This biography contains the life and times of August ""Garry"" Herrmann which is a true Horatio Alger story. Born in 1895 and rising up from humble beginnings in Cincinnati, he entered the murky waters of 19th century machine politics in the city serving as a trusted lieutenant to George B. Cox, one of the most powerful political bosses in the country. Herrmann was a gifted man who introduced modern management principles to municipal government and oversaw the committee that built Cincinnati's modern water works system. Hermann also loved baseball and in 1902 he along with George B. Cox and Cincinnati mayor Juluis Fleischmann bought the Cincinnati Reds from John T. Brush. It was Herrmann in early 1903 who chaired the peace conference between the leagues that ushered in the modern game and two years later implemented the World Series as a lasting annual event. With the leagues united, Herrmann was selected to head up the National Commission to a three-person ruling body that governed major league baseball. Although financially successful, Herrmann acquired a reputation along the way, as a lavish entertainer and when he died in 1931, he left an estate valued at ten dollars. A reporter said in his obituary, published in a Cincinnati newspaper, that his political partners, George B. Cox and Rud Hynicka made millions of dollars, but August ""Garry"" Herrmann had more fun.

In 1963, 17 charter members were inducted into the newly established Pro Football Hall of Fame. Joining the likes of Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, George Halas, and Sammy Baugh was Detroit Lions quarterback Dutch Clark. A bona fide superstar for the NFL in the 1930s, Clark led the Lions to success on the gridiron and helped establish the NFL in one of America s most passionate sports cities. Throughout his seven-year NFL career (1931 1932, 1934 1938), Clark was selected first team NFL All-Pro six times, led the league in scoring three times, was team captain of the Detroit Lions, and helped the Lions win the 1935 NFL Championship in their second season in Detroit. The triple-threat star could do everything he could run, he could pass, and he could kick. In Dutch Clark: The Life of an NFL Legend and the Birth of the Detroit Lions, Chris Willis tells the remarkable story of an athlete from a small town in Colorado who would become one of the NFL s greatest players. To recount the story of this sports pioneer, Willis had complete cooperation from the Clark family and unlimited access to personal letters, the Dutch Clark Scrapbooks, and family photos. Appendixes include Clark s football statistics and a list of his honors and awards. Supplemented with archival interviews, never-before-seen photos, newspaper quotes, and anecdotes, Dutch Clark tells the rags-to-riches story of one of the NFL s first stars."

Nothing evokes the glory days of Negro Leagues baseball like the name of star pitcher Satchel Paige. This collection of essays and papers based on the 9th Annual Jerry Malloy Negro League Conference focuses on Paige and on the Kansas City Monarchs, the team he led to the Negro Leagues World Series in 1942 and 1946. Essays discuss such topics as the people Paige encountered in his career; Paige's effect on the Jim Crow era; and Paige in myth and reality - do we gain or lose by separating the two? Also considered is how the image of the Negro League was shaped in its day by newspaper coverage, and later in the popular film ""Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars"". A biography of Paige, highlights of his career, and a history of the Monarchs are all included, along with Kansas City rosters and other team information.

Bill Yoast is the real-life hero of Remember the Titans, the inspirational hit movie that chronicled the struggles of black and white high school football athletes to create a championship season in racially charged Alexandria, Virginia, in 1972. Will Patton played Yoast's role and Denzel Washington played the role of Head Coach Herman Boone. Uniting in a common effort, Yoast and Boone led T.C. Williams High School to an undefeated season, and in the process brought the school and polarized community together. The real-life Yoast is even more compelling than his film version. At one time, the former World War II veteran considered going into the ministry. Fortunately, for the hundreds of young men and women whose lives he helped mold, he found his calling in coaching.

A Sunday Times Book of the Year 'For anyone interested in Lee's legacy, this is a roundhouse kick of a biography' - Sunday Times 'At last, Bruce Lee has the powerful biography he deserves... It will thrill Lee's fans and fascinate the unfamiliar' - Jonathan Eig, author of Ali: A Life and Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig 'Meticulously researched' - Jimmy McDonough, author of Shakey: Neil Young's Biography and Soul Survivor: A Biography of Al Green 'You won't find a better match for a biographer with his subject than Matthew Polly and Bruce Lee... A definitive biography, told with passion and punch' - Brian Jay Jones, author George Lucas: A Life and Jim Henson: The Biography. More than forty years after Bruce Lee's sudden death at age 32, journalist and author Matthew Polly has written the definitive account of Lee's life. It's also one of the only accounts; incredibly, there has never been an authoritative biography of Lee. Following a decade of research that included conducting more than one hundred interviews with Lee's family, friends, business associates and even the mistress in whose bed Lee died, Polly has constructed a complex, humane portrait of the icon. There are his early years as a child star in Hong Kong cinema; his actor father's struggles with opium addiction and how that turned Bruce into a troublemaking teenager who was kicked out of high school and eventually sent to America to shape up; his beginnings as a martial arts teacher, eventually becoming personal instructor to movie stars like Steve McQueen; his struggles as an Asian-American actor in Hollywood and frustration seeing role after role he auditioned for go to white actors in eye makeup; his eventual triumph as a leading man; his challenges juggling a sky-rocketing career with his duties as a father and husband; and his shocking end that to this day is still shrouded in mystery. Polly breaks down the myth of Bruce Lee and argues that, contrary to popular belief, he was an ambitious actor who was obsessed with martial arts-not a great kung-fu master who just so happened to make a couple of movies. The book offers an honest look at an impressive yet flawed man whose personal story was even more entertaining and inspiring than any fictional role he played on-screen. Praise for Matthew Polly 'Hypnotic...Tapped Out manages to humanize a sport once demonized as "human cockfighting" by deconstructing the stereotype of the martial-arts tough guy.' - New York Times 'Tapped Out is a knockout for MMA fans, who will laugh at the intimate portraits Polly sketches of some of the sport's most famous personalities. But it also works for those not familiar with the sport...You won't be disappointed.' - OpposingViews.com 'A delight to read.' - TheFightNerd.com 'Polly's self-deprecation in the painful learning process stands out as much as the witty prose. His delivery is Plimpton-esque.' - ESPN.com 'Smoothly written . . . Polly has a good eye for characters.' - Publishers Weekly

Has any sport executive had as many words written about him as Branch Rickey? A one-time catcher, Rickey managed the St. Louis Browns and Cardinals at the end of the deadball era before serving as vice president of the Dodgers and general manager of the Pirates. Possessed of one of the most creative minds in the game's long history, Rickey made early use of statistical analysis, pioneered the farm system, and pressed for the expansion of major league baseball. But he is best known for integrating organized baseball, signing Jackie Robinson to a contract at a time when the U.S. armed forces were still segregated and the Civil Rights movement was years away. A courageous move, the signing also stands as proof of Rickey's foresight; by tapping the Negro Leagues, he enlarged the pool of exploitable talent. Soon after, major league ties to the talent-rich Caribbean were cinched up, and years later scouts sign players from Asia and all over the globe. Based on hundreds of interviews and vast amounts of research, including exclusive access to Rickey's own papers, ""Branch Rickey"" was originally published in 1982. It still stands as the definitive biography of the legendary executive. The McFarland edition includes updates and revisions, new photographs, a foreword by Branch B. Rickey, and a new preface.

Winning takes many forms. For fans of Matthew Syed, this is a great sports book about leadership, judgement and decision-making - rooted in the theory that helped Ed Smith lead England cricket to sustained success. And to help us all win more. 'An absolutely fascinating book' THE GAME, The Times football pod How do you spot the opportunities that others miss? How do you turn a team's performance around? How do you make good decisions amid a tidal wave of information? And how can you improve? As chief selector for the England cricket team, Ed Smith pioneered new methods for building successful teams and watched his decisions tested in real time on the pitch. During his three-year tenure, England averaged 7 wins in every 10 completed matches, better than they have performed before or since. Making Decisions reveals Smith's unique approach to finding success in a fast-changing and increasingly data-reliant world. The best decisions, Smith argues, rely on a combination of differing kinds of intelligence: from algorithms to intuition. This is a truth that the most successful people know: data cannot account for everything, it must be harnessed with human insight. Whatever the power of data, humans aren't finished yet. Sharing for the first time the tools he introduced as England selector, Smith's book captures the immediacy of life at the sharp end, while also exploring frameworks from the top levels of sports, business and the arts. Decision-making is revealed as a creative enterprise, not a reductive system. Making Decisions offers an invaluable guide for those who want a better framework for developing, explaining and implementing new ideas.

For 39 seasons at four schools, Dr. Edward N. Anderson spent autumn afternoons roaming the sidelines of college and university gridirons across America. Throughout his career, dignity, composure and a penetrating focus were hallmarks of his sideline decorum. This biography catalogues the life of that ""good doctor"" who became dean of America's college football coaches and was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame for lasting influence. Beginning with his young life as a star player, the book relates how Anderson mastered the game as an All-American end under Notre Dame's legendary Knute Rockne. Then, armed with a firm command of the so-called Notre Dame system of football, Anderson entered the collegiate coaching ranks in 1922 and served as a head coach for all but four of the next 43 years. Simultaneously, he devoted himself to the practice of medicine and guided his teams to hundreds of victories. Dr. Anderson is a football icon not only for the indelible impression he made on hundreds of young men who had played for him but also for his role as one of the last of an era of gentlemen coaches who had cut their teeth on football during the Rockne era. On the eve of his retirement from college football in 1964, Dr. Anderson was the game's elder statesman, revered by players, fellow coaches, fans and members of the press. His football odyssey, during which he crossed paths with the most influential and colorful personalities of the game, is chronicled in depth.

Rebel. Philosopher. Bodybuilding icon. Mike Mentzer was a strikingly handsome man with a brilliant mind and a 'perfect' physique - the first bodybuilder to receive a perfect score in both amateur and professional competitions. In the late '70s, Mentzer rose to the very top of his sport (despite the efforts made by power brokers within the industry, such as Arnold Schwarzenegger), was featured in GQ magazine, and profiled on national television. But he was also a man who wrestled with mental illness his entire life and ended up living on the streets and being sent to prison. Just when it seemed his career was over, he found it within himself to reboot his intellect and revolutionize bodybuilding training, sending out a message that bodybuilders should not forsake their mental development in favour of developing their bodies. He became a pariah in the fitness industry (which only cared about selling supplements and other products) but a hero to legions of fans who earnestly sought truth. Mike Mentzer: American Odysseus is the first biography of Mike Mentzer to appear in North America, written by his close friend of 21 years, John Little - 'one of the leading fitness researchers in North America' (Iron Man magazine). Drawing upon audio recordings, letters, diary excerpts, as well as interviews with those closest to him, this is the true story of one man who stood up to an entire industry - and paid the ultimate price for it.

From the former President and CEO of the United States Tennis Association-the first black woman and youngest person ever to hold the position-comes a behind-the-scenes look at the leadership skills involved in hosting the U.S. Open, the largest and most lucrative sports event in the world-lessons that can be applied across business and to any life challenge. One of professional tennis's Grand Slam Tournaments, the U.S. Open has been described as a fourteen-day Superbowl. This single tennis championship, held annually in New York City, attracts top professionals from around the globe, generates more money than any other sporting event-or any other sport over an entire season-and attracts more than 700,000 attendees and millions of television viewers. In Own the Arena, Katrina Adams offers a privileged, singular inside look at this sensational global event, while elaborating on what makes tennis the only sport of a lifetime. She opens with the women's 2018 championship match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams that ended in boos. This was Adams's last year as president and the whole world was watching. How would she respond? How should the press be handled? What needs to be said to Osaka? Serena? What does this break from decorum mean for the Open and the sport? As Adams shares a wealth of stories from her career and personal life, as well as insights from top tennis professionals, she provides invaluable information on meeting life's tests both on the tennis court and off. Own the Arena offers fresh perspectives on having presence, being remembered, directing a conversation, and moving boldly in spaces where "you are the only one." It also covers good sportsmanship-treating others with respect and by being inclusive and open to diverse perspectives. Tennis is said to be 90 percent mental; this book shows how to take the elements of mental fortitude and use them to achieve greatness. By embracing and expressing one's inner grace and humanity, Adams shows, you can own the arena.

When in 1911 Phillies pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander set the National League record for wins by a rookie (28), it was a sign of things to come. Alexander went on to win 373 games over his 20?year career, the third highest total in major league history, and he would lead the league in ERA four times, shutouts seven times, complete games six times, and wins six times. But he also became a deeply troubled man. After the Shell-Shocked pitcher returned from World War I, he would battle alcoholism, epilepsy, and personal demons that damaged his reputation and proved disastrous for his life outside of baseball. This biography sheds new light on the pitcher and the man, focusing on Alexander's personal life, especially his complex relationship with his wife, Aimee, as well as their marriages and divorces. His Hall of Fame career, wartime service, and long decline are also documented.

Shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2021 One of The Times 50 Best Sports Books of 2021 Little Wonder tells the epic, and until now largely unchronicled, story of Lottie Dod, the first great heroine in women's sports. Dod was a champion tennis player, golfer, hockey player, tobogganist, skater, mountaineer, and archer. She was also a first-rate musician, performing numerous choral concerts in London in the 1920s and 1930s, including in a private performance before the King and Queen. In the late 19th century, Dod was almost certainly the second most famous woman in the British Isles, bested only by the fame of Queen Victoria. She was fawned over by the press, and loved by a huge fan base - which composed poems and songs in her honor, followed her from one tournament to the next, voraciously read every profile published on her and every report on her sporting triumphs. Yet, within a decade or two of her retirement from sports, Dod was largely a forgotten figure. She lived, unmarried and childless, until 1960, and for the last half of her life she was shrouded in obscurity. In this new book, Sasha Abramsky brings Lottie's remarkable achievements back into the public eye in a fascinating story of resilience and determination.

The remarkable story of three Yorkshire cricketers from the Golden Age - George Hirst, Wilfred Rhodes and Schofield Haigh - who transformed their county's fortunes, inspired a generation of cricketers and left a unique legacy on the game. Between them, Hirst, Rhodes and Haigh scored over 77,000 runs and took almost 9000 wickets in a combined 2500 appearances, helping Yorkshire to seven County Championship triumphs. The records they set will never be beaten, yet the three men - known throughout England as The Triumvirate - were born in two small villages just outside Huddersfield, in Last of the Summer Wine country. Hirst pioneered and perfected the art of swing and seam bowling, Rhodes took more first-class wickets than anyone else in history, while the genial Haigh's achievements as a bowler at Yorkshire have been surpassed only by his two close friends; their influence would extend far beyond England, as they all went to India to coach, laying the foundations of cricket in the subcontinent. Pearson, whose biography of Learie Constantine, Connie, won the MCC Book of the Year Award, brings the characters and the age vividly to life, showing how these cricketing stars came to symbolise the essence of Yorkshire. This was a time when the gritty northern professionals from the White Rose county took on some of the most glittering amateurs of the age, including W.G.Grace, C.B.Fry, Prince Ranji and Gilbert Jessop, and when writers such as Neville Cardus and J.M.Kilburn were on hand to bring their achievements to a wider audience. The First of the Summer Wine is a celebration of a vanished age, but also reveals how the efforts of Hirst, Rhodes and Haigh helped create the modern era, too.

On 6th May 1954, in what is regarded as one of the key moments in the history of modern sport, Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under four minutes. Fifty years on, Bannister's status, not just as a champion athlete but also as a true British hero, a gentleman and an amateur from a "golden era" in sport, retains its unblemished appeal.
Until now there has been little critical and even less close historical study of Bannister and his achievement. This book redresses the balance, and in doing so provides fresh insights into the making of this British champion.
"Roger Bannister and the Four-Minute Mile" does more than detail the history of a sports star. It is a testimonial to the legend of Roger Bannister but it also invites the reader to reconsider the very words often used to describe him - notably "hero" and "gentleman amateur." Informed by contemporary sports science, the text also questions the significance of the four-minute mile per se.
Thoroughly researched, this book gives fascinating insights into the history of track racing as well as early athletic training methods and the beginnings of sports science.
The first rigorous historical study of Bannister's sporting life and the man behind the legend reveals an ambivalent athlete - highly achievement-orientated and scientific in his approach but also in love with the freedom of running sensuously in nature, in contrast to the constraints of modern sport.

The author of "The Ultimate Golf Trivia Book" gathers candid memories and insights into "the Hawk" through more than 100 original stories and observations offered by friends, peers, partners, and apprentices.

Joe McCarthy was headed towards a career as a plumber - until the parish priest intervened, and convinced McCarthy's mother that he could make more of himself in baseball. She relented, and Joseph Vincent McCarthy embarked on a career that ranks him among the greatest managers ever. In 24 years his teams took nine pennants, seven World Series titles, and never finished lower than fourth. This biography of Joe McCarthy details the 90-year life of one of the greatest managers in baseball's history. Baseball was McCarthy's ticket out of a working-class existence in Germantown, Pennsylvania, taking him to college, the minor leagues, managerial stints in baseball's backwaters, and on to remarkable years with the Yankees, Cubs and Red Sox - years filled with triumph and heartbreak. Seven championships and the highest managerial winning percentage ever earned him entry to the Hall of Fame, but McCarthy will always be remembered for his deft handling of his players. McCarthy's ability to handle even ""unmanageable"" players won him the respect of all. His effect on the lives of his young charges was, in his mind, his greatest legacy.

Almost as soon as Gazza burst on to the scene at Newcastle United, the young Geordie was the centre of attention: Vinnie Jones's notorious ball-handling showed the lengths people would go to try to stop him. Then, with England on the verge of possibly reaching the World Cup final in 1990, came Gazza's tears - the moment that brought a whole new audience to the sport and helped set the football boom of the 1990s on its way. But then came a career-threatening injury, mental health problems, self-confessed alcoholism and family disputes, as life in the full glare of the media spotlight became too much. Now, at the end of his top-flight playing career, Gazza is ready to confront his demons. The result is quite simply the most remarkable footballing story you'll ever read: what it's like being Paul Gascoigne, in his own words.

In 1941, his first full season, Pete Reiser became the youngest batting champion in history, winning the NL title with a.343 average, and led the league in runs, doubles, triples, total bases, and slugging average. By July of 1942, the popular Brooklyn outfielder was flirting with.400 and was easily baseball's fastest rising star. But a jarring collision with the outfield wall in St. Louis sent his season into a tailspin. After spending the next three years in the Army, he would come back to lead the league in stolen bases, battling dizziness and headaches throughout the season. Ten more collisions with the outfield wall - each adding a shoulder separation, muscle tear, fracture, contusion, or concussion to his long list of injuries - would make him a frequent visitor to the disabled list and keep Reiser from ever again playing a full season. This biography provides the full story on Reiser, with special emphasis given the highlights of Reiser's playing days and the factors that kept him from fulfilling his enormous potential. In addition, the author discusses the broader situation of major league baseball.

When Muhammad Ali met Joe Frazier in Manila for their third fight, their rivalry had spun out of control. The Ali-Frazier matchup had become a madness, inflamed by the media and the politics of race. When the "Thrilla in Manila" was over, one man was left with a ruin of a life; the other was battered to his soul.

Mark Kram covered that fight for Sports Illustrated in an award-winning article. Now his riveting book reappraises the boxers -- who they are and who they were. And in a voice as powerful as a heavyweight punch, Kram explodes the myths surrounding each fighter, particularly Ali. A controversial, no-holds-barred account, Ghosts of Manila ranks with the finest boxing books ever written.

Voytek Kurtyka is one of the greatest alpinists of all time. Born in 1947, he was one of the leading lights of the Polish golden age of mountaineering that redefined Himalayan climbing in the 1970s and 1980s. His visionary approach to climbing resulted in many renowned ascents, such as the complete Broad Peak traverse, the 'night-naked' speed climbs of Cho Oyu and Shishapangma and, above all, the alpine-style first ascent of the west face of Gasherbrum IV. Dubbed the 'climb of the century', his route on GIV with the Austrian Robert Schauer is - as of 2017 - unrepeated. His most frequent climbing partners were alpine legends of their time: Polish Himalayan giant Jerzy Kukuczka, Swiss mountain guide Erhard Loretan and British alpinist Alex MacIntyre. After repeated requests to accept the Piolets d'Or lifetime achievement award (the Oscars of the climbing world), Kurtyka finally accepted the honour in the spring of 2016. A fiercely private individual, he has declined countless invitations for interviews, lectures and festival appearances, but he has agreed to collaborate with internationally renowned and award-winning author Bernadette McDonald on this long-awaited biography. Art of Freedom is a profound and moving profile of one of the international climbing world's most respected, complex and reclusive mountaineers.

***** THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER AND BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK "Felix White's beautifully, elegantly and passionately written book reminds me why I love cricket so much. And reading, come to that." - Stephen Fry "The love of cricket is both communal and individual. Felix has a wonderful knack of evoking both in a book full of life, joy and resilience." - Gideon Haigh "Life beyond sport, love after loss, a soulful portrait of how play stops the rain." - Cariad Lloyd "This is an extraordinary first book ... funny, tragic, candid and heartfelt; it would be remarkable if he ever wrote a better one." - Wisden Almanack 2022 Felix White, for reasons often beyond him, has always been deeply in love with cricket. His passion for the game is at the fore on the BBC 's number one cricket podcast and 5Live show, Tailenders, which he co-presents with Greg James and Jimmy Anderson. It's Always Summer Somewhere is his funny, heartbreaking and endlessly engaging love letter to the game. Felix takes us through his life growing up in South West London and describes how his story is forever punctuated and given meaning by cricket. Through his own exploits as a slow left arm spinner of 'lovely loopy stuff', to the tragic illness of his mother, life with The Maccabees and his cricket redemption, Felix touches on both the comedic and the tragic in equal measure. Throughout, there's the ever-present roller coaster of following the England cricket team. The exploits of Tufnell (another bowler of 'lovely loopy stuff'), Atherton, Hussain et al, are given extra import through the eyes of a cricket-obsessed youth. Felix meets them at each signposted moment to find out what was really behind those moments that gave cricket fans everywhere sporting memories that would last forever, sending the book into an exploration of grief, transgenerational displacement and how the people we've known and things we've loved culminate and take expression in our lives. It's Always Summer Somewhere is an incredibly honest detail of a life lived with cricket. It offers a sense of genuine empathy and understanding not just with cricket fans, but sports and music fans across the world, in articulating our reasons for pouring so much meaning into something that we simply cannot control. Culminating in the heart-stopping World Cup Final in 2019, the book finally answers that question fans have so often asked... what is it about this game?

For thirty-two years there was no finer example of excellence in college football than Coach Carm Cozza's program at Yale University. This engaging book is Cozza's story, the reminiscences of a caring and principled teacher whose course material was athletic competition, whose classroom was a football field, and whose final exam was The Game against Harvard, with tens of thousands on hand to grade the performance.

Cozza brings us behind the scenes for the famous 29-29 "loss" against Harvard in 1968, he recalls the antiwar protesters in the 1970s who were less than enthusiastic about a combat sport, and he marvels over the courage of 1989 captain Jon Reese, who played a game against Cornell with a broken jaw, enabling Cozza to win his tenth and last Ivy League title. He tells stories about some of the outstanding men who played for him, among them Dick Jauron, Gary Fencik, Calvin Hill, Brian Dowling, Rich Diana, John Spagnola, Rudy Green, John Pagliaro, Kelly Ryan, Stone Phillips, and Jack Ford. He recounts how difficult it was to adhere to the highest standards of academic excellence and amateur purity while major college teams were lowering standards, abusing rules, and exploiting athletes in the quest for victories and revenue. And he offers thoughts on how Yale -- and similar elite schools -- can invigorate their football programs without succumbing to the excesses of the big-time conferences.

As Davis Love III walked the fairways of the Oakland Hills Country Club, in contention during the final round of the 1996 U.S. Open Championship, he had a powerful ally on his side. For the rest of the nation the day may have been Father's Day, but for Love every day on a golf course is father's day.

It was Davis Love, Jr., master professional and legendary teacher, who taught his son the game in all its beautiful complexity. As a child, Davis III was encouraged just to play, to enjoy the game as he grew and developed his athletic skills, to find the pleasure in the game that can lead to the desire for improvement. But when, early in his teens, Davis III declared himself ready to take golf seriously, to put in the time to learn and understand the physical and mental components of the game that turn a golfer into a champion, his father was delighted, determined, and ready.

With every shot he takes, Davis Love III provides a tribute to the strength and the value of his father's teachings. And in Every Shot I Take, he shares with us the lessons he learned about how to play golf with power, with skill, and with joy. Those lessons range widely, from the psychological ("Let your attitude determine your golf game; don't let your golf game determine your attitude") to the physical ("To hit the ball far, hit the ball straight; I try to hit the ball at 80 percent of my overall power, because at 80 percent I have a much better chance of hitting the ball with the center of the clubface") to the technical ("When you begin your downswing, and your left foot returns to the ground, put your cleats in the same holes they were in originally"). They include drills like the Hitchhike Drill, where you place your right hand behind your back and your left thumb on your right shoulder, then in a spinning motion move your thumb to your left shoulder -- that's the golf swing in miniature! There are the Ten Commandments of Putting, six steps to successful long bunker shots, and tips for playing in the wind and rain, on fast greens, or out of long rough. Yet all are ultimately about something more than golf.

Golf was, for Davis, Jr., a way of being a father, of teaching his sons how to learn, how to approach whatever they might choose to do with knowledge and with care, how to overcome obstacles through dedication and understanding. It was the vehicle through which he taught the most important lesson of all: "Follow your dream, and enjoy the trip."

Through this moving tribute to his father's love, Davis III passes along the benefits of those lessons in a gem of a book that will improve your golf game -- and enhance your life.

Gunner: My Life in Cricket is the revealing and absorbing autobiography of Ian Gould, the former England cricketer who became one of the best umpires in the world. During a 13-year career as an elite umpire, 'Gunner' was centre stage for some of the biggest controversies in world cricket, including the infamous 'sandpaper' Test in 2018. As a former international, he appreciated the pressures players were under and formed a rapport with some of cricket's biggest stars, although he always had the integrity of the game at heart. In this candid story of his life in cricket, he is refreshingly honest about the characters and controversies, and he opens up about his battle with depression, after the introduction of DRS technology made the pressure on him intolerable. There are colourful tales too from his days as a player and coach with England, Middlesex and Sussex, and about how he nearly became a professional footballer instead of a cricketer. This included a stint at Arsenal which earned him the nickname 'Gunner'.

'In many ways Jimmy Hill was football. He was a true great of the game.' - Greg Dyke, Chairman of the Football Association Jimmy Hill died on 19th December 2015 but very much remains a household name. Renowned for his outspoken views, recognised the world over by his famous profile, only he saw football from every side: as player, coach, manager, chairman, television executive and broadcaster. A versatile player with Brentford and Fulham in the fifties, he was a qualified coach by the age of 24. In the sixties his innovative management technique took Coventry from the bottom of the Third to the First Division, where they stayed for 32 years. For over twenty years, at different times, he was a director and chairman of Coventry, Charlton and Fulham. As chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association he took on the authorities and successfully fought for freedom of contract and the abolition of the maximum wage. But it is as a TV presenter that Jimmy became best known. After five years as Head of Sport at LWT, he moved to the BBC to become a national institution in the seventies and eighties on Match of the Day. Tragically Jimmy Hill succumbed to Alzheimer's Disease in his last few years, A moving epilogue has been included which reflects on Jimmy's remarkable life. Jimmy tells the story of his rise from humble beginnings to distinction both on and off the field with modesty and humour.