Résultats de recherche de titre
Articles 1 à 20 sur 566
Kid Olympians: True Tales of Childhood from Champions and Game Changers (Kid Legends #9)
Par Robin Stevenson. 2024
Triumphant, relatable, and totally true biographies tell the childhood stories of a diverse group of international athletes who have captured…
the world’s attention at the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, like Simone Biles, Jesse Owens, Naomi Osaka, Tatyana McFadden, and 12 other incredible olympians.Athletes throughout history have dreamed of competing in the Olympics—and some were kids themselves when those dreams and plans began! In Kid Olympians: Summer, discover the childhood stories of legends such as: Usain Bolt, who used to skip practices to go to the arcade and play video games.Serena Williams, who sometimes hit her tennis ball over the fence on purpose!Tatyana McFadden, who had to fight to be allowed on her school’s track teamFeaturing kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations, you’ll be inspired to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before! The diverse and inspiring group also includes Michael Phelps, Yusra Mardini, Dick Fosbury, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Gertrude Ederle, Nadia Comaneci, Ellie Simmonds, Tommie Smith, Wilma Rudolph, and Megan Rapinoe.Undisputed: A Champion's Life
Par Donovan Bailey. 2023
A memoir of Olympic glory, the value of mentorship and the courage to champion your own excellence, from the long-reigning…
world's fastest man, Canadian sprinting legend Donovan Bailey.From the lush fields of his boyhood in Jamaica, to the basketball courts of Oakville, where he came of age in one of Canada’s most thriving cultural mosaics, to his sprint toward double Olympic gold for Canada in Atlanta in 1996, Donovan Bailey got a long way on natural talent. But he also learned that in the bureaucratic world of Canadian sports, an athlete who didn't come up in the system needed to take charge of his fate if he was going to become the world’s best. As he ascended from outsider to dominant athlete, others didn’t always understand the rigour at work behind Bailey’s confident demeanour. He’d learned from watching Muhammad Ali that a champion needed to act like a champion. But media grew fixated on the sprinter’s immodesty, the likes of which they never saw from Canadian athletes, especially track athletes in the wake of the Ben Johnson doping scandal at Seoul in 1988. Bailey was having none of it, and when he called out Canada's subtle racism and contradicted the prevailing idea most Canadians had of their country, he left in his wake a media uproar and cracked wide open the nation’s moral complacency. In addition to his unforgettable 100-metre and 4x100 relay gold-medal sprints in Atlanta, Bailey's track career was a litany of records and rare accomplishments, including his audacious 1997 race in Toronto's SkyDome against American 200-metre Olympic champion Michael Johnson to determine who was really the world’s fastest man. There was no disputing the result. Bailey had been coached in success before he was seriously coached in athletics. Following the lead of his father, a machinist-turned-real estate investor, Bailey became a millionaire by the age of 21, an experience he continues to draw on as an entrepreneur and philanthropist. Frank about his dominance on the track and unapologetic for expecting as much of those around him as he expects of himself, Undisputed is an athlete's story that refuses to settle for second best.Talking Irish: The Oral History Of Notre Dame Football
Par Steve Delsohn. 1998
An entertaining fusion of fact, legend, and lore, Notre Dame football has transcended the boundaries of the sport and the…
university to become a time-honored American tradition. For its legions of devoted fans and alumni, Talking Irish vividly captures it all: the exhilarating wins, the stunning defeats, the tumultuous coaching changes, and the celebrated mystique that surrounds this beloved football dynasty.With never-before-told anecdotes, this candid and revealing oral history -- the first ever written on Fighting Irish football -- is told in the words of more than 150 Notre Dame players, coaches, leading sports journalists, and school faculty. This rousing narrative begins in the 1940s, a decade after the death of the fabled Knute Rockne, and concludes five decades later, with the formidable exploits of Notre Dame football at the end of the twentieth century.Wins, Losses, and Lessons: An Autobiography
Par Lou Holtz. 2006
When I die and people realize that I will not be resurrected in three days, they will forget me. That…
is the way it should be. For reasons known only to God, I was asked to write an autobiography. Most people who knew me growing up didn't think I would ever read a book, let alone write one.—Lou HoltzFew people in the history of college sports have been more influential or had a bigger impact than Lou Holtz. Winner of the three national Coach of the Year honors, the only coach ever to lead six different schools to season-ending bowl games, and the ninth-winningest coach in college football history, Holtz is still teaching and coaching, although he is no longer on the gridiron. In his most telling work to date, the man still known as "Coach" by all who cross his path reveals what motivated a rail-thin 135-pound kid with marginal academic credentials and a pronounced speech impediment to play and coach college football, and to become one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in history. With unflinching honesty and his trademark dry wit, Holtz goes deep, giving us the intimate details of the people who shaped his life and the decisions he would make that shaped the lives of so many others.His is a storied career, and Holtz provides a frank and inside look at the challenges he overcame to turn around the programs at William and Mary, North Carolina State, Arkansas, and Minnesota. From growing up in East Liverpool, Ohio, to his early days as a graduate assistant at the University of Iowa, to his national championship runs at Notre Dame and his final seasons on the sidelines in South Carolina, Lou Holtz gives his best, a poignant, funny, and instructive look into a life well lived.Jeff Gordon: Portrait of a Champion
Par Jeff Gordon. 1998
"Go out and work hard and just take it one step at a time."He is a living legend, an athlete…
whodominates his sport as few otherscan. With his rainbow-colored No.24 Dupont Chevrolet Monte Carlo, JeffGordon has accomplished what noman before him could. In 1997, he wonhis second NASCAR Winston CupSeries championship...the Daytona500...the Coca-Cola 600...the Southern500...The Winston ...the Busch Clash.And he became only the second driverto win NASCAR's toughest prize: TheWinston Million.This stunning photographic portrait captures that extraordinary year--from the opening race at Daytona to theAtlanta Motor Speedway where the title became his-- and offers an intimate glimpse of the man behind the wheel himself. You'll discover what he really thinks about life on and off the track including: his familyNASCAR racingthe people who have helped shape his careerhis spiritualityhis fansbeing a role modelthe Rainbow Warriorsand much more.Honest and straightforward, Jeff shares his triumphs and his failures, what it takes to be the best and what the future may hold. Here is a rare look at an amazing champion on the road to glory."Don't ever quit. Don't ever stop fighting. It's not over 'til it's over."Runnin' with the Big Dogs: The Long, Twisted History of the Texas-OU Rivalry
Par Mike Shropshire. 2006
Raucous, raw, and reliably remarkable, the century–old football riavlry between the state universities of Texas and Oklahoma stands as testimony…
that hate–based relationships are the most enduring. Texas and Oklahoma have been top–level programs for a long time, but in the last few years the rivalry has garnered ever more national attention. Mike Shropshire, an observer of this football war for more than 40 years, chronicles the long and colorful history of this fierce rivalry that has endured for more than a century. The teams have been playing at the Texas State fair since 1929–just a three–hour drive from each campus. This is the only football game in the country that is louder than a NASCAR race, because there's no place in the country that's more football–mad than Texas. Animosity runs deep in this relationship–but beyond the emotional urgency that the Texas–OU followers expend on this event, this is a union of like–minded spirits. They were brought up amid the simple mantra of the Red State road to success: "Get up early. Work hard. Find oil." Football would naturally become the spectator sports of preference in these parts. RUNNIN' WITH THE BIG DOGS is an account of that game and of the game and the events that lead up to the three–and–one–half hours when, deep in the heart of the heartland, it's the day the earth stands still. It will also chronicle the long and colorful history of this fiercest of football rivalries, and inundate the reader in the craziness of the week preceding the game. Year in, year out, the Texas–OU celebration equals or trumps any other rivalry in sheer excitement and entertainment value–and presently, these two teams more than any other pairing are consistently in the hunt for a national championship. The excitement is due in large part to the raw and dynamic history of the two states involved, from the Indian wars to the oil boom. Before statehood Oklahoma was known as Indian Territory, so this Red River Shootout is Cowboys and Indians all over again.When the Tuna Went Down to Texas: The Story of Bill Parcells and the Dallas Cowboys
Par Mike Shropshire. 2004
Bill Parcells was living in self-imposed exile from the National Football League sidelines. The Tuna had earned living-legend status after…
coaching the Giants, Patriots, and Jets from the skid-row district of the NFL and transforming those teams into champions. The final weeks of the 2002 season found Parcells working as an analyst at the ESPN studios. His heart aching, Parcells was like a televangelist with no cripples to heal. The Tuna urgently yearned for another lost cause.In Dallas, Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones—described by author Mike Shropshire as "a man involved in a heroic struggle to overcome what had been diagnosed as a terminal face-lift"—was suffering through sleepless nights. Although his once-proud pro football powerhouse traveled beneath a banner that read "America's Team," it had suffered three straight 5-11 seasons. This team was so sick, it had bedsores.After a clandestine meeting aboard Jones's private jet, parked at a New Jersey airport, Parcells agreed to abandon his East Coast roots and travel south to restore life to the Cowboys. The Tuna and Jones needed each other in the worst kind of way, so a shotgun wedding was performed. The pundits of the national media joined hands and shouted, "Parcells and Jones can't stand each other! They're too set in their ways! It'll never work!"As usual, the pundits were wrong. With Parcells the ultimate motivator and so-called Jock Whisperer applying his craft, Dallas rolled to a 10-6 regular-season record and shocked the NFL by making the playoffs. When the Tuna Went Down to Texas details the saga of how this unlikely partnership of men "too brittle for tango lessons, but not yet blind enough for assisted living" amazed the sports world and serves as absolute proof that while the truth is not always stranger than fiction, it's usually a lot funnier.Gorgeous George: The Outrageous Bad-Boy Wrestler Who Created American Pop Culture
Par John Capouya. 2008
“Finally, the tawdry but glamorous details behind the legend of one of my first childhood heroes. Gorgeous George is such…
a good read I felt like bleaching my hair afterwards.” — John Waters“Capouya’s biography vividly re-creates Gorgeous George’s antics and the world in which he had more shock value than a numerically named wideout could hope for today.” — Sports Illustrated“Compelling. . . . The tension between George’s excess and his era’s reserve is one of many in his story, and those are what make Capouya’s cultural anthropology so interesting.” — Newsweek“Terrifically, tantalizingly weird. . . . GORGEOUS GEORGE does leave the words of one long-ago sports reporter ringing in your ears: ‘Oh, my, what a strut. If only this man had been born in the barnyard. What a rooster he would have made.’” — New York Times“...[Capouya] delivers a solid, entertaining book about a long-forgotten character and a peculiar slice of American history.” — Entertainment Weekly“Capouya vividly portrays the ins and outs of wrestling and [Wagner’s] own struggle to maintain the ‘Gorgeousness’ of a public life in his private life as well.” — Publishers Weekly“In GORGEOUS GEORGE, Capouya combines extensive research and interviews with a colorful writing style and presents Gorgeous George as a cultural pioneer...Capouya’s words are as fast-paced as the action in the ring and connect with the reader as solidly as a dropkick to George’s kisser.” — Tampa Tribune“Compulsively entertaining...” — Penthouse“You see the title of John Capouya’s biography of Gorgeous George - which claims the flamboyant wrestler “created pop culture” - and you are struck by its audacity. A wrestler responsible for something that important? Impossible. But as you go through the pages, you can’t help but agree.” — New York Post“Gorgeous George invented a style of showmanship that was imitated by entertainers and athletes. With this biography, John Capouya has done an excellent job in introducing the most inventive of sport’s anti-heroes to a new generation of readers.” — Ishmael Reed (novelist, poet, and cultural critic)NO DOUBT OF IT: GEE GEE’S THE BIGGEST THING IN TV — Washington Post, 1949“I don’t know if I was made for television, or television was made for me.” — Gorgeous George“Liberace stole my entire act, including the candelabra!” — Gorgeous George“One can explain the American condition as an eternal, televised battle between the Babyface and the Heel. That said, there’s never been a heel like Gorgeous George. John Capouya has done a fine job here, excavating a forgotten life and explaining why it mattered.” — Mark Kriegel, author of Pistol: The Life of Pete Maravich; National Columnist for FOXSports.com“Like the man himself, this inside look at a legendary performer challenges the reader to think beyond the wrestling ring. We give it four suplexes out of five.” — Pro Wrestling Illustrated“Former Newsweek editor John Capouya reveals the gory underworld of pre-WWE wrestling and shows how the Gorgeous One inspired James Brown, who loved George’s robes, and Muhammad Ali, whose “I am the prettiest” echoed the wrestler’s own vainglorious boasts.” — Los Angeles Magazine“As a show-biz bio and, for those who subscribe to a loose definition of sport, a sports bio, too, this is great stuff, entertaining and well referenced.” — BooklistImmaculate Conception: Sophia Light Codes for Modern Sacredness
Par Thalia Amma Sophia. 2024
Miracles and phenomena of mystery between black magic, miracles and phenomena and religion. The first and last parts of Immaculate…
Conception tell the story of how a girl of the light becomes a real woman and let her wings unfurl. Through trials and tribulations, the reader is invited to reflect on testimonials of an initiate in a patriarchal society of dogma.At its core, this is a tale of a young woman in search of a life filled with love, spirituality, and the simple joys of existence, all while embracing her soul&’s destiny. Her story unfolds amidst the backdrop of stress, drama, &‘a-ha!&’ moments, and deep-rooted family traditions, guided by the steadfast presence of God&’s apostles.The second part is packed with rituals, channelled prayers, affirmations, and angelic protection invocations, to call on for a while or at various times. Special Key phrases have Sophia Codes that are lately coming to humanity for co-creating, healing, and expanding. With the support of Mother Mary and Archangels, Thalia Amma Sophia opens you to receive grace, brings you alignment and activation of your Higher Self; to neutralize the magnets pulling you into dysfunctional behaviour and past Life overlays!Prepare to awaken your innate ability to manifest desires and nurture creative ideas. Immaculate Conception extends an invitation to embark on a transformative journey where miracles, faith, and the boundless power of the human spirit intersect, promising the potential for grace, fulfilment, and profound transformation.It's Good to Be Gronk
Par Rob Gronk Gronkowski, Jason Rosenhaus. 2015
From the national bestselling author and &“one of the best tight ends the game has ever seen&” (New York Post),…
beloved NFL star and Tampa Bay Buccaneer Rob &“Gronk&” Gronkowski offers you an exclusive front row seat of his life from the locker room to the VIP room.From hamming it up at Super Bowl Media Day, to spicing up interviews with “Gronk-esque” dance moves, to cuddling with kittens in the pages of ESPN The Magazine, to christening a used party bus his ride of choice, Gronk’s good humor and playful persona make it seem like other players are “living in black and white, and Gronk is in color” (CBS Sports). But it hasn’t all been fun and games. After his near career-ending injury, Gronk astonished his fellow players and fans by returning to the game he loved by making an incredible comeback in the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX, solidifying his legacy in American football. Now, discover the highs and lows in his superstar life off the field and his astonishing, game-changing plays in this fascinating memoir.The Soul of a Butterfly: Reflections on Life's Journey
Par Muhammad Ali, Hana Yasmeen Ali. 2004
Former boxing legend Muhammad Ali, one of the best-known and best-loved celebrities and an international goodwill ambassador, offers inspiration and…
hope as he describes the spiritual philosophy that sustains him.&“During my boxing career, you did not see the real Muhammad Ali. You just saw a little boxing. You saw only a part of me. After I retired from boxing my true work began. I have embarked on a journey of love.&” So Muhammad Ali begins this spiritual memoir, his description of the values that have shaped and sustained him and that continue to guide his life. In The Soul of a Butterfly the great champion takes readers on a spiritual journey through the seasons of life, from childhood to the present, and shares the beliefs that have served him well. Ali reflects on his faith in God and the strength it gave him during his greatest challenges. He describes how his study of true Islam has helped him accept the changes in his life and has brought him to a greater awareness of life&’s true purpose. As a United Nations Messenger of Peace, he has traveled widely, and he describes his 2002 mission to Afghanistan to heighten public awareness of that country&’s desperate situation, as well as his more recent meeting with the Dalai Lama. Ali&’s reflections on topics ranging from moral courage to belief in God to respect for those who differ from us will inspire and enlighten all who read them. Written with the assistance of his daughter Hana, The Soul of a Butterfly is a compassionate and heartfelt book that will provide comfort for our troubled times.Papi: My Story
Par David Ortiz, Michael Holley. 2017
The Red Sox Hall of Famer and World Series MVP tells the story of his life and career in a…
sports memoir that &“lives up to its &‘no-holds-barred&’ billing&” (Washington Post). David &“Big Papi&” Ortiz is a baseball icon and one of the most popular figures ever to play the game. A star player with the Boston Red Sox for fifteen years, Ortiz helped to win three World Series, bringing back a storied franchise from &“never wins&” to &“always wins.&” As he launched balls into the stands again and again, he helped silence the naysayers while capturing the imaginations of millions of fans. Ortiz made Boston and the Red Sox his home, his place of work, and his legacy. In Papi, Ortiz tells his story in his own words, opening up as never before. The result is a revelatory tale of a storied career—all told by a legendary player with a lot to say at the end of his time in the game. This edition of Papi includes a new afterword. &“Baseball fans of all loyalties will enjoy learning about [Ortiz&’s] unique experiences in and out of the game.&” —Library Journal &“The rise of Ortiz from scrap-heap bench player to Hall of Famer is an unlikely and entertaining story, and engagingly told.&” —Washington PostWe Are the Troopers: The Women of the Winningest Team in Pro Football History
Par Stephen Guinan. 2022
Discover the unlikely story of the Toledo Troopers, the winningest team in the National Women's Football League, who won seven…
league championships in the 1970s—and gain full access to the players and key figures in the organization. Amid a national backdrop of the call to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, the National Women&’s Football League was founded as something of a gimmick. However, the league&’s star team, the Toledo Troopers, emerged to challenge traditional gender roles and amass a win-loss record never before or since achieved in American football. The players were housewives, factory workers, hairdressers, former nuns, high school teachers, bartenders, mail carriers, pilots, and would-be drill sergeants. Black, white, Latina. Mothers and daughters and aunts and sisters. But most of all, they were athletes who had been denied the opportunity to play a game they were born to play. Before the protests and the lobbyists, before the debates and the amendments, before the marches and the mandates, there was only an obscure advertisement in a local Midwestern paper and those who answered it, women such as Lee Hollar, the only woman working the line at the Libbey glass factory; Gloria Jimenez, who grew up playing sports with her six brothers; and Linda Jefferson, one the greatest, most accomplished athletes in sports history. Stephen Guinan grew up in Toledo pulling for his hometown football team, and—in the innocence of youth—did not realize at the time what a barrier-breaking lost piece of history he was witnessing. We Are the Troopers shines light on forgotten champions who came together for the love of the game.Kid Olympians: True Tales of Childhood from Champions and Game Changers (Kid Legends #9)
Par Robin Stevenson. 2024
Triumphant, relatable, and totally true biographies tell the childhood stories of a diverse group of international athletes who have captured…
the world&’s attention at the Summer Olympics and Paralympics, like Simone Biles, Jesse Owens, Naomi Osaka, Tatyana McFadden, and 12 other incredible olympians.Athletes throughout history have dreamed of competing in the Olympics—and some were kids themselves when those dreams and plans began! In Kid Olympians: Summer, discover the childhood stories of legends such as: Usain Bolt, who used to skip practices to go to the arcade and play video games.Serena Williams, who sometimes hit her tennis ball over the fence on purpose!Tatyana McFadden, who had to fight to be allowed on her school&’s track teamFeaturing kid-friendly text and full-color illustrations, you&’ll be inspired to dream bigger, faster, and higher than ever before! The diverse and inspiring group also includes Michael Phelps, Yusra Mardini, Dick Fosbury, Ibtihaj Muhammad, Gertrude Ederle, Nadia Comaneci, Ellie Simmonds, Tommie Smith, Wilma Rudolph, and Megan Rapinoe.Far Beyond Gold: Running from Fear to Faith
Par Sydney McLaughlin. 2024
What fears are standing in your way or holding you back? How do you want to become stronger? Olympic and…
World champion hurdler Sydney McLaughlin wants to help you answer these questions as she shares her personal story of struggles and victories, of faith and transformation.Sydney McLaughlin knows about facing down obstacles. She has mastered not only racing over hurdles on the track but also tackling challenges in her personal life—from lifelong battles with perfectionism and anxiety to persistent questions about her identity and whether she was "enough."Her pursuit of perfection and people-pleasing continued for years until God broke into her story with his overwhelming grace, transforming love, and empowering truth.In Far Beyond Gold, Sydney will share aspects of her life story and personhood she has never shared publicly before, offering a more complex picture of who she is. She will inspire you to:Conquer your fears in Christ's strengthStand strong in your identity in himPush past your perceived limitsOvercome the challenges you're facing Experience the story of a woman who shifted from anxiety to boldness, from limits to freedom, and from perfectionism to purpose—and now shows the world that often what we think is impossible is possible with God.One-Armed Wonder: Pete Gray, Wartime Baseball, and the American Dream
Par William C. Kashatus. 1995
In the spring of 1945 Pete Gray, who had lost his right arm in a childhood accident, made his debut…
with the St. Louis Browns of the American League. Dubbed the "One-Armed Wonder" by sportswriters, Gray was a controversial figure from the moment he stepped on a major league diamond. Club owners saw him as a gate attraction for war-weary baseball fans; some of his teammates openly questioned his ability and felt that he cost them a chance to capture a second consecutive pennant. Gray was left to wonder just how good a ballplayer he really was. Though some may have doubted Gray's ability, no one questioned the cantankerous outfielder's desire to reach the major leagues. From the coalfields of northeastern Pennsylvania, Pete Gray fought his way through the minor leagues with single-minded determination. Despite his missing arm, he was the most valuable player of the minor league's Southern Association in 1944. His on-field exploits and relentless fire became an inspiration to the many servicemen who returned from the battlefields of World War II with missing limbs.“Sportswriter Sullivan takes readers on a propulsive ride in his tour-de-force debut. . . . Sullivan’s detailed account will intrigue…
anyone who cares about sports and the role it plays in social justice today.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)"More than a basketball book, this helps explain race relations, celebrity power, and personal choice in a changed world." — Kirkus Reviews"A must-read for its in-depth look at the mental, economic, and political tribulations of NBA players." — Library Journal (starred review)"Only a brilliantly audacious book could begin to make sense of the weirdly brilliant audacity of the new Brooklyn Nets. One writer on Earth could have written this book this way — with the profundity of a sage baller and acuity of a seasoned journalist — and that writer is Matt Sullivan." — Kiese Laymon, New York Times best-selling author of Heavy“With Can't Knock The Hustle, Matt Sullivan correctly positions the basketball games we love as both a prism through which to understand our culture, and a battlefield on which to fight for the better angels of that culture. On the surface, it's a story about the unending march of 2020. But once you finish it, you understand that it's also an essential document about the decades that led us to this moment, and about the future decades yet unspooled." — Wright Thompson, ESPN senior writer and New York Times bestselling author of Pappyland and The Cost of These Dreams“In the dueling eras of unprecedented athlete empowerment and the coarse ugliness of 'shut up and dribble,' Matt Sullivan's Can't Knock the Hustle offers a can't-look-away sampling of not merely the NBA's most fascinating franchise, but a frozen period in time that will leave historians both horrified and riveted." — Jeff Pearlman, New York Times bestselling author of Three-Ring Circus and Showtime “Matt Sullivan is one helluva social anthropologist, and as a result, his Can't Knock the Hustle amounts to way more than a journey with the Brooklyn Nets, or an examination of the modern-day athlete. This is an astute, ambitious book about the glory and torment of talent itself. Basketball? That's just the starting point, and what a trip Sullivan's remarkable odyssey turns out to be.” — James Andrew Miller, New York Times bestselling author of Those Guys Have All the Fun, Live From New York, and Powerhouse“Can't Knock the Hustle is a terrific book because it gives us something in woefully short supply: real journalism. Matt Sullivan has discovered the ground zero of a player revolution—and it's in Brooklyn. Is anybody ready for it?" — Howard Bryant, ESPN senior writer and author of Full Dissidence: Notes from an Uneven Playing Field“The superstar-studded Brooklyn Nets are basketball's most captivating team, and Can't Knock the Hustle delivers a fascinating secret history of their journey to the pantheon of player activism and empowerment. With brilliant reporting and breakneck prose, this is our generation's Moneyball.” — Don Van Natta Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning ESPN investigative reporter and New York Times bestselling author of First Off the Tee and Wonder Girl“No narrative has captured the dynamics of the ‘player empowerment’ movement quite like Can’t Knock the Hustle. Sullivan has written about as revealing a basketball book as there's been in a long time: an insider’s account with an outsThe Games Do Count: America's Best and Brightest on the Power of Sports
Par Brian Kilmeade. 2004
What do Henry Kissinger, Jack Welch, Condoleezza Rice, and Jon Bon Jovi have in common? They have all reached the…
top of their respective professions, and they all credit sports for teaching them the lessons that were fundamental to their success. In his years spent interviewing and profiling celebrities, politicians, and top businesspeople, popular sportscaster and Fox & Friends cohost Brian Kilmeade has discovered that nearly everyone shares a love of sports and has a story about how a game, a coach, or a single moment of competition changed his or her life.These vignettes have entertained, surprised, and inspired readers nationwide with their insight into America's most respected and well-known personalities. Kilmeade presents more than seventy stories straight from the men and women themselves and those who were closest to them. From competition to camaraderie, individual achievement to teamwork, failure to success, the world of sports encompasses it all and enriches our lives. The Games Do Count reveals this simple and compelling truth: America's best and brightest haven't just worked hard -- they've played hard -- and the results have been staggering!The Rabbi of 84th Street: The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser
Par Warren Kozak. 2004
Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, and Crime
Par Jeff Benedict. 2004
Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, and Crime is a searing indictment of professional basketball players…
who live in a world where criminal laws and social norms don't exist, a world where they are given license to act above the law.On the court, they dazzle us with their spectacular physical feats. They generate millions of dollars of revenue for the NBA and their teams. They inspire adulation. But underneath all the glitz, the money, and alley-oops is a seamy underbelly, a rash of lawlessness that is gripping the NBA.Based on a first-of-its-kind investigation into the criminal histories of 177 NBA players from the 2001–2002 season, Out of Bounds shows that an alarming four out of every ten NBA players have a police record involving a serious crime. They are All-Stars and they are journeymen, involved in crimes ranging from armed robbery to domestic violence to gun possession to rape.Out of Bounds takes a hard look at shocking cases, with graphic accounts of physical and sexual violence and other outrageous conduct by players. In all, more than 250 people are named, including many prominent NBA players. It exposes the environment and culture that encourages such criminal behavior. It also explains the unique challenges these cases pose for law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors. And Out of Bounds takes readers inside the hidden yet critically vital role that lawyers, agents, and fame play in insulating criminally accused players from accountability.Author Jeff Benedict, an expert on athletes and crime, draws his conclusions from exhaustive research. In addition to his criminal-background checks, the author retrieved documents from law-enforcement agencies, courts, and private attorneys. He conducted more than 400 interviews with police officers, prosecutors, defense lawyers, players, agents, victims, witnesses, and coaches. What emerges is a disturbing and appalling picture of men who live above the law. A seminal and important work, Out of Bounds will forever change how we look at the NBA and its stars' lives of excess and privilege.