this was fortune reversed. It’s a journey that transcends sports—a tale of resolve, resilience, and, finally, redemption. And it’s all chronicled in the new, must-have keepsake book by Triumph Books and the Boston Globe, For Boston: From Worst to First, the Improbable Dream Season of the 2013 Red Sox. Relive each dazzling moment of the team’s latest eventful season and incredible playoff run with this special commemorative book—128 pages of award-winning reporting, vivid storytelling, dramatic photography, complete game summaries, and statistics. Plus, look back at the historic importance of this World Series match-up with a special Sox–Cardinals retrospective section that makes this the perfect souvenir or gift for any fan. This has been a season to remember for Red Sox fans, a journey of deep lows and great highs that both underline and transcend the sport of baseball. For Boston offers the perfect way to replay those moments and revel in the triumph of a team and a city that refused to be counted out.

Read more less

Jumble® BrainBusters Junior proves that learning doesn't have to be a chore! Parents can get their kids excited about geography, history, science, and math with these fun, educational puzzles. Just like traditional Jumbles®, BrainBuster puzzles feature a series of mixed up words that have to be unscrambled to reveal a secret answer. But with each BrainBusters, each step towards solving the puzzle is educational as well as fun.

Read more less

Filled with wacky, witty fun, the word puzzles in this collection continue in the tradition of the Jumble® fan favorites. For more than 40 years, millions of newspaper readers have delighted in solving Jumble®, which appears in hundreds of national papers and in these puzzle books that offer hours of challenging wordplay and fun. Each page features a series of mixed-up words coupled with a cartoon clue, and one letter from each word is used to form the answer to the puzzle.

Read more less

The improbable story of the birth of modern-day pro basketball in Toronto In just over 25 years, the Toronto Raptors have evolved from an intrepid expansion team to an NBA champion. But for all the triumphs of the past decade, the beginning looked a bit different. When the franchise began its first season in 1995, a pro basketball team in Toronto was viewed as an experiment. There was no playbook to follow, and very few people gave them a chance to succeed. In Prehistoric, irreverent Raptors voice and culture writer Alex Wong explores the franchise’s fascinating and unconventional inception through 140 original interviews with those involved with the team’s very beginning, examining the process of how the team came up with their name and logo inspired by the blockbuster film Jurassic Park, taking a behind-the-scenes look at the drafting of star point guard Damon Stoudamire, telling the backstories of a group of misfits who formed the first-year roster, and providing an in-depth look at the team’s opening night victory at the SkyDome and the expansion franchise’s signature win over Michael Jordan and a 72-win Chicago Bulls team. The Raptors boldly and intentionally pursued a much different audience in a hockey-first town. The result is a team who went through the necessary growing pains and eventually captured the heart of a city, as told in this essential origin story through the lens of the people who were there to help lay the foundation for a thriving modern-day basketball franchise in Toronto.

Read more less

After 50 years of waiting, Kansas City Chiefs fans were hungry for a return to Super Bowl glory. In 2020, their patience was rewarded in dramatic, exuberant fashion with a second-half comeback for the ages against the San Francisco 49ers. ESPN's Adam Teicher expertly retraces the team's unforgettable championship season as well as the moves and moments that made it all possible—the hiring of head coach Andy Reid in 2013, drafting future-MVP Patrick Mahomes, the heart-wrenching AFC Championship loss to the Patriots in 2019 that lingered in the mind of every player, and more. Teicher captures the mood of the team week by week, every step of the way, profiling numerous players, coaches, and key figures. This revised and updated paperback edition also features new writing on the Chiefs' victory in Super Bowl LVII and their status as a modern NFL dynasty.Featuring an unforgettable cast of characters both on the field and in the front office, this is the story of how the Lombardi trophy returned to Chiefs Kingdom

Read more less

Celebrate the championship glory and Hall of Fame personalities that make the Los Angeles Lakers one of the most iconic franchises in all of sports. Standard-bearers for basketball greatness, the Los Angeles Lakers have thrilled their loyal fans since the franchise moved west in 1960. Led by Elgin Baylor and Jerry West, they raced to the top of the league and refused to slow down, with superstars like Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, and LeBron James carrying the torch on the way to 17 NBA championships.Sports Illustrated™ now celebrates the Lakers with an extraordinary collection of classic writing and photographs from the pages of SI. This commemorative book also spotlights the players, championships, and stats that have made the Lakers the greatest show on earth.Featuring a foreword by Howard Beck and stories by Frank DeFord, Jack McCallum, Chris Ballard, and more, this is an essential volume for Lakers fans.

Read more less

An entertaining and deeply personal autobiography from one of basketball's all-time great scorers To see George Gervin on the hardwood was to witness elegance, entertainment, and boundless cool. With his unmatched agility and vast repertoire of moves, Gervin floated his way to bucket after bucket, night after night across 14 years in the ABA and NBA. "The Iceman" made it look easy, and his number 44 hangs high in the San Antonio rafters as tribute to the excellence that seemed to roll right off his fingertips. In Iceman: Why I Was Born to Score, Gervin opens up for the first time about his life in basketball and beyond, including his childhood in Detroit, the rocky and unconventional path that brought him to professional basketball, and the successful legacy he built as a Spur. Gervin also reflects on family, mental health, spirituality, and his continuing bond with the San Antonio community in this candid and conversational book.

Read more less

In the run-up to the NHL Entry Draft in 1992, the Buffalo Sabres interviewed Matthew Barnaby. John Muckler, Buffalo's coach, asked him, "What happens at 8:05 on Saturday night in Detroit when Bob Probert asks you to fight?” When the teenager responded, “That’s easy. At 8:03, I’d have already asked Probert to fight,” they knew they had to draft him. Through 14 NHL seasons after that exchange, Barnaby never stopped fighting. In Unfiltered, the former right wing reflects on the adventures of a high-profile life and the determination that got him there, from getting drafted last in juniors to carving out a role for himself on each new NHL team, to discovering new joys and passions in retirement. Barnaby also opens up about the memorable hijinks, the larger-than-life hockey characters, and the very real challenges and risks that come with the sport's physicality. Both hilarious and heartrending, this is an unvarnished story of battles fought and lessons learned.

Read more less

A compelling autobiography from one of Detroit's favorite sons At 15, Willie Horton received his first contract offer to become a professional baseball player. At 20, he smacked his first major-league home run. At 24, Horton stood in full uniform on the hood of his car, in the midst of burning homes and overturned vehicles, and pleaded for an end to the violence of the 1967 Detroit riots. In this new autobiography, Horton shares the fascinating story of his life and career, from growing up in Detroit's Jeffries Projects as the youngest of 21 children to winning a World Series with his hometown Tigers in 1968. Horton also candidly discusses the opposition he faced as a Black player, his fond memories of Al Kaline, the joy he felt in returning to the Tigers as a front office executive, and the many ways he still tries to give back to Detroit and his community. By turns heartrending and hilarious, this timely chronicle is an essential contribution to baseball's written history.

Read more less

Notre Dame football is a program defined by its many traditions: its status as an independent, the rivalries with USC and Navy, the rumble of the crowd as the Victory March plays. In 2020, that all changed. Amid a global pandemic, the season hung in the balance all spring. Then the schedule was scrapped as the Irish were folded into the ACC. The stands at Notre Dame Stadium stayed empty. In an unprecedented look inside this historic program, players Reed Gregory and John Mahoney chronicle a season that won't be forgotten. Fans will get an up-close view as Brian Kelly's squad navigates a new course and makes their run to the Rose Bowl.Filled with insight and personal reflections recorded throughout the year, this fascinating keepsake captures the realities of college football at the crossroads of something much greater.

Read more less

Football is a game of lines—on and off the gridiron. For ESPN’s Ryan McGee, football is a lifelong passion formed from growing up as the son of Dr. Jerry McGee, a man who wore stripes for decades as one of the most highly-decorated officials in college football history. Sidelines and Bloodlines features a cast of characters that runs from no-name small college athletes and coaches to one-name legends such as Holtz, Paterno, Tebow, and Bo. The McGees provide a rare and often hilarious glimpse inside the lives of college officials, detailing how a love for the game convinces accomplished professionals from all walks of life to voluntarily endure ceaseless insults, public criticism, and the expressed goal of doing one’s job on a very public stage in a way that will hopefully NOT draw any attention to how that job is done. From hilarious stories of brawling high school referees and making awkward small talk with George Lucas and Darth Vader at the Rose Bowl to the heart-tugging story of young sons in the stands on a Saturday as a stream profanity-laden insults directed at their father drowns out the marching band, Sidelines and Bloodlines delivers laughs, tears, and a deeper understanding of a life in stripes.

Read more less

"Now after 50 years, it's time for Canada to stand up and cheer. Stand up and cheer everybody! The Olympics Salt Lake City, 2002, men's ice hockey gold medal: Canada!" —Bob Cole, CBC play-by-play broadcaster There was no iconic Paul Henderson moment, nor a Sidney Crosby golden goal, but Canada’s 5-2 victory against the rival United States in the men's 2002 Olympic gold medal game wiped out 50 years of frustration for the nation that invented ice hockey. Canadians from coast to coast were whipped into a frenzy, with impromptu celebrations on streets like Granville in Vancouver, Yonge in Toronto, Ste-Catherine in Montreal, and Portage and Main in Winnipeg.Gold is the definitive chronicle of how the men of Team Canada made history. Marking 20 years since the momentous victory, Tim Wharnsby delivers the inside story of how Gretzky built the team and Pat Quinn got them to the gold medal, featuring exclusive interviews with players, coaches, and personnel.Readers will hear directly from Gretzky, Jarome Iginla, Joe Sakic, Steve Yzerman, and more in this thrilling and immersive narrative of Olympic triumph.

Read more less

When Lily and Alex entered a packed gymnasium in Queens, New York in 1972, they barely recognized their son. The boy who escaped to America with them, who was bullied as he struggled to learn English and cope with family tragedy, was now a young man who had discovered and secretly honed his basketball talent on the outdoor courts of New York City. That young man was Ernie Grunfeld, who would go on to win an Olympic gold medal and reach previously unimaginable heights as an NBA player and executive. In By the Grace of the Game, Dan Grunfeld, once a basketball standout himself at Stanford University, shares the remarkable story of his family, a delicately interwoven narrative that doesn't lack in heartbreak yet remains as deeply nourishing as his grandmother's Hungarian cooking, so lovingly described. The true improbability of the saga lies in the discovery of a game that unknowingly held the power to heal wounds, build bridges, and tie together a fractured Jewish family. If the magnitude of an American dream is measured by the intensity of the nightmare that came before and the heights of the triumph achieved after, then By the Grace of the Game recounts an American dream story of unprecedented scale.From the grips of the Nazis to the top of the Olympic podium, from the cheap seats to center stage at Madison Square Garden, from yellow stars to silver spoons, this complex tale traverses the spectrum of the human experience to detail how perseverance, love, and legacy can survive through generations, carried on the shoulders of a simple and beautiful game.

Read more less

An insider history of the Edmonton Oilers at the NHL draft A singular, transcendent talent can change the fortunes of a hockey team instantly. Each year, NHL teams approach the draft with this knowledge, hoping that luck will be on their side and that their extensive scouting and analysis will pay off. In On the Clock: Edmonton Oilers, Allan Mitchell explores the fascinating, rollercoaster history of the Oilers at the draft, from first pick Kevin Lowe through Connor McDavid and beyond. Readers will go behind the scenes with top decision-makers as they evaluate, deliberate, and ultimately make the picks they hope will tip the fate of their franchise toward success.From seemingly surefire first-rounders to surprising late selections, this is a must-read for Oilers faithful and hockey fans eager for a glimpse at how teams are built.

Read more less

Long before the Patriots took the 21st century by storm and became the most dominant team in NFL history, pro football was something entirely different in New England, something comically atrocious and riddled with heartbreak. Before those juggernaut years of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and sold-out crowds at Gillette Stadium came a hapless franchise that managed only a single playoff victory in a quarter century and spent its entire first decade of existence just trying to establish a permanent home field (and even when they did, none of the toilets worked). In From Darkness to Dynasty, bestselling author Jerry Thornton irreverently chronicles those easily glossed-over, downtrodden decades--years when the team claimed more headlines for lawsuits, arrests, power struggles, drug problems, and inept, bizarre, behavior from players, coaches, and owners than for anything they accomplished on the field. Relive the behind-the-scenes dysfunction, the turmoil of prolonged irrelevance, and the improbable way the Patriots finally ascended to greatness. By turns hilarious and eye-opening, this is an essential history for fans and disparagers alike, and a pointed reminder that the best stories of triumph start with humble beginnings.

Read more less

Kobe Bryant will forever be known as one of basketball’s greatest superstars. Nicknamed “The Black Mamba,” the Los Angeles Lakers legend left his mark on the game as a fierce competitor who lifted those around him and never settled for anything less than the best. The Legend of Kobe Bryant contains essential facts and stories all basketball fans should know, plus inspiring quotes and brilliant photos. Learn about Kobe’s early days bursting onto the NBA scene, his five NBA championships with the Lakers, his unforgettable 60-point final game, and his desire to share basketball with everyone.

Read more less

The industry's longest-running publication for baseball analysts and fantasy leaguers, Ron Shandler's Baseball Forecaster, published annually since 1986, is the first book to approach prognostication by breaking performance down into its component parts. Rather than predicting batting average, for instance, this resource looks at the elements of skill that make up any given batter's ability to distinguish between balls and strikes, his propensity to make contact with the ball, and what happens when he makes contact—reverse engineering those skills back into batting average. The result is an unparalleled forecast of baseball abilities and trends for the upcoming season and beyond.

Read more less