At 710 pages, In the Ring With Jack Johnson - Part I: The Rise is the most detailed and thorough book ever written on Jack Johnson. This book alone (the first of two on Johnson) covers the start of Jack Johnson's career up to his winning the world heavyweight championship. It is chock-full of detailed descriptions of each bout from multiple local next-day primary sources. The book also contains plenty of context and background, details and perspectives about race from both white and black-owned newspapers, as well as approximately 225 rare photographs, cartoons, and advertisements. Boxing fans will obtain knowledge and insight into Jack Johnson's career like never before. This is the seventh book in Adam J. Pollack's series on the heavyweight champions of the gloved era, which include: John L. Sullivan: The Career of the First Gloved Heavyweight Champion, In the Ring With James J. Corbett, In the Ring With Bob Fitzsimmons, In the Ring With James J. Jeffries, In the Ring With Marvin Hart, and In the Ring With Tommy Burns. Adam J. Pollack is a boxing judge, referee, and coach, and member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He is also an attorney practicing law in Iowa City, Iowa.

In February 2019, award-winning writer Alex Roddie left his online life behind when he set out to walk 300 miles through the Scottish Highlands, seeking solitude and answers. In leaving the chaos of the internet behind for a month, he hoped to learn how it was truly affecting him - or if he should look elsewhere for the causes of his anxiety. The Farthest Shore is the story of Alex's solo trek along the remote Cape Wrath Trail. As he journeyed through a vanishing winter, Alex found answers to his questions, learnt the nature of true silence, and discovered frightening evidence of the threats faced by Scotland's wild mountain landscape.

This is the first biography of the short but exciting life of Albert Champion--record-setting bicyclist and motorcyclist, daredevil race car driver, early automobile innovator with thirty US patents, charismatic ladies' man, and celebrity of the Jazz Age. Though most Americans have heard of the two companies he founded--Champion Spark Plug and ACDelco--few know much about the flamboyant man behind the companies.
The book's lively narrative describes the many adventures of the Frenchman who rose from poverty in Paris to great wealth and fame in both his native France and the United States. As a bicycle racer, Champion set more than a hundred world records. When the urban speed limit was 8 mph, he was the first ever to drive a motorcycle a mile under a minute. Then a car-racing crash in Brooklyn snapped a leg bone that kept him in traction for eleven weeks. Handicapped but undeterred, he hobbled out of the hospital on crutches and recovered to win the French national cycling championship. He subsequently invested his prize money to become a tycoon in the American auto industry, working closely with the leading players in this new revolutionary industry.
Good looking and a natty dresser, he was an incorrigible ladies' man, whose many dalliances finally ended in a love triangle that resulted in his death under mysterious circumstances.

In this first and only biography of light-heavyweight champion and boxing legend Joe Choynski, author Chris LaForce chronicles the life and career of a pioneer of the gloved era of pugilism. Joe Choynski was one of the greatest, most courageous, brilliant, and respected Jewish boxers in history. Born in San Francisco, California in 1868, Joe Choynski fought nearly all of the greatest heavyweights of that division s first Golden Age, despite weighing less than 170 pounds. He was one of the few who did not draw the color line. Included is a complete account of Joe s professional fights. Come follow Choynski s boxing career in such legendary matches as the battle on the Sacramento River barge with Gentleman Jim Corbett, his war with Bob Fitzsimmons, the classic brawls with Sailor Tom Sharkey, knockout of future heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, and his 20-round draw with soon-to-be heavyweight king Jim Jeffries. This book features over 180 photographs, many of them rare and published here, for the first time, anywhere The book includes a Foreword by Herbert G. Goldman, former Managing Editor of Ring magazine and Editor-in-Chief of Boxing Illustrated, and a testimonial by renowned boxing historian, Tracy Callis. Chris LaForce has been a member of IBRO (the International Boxing Research Organization) since 1984. He has written several articles for the IBRO newsletter, and is a contributing writer for the Cyber Boxing Zone, Western States Jewish History and other historical societies.

When author Steven P. Locke was a twelve-year-old boy growing up in Canal Winchester, Ohio, he witnessed something extraordinary-a championship football season, coached by his father Mike, that for a brief moment captivated a small Ohio town.

A combination memoir and sports history, "Little Locke and the Mighty Indians of 1975" chronicles the high school football team's winning year from the perspective of the coach's son. It paints a portrait of the town and its people as it was at the time-the way people lived, the music they listened to, the television shows they watched, their politics, and the mores of the time. It also focuses on the ten-game season-how football was practiced and played, the grueling nature of two-a- days, his father's coaching style, the growing attention paid to the team as each victory led to more pressure to succeed the following week, and the town that followed and cheered them on in summer heat, driving rain, bitter cold, and disappointment.

A snapshot of a town, its people, and their way of life in the second half of the twentieth century, "Little Locke and the Mighty Indians of 1975" provides a firsthand look into the sense of wonderment and excitement of the experience from the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy

It was a beautiful day. There was fresh powder on the mountain because it had snowed the night before. Olympic hopeful Aubrie Mindock and her brother Austin were out flying down the mountain when all of a sudden Aubrie took a fall. She was thrown in the air like a rag doll. Her ski pole stabbed her in the lung, causing ribs to break and her to stop breathing. Seconds felt like hours and Aubrie laid motionless on the snow, fighting for air. Finally she was able to take her first breath but she was still not out of the woods. Aubrie's right knee was crushed, making it hard to get to safety. Find out how Aubrie saves her life and gets back up to the sport that she almost lost.

In this searing and riveting "New York Times" bestseller, Olympic gold medalist Dominique Moceanu reveals the dark underbelly of Olympic gymnastics, the true price of success...and the shocking secret about her past and her family that she only learned years later.
At fourteen years old, Dominique Moceanu was the youngest member of the 1996 US Women's Olympic Gymnastics team, the first and only American women's team to take gold at the Olympics. Her pixyish appearance and ferocious competitive drive quickly earned her the status of media darling. But behind the fame, the flawless floor routines, and the million-dollar smile, her life was a series of challenges and hardships.
"Off Balance "vividly delineates each of the dominating characters who contributed to Moceanu's rise to the top, from her stubborn father and long-suffering mother to her mercurial coach, Bela Karolyi. Here, Moceanu finally shares the haunting stories of competition, her years of hiding injuries and pain out of fear of retribution from her coaches, and how she hit rock bottom after a public battle with her parents.
But medals, murder plots, drugs, and daring escapes aside (all of which figure into Moceanu's incredible journey), the most unique aspect of her life is the family secret that Moceanu discovers, opening a new and unexpected chapter in her adult life. A mysterious letter from a stranger reveals that she has a second sister--born with a physical disability and given away at birth--who has nonetheless followed in Moceanu's footsteps in an astonishing way.
A multilayered memoir that transcends the world of sports, "Off Balance "will touch anyone who has ever dared to dream of a better life.

"A thrilling, cinematic story. I loved every minute I spent with these bold, daring women whose remarkable journey is the stuff of American legend." --Karen Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy The Boys in the Boat meets A League of Their Own in this true story of a Depression-era championship women's team. In the early 1930s, during the worst drought and financial depression in American history, Sam Babb began to dream. Like so many others, this charismatic Midwestern basketball coach wanted a reason to have hope. Traveling from farm to farm near the tiny Oklahoma college where he coached, Babb recruited talented, hardworking young women and offered them a chance at a better life: a free college education in exchange for playing on his basketball team, the Cardinals. Despite their fears of leaving home and the sacrifices that their families would face, the women joined the team. And as Babb coached the Cardinals, something extraordinary happened. These remarkable athletes found a passion for the game and a heartfelt loyalty to one another and their coach--and they began to win. Combining exhilarating sports writing and exceptional storytelling, Dust Bowl Girls takes readers on the Cardinals' intense, improbable journey all the way to an epic showdown with the prevailing national champions, helmed by the legendary Babe Didrikson. Lydia Reeder captures a moment in history when female athletes faced intense scrutiny from influential figures in politics, education, and medicine who denounced women's sports as unhealthy and unladylike. At a time when a struggling nation was hungry for inspiration, this unlikely group of trailblazers achieved much more than a championship season.

This is a trilogy about three separate epic climbs. Climbs that are difficult enough by themselves, but were made more grueling by the common thread of life-threatening heat. The insidious sun sucking energy, water, and even your willpower from a well-conditioned man made the hard climbs a more arduous task. Included in these stories are many other true-to-life adventures and narrow escapes for the author. Three Days of the Condor talks about camaraderie and the accomplishment of doing something difficult that few could accomplish. According to Jeff Lowe, "There is a certain purity in engaging in what some would call a useless activity. When the climber confronts the overhang, he does so with the knowledge that no material gain will result from the competition of the task. He is confident that when he is done, the satisfaction will outweigh the effort." I have always returned to the mountains for introspection. It must be at least partially genetic for man to seek the "high ground," for protection, exploration, or an attempt at communion with a higher power. Occasionally, the only reason is "because it's there," but even Mallory expanded on this when he explained, "It is the struggle of life itself, forever upward. What we get from this adventure is sheer joy." But if we can look down on ourselves from above, from the proverbial mountaintop, often we may be more objective-if not more rational. The ensuing vignettes recount the pursuit of my pilgrimage, my coming-of-age. It seemed like my endeavor for the exceptional view, and my own independence-truly a phenomenal golden period in my life. I learned how I felt about my own survival when on many of those summits. In these stories I strive to return to those times and mountains, in search of truth on the rocky temples. This is the visionary perspective I seek. These accounts of rock climbing are more than about climbing rocks-it is about that one thing in life that truly sets you free.

The Power of "TEAM" is the true life story of Nancy Fudacz-Burrows, Joel Burrows, David Kuhnau and their two year quest to become international team champions in one of the most grueling endurance races on earth. Carrying survival gear, clothing and food on their backs, competitors in each of these 150 mile foot races faced four separate deserts on four different continents. Each race in the series challenged each competitor with the equivalent of four marathons in four days, with one brutal stage set at 50 or more miles. In total 150 miles, running across sand and rock, climbing dunes and mountains with almost 30 pounds of equipment in tow. The Power of "TEAM" describes the life and near-death journey some of the world's best athletes faced in the extreme heat and cold of the desert. The altitude and temperature swings of the Atacama Desert in Chile, the varying terrain of China's Gobi Desert and the constant 120 degree temperatures of the Sahara, forced each runner to redefine the definition of mental and physical "limits." The final reward for conquering these three desert challenges, was an invitation to "The Last Desert" in Antarctica. Nancy-Fudacz-Burrows, Joel Burrows and David Kuhnau of "Team Illinois" emerged as champions of the "4 Deserts" series, but even stronger teammates and friends. Read how their lessons learned, can be your inspiration.

The gripping biography of one of the most successful managers in the game, Jose Mourinho, giving rare insight into the man and the manager - now completely revised and updated to include the tumultuous 2020-21 season. Jose Mourinho is undoubtedly one of football's most charismatic and controversial characters. His name is never far from the headlines and having worked at some of the biggest clubs in the world - Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur - despite the challenges he has faced, he knows how to deliver when it matters. But is the way he conducts himself on the touchline and in front of the cameras the real Mourinho, or an act he puts on for the watching world? In this highly acclaimed biography, author and award-winning sports correspondent Robert Beasley reveals the man behind the scenes. Granted privileged access into the Special One's inner sanctum, Beasley delves into the workings of the famed manager's mind, as well as backroom antics and transfer sagas at some of the game's greatest clubs. Revealing the untold stories behind how close Mourinho came to getting the England job, his at times tumultuous relationships with the football establishment, his trials and tribulations at Tottenham and why he will always put family and friends before football, this is a side to Jose Mourinho you never thought you'd see.

"From Sports Fan to Sportscaster" is written as if told to you over dinner. The stories are first-hand accounts of working as a Sportscaster at various sporting events. You will feel what it is like to be in the winning clubhouse of a playoff baseball team. You will learn what goes on when covering a sport and how headlines are made. For the sports fan who always dreamed of meeting athletes, announcing the big game or hosting a radio show...allow the author to show you what it would be like.

In Wild Winter, John D. Burns, bestselling author of The Last Hillwalker and Bothy Tales, sets out to rediscover Scotland's mountains, remote places and wildlife in the darkest and stormiest months. He traverses the country from the mouth of the River Ness to the Isle of Mull, from remote Sutherland to the Cairngorms, in search of rutting red deer, pupping seals, minke whales, beavers, pine martens, mountain hares and otters. In the midst of the fierce weather, John's travels reveal a habitat in crisis, and many of these wild creatures prove elusive as they cling on to life in the challenging Highland landscape. As John heads deeper into the winter, he notices the land fighting back with signs of regeneration. He finds lost bothies, old friendships and innovative rewilding projects, and - as Covid locks down the nation - reflects on what the outdoors means to hillwalkers, naturalists and the folk who make their home in the Highlands. Wild Winter is a reminder of the wonder of nature and the importance of caring for our environment. In his winter journey through the mountains and bothies of the Highlands, John finds adventure, humour and a deep sense of connection with this wild land.

f you've had more obstacles than breaks in your life or if your best efforts seem like they will never be enough, Cynthia Cooper knows where you've been.

Long before she led the WNBA's Houston Comets to two consecutive championships and twice won the ESPY Award for Women's Pro Basketball player of the year, Cynthia faced a life of poverty and frustration, hungering for dreams that seemed way out of reach. Now she tells her story - a personal odyssey of inspiration, perspiration, and hope...She Got Game

A shy, quiet girl, Cynthia grew up in the Watts section of Los Angeles, unsure of herself and what she wanted. Her only role model was her courageous, determined mother, who was raising eight children by herself, working two jobs, and facing one hardship after another. When Cynthia discovered basketball at age fifteen, she found the skill and the purpose that would bring her a college scholarship to USC, make her a two-time NCAA champion - and teach her how to deal with her fears and insecurities both on and off the court. But it wasn't easy. Cynthia dropped out of school, was forced to cope with her brother's death, and often found herself still playing in the shadows of others.

Then, during eleven years on the grueling European professional basketball circuit, she refined her strengths while adapting to a whole new culture. And now, as the premier player of the Houston Comets, she has learned how to handle the stresses - and joys - of leadership. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, Cynthia discovered the day-to-day courage needed to help her mother battle the most formidable of opponents. And all of her experiences inspired her to go beyond sports and reach out to young people - she has been hailed as one of today's most stirring motivational speakers.

This is the biography of an underdog, of a girl who started way behind everybody else but who kept working, striving, clinging, and hanging on to her dream. With the "never, ever quit" spirit of Cynthia herself, She Got Game not only shares her deeply personal journey, but helps you to draw on your own energy and deepest desires to win in the ultimate game of life.

SHE GOT GAME was written by Cynthia Cooper with Russ Pate, a freelance writer and author of numerous books. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

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