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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Sport
Covering Mike Tyson's complete amateur and professional boxing career, this book follows the Brooklyn native from his early years as a 12 year old criminal in Brownsville to his 1988 heavyweight unification match with Michael Spinks. The book focuses on the Catskill Boxing Club - where boxing guru Cus D'Amato trained the 210-pound teenager in the finer points of the art and developed his impregnable defense - and on his home life with D'Amato and his surrogate mother Camille Ewald, and the other boys who shared the house with him. Tyson's boxing education began in the unauthorized "smokers" held in the Bronx every week, matching his skills against older, more experienced fighters. He won the 1981 Amateur Heavyweight Boxing Championship in Colorado Springs at the age of 14, and repeated the amazing feat the following year. By 1985, finding no other challenging amateur competition, he was forced to join the professional ranks where, in November 1986, he became the youngest heavyweight champion in boxing history. Less than two years later, he unified the crown, establishing himself as one of the most dominant heavyweight fighters in the annals of the game.
Fast bowler, six-hitter, popular hero, one of the lads, king of the jungle - Andrew Flintoff is all of those things. Second Innings, is his searingly honest yet uplifting autobiography, Flintoff reveals unseen, surprising sides to his career and personality. The restless need to push and challenge himself that led him to take up professional boxing. The complex and troubled relationship with discipline, alcohol and authority during his exhilarating cricket career. The search for an authentic voice as a player, free from the blandness and conformity of modern professionalism. Is Flintoff the last of his kind, in any sport? Through all his highs and lows, triumphs and reversals, this book reveals a central tension. There is 'Fred' - performer, extrovert, centre of attention. Then there is 'Andrew' - reflective, withdrawn and uncertain. Two people contained in one extraordinary life. And sometimes, inevitably, keeping the two in balance proves too much. We are taken backstage, seeing the mischief and adventure that has defined Andrew Flintoff's story. Above all, we observe the enduring power of fun, friendship and loyalty - the pillars of Flintoff's career. At ease with his faults as well as his gifts, Andrew Flintoff has sought one thing, even more than success: to be himself. If you enjoyed Do You Know What?, you'll enjoy this memoir of Freddie's sporting career.
Early in their lives, Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando chose ice hockey to be the sport they wanted to pursue. They didn't let the absence of girls hockey teams get in their way-they just played on boys teams. Nor did they let competitive adversity on the ice stop them on their way to a thrilling gold-medal victory at the 2018 Olympics, the United States' first gold medal in women's ice hockey in 20 years. They also did not allow roadblocks and discrimination off the ice deter them from taking on the big business of elite international and Olympic sports. The success of Monique, Jocelyne, and their team thrust them into the center of the fray in the struggle for gender equity, whether for women in hockey and in sports in general, or in society at large. In Dare to Make History, the Lamoureux twins chronicle their journey to the pinnacle of their sport, the challenges of competing as elite athletes while becoming new mothers, their efforts along with almost 150 other hockey players to start a new professional women's hockey league, their training to come back for the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, and their contributions as role models championing the dreams of future generations of girls in sports, education, and the workplace. This is their inspiring story-the story of all girls and women, as well as boys and men, who simply want a level playing field.
Almost unknown when in 1945 he purchased the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and its famous race, the Indianapolis 500, Tony Hulman soon became a household name in auto racing circles. He is credited with not only saving the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - shuttered during World War II - from becoming a residential housing development but also with re-invigorating auto racing in the United States. Until his purchase of the Speedway, Hulman had not been involved in auto racing; he was the CEO of Hulman & Company, a wholesale grocer. An astute businessman, Hulman made Clabber Girl Baking Powder a national brand. With the rise of the chain grocery stores, such as Kroger, the wholesale grocery industry was slowly consolidating. Hulman successfully led the reorientation of the family fortunes to include a range of businesses including a beer company, a Coca-Cola franchise, a broadcast empire and real estate and gas companies. The book traces the rise of Hulman & Company from a small wholesale grocer in Terre Haute to a dominant regional business, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Indianapolis 500 races during Hulman's tenure and his other major investments as well as his philanthropy, particularly to higher education in Terre Haute.
The long-awaited autobiography of Liverpool FC and Ireland legend,
Ronnie Whelan
THE #5 TIMES BESTSELLER Ever wondered what it's truly like being an England test cricketer? Why not ask England's greatest ever bowler? Jimmy Anderson invites you into his world of cricket and gives you a very personal insight into what it's like playing at the top level. Through stories of his 16-year international career, Jimmy draws back the curtain on test cricket to reveal bizarre superstitions and rituals, strange training camps, the personalities he's encountered, life on tour and what it's like being a bowler in a batsman's world. Bowl. Sleep. Repeat. is a fascinating, entertaining and deeply personal look at the game of cricket and what life's like beyond the boundary rope.
The quintessential barking-mad Yorkshire cricketer, 'Hoggy's' record-breaking bowling exploits for England allied to his humorous, uniquely oddball yet hugely endearing attitude to sport and life makes this essential reading for all lovers of the game. More than just a line-and-length cricketer's biography, Hoggy offers an entertaining insight into the weird and wonderful world of one of cricket's true characters. From the pub to the wicket and everywhere in-between, the dogged nightwatchman and wicket-taker looks beyond the runs and wickets to reveal what cricketers really get up to on tour and in the dressing room ...
The story of a lifetime at the very centre of international cricket, from the most respected TV commentator in the game. Few people understand cricket as well as Richie Benaud. For sixty years, as player and commentator, he has set the standards for others to follow and has witnessed all the major events in the game. No one else has found such favour with the vast numbers of cricket lovers in both Britain and Australia. A high-class attacking batsman and masterful legspin bowler, he captained Australia in 28 of his 63 Tests, regaining the Ashes in 1958-59 and taking part in both Laker's match in 1956 and the Tied Test in 1960. His television career, which began in 1963 while he was still a Test player, has coincided with a period of astonishing change - in the way the game is played, with the increasing popularity of the shorter formats, and in the way it is broadcast, with the innovations that began with World Series Cricket. In Over But Not Out, Richie Benaud has added extensive new material to his acclaimed Anything but . . . an Autobiography in order to cover the years since its publication; he not only revisits his long and remarkable career but also casts his eye over cricket in the 21st century. He gives his distinctive take on series such as the 2005 and 2009 Ashes and contemplates the future of the game he loves, revealing strong and sometimes surprising opinions on Twenty20, day-night games, technology, referral systems, no-balls, neutral umpires and match-fixing. Packed with stories and illuminated by his characteristic incisiveness and independent-minded good sense, Over But Not Out is required reading for all followers of the game.
Hats, Handwraps and Headaches is the inspiring, surprising and sometimes shocking story of Irish boxing coach Paddy Fitzpatrick, a failed pro boxer who was almost a Foreign Legionary before finding fame as a trainer of world-class fighters. After struggling as a young adult and attempting suicide, Paddy's life was transformed by a chance meeting with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach. Paddy moved to LA to learn his trade at Roach's Wild Card gym, working with the likes of world champions James Toney and Laila Ali, and spending time with Laila's legendary father Muhammad Ali. Back in England, Paddy used the things he had learnt to take George Groves to three world title fights, including the return super-fight with Carl Froch, which drew 80,000 fans to Wembley Stadium. Filled with astonishing anecdotes - like the time Paddy took shots from a Heavyweight contender and a near-miss with a grizzly bear - Hats, Handwraps and Headaches is funny and poignant in equal measure, with riveting tales from both sides of the Atlantic.
'Adrian has a unique gift for understanding drivers and racing cars. He is ultra competitive but never forgets to have fun. An immensely likeable man.' Damon Hill The world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir. How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian's unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he's been involved. A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrian's thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form - he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Senna's death during his time at Williams in 1994. Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrian's remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling - its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.
The 125 greatest chess games of all time, selected, analysed, re-evaluated and explained by a team of British experts and illustrated with over 1,000 chess diagrams. Join the authors in studying these games, the cream of two centuries of international chess, and develop your own chess-playing skills - whatever your current standard. Instructive points at the end of each game highlight the lessons to be learned. First published in 1998, a second edition of The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games in 2004 included an additional 12 games. This edition includes a further 13 games as well as some significant revisions to the analysis and information regarding other games in earlier editions of the book, facilitated by the use of a variety of chess software.
Wayne Rooney, England's record goal scorer, is one of the most feared and respected strikers to have graced the Premier League in the last decade. He is certainly its most famous icon, appearing on the front pages of the newspapers nearly as often as on the back. Wayne started his glittering career as a teenage wonder at Everton, the club he had staunchly supported as a boy. A self-confessed and fiercely passionate blue-blood, Rooney was raised in Croxteth, a product of the rough district just outside the shadow of Goodison Park. After a white-hot start, the teenager joined regional rivals, Manchester United, in a seismic transfer and, in his deeply successful time at Old Trafford, won sixteen major honours, played in three World Cups, married his childhood sweetheart and began a young family, throwing off his reputation as the gifted 'wild-child' of English football. Yet, in the summer of 2017, the prodigal son returned to his first club, providing Evertonians with a sense of pride and football fans everywhere with a classic narrative. His warm reception made it clear that Rooney still has a special place in the hearts of Toffees fans, and the saga embodies the pride and passion that has propelled the Premier League to become the most exciting - and profitable - in the world. Told by veteran football writer Ian MacLeay, this is the definitive story of Rooney's explosive, emotive and turbulent return to Everton Football Club, and the historic season which followed.
Arthur Ashe explains how this iconic African American tennis player overcame racial and class barriers to reach the top of the tennis world in the 1960s and 1970s. But more important, it follows Ashe's evolution as an activist who had to contend with the shift from civil rights to Black Power. Off the court, and in the arena of international politics, Ashe positioned himself at the center of the black freedom movement, negotiating the poles of black nationalism and assimilation into white society. Fiercely independent and protective of his public image, he navigated the thin line between conservatives and liberals, reactionaries and radicals, the sports establishment and the black cause. Eric Allen Hall's work examines Ashe's life as a struggle against adversity but also a negotiation between the comforts-perhaps requirements-of tennis-star status and the felt obligation to protest the discriminatory barriers the white world constructed to keep black people "in their place." Drawing on coverage of Ashe's athletic career and social activism in domestic and international publications, archives including the Ashe Papers, and a variety of published memoirs and interviews, Hall has created an intimate, nuanced portrait of a great athlete who stood at the crossroads of sports and equal justice.
Martin O'Neill is one of the most fascinating and respected figures in football. On Days Like These tells the story of his remarkable career. For the first time, Martin O'Neill reflects on one of the most varied and successful football careers in the British Isles. He made his breakthrough playing for Distillery in Northern Ireland before joining Brian Clough's legendary Nottingham Forest team, becoming one of the few players who made the epic journey from the Second Division to the glory years: winning the First Division championship, two League Cups and back-to-back European Cups. O'Neill represented Northern Ireland over sixty times, playing alongside George Best and captaining the side at the 1982 World Cup, where they reached the quarter-finals. As a manager, O'Neill's celebrated leadership of Celtic saw them win seven trophies, including three Scottish Premier League titles; and in England he successfully led Leicester City to two League Cups and Aston Villa to an unprecedented three consecutive top six Premier League finishes. He oversaw the Republic of Ireland reaching the Euros in 2016, when they made it to the second round for the first time in their history. With a career spanning over fifty years, Martin tells of his exhilarating highs and painful lows; from the joys of winning trophies, promotion and fighting for World Cups to being harangued by fans, boardroom drama, relegation scraps and being fired. Written with his trademark honesty and humour, On Days Like These is one of the most insightful and captivating autobiographies and a must-read for any fans of the beautiful game.
You could argue that Dennis Amiss' seven-decade cricket career started the day he was born, when his parents named him after not one but two celebrated cricketers. Or maybe it started when he was 7, sneaking into the Birmingham Cooperative Society to play a few matches with his friends - as long as they avoided the groundskeeper! Or perhaps it was on 7 April 1958; not only his fifteenth birthday, but also his first day as a professional cricketer. Whatever day you start on, there's no denying that Amiss has had an extraordinary career. He is one of England's cricketing greats, with 100 first-class hundreds to his name and a place as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the Year. Hugely well-respected on and off the pitch, he didn't shy away from controversy, taking part in the 1982 'Rebel Tour' of Apartheid South Africa, and somehow ending up in the midst of the battle between World Series Cricket and the England Cricket Board. Not Out at Close of Play is the story of how passion, commitment and practice - and no small amount of stubbornness! - took a boy from the backstreets of Birmingham to worldwide cricket stardom.
'You can get a couple of years for beating the shit out of another bloke or a couple of grand. I chose to do the latter.' Decca's story is that of a bullied boy with an impossible dream. Of solvent abuse, violence, drug addiction, depression, boxing, bare-knuckle fighting but - ultimately - redemption. It begins on a council estate in Carlisle where, as the victim of cruel bullies, a young Decca anaesthetised himself from the pain and humiliation by sniffing solvents. In his mid-teens the fear fell away to be replaced by fury, as the bullies soon discovered to their cost. Memories of that frightened boy fuelled a rage that forged a fearsome street-fighter and future champion. Working on the doors attracted more trouble but further enhanced his growing reputation. At the age of nineteen, life was good until the love of his life left him. Depression set in and prevailed. For almost ten years, he fell prey to a rampant cocaine habit, which provoked his demons, making him unpredictable and dangerous to be around. Serious jail time seemed inevitable. Out of sheer desperation, his dad arranged Decca's first unlicensed boxing match. He won and became instantly hooked. Having gotten fit, hungry, and off the drugs, he was lured into the bloody arena of bare-knuckle fighting. Many brutal undefeated fights followed, as did two BKB heavyweight titles. A chance meeting with renowned boxing promoter, Ricky English led to Decca's shot at the iconic 'Guv'nor' title. The rest, as they say, is history.
Albert Beauregard Hodges is a legend among chess aficionados. As one of the most well-known American chess players of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Hodges played an important role in transforming chess from a pleasant pastime into a social institution. This work provides both an in-depth biography of Hodges' personal life and chess career and an extensive collection of over 340 of his games, as well as 15 of his chess problems as originally published in several newspapers and the American Chess Bulletin. Hodges' complete tournament and match records are also included, along with line engravings, photographs, and player/openings indexes.
A native son of Akron, Ohio, LeBron James seemed like a miracle heaven-sent by God to transform Cleveland's losing ways when he was drafted by the Cavaliers in 2003. But after seven years--and still no parade down Euclid Avenue--he left, announcing his move to South Beach on a nationally televised ESPN production with a sly title that echoed fifty years of misery. The Catch, The Drive, The Shot . . . The Decision. Out of James's treachery grew a monster. Scott Raab, a fifty-nine-year-old, 350-pound Jewish Santa Claus with a Chief Wahoo tattoo, would bear witness to LeBron's every move, and in so doing would act as the eyes and ears of Cleveland itself. Crude but warmhearted, poetic but raving, hilarious, profane (and profound), The Whore of Akron is both a rabid fan's indictment of a traitorous athlete and the story of Raab's obsessive quest to reveal the "wee jewel-box" of LeBron James's soul.
This is a cradle-to-grave biography of Mickey Walker, former welterweight (1922-1926) and middleweight champion (1926-1931) of the world, one of the greatest fighters in ring history. He fought at a time when boxing was a major sport with only eight championships, and he held two of them over a nine-year period. He fought at a time when each weight division was jammed with good fighters, and he fought them all from welterweight up to heavyweight, frequently being outweighed 20 to 30 pounds, himself only five-seven and never weighing more than 170 pounds. Walker was not only a great fighter, he was a great personality who loved life and lived it to the full. He went through seven marriages with four different women, he cavorted with movie stars and mobsters from Charlie Chaplin to Al Capone. When his boxing career ended in 1935, Walker ran saloons in various locations, was often his own best customer, finally quit drinking and became an artist of some standing, several of his paintings hanging in some of America's top galleries. Walker died in 1981, aged 79.
Pete Goss became a national and international hero when he rescued French yachtsman Raphael Dinelli as his boat sank beneath him in the round-the-world single-handed sailing race, the Vendee Globe, on Christmas Day 1996. In doing so Pete scuppered his own chances in the race but was awarded the Legion d'Honneur by France's president and made a friend for life in Dinelli. Close to the Wind is his own story of the race and its dramas, his revolutionary boat, Aqua Quorum, his thoughts and emotions during four months of solitude at sea, the extraordinary surgery that he had to perform on his own elbow and the aftermath of the rescue in the Southern Ocean.
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