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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Sport
The Bowdens are the First Family of college football. Bobby, the
father, built the winningest program of the decade at Florida
State. Son Terry took over an Auburn team on probation and led it
back into the top tier of the sport. Son Tommy is Auburn's
offensive coordinator and will likely get his own program in the
next few seasons. Son Jeff, now coaching Florida State receivers,
will earn his own head coaching opportunity one day. So will the
boys' brother-in-law Jack Hines - who played for Bobby, married his
oldest daughter, Robyn, and now coaches with Terry at Auburn.
Reading this book is like accepting an exclusive invitation to a
Bowden family gathering, where discussions range from informal
debates about the best winning strategy to disarmingly candid
appraisals of the racial undercurrents of college athletics. Listen
to inside stories of key moments in Games of the Century, of the
recruiting and coaching of famous athletes such as Deion Sanders
and Charlie Ward. Hear how it feels to be trapped inside a locker
room with angry fans pounding on the door, to be the son of a coach
hanged in effigy, to have to choose between the interests of a
troubled young athlete and the image of a football program. Learn,
with the Bowdens, the lessons of careers measured in clock ticks
and place-kicks.
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 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.
In 1992, when Michael Rutter was just 20 years old, he followed in
his dad's footsteps and began a career as a professional motorcycle
racer. He has been racing ever since. This is his story of highs
and lows, survival, luck and persistence, set against the raw,
infectious atmosphere of the racing paddock. It is also a story of
growing up with a global superstar for a Father; Tony Rutter. Read
Michael's account of spending his childhood watching his dad's
career - from fighting for world championships to fighting for his
life after a devastating crash in 1985. Undeterred, Michael would
go on to build his own career and forge his own unique path. This
is the remarkable tale of how Michael has stayed competitive for 30
years, and stepped out of his 4-time world champion dads shadow to
add his own name to the list of all time greats of the sport.
Michael has started 431 British Superbike races, 20 World Superbike
races, and 16 MotoGP races while also competing in road racing,
where he has started 90 Isle of Man TT, 83 Northwest 200 and 24
Macau Grand Prix races. The Life of a Racer is a gripping journey
into the mind and life of someone who was born in to the race
paddock and who has been there ever since.
Est n todos los jugadores: - Con m?'s de 9000 turnos legales al
bat. - Con m?'s de 1900 carreras producidas. - Con m?'s de 500
jonrones conectados. - Con m?'s de 600 bases robadas. Al c tcher
suplemente de mi equipo ideal. Est n tambi n todos los p tcheres: -
Con m?'s de 4000 entradas lanzadas. - Con m?'s de 300 juegos
ganados. - Con m?'s de 3000 ponches recetados. - Con m?'s de 300
juegos salvados. Las siete ligas mayores que han existido.
Once the opinionated, party-going socialite, complete with
celebrity girlfriends and ridiculous haircuts, Kevin Pietersen has
developed into the biggest crowd pleaser in English cricket, some
would say modern sport. This fascinating and well-researched
biography draws on interviews with Pietersen and those who know him
best, including many of his mentors, team-mates and opponents. As
Pietersen prepares for his biggest challenge yet - leading
England's attempt to regain the Ashes from Australia - this unique
appraisal tells, for the first time, the full story behind
Britain's most exhilarating and successful sportsman.
Arthur Wharton was the world's first black professional footballer
and 100 yards world record holder, and was probably the first
African to play professional cricket in the Yorkshire and
Lancashire leagues. His achievements were accomplished against the
backdrop of Africa's forced colonization by European regimes. But
while Arthur was beating the best on the tracks and fields of
Britain, the peoples of the continent of his birth were being
recast as lesser human beings. The tall Ghanaian was an extreme
irritation to many white supremacists because his education and
sporting triumphs refuted their theories. In the late Victorian
era, when Britain's economic and political power reached its zenith
and when the dominant ideas of the age labelled all blacks as
inferior, it was simply not expedient to proclaim the exploits of
an African sportsman. This shaped the way Wharton was forgotten.
100 years of Wembley Stadium told through 100 matches. The 1923 FA
Cup final - aka the White Horse final - was the first football
match played at the British Empire Exhibition Stadium. Although
best-remembered for non-playing reasons - notably its vast,
well-beyond-capacity crowd, which had to be marshalled by a
policeman atop a white horse - that afternoon marked the historic
opening chapter of the stadium's long and eventful history, of the
stadium soon to be known simply as Wembley. Over the 100 years
since that overcrowded day, Wembley has established itself as the
home of the beautiful game and, almost certainly, the world's most
famous football stadium. Wembley occupies a special place in the
hearts of players and punters alike. Watching your team at Wembley
is the highlight of a fan's lifetime of support; playing there the
fulfilment of a childhood dream. Its sacred pitch has been the
crucible of so many classic matches across the decades. World Cups
have been won here, as have European Championships, FA Cups,
European Cups, play-off finals, home internationals and more. Nige
Tassell chooses 100 matches - from the well known to the unusual -
that have shaped Wembley's legacy and tells a lively and original
alternative history of the past 100 years of football, and of
Britain. We hear a ball boy's perspective on the FA Cup Final when
Bert Trautmann broke his neck, and from the other commentator of
the 1966 World Cup Final. Field of Dreams is the story of how
football found its home.
In this first and only biography on the life and boxing career of
heavyweight boxing contender Joe Jennette, author Joe Botti
chronicles the life and career of this interracial athlete who
competed in the longest boxing contest of the twentieth century.
From 1904 to 1922 Jennette faced and defeated the most dangerous
fighters of his era, including Jack Johnson, Sam Langford, and Sam
McVea. Jennette was unable to secure a title shot due to the fact
that the world was fixated with finding a Caucasian boxer to defeat
Jack Johnson in the "great white hope" era. The story deals with
the struggles of interracial romance, racism, and the world of
boxing in the early twentieth century. Joe Botti is the Founder and
Head Coach of the Union City Boxing Club in Union City, N.J. He
studied at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. A former
amateur boxer, Botti has trained over 30 New Jersey Golden Glove
champions and currently manages and trains professional and amateur
boxers.
'It's a preposterous plan. Still, if you do get up it, it'll be the
hardest thing that's been done in the Himalayas.' So spoke Chris
Bonington when Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker presented him with
their plan to tackle the unclimbed West Wall of Changabang - the
Shining Mountain - in 1976. Bonington's was one of the more
positive responses; most felt the climb impossibly hard, especially
for a two-man, lightweight expedition. This was, after all, perhaps
the most fearsome and technically challenging granite wall in the
Garhwal Himalaya and an ascent - particularly one in a lightweight
style - would be more significant than anything done on Everest at
the time. The idea had been Joe Tasker's. He had photographed the
sheer, shining, white granite sweep of Changabang's West Wall on a
previous expedition and asked Pete to return with him the following
year. Tasker contributes a second voice throughout Boardman's
story, which starts with acclimatisation, sleeping in a Salford
frozen food store, and progresses through three nights of hell,
marooned in hammocks during a storm, to moments of exultation at
the variety and intricacy of the superb, if punishingly difficult,
climbing. It is a story of how climbing a mountain can become an
all-consuming goal, of the tensions inevitable in forty days of
isolation on a two-man expedition; as well as a record of the
moment of joy upon reaching the summit ridge against all odds.
First published in 1978, The Shining Mountain is Peter Boardman's
first book. It is a very personal and honest story that is also
amusing, lucidly descriptive, very exciting, and never anything but
immensely readable. It was awarded the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
for literature in 1979, winning wide acclaim. His second book,
Sacred Summits, was published shortly after his death in 1982.
Steve was born in Ely on 4 May 1960 and lived and worked in the
city for more than 40 years. He played football for Cambridge City,
Kings Lynn, Bury Town, Soham Town Rangers, Ely City, Ely Crusaders
and Ely Park Rangers (plus many other local teams) over four
decades, ending his career on the exact date of his 53rd birthday
in the colours of Littleport Town. In addition to representing the
Civil Service on one occasion, he made more than 50 Lewis Cup
appearances for the Inland Revenue Great Britain & Northern
Ireland team over 17 consecutive seasons and played for the Inland
Revenue Eastern Counties and Cambridge Taxes teams, leading from
the front to help all of those sides to unprecedented successes.
This book recounts his journey from a child to a veteran, and how
that journey impacted on his life.
A hilarious tale of growing up in team sports and the author's
entry into the humorous world of Little League umpiring.
Geoffrey Boycott is undoubtedly one of England's greatest ever
batsmen. Playing 108 Test matches between 1964 and 1982, the hugely
controversial opener scored a then record 8,114 runs at 47.72 - the
highest completed average of any English player since 1970 -
against some of the greatest bowlers the world has ever seen. When
the first lockdown came, finding himself without cricket for the
first time in his life, Geoffrey Boycott sat down and began to
write a retrospective warts-and-all diary of each of his Test match
appearances. It is illuminating and unsparing, characterised by
Boycott's astonishing memory, famous forthrightness and
unvarnished, sometimes lacerating, honesty. That 100,000 word
document forms the basis for Being Geoffrey Boycott, a device that
takes the reader inside Geoffrey's head and back through cricket
history, presenting a unique portrait of the internal and external
forces that compelled him from a pit village in Yorkshire to the
pinnacle of the world game. Now 81 and still one of the most
recognisable cricketers England has ever produced, Boycott has
teamed up with award-winning author Jon Hotten in this catalogue of
his tumultuous time with the national side. Dropped for scoring a
slow double hundred, making himself unavailable to play for England
for several years, captain for eight seasons of a group of strong,
stroppy and extremely talented players at Yorkshire, bringing up
his hundredth hundred at Headingley against the Old Enemy, seeing
David Gower and Ian Botham emerge as future greats, playing under
Mike Brearley in the 1981 Ashes, in this enlightening book Boycott
reveals a host of never-before-heard details regarding his peers
and his playing days.
Jan Ullrich: The Best There Never Was is the first biography of Jan
Ullrich, arguably the most naturally talented cyclist of his
generation, and also one of the most controversial champions of the
Tour de France. In 1997, Jan Ullrich announced himself to the world
by obliterating his rivals in the first mountain stage of the Tour
de France. So awesome was his display that it sent shockwaves
throughout the world of cycling and invited headlines such as
L'Equipe's 'The New Giant'. He went on to become Germany's first
ever Tour winner, storming to victory in that edition by almost ten
minutes, a result that was greeted as an era-defining changing of
the guard. Everyone agreed: Jan Ullrich was the future of cycling.
He was soon also voted Germany's most popular sportsperson of all
time, and his rivalry with Lance Armstrong defined the most
controversial years of the Tour de France. Now, Daniel Friebe - who
has covered twenty-one editions of the Tour de France - has gone in
search of the man who was said in 1997 would go on to dominate his
sport for a generation, but never quite managed it. Just what did
happen to the best who never was? This is a gripping account of how
unbearable expectation, mental and physical fragility, the effects
of a complicated childhood, a morally corrupt sport and one
individual - Lance Armstrong - can conspire to reroute destiny.
Daniel Friebe takes us from the legacy of East Germany's drugs
programme to the pinnacle of pro cycling and asks: what price can
you give sporting immortality?
From legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross, this candid, colorful
memoir about the inner workings of the WWE and the personal crises
he weathered at the height of his career is "a must-read for
wrestling fans" (Charleston Post Courier). If you've caught a
televised wrestling match anytime in the past thirty years, you've
probably heard Jim Ross's throaty Oklahoma twang. The beloved
longtime announcer of the WWE "has been a driving force behind a
generation of wrestling fans" (Mark Cuban), and he's not slowing
down, having signed on as the announcer of the starry new wrestling
venture All Elite Wrestling. In this follow-up to his bestselling
memoir Slobberknocker, he dishes out about not only his long
career, which includes nurturing global stars like Stone Cold Steve
Austin, The Rock, and John Cena, but also about his challenges of
aging and disability, his split from collaborator Vince McMahon,
and the sudden death of his beloved wife, Jan. The result is a
gruff, endearing, and remarkably human-scale portrait, set against
the larger than life backdrop of professional wrestling. Ross's
ascent in WWE mirrors the rise of professional wrestling itself
from a DIY sideshow to a billion-dollar business. Under the Black
Hat traces all the highs and lows of that wild ride, in which Jim
served not only as on-air commentator, but talent manager, payroll
master, and even occasional in-ring foil to threats like Paul
"Triple H" Levesque and Undertaker. While his role brought him
riches and exposure he had never dreamed of, he chafed against the
strictures of a fickle corporate culture and what he saw as a
narrow vision of what makes great wrestlers-and great story lines.
When suddenly stricken with Bell's palsy, a form of facial
paralysis that makes it impossible to smile, he started down his
greatest fear-being cast out of the announcing booth for good.
Picking up where Slobberknocker left off and ending on the cusp of
a new career in a reimagined industry, Under the Black Hat is the
triumphant tale of a country boy who made it to the top, took a few
knocks, and stuck around-just where his fans like him. Not only
being one of the greatest wrestlers of the WWE, Ross is also "a
master storyteller, and this book is the perfect forum for his
forty years' worth of tales" (Chris Jericho, former WWE champion).
The Heavyweight Championship has long been the most valued prize in
all of sports. Famous names among the champions include John L.
Sullivan, Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis,
Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Vitali Klitschko and
Wladimir Klitschko. A Brief History of the Heavyweights 1881-2010
traces the contests of these champions and other outstanding
fighters of this weight class from the early bare knuckle days to
the present. The author includes his rankings of the best boxers
and bouts of different time periods in history as well as his
all-time best rankings. The book is comprised of 308 pages,
including numerous photographs, bout-by-bout lists of title
contests, and an index. Tracy Callis is a member of the
International Boxing Research Organization, the Director of
Historical Research for The Cyber Boxing Zone, an internet boxing
website, an Elector to the International Boxing Hall of Fame, and a
member of the Advisory Board of the Boxing Hall of Fame - Luxor
Hotel Las Vegas. He is also co-author of the books Philadelphia's
Boxing Heritage 1876-1976 and Boxing in the Los Angeles Area
1880-2005.
Since the early 1930s "MacPhail" has been a big name in baseball.
Three generations of this one family have provided leadership,
innovation and vision for the sport. Larry, Lee and Andy MacPhail,
representing very different eras of American life, have each
addressed baseball's needs and opportunities in his own way. During
the 1930s and 1940s Larry MacPhail served as general manager and
vice president of the Cincinnati Reds, executive vice president and
president of the Brooklyn Dodgers, and part owner and president of
the New York Yankees. He was posthumously inducted into the
Baseball Hall of Fame in 1978. Larry's son, Lee, worked for 13
years in the Yankee organization before serving as general manager
and president of the Baltimore Orioles. Lee later served two
five-year terms as president of the American League and two years
as president of the Player Relations Committee. Lee was inducted
into the Hall of Fame in 1998, becoming the only son ever to join
his father in the Hall. Lee's son, Andy, worked in management
positions for the Chicago Cubs, the Houston Astros and the
Minnesota Twins before becoming president and CEO of the Cubs.
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