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Books > Biography > Sport
"I swing big, with everything I've got. I hit big or I miss big. I like to live as big as I can." -- Babe Ruth Babe Ruth is without a doubt the most famous character ever produced by the sport of baseball. A legendary player, world-famous for his hitting prowess, he transcended the sport to enter the mainstream of American life as an authentic folk hero.
In this extraordinary biography, noted sportswriter Robert W. Creamer reveals the complex man behind the sports legend. From Ruth's early days in a Baltimore orphanage, to the glory days with the Yankees, to his later years, Creamer has drawn a classic portrait of an American original.
This is a tale of Ashdon Scriven's life, a professional polo
player. It will tell of many of the fantastic polo ponies that
helped shape his career. It is also a tale of the many young ladies
that passed through it, however long or short their stay and
changed it, some for better some for the worse.
The "New York Times" bestseller about the state of college
football: Why we love the game, what is at risk, and the fight to
save it--"A fascinating saga" ("Booklist").
In search of the sport's old ideals amid the roaring flood of
hypocrisy and greed, bestselling author John U. Bacon embedded
himself in four college football programs--Penn State, Ohio State,
Michigan, and Northwestern--and captured the oldest, biggest, most
storied league, the Big Ten, at its tipping point. He sat in as
coaches dissected game film, he ate dinner at training tables, and
he listened in locker rooms. He talked with tailgating fans and
college presidents, and he spent months in the company of the
gifted young athletes who play the game.
"Fourth and Long" reveals intimate scenes behind closed doors, from
a team's angry face-off with their athletic director to a defensive
lineman acing his master's exams in theoretical math. It captures
the private moment when coach Urban Meyer earned the devotion of
Ohio State's Buckeyes on their way to a perfect season. It shows
Michigan's athletic department endangering the very traditions that
distinguish the college game from all others. And it re-creates the
euphoria of the Northwestern Wildcats winning their first bowl game
in decades. Most unforgettably, "Fourth and Long" finds what the
national media missed in the ugly aftermath of Penn State's tragic
scandal: the unheralded story of players who joined forces with
Coach Bill O'Brien to save the university's treasured program--and
with it, a piece of the game's soul.
This is the work of a writer in love with an old game--a game he
sees at the precipice. Bacon's deep knowledge of sports history and
his sensitivity to the tribal subcultures of the college game power
this elegy to a beloved and endangered American institution.
This is not a book about how to train for an Ironman, the kit you
need or anything that could actually prove to be useful. If there
is anything useful in this book then that's purely by accident. If
you are looking for some genuine training tips on Ironman then
please get one of the decent training books - not the 55,000 words
of illiterate drivel this represents. This is a simply a story
about someone (fat northerner in the shape of Darren) deciding to
do something as stupid as Ironman and the things you encounter on
the way. Such as the psychotic geese, paperless portaloos, the mind
games and the doomsday feeling that no matter how much training you
do it's never enough. Darren is fat, bald, ugly and lives in the
North West of England with his wife Amy and daughter Lilly-Mae
where he continues to try to be a triathlete.
FEATURING A FOREWORD FROM MARK CAVENDISH AND CONTRIBUTIONS FROM GERAINT
THOMAS, CHRIS FROOME AND ROD ELLINGWORTH.
A rare insight into the heart of pro cycling and the inner workings of
the peloton, from Team Sky and Ineos Grenadiers legend, Luke Rowe.
There’s one well-established truth in professional cycling: the
strongest always wins. Yet in a sport of champions, victory is only
possible as a team. At the heart of that team effort, that unity, is
the road captain.
After more than a decade as the pre-eminent road captain in
professional bike racing, Luke Rowe reveals here for the first time the
intricacies of that role. As he lifts the lid, he provides the ultimate
insider’s view on racing tactics and strategy within the professional
peloton. He gives readers an unprecedented insight into what exactly is
going on within that pulsing mass of athletic power and
state-of-the-art machinery, seen through the eyes of the rider tasked
with leading his team to glory.
Featuring exhilarating stories from his years at Team Sky and Ineos
Grenadiers – where he played a fundamental role in the team’s dominance
at the Tour de France, leading Chris Froome, Geraint Thomas and Egan
Bernal to their Tour victories – Luke shows what it’s like to manage a
road race unfolding at 60km/h. As he points out, it is ‘like playing
chess on wheels’.
Road Captain immerses readers in the team dynamics, tactical
complexities and split-second decisions vital to success in
professional cycling. It discloses the mental and physical battles
taking place within a group of riders, and reveals how the biggest bike
races are won.
Intrigue, high-stakes machinations and adrenaline-fuelled track action
– Growing Wings is the never-before-told inside story of how the grid’s
most fascinating, swagger-rich and win-at-all-costs team competed their
way to total domination and disrupted Formula One’s world order.
With exclusive access to Red Bull's inner sanctum, but maintaining
journalistic independence, leading F1 writer Ben Hunt probes the
operations of a world-beating Formula One team over its eventful
twenty-year history, from the rivalries, turbulence and controversy, to
the game-changing tech and the leadership strategies. He also talks to
the drivers themselves, including Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, for
a fascinating insight into the mindset of motorsport athletes through
success, risk and challenge.
Endorsed with a foreword by Team Principal Christian Horner, but
maintaining journalistic independence, this thrilling, frank and
unvarnished account of how the paddock’s loudest upstarts achieved team
alchemy with the promotion of a driver called Max Verstappen, shows you
what it looks like to go, learn, go again, tweak, test and ultimately
outplay the competition in a way never before seen in Formula One.
Having made the daring decision to set off around the world by
bicycle, Pam Goodall left the comfortable surroundings of her home
in West Sussex one spring morning, and went on to pedal her way
through Europe, Asia and America. She was approaching her sixtieth
birthday and travelled alone. Riding It Out is a record of this
remarkable journey, giving a vivid and lighthearted account. This
includes the trials of finding a place to sleep each night, the
reality of owning a Brooks saddle and choosing to ignore persistent
warnings from well meaning strangers of the dangers lurking ahead
for a lone female cyclist. The challenge of obtaining visas
throughout Asia proves nerve-wracking and costly. This one woman
tale of adventure encapsulates the spirit of freedom of the open
road (or bumpy track) so that you can enjoy the experience without
the discomforts.
The explosive new book from Britain’s leading investigative biographer,
Tom Bower
As one of the most famous and influential couples in the world, David
and Victoria Beckham have attained iconic status. The ultimate power
couple have together built a multi-billion-dollar global brand. For
decades, adoring fans have been captivated by the glamorous world they
have created, while their unrivalled fusion of showbiz, fashion,
football and celebrity has been cultivated alongside the image of a
strong marriage.
When the much-trailed Netflix documentary Beckham aired in 2023,
viewers were offered an even more intimate insight into their private
lives. Produced by the Beckhams themselves, the series raised many
questions, not only about their success and personal relationship, but
also about the ruthlessly successful management of their image in the
media. Are their lives really as perfect as the Beckhams would like the
world to believe?
Through extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews with
insiders, Britain’s most celebrated investigative biographer, Tom
Bower, has unearthed a succession of revelations that give surprising
insight into the reality of ‘Brand Beckham’. Exploring the couple’s
relationship, and the truth about their football and fashion careers,
their finances and their new life in Miami, The House of Beckham
unravels the extraordinary reality of the business-savvy cultural icons
to tell an engrossing, often astonishing story of money, sex and power.
As a follow-up to his hugely popular 2016 autobiography Trail Blazer,
Ryan Sandes’ new book explores the gripping and often life-threatening
adventures this extraordinary ultra-trail runner has experienced around
the globe since then. Not only have these projects tested the very edge
of human endurance, but on several occasions, Ryan literally had to run
for his life.
Along with a 1 500-kilometre Himalayan adventure, read about his
attempt at completing the first 700-kilometre solo run up Namibia’s
legendary Skeleton Coast – only to stumble upon some very angry
Namibian soldiers conducting illegal and, possibly,
government-sponsored seal clubbing. And, with his running partner Ryno
Griessel, becoming the first people to run the entire circumference of
Lesotho, during which they find themselves fighting off an attack from
local herdsman armed with rocks and clubs.
In between these adventures, Ryan battles to balance a challenging
career with a dedicated commitment to his young family. Risk. Run.
Reward. is packed with adventure, humour and some fascinating insights
into the psyche of an ultra-endurance athlete. Trust me, these people
are not like you and me …
Tom Clavin and Danny Peary chronicle the life and career of
baseball's "natural home run king" in the first definitive
biography of Roger Maris--including a brand-new chapter to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of his record breaking season.
Roger Maris may be the greatest ballplayer no one really knows. In
1961, the soft-spoken man from the frozen plains of North Dakota
enjoyed one of the most amazing seasons in baseball history, when
he outslugged his teammate Mickey Mantle to become the game's
natural home-run king. It was Mantle himself who said, "Roger was
as good a man and as good a ballplayer as there ever was." Yet
Maris was vilified by fans and the press and has never received his
due from biographers--until now.
Tom Clavin and Danny Peary trace the dramatic arc of Maris's life,
from his boyhood in Fargo through his early pro career in the
Cleveland Indians farm program, to his World Series championship
years in New York and beyond. At the center is the exciting story
of the 1961 season and the ordeal Maris endured as an outsider in
Yankee pinstripes, unloved by fans who compared him unfavorably to
their heroes Ruth and Mantle, relentlessly attacked by an
aggressive press corps who found him cold and inaccessible, and
treated miserably by the organization. After the tremendous
challenge of breaking Ruth's record was behind him, Maris
ultimately regained his love of baseball as a member of the world
champion St. Louis Cardinals. And over time, he gained redemption
in the eyes of the Yankee faithful.
With research drawn from more than 130 interviews with Maris's
teammates, opponents, family, and friends, as well as 16 pages of
photos, some of which have never before been seen, this timely and
poignant biography sheds light on an iconic figure from baseball's
golden era--and establishes the importance of his role in the
game's history.
Coach Bobby Bowden is an icon of college football who ran his
legendary, top-ranking program with a trademark southern charm.
With his recent retirement, Bowden is ready to give fans and
readers the behind-the-scenes story of his 55-year career and the
path that helped him become one of college football's most
successful coaches and patriarch of the sport's most famous
coaching family.
In this book, Bowden will reveal never-before-published details of
the moments and events that have defined his life, including:
* The tragic death of his grandson and son-in-law in a 2004
automobile accident.
* The details of his retirement as FSU's coach at the end of the
2009 season.
THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE STORY OF AN ORDINARY MAN WHO BECAME THE CENTURY'S MOST IMPORTANT EXPLORER Adventurers the world over have been inspired by the achievements of Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man ever to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest. In this candid, wry, and vastly entertaining autobiography, Hillary looks back on that 1953 landmark expedition, as well as his remarkable explorations in other exotic locales, from the South Pole to the Ganges. View From The Summit is the compelling life story of a New Zealand country boy who daydreamed of wild adventures; the pioneering climber who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth after scaling the world's tallest peak; and the elder statesman and unlikely diplomat whose groundbreaking program of aid to Nepal continues to this day, paying his debt of worldwide fame to the Himalayan region. More than four decades after Hillary looked down from Everest's 29,000 feet, his impact is still felt -- in our fascination with the perils and triumphs of mountain climbing, and in today's phenomenon of extreme sports. The call to adventure is alive and real on every page of this gripping memoir.
""It's not so surprising that on the day of my fifth wedding
anniversary I would be crouched in the open door of an airplane,
thirteen thousand feet above the Colorado plains, about to jump
out. That coincidence of timing really wasn't.""
Steph Davis is a superstar in the climbing community and has
ascended some of the world's most awe-inspiring peaks. But when her
husband makes a controversial climb in a national park, the media
fallout--and the toll it takes on her marriage--suddenly leaves her
without a partner, a career, a source of income . . . or a purpose.
In the company of only her beloved dog, Fletch, Davis sets off on a
search for a new identity and discovers skydiving. Though falling
out of an airplane is completely antithetical to the climber's
control she'd practiced for so long, she turns each daring jump
into an opportunity to fly, first as a skydiver, then as a base
jumper, and finds herself indelibly changed. As she opens herself
to falling, she also finds the strength to open herself to love
again, even in the wake of heartbreak. And before too long, she
fortuitously meets someone who shares her passions.
"Learning to Fly "is Davis's fascinating account of her
transformation. From her early tentative skydives, to zipping into
her first wingsuit, to surviving devastating accidents against the
background of breathtaking cliffs, to soaring beyond her past
limits, she discovers new hope and joy in letting go. "Learning to
Fly "isn't just an adventure but a woman's story of risk-taking and
self-discovery, with love at its heart.
One of the most charismatic showmen ever to grace a WWE ring
recounts his life, his phenomenal career, and how he finally found
the one thing that gave his life meaning--his faith. Reprint.
35,000 first printing.
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