Lou Gehrig's record for consecutive games played stood for decades until Cal Ripken Jr. broke it in 1995. Most people remember Gehrig for this record, or for the disease that claimed his life (and now bears his name). But what many forget is how prolific a hitter he was. The son of German immigrants, Gehrig rose from inauspicious beginnings to become a scholar-athlete at Columbia University, and then moved to Major League Baseball, where he knocked in almost 2,000 runs and helped his team win six world championships. William Kashatus recounts the perserverance and poise of a life which ended tragically, yet heroically. Written in cooperation with George Pollack, the lawyer for the Gehrig estate, this biography provides a valuable addition to the study of an enduring American sports legend. The final chapters analyze the creation of the player's legend through literature and film and also update the reader on the on-going fight against ALS.

Aimed at all aspiring badminton players, High Performance Badminton is packed with advice on how to improve your game, including an extensive section of tips from star players. Covering both the physical and mental approach, and nutrition, and with comprehensive sections on skill development, training, and tactics, this will be invaluable reading for players and coaches.

Blending exclusive rare interviews with Rachel Robinson (Jackie's widow), Mack Robinson (Jackie's brother), Hall of Famers Monte Irvin, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Ralph Kiner, and others, celebrated author Harvey Frommer evokes the lives of general manager Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson by describing how they worked together to shatter baseball's color line. Rickey and Robinson is a dual biography tracing the convergence of the lives of two of baseball's most influential individuals in a marker moment in sports and cultural history.

An entertaining read about the greatest baseball team, the 1927 New York Yankees, who beat up on American League rivals during the regular season and then swept the World Series. With verve, facts, and stories, Harvey Frommer evokes the Murderers' Row of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Miller Huggins, Tony Lazerri, Bob Meusel, and more.

The St. Louis Cardinals are perhaps the most popular and successful franchise in National League history, having won more world championships than any other club in the league. Baseball greats such as Stan Musial, Rogers Hornsby, and Albert Pujols have all worn the Cardinals uniform. But which Cardinals are the finest in franchise history? Examining every player who has donned the Redbird uniform since 1892, Robert W. Cohen ranks the best of the best in The 50 Greatest Players in St. Louis Cardinals History. This book carefully examines the careers of the fifty men who made the greatest impact on one of the most successful franchises in the history of professional sports. Features include quotes from opposing players and former teammates, summaries of each player's best season, recaps of their most memorable performances, and listings of their notable achievements. Including players such as Bob Gibson, Ozzie Smith, Lou Brock, and Mark McGwire, this book is sure to fuel debate among Cardinals fans.

Controversial, confrontational, and driven, Coach Geno Auriemma is a force to be reckoned with -- and the most accomplished male coach in women's basketball today. In his relentless quest for excellence at the University of Connecticut, he has led the Huskies to five national championships. Yet his soul never rests. For Auriemma, life affords only the briefest moments of happiness -- a good round of golf, forty minutes of great basketball, a day at the beach with his family, a nice glass of wine -- while disaster is seemingly always waiting to strike. It's a fatalistic philosophy, a remnant of his hardscrabble early years, but it's an outlook that has driven him to unparalleled success. In this deeply personal memoir, Geno Auriemma reveals for the first time the man behind the legend. He talks candidly about his coaching style, famed for being one of the most demanding in all the sports world. He spills the beans about his stormy dealings with other coaches such as his archrival, Pat Summitt, of the University of Tennessee. And with warmth and a genuine love for his champions, he writes openly about Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, Nykesha Sales, Rebecca Lobo, Swin Cash, and all of his other UConn stars who have gone on to stellar WNBA careers. You get a courtside seat to all of the action -- including an epilogue on the 2004-05 season, as well as interviews with the team's most celebrated players.A rare look inside the soul of a true competitor, GENO is the story of how one passionate man overcame his own fears to achieve an extraordinary record of success.

This comprehensive guide, covering the entire spectrum of tennis subjects, lists and evaluates more than 950 English-language books and over 150 tennis films and videotapes. Among the subjects treated are rules and techniques of play; histories of the game; biographies and autobiographies of champion players; psychological approaches to improving one's game; advice on matters of fitness, physicial conditioning, and rehabilitation of tennis-related injuries; the construction and maintenance of tennis courts; tennis in schools and recreational settings; the administration of tournaments; tennis equipment; the traveling tennis player; tennis humor; and tennis films and videotapes.

This narrative U.S. soccer's history and present-day status addresses the issues of socioeconomics. Emphasizing the differences between social classes in U.S. soccer past and present, as well as those between American soccer and international football, this work analyzes the role of class in American soccer's failure to carve out a more prominent place in the sports landscape. Contemporary soccer is explored from its beginnings in informal Parks and Recreation leagues to the development of formal club programs, and university, professional, and U.S. national teams. In recent decades, Hispanic leagues formed primarily by Mexican and Central American immigrants have reinforced the theme of a class-based, exclusionary space in U.S. soccer. A personal perspective based on the authors' experience coaching soccer at the informal level broadens the book's appeal.

Focusing on a number of contemporary research themes and placing them within the context of palpable changes that have occurred within football in recent years, this timely collection brings together essays about football, crime and fan behaviour from leading experts in the fields of criminology, law, sociology, psychology and cultural studies.

Who comprised the most productive pairs in the history of professional team sports? Joe Montana and Jerry Rice of the San Francisco 49ers? Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls? What about the prolific hockey tandem of Wayne Gretzky and Mark Messier? And that all-time great New York Yankees twosome of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig can certainly not be excluded. Using various selection criteria including longevity, level of statistical compilation, impact on one s team, and overall place in history The 50 Most Dynamic Duos in Sports History attempts to ascertain which twosome truly established themselves as the most dominant tandem in the history of the four major professional team sports: baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. Arranged and ranked by sport, this work takes an in-depth look at the careers of these 100 men, including statistics, quotes from opposing players and former teammates, and career highlights. Finally, all 50 duos are placed in an overall ranking. Covering every decade since the 1890s, this book will find widespread appeal among sports fans of all generations. And with photographs of many of the tandems, The 50 Most Dynamic Duos in Sports History is a wonderful addition to any sports historian s collection."

The Boston Red Sox are one of the most iconic baseball teams, representing not just a city or a state, but an entire region-it's the only professional baseball team in New England. Baseball greats such as Cy Young and Babe Ruth wore the uniform early in their careers and many other players, including Ted Williams, Wade Boggs, Carl Yastrzemski, Pedro Martinez, and Johnny Damon have played with New England's beloved ball club. Sports historian Robert W. Cohen has chosen the 50 best ever to play for the Sox and profiles their exploits. Chances are you'll find your favorite player here.

Covering a 45-year period, "The Nebraska Way" chronicles both the historic rise and gradual fall of the Nebraska football dynasty, from the hiring of Bob Devaney and succession of Tom Osborne to the firing of Frank Solich and rapid separation from tradition. Along with the highs and lows of the Cornhuskers' achievements, "The Nebraska Way" also attempts to define Tom Osborne's philosophy as a coach and mentor as well as the relationship between the football program and the state it represents. Also discussed is the transition from a unique and special program to one assuming the characteristics of any other major college football program, and what it means for the future of the University of Nebraska football program.

The 50 Greatest Players in Green Bay Packers History examines the careers of the 50 men who made the greatest impact on one of the National Football League's most iconic and successful franchises. Using as measuring sticks the degree to which they impacted the fortunes of the team, the extent to which they added to the Packers legacy of excellence, and the levels of statistical compilation and overall dominance they attained while wearing a Packers uniform, The 50 Greatest Players in Green Bay Packers History 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

SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 - SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT BOOK OF THE YEAR THE OFFICIAL DEFINITIVE HISTORY OF BBC SPORTS REPORT ‘Opens the doors to one of the great radio institutions.' – Dan Walker ‘An absolute joy to read.’ – John Inverdale 'That opening tune always quickens the pulse.' – Henry Winter Sports Report is as much a 75-year history of sport as a BBC radio institution and Pat Murphy pays handsome tribute to a programme that is still followed affectionately by millions. For nearly 75 years, one BBC programme has been a constant factor in chronicling the way sport is covered, in all its many facets. It has been a window on the sporting world all over the globe – packed tightly into every Saturday evening for the bulk of the year. First broadcast in 1948, Sports Report is the longest-running radio sporting programme in the world and one of the BBC’s hardy perennials. Pat Murphy has been a reporter on the programme since 1981 and here he sifts comprehensively through the experiences of his contemporaries and those who made their mark on Sports Report in earlier decades. He hears from commentators, reporters, producers, presenters and the production teams who regularly achieved the broadcasting miracle of getting a live programme on air, without a script, adapting as the hour of news, reaction and comment unfolded. Drawing on unique access from the BBC Archives Unit, he highlights memorable moments from Sports Report, details the challenges faced in getting live interviews on air from draughty, noisy dressing-room areas and celebrates the feat of just a small production team in the studio who, somehow, get the show up and running every Saturday, with the clock ticking implacably on. --- Waterstones Best Books of 2022 – Sport

It was the golden age of baseball, and all over the country teams gathered on town fields in front of throngs of fans to compete for local glory. In Rawlins, Wyoming, residents lined up for tickets to see slugger Joseph Seng and the rest of the Wyoming Penitentiary Death Row All Stars as they took on all comers in baseball games with considerably more at stake. Teams came from Reno, Nevada; Klamath Falls, Oregon; Bodie, California; and throughout the west to take on the murderers who made up the line-up. This is a fun and wildly dramatic and suspenseful look at the game of baseball and at the thrilling events that unfolded at a prison in the wide-open Wyoming frontier in pursuit of wins on the diamond.

Anyone who has spent time in Syracuse, New York, knows that basketball season is the most wonderful time of the year. And while the local popularity of the sport is known nationwide, the region also has a long and rich basketball history. Sports historian Mark Baker traces the evolution of Syracuse's "hoops roots," beginning in the early days, when local, national and college basketball organizations were primitive institutions. It was during this time that one of the first teams to gain a national following was founded here by an Italian immigrant, Danny Biasone, and it was in Syracuse that the 24 second clock was invented. From the outset, Syracuse residents and fans were hooked, and this love of the game has endured, feeding the fanaticism that sustains the sport today.

Putting has often been described as an art, but the author of this book, by trade a physicist, has analyzed it as never before, using scientific principles. Pelz has come up with a system to perfect your putting stroke -- or at least to come as close to perfect as humanly possible.

An illustrated exploration of the design, meaning and symbolism of world football club crests.

Why is there a devil shown on the crest of Manchester United? Which club's crest motto is 'To Dare Is To Do'? And whose emblem depicts a bear and a strawberry tree?

From the seahorses of Newcastle United to the royal crown of Real Madrid, via the riveting hammers of West Ham United, Valencia's famous bat design and German club St Pauli's unofficial skull-and-crossbones emblem, there is a story behind every crest, a tale of identity.

Covering more than 200 clubs from 20 different leagues, World Football Club Crests explores the design, meaning and symbolism of the game's most famous club crests to reveal why the badges look as they do.

This carefully curated collection charts the continuing evolution of the designs and describes the changing styles, varied influences and remarkable controversies that have shaped football's most iconic crests. These important symbols of football heraldry will never be viewed in the same way again.

Combining off-the-wall trivia questions with hardcore stats and nickname puzzlers, The All-Time, All-Team Pro Football Quiz contains stumpers for even the most well-versed football fan. Whether you're a Cheesehead or a Broncomaniac, you'll find quizzes for every team in the league-from the teams you love to the teams you love to hate. Which former NFL player had a role in Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles? True or False: Gerald Ford was the only U.S. president to play in the NFL? Who was the first black coach in NFL history? How many teams that won NFL championships are now defunct?