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Books > Biography > Sport
As the son of Joe "Jellybean" Bryant, a former NBA player and star of various European teams, Kobe spent his childhood watching professional basketball. From the moment he could pick up a ball, he was learning to dribble and shoot. His basketball education was unique -- a combination of lessons on basic fundamentals, one-on-one games against his dad, and observation and analysis of the world's best players.
At age eighteen, Kobe was given the chance to prove his skills when he was drafted into the NBA. Fresh out of high school, Kobe showed that he had the talent and heart to make it in the pros -- and the rest is history.
This biography gives readers a courtside seat to the achievements of one of basketball's greatest legends as it traces Kobe's life from childhood to his five NBA championships to his successful career outside of the game to his tragic death and lasting legacy.
Le Loop: How to Cycle the Tour de France is the incredible tale of
how one man took on the world's toughest bike race. Ceri Stone is
an ordinary guy. He wanted to do something extraordinary just once
in his life. This book is the exhilarating story of that adventure.
He lays out a template for personal success, garnered from some
rich life experience, and he puts his theories to the test by
cycling Le Loop. Le Loop is an annual charitable event where riders
cycle the route of the Tour de France one week before the pros.
This is an inspiring adventure for athletes of all levels that
proves we can achieve our wildest dreams and laugh along the way.
Much like the tour itself, there are extreme highs and lows, and
Ceri faces them with a searingly honest sense of reflection and a
trivial sense of humour. This story is warm, empowering and leaves
you itching to get off your sofa - but with a template to succeed
at the same time. Join Ceri in his quest to live a life less
ordinary.
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Addicted
(Paperback)
Tony Adams; As told to Ian Ridley
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In the most candid and compelling sports memoir since Andre
Agassi's riveting bestseller Open, former San Francisco 49er, Super
Bowl champion, NFL MVP, and Hall of Famer Steve Young gives readers
an unprecedented and stunning inside look at what it takes to
become a super-elite professional quarterback. Steve Young produced
some of the most memorable moments in NFL history. But his most
impressive victories have been deeply personal ones that were won
when no one was watching. His remarkably revealing memoir is the
story of a Mormon boy with a 4.0 GPA, a photographic memory, and a
severe case of separation anxiety. As an eighth-string quarterback
at Brigham Young University, it was doubtful that he would ever see
any playing time. But Young became an All-American, finished second
in the Heisman voting, and was the top draft choice out of college.
Then, after signing the largest contract in sports history, anxiety
nearly drove him to walk away from football completely. In short,
Young's quest in life was always about grit. Now, he shares the
experience of being inside his helmet while he faces down his
toughest adversaries, both on and off the field. "This book is
gold."--Peter King "Intense."--San Francisco Chronicle "Steve Young
is a hero of mine, and his story is a source of inspiration for me.
His perseverance, intelligence, and, most of all, grace under
pressure, NFL-style, make this book a fascinating read. Thanks,
Steve, for sharing your story with one of your biggest fans!"--Tom
Brady
Tony Kelly was football crazy from the age of seven. At sixteen
Nyrere Anthony Kelly was the youngest ever player in the first team
at Bristol City and in his twenties he went professional, playing
for clubs such as Stoke City, Cardiff City, Leyton Orient and Bury
in the second and third divisions of the Football League and
starring in a Swedish side. But his blossoming soccer career was
marred by a series of mishaps and misdeeds which drove him to
disaster. Ruined by an addiction to gambling, he lost his job, his
career, his partner and all his money. Now he has written his story
- as Kelly puts it, to "invite the public, my family and my friends
into my secret hell of racism, despair, depression, stardom,
gambling addiction and ultimately self-destruction". Red Card is a
tragic yet uplifting story of a sportsman's battle with his demons,
on and off the pitch. Published with the kind assistance of the
Professional Footballers' Association
This is a paperback reprint - back due to popular demand. It
includes analysis of his greatest races and the changing technology
of his bikes. It is an in-depth, richly illustrated biography of
one of motorcycling's best-loved characters. Fourth in a series
intended to cover the careers of the world's greatest motorcycle
racing champions, "Bob McIntyre - The Flying Scot" tells the story
of the man who never actually won a world championship - but
certainly deserved to. In many ways he was the two-wheel equivalent
of car racing driver Stirling Moss, who is seen as one of the
greats in his sport although he never won an official world title.
Well over four decades since his untimely death, following an
accident that occurred while racing his 500cc Manx Norton at Oulton
Park, Cheshire in August 1962, Bob McIntyre's memory lives on. An
annual Bob McIntyre Memorial race meeting held at East Fortune
attracts racing enthusiasts from as far afield as Australia. Not
only was 'Bob Mac' a brilliantly gifted rider and self-taught
mechanic, he was also a man of the people, someone who would always
help a fellow competitor or take the time to sign an autograph or
chat to a fan. He was also honest, loyal and modest; his word was
his bond. Unlike the three riders already covered in this series,
John Surtees, Mike Hailwood and Giacomo Agostini, Bob Mac was very
much a self-made man; someone who started from the very bottom and
reached the very top in his chosen profession. He was the first man
to lap the Isle of Man TT circuit, the most fearsome in the world,
at over 100 mph; and this was just one of his great achievements.
This in-depth account of his career focusses on the bikes and the
races but also provides an insight in Bob's life away from the
track. Lavishly illustrated with many previously unpublished
photographs, it is a must-read for any motorcycling fan.
‘I swim for every chance to get wasted ― after every meet, every
weekend, every travel trip. This is what I look forward to and what I
tell no one: the burn of it down my throat, to my soul curled up in my
lungs, the sharpest pain all over it ― it seizes and stretches,
becoming alive again, and is the only thing that makes sense.’
At fifteen, Casey Legler is already one of the fastest swimmers in the
world. She is also an alcoholic, isolated from her family, and
incapable of forming lasting connections with those around her.
Driven to compete at the highest levels, sent far away from home to
train with the best coaches and teams, she finds herself increasingly
alone and alienated, living a life of cheap hotels and chlorine-worn
skin, anonymous sexual encounters and escalating drug use. Even at what
should be a moment of triumph ― competing at age nineteen in the 1996
Olympics ― she is an outsider looking in, procuring drugs for Olympians
she hardly knows, and losing her race after setting a new world record
in the qualifying heats.
After submitting to years of numbing training in France and the United
States, Casey can see no way out of the sinister loneliness that has
swelled and festered inside her. Yet wondrously, when it is almost too
late, she discovers a small light within herself, and senses a point of
calm within the whirlwind of her life.
In searing, evocative, visceral prose, Casey gives language to
loneliness in this startling story of survival, defiance, and of the
embers that still burn when everything else in us goes dark.
'Sunny' Jim Young is reckoned by some Celtic historians to be the
greatest Celt of them all, winning nine League Championships (three
as captain) and six Scottish Cups. Amazingly, he was only capped
once for Scotland, and his tragic death aged only forty plunged the
whole of Scottish football into sadness. This book profiles the
life and career of a Parkhead legend.
When Peter Minto first discovered the name of F N S Creek, he began
to unravel a forgotten legend of British football. He soon found
that there was far more to this man than it seemed...When the First
World War broke out, F N S Creek found himself battling in the
squalid trenches of Flanders and soon transferred into the Royal
Flying Corps performing dangerous aerial reconnaissance and bombing
missions behind enemy lines, eventually earning a military cross
for his contributions. Despite the short life expectancy of
aircrew, Creek returned to England to study at Trinity College,
Cambridge, and there he first discovered his talent for football. F
N S Creek quickly grew to celebrity status with his spectacular
scoring ability, earning caps for England and later going on to
coach the Olympic team for sixteen years. Throughout his career he
revolutionised the coaching of football throughout the nation
whilst also becoming a successful cricketer, writer, journalist and
broadcaster. In this extensively-researched biography of a
forgotten legend of English football, Peter Minto presents the
remarkable life of F N S Creek.
Benjamin Howard Baker - Sportsman Supreme is the first time that
this incredible all-round British sportsman has been immortalised
in print. His achievements covered an era in Britain when the whole
nature of sport was being transformed - from before the first World
War until the 1930s Benjamin Howard Baker is arguably Britain's
finest ever all-round sportsman, and yet his life and competitive
career has never previously been written about at any length. He
twice competed at the Olympic Games as a high jumper and held the
British record for a quarter of a century. He also set an English
record for the triple jump and was a fine hurdler and very capably
threw the discus, hammer and javelin. He played in goal for Chelsea
and for the England professional and amateur international teams.
He was also a water-polo goalkeeper and came close to England
selection in that game. He was a title-winning tennis player. He
was a star turn as an exhibition swimmer and diver. He played
cricket at the highest club level. He rowed, sailed, boxed, and ran
round the streets at night to keep fit long before jogging became a
popular pastime. His achievements covered an era in Britain when
the whole nature of sport was being transformed - from before World
War One until the 1930s - and he remained, remarkably, an amateur
throughout, playing League and international football just for the
fun of it. His flamboyant goalkeeping antics for Chelsea made him a
favourite with the crowds of 60,000 or more who regularly watched
him at Stamford Bridge. His favourite party-trick was a high kick
which set the chandeliers jangling at the numerous social
receptions to which he was invited. He was so famous in his native
Liverpool that express trains from London were stopped specially at
his nearest station to let him off. He lived to the age of 95,
regretting only that he never had the opportunity to try the
'Fosbury Flop' high-jump technique invented more than 40 years
after he retired. No such sporting life as Benjamin Howard Baker's
will ever be led again.
Sammy McIlroy experienced one of the most memorable careers in
football. After all, who else can say they played with George Best,
Denis Law and Bobby Charlton, experienced relegation, won trophies
and played under six different managers at Manchester United? With
more than 400 appearances, McIlroy - the last player signed by the
legendary Sir Matt Busby - is a bona fide Old Trafford legend, and
is an intrinsic part of the fabric of its illustrious history. One
of the few footballers to have played in two international
tournaments for Northern Ireland (and been captain in one), 'Super'
Sam went on to manage his country after a successful spell in
charge of Macclesfield Town. He tells his extraordinary story with
remarkable candour and emotion, pulling no punches. From the
anxiety of his homesickness to the exhilaration of his club debut,
from the lows of his heartbreaking exit from United to the highs of
leading his country out in a World Cup, The Last Busby Babe finally
puts on record one of the greatest careers in football history.
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