LONGLISTED FOR THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE CROSS SPORTS BOOK AWARDS BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR The definitive biography of one of the greatest, most extraordinary runners and Olympic heroes of all time, from the author of running classic Feet in the Clouds. Emil Zatopek won five Olympic medals, set 18 world records, and went undefeated over 10,000 metres for six years. He redefined the boundaries of endurance, training in Army boots, in snow, in sand, in darkness. But his toughness was matched by a spirit of friendship and a joie de vivre that transcended the darkest days of the Cold War. His triumphs put his country on the map, yet when Soviet tanks moved in to crush Czechoslovakia's new freedoms in 1968, Zatopek paid a heavy personal price for his brave defence of 'socialism with a human face'. Rehabilitated two decades later, he was a shadow of the man he had been - and the world had all but forgotten him. Today We Die A Little strips away the myths to tell the complex and deeply moving story of the most inspiring Olympic hero of them all.

Power, prestige, and millions of dollars-these are the stakes in the sports franchise game. In this book, sports attorney Kenneth Shropshire describes the franchise warfare that pits city against city in the fierce bidding competition to capture major league teams. Rigorous research, fascinating interviews with major players, stories behind the headlines, and an insider's perspective converge in this rare view of the business side of professional sports. Shropshire portrays a complex web of motivations, negotiations, and public relations, and discusses examples from Philadelphia, the Bay Area, and Washington D.C.

Intercollegiate Athletics, Inc. examines the corrupting influence and damaging financial effects of big-time intercollegiate athletics, especially football and to a lesser extent basketball, on American higher education. Including historical and contemporary perspectives, the book traces the growth of intercollegiate sports from largely student-run activities supervised by faculty to the gargantuan, taxpayer-supported spectacles that now dominate many public universities. It investigates the regressive student fees that have helped subsidize big-time sports at public universities and prop up chronically unprofitable athletic departments, as well as the corrosive effects of athletics on the university's academic enterprise. A review of the alleged salutary effects of massive sports programs, such as spurring alumni donations and student applications, reveals that such benefits are largely illusory, more myth than real. The book also pays special attention to the often prescient, if largely unsuccessful, opponents of these developments, and considers the alternatives to big-time athletics, from abolition to professionalization to club sports. Students, scholars, sports fans, and those interested in learning how big-time football and basketball have cast such an enormous-and often baleful-shadow upon American colleges and universities will profit from this provocative and engagingly written book.

Analyzing how tennis turned pro The arrival of the Open era in 1968 was a watershed in the history of tennis--the year that marked its advent as a professionalized sport. Merging wide-angle history with individual stories of players and off-the-court figures, Greg Ruth charts tennis’s evolution into the game we watch today. His vivid account moves from the cloistered world of nineteenth-century lawn tennis through the longtime amateur-professional divide and the battles over commercialization that raged from the 1920s until 1968. From there, Ruth details the post-1968 expansion of the game as it was transformed by bankable superstars, a popular women’s tour, rival governing bodies, and sponsorship money. What emerges is a fascinating history of the economics and politics that made tennis a decisive, if unlikely, force in the creation of modern-day sports entertainment. Comprehensive and engaging, Tennis tells the interlocking stories of the figures and factors that birthed the professional game.

Volunteers are central to sport at all levels, from mega-events to grassroots clubs. Sport Volunteering is a definitive guide to the issues associated with managing volunteers in sport. The book focuses on the psychology of the voluntary experience, the challenges inherent in managing a volunteer workforce for not-for-profit and other groups, and the development of volunteers. It provides a perspective on the roles of volunteers in the development and delivery of sport in a range of contexts - events, clubs, associations and other non-profit groups - and explores important contemporary issues such as sustainability, diversity and the management of risk. This book is essential reading for anybody studying sport volunteering or managing volunteers in sport, and a valuable resource for students of sport development, sport management, sport business, sport events, sport administration, sport policy, community sport, sport facilities, sport operations, event management or sport coaching.

Volunteers are central to sport at all levels, from mega-events to grassroots clubs. Sport Volunteering is a definitive guide to the issues associated with managing volunteers in sport. The book focuses on the psychology of the voluntary experience, the challenges inherent in managing a volunteer workforce for not-for-profit and other groups, and the development of volunteers. It provides a perspective on the roles of volunteers in the development and delivery of sport in a range of contexts - events, clubs, associations and other non-profit groups - and explores important contemporary issues such as sustainability, diversity and the management of risk. This book is essential reading for anybody studying sport volunteering or managing volunteers in sport, and a valuable resource for students of sport development, sport management, sport business, sport events, sport administration, sport policy, community sport, sport facilities, sport operations, event management or sport coaching.

One of America's most beloved sportscasters turns the spotlight on his own life, chronicling his incredible life covering Southeastern Conference football and some of the most iconic moments in sports history over the last five decades Verne Lundquist's remarkable broadcasting career has placed him at the center of major sporting events in America for more than fifty years, from Jack Nicklaus's final victory at the 1986 Masters to Tonya Harding's attack on Nancy Kerrigan at the 1994 Olympics to the Auburn-Alabama shocker of 2013. In his first memoir, he replays highlights from his career, taking sports fans behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic moments in modern sports history. Lundquist goes back to the early days of his broadcasting career, recalling his time as a producer and radio show host in Dallas when President John F. Kennedy was shot. He reminisces about Tom Landry and the great Dallas Cowboy teams of the 1970s, recalls the most unbelievable moments in Masters Tournament history, and relives the excitement of Christian Laettner's buzzer beater in the NCAA tournament and a host of other memorable thrills. One of the defining voices of Saturday afternoon football for the SEC, Lundquist offers an in-depth look at the fans, the schools, and the game, recounting never-before-told stories about some of college football's biggest personalities. He also speaks honestly about his friendships with Terry Bradshaw, John Madden, and other greats, and his difficult relationship with legendary colleague Pat Summerall. Bringing these memories vibrantly to life with his beloved catchphrases and warm humor, and sharing fifty photos from his personal collection, Lundquist gives readers a front row seat to history as he witnessed it unfold.

Now in a fully revised and updated third edition, Sport Facility Operations Management goes beyond the basic theories of sport facility management to include relevant practical professional experiences connecting facilities, people, and technology. This is a comprehensive and engaging textbook introducing cutting-edge concepts and best practice in sport facility operations management. Each chapter contains real-world case studies and discussion questions, innovative 'Technology Now' and new 'Facility Focus' features, and 'In the Field' segments about what is going on in the industry. This new edition also provides new content in the areas of project management, social and digital media, revenue generation and diversification, performance analytics, and impacts and legacies. This is a vital resource for sport management educators and students, especially those studying facility management. It is also an interesting read for industry professionals working in sport facility management, from grassroots and community complexes to global mega stadiums and arenas. Dedicated online materials include PowerPoint presentations for each chapter; multiple-choice and essay questions; online appendices with diagrams, schematics, manuals, and forms; a glossary; and a sample master syllabus.

While globalisation has undoubtedly occurred in many social fields, in sport the importance of 'the nation' has remained. This book examines the continuing but contested relevance of national identities in sport within the context of globalising forces. Including case studies from around the world, it considers the significance of sport in divided societies, former global empires and aspirational nations within federal states. Each chapter looks at sport not only as a reflection of national rivalries but also as a changing cultural tradition that facilitates the reimagining of borders, boundaries and identities. The book questions how these national, state and global identifications are invoked through sporting structures and practices, both in the past and the present. Truly international in perspective, it features case studies from across Europe, the UK, the USA and China and touches on the topics of race, religion, terrorism, separatism, nationalism and militarism. Sport and National Identities: Globalisation and Conflict is fascinating reading for anyone with an interest in the sociology of sport or the relationship between sport, politics, geography and history.

Here, for the first time, the Oval Test match of 1882 - every bit as dramatic as anything in the 2005 season - is recreated ball by ball all the way to the agonising climax when Australia won by 7 runs. Here, too, is the social context of that match, from the founding of Australia, spiced with a host of insights into how cricket was born and how it grew in a vast, rugged land. The story of The Ashes is more, much more. When the Hon. Ivo Bligh took an England team to Australia in 1882 - 83 he said he was going to reclaim the Ashes of English cricket, lost at the Oval. That led to a meeting with a property baron near Melbourne, an invitation for the team to stay at his mansion for Christmas - a knock-about match against the staff - and the baron's wife, who had a little urn on her mantelpiece. We know what went in it!

This book is a must for the bookcase of any true Sunderland fan! What makes a player a cult hero? Well he has to give 100 per cent, and he has to be lovable. As much as any set of supporters, the fans of Sunderland - shown to be the noisiest in the country by a study of decibel levels - love their heroes and take them to their hearts. In this official "Sunderland AFC book, Sunderland Cult Heroes", the club's publications editor Rob Mason speaks to nine cult heroes, including 1973 Cup winners Vic Halom and Dick Malone, sublime schemers Kevin Arnott and Julio Arca, hard-man full-backs Joe Bolton, John Kay and Chris Makin, modern-day cult figure Nyron Nosworthy and the inimitable goalkeeper from the 1970s and 1980s Barry Siddall. To show that cult heroes are not just a modern-day phenomenon, a goalkeeper from a century ago, L.R. Roose, is also featured - perhaps the biggest cult hero of them all.

According to the National Football League, the 1972 Miami Dolphins are the only undefeated, untied Super Bowl champions. But pro football's first undefeated championship team was crowned in 1948, when the Cleveland Browns won their third straight All-America Football Conference title with a record of 15 victories, no losses and no ties. They were led by Hall of Fame head coach Paul Brown, whose methods revolutionized the game and influenced every coach who followed. On the field, the '48 Browns' roster featured six future Hall of Famers, including Marion Motley and Bill Willis, who broke pro football's color barrier with the first snap of the 1946 season.

Football is big business. The top teams and leagues in world football generate billions of dollars in revenue and serve an audience of billions of fans. This book focuses on the marketing of football as the apex of the contemporary football industry. Drawing upon key theories and concepts in sport marketing, it highlights the critical strategic and operational elements that underpin effective marketing in football clubs around the world. From the English Premier League to Major League Soccer, this handbook addresses the most important developments in sponsorship, marketing communications, digital marketing strategies, customer relationship management and social media. Written by a team of leading football marketing experts, it presents the latest cutting-edge research in case studies from countries including the UK, USA, France, Spain, Germany, Italy, China and Japan. The only up-to-date book on football marketing written from a truly international perspective, the Routledge Handbook of Football Marketing is an invaluable resource for any researcher or advanced student with an interest in football marketing, as well as all marketers working in the professional football business.

From the Preface: "Not surprisingly, companies of all sizes are using social media as part of their marketing and public relations efforts. The growth of the social media phenomenon and constant advances in technology obviously create unique and powerful opportunities for those able to capitalize on them. The question is how best to do so? Social Media in Sport Marketing has been created to help answer this question as it pertains to sport organizations." Written from the perspective of sport professionals, this brief but thorough text explores the concepts, tools, and issues surrounding social media and marketing, with reader-friendly examples and applications specifically from the world of sports. The authors connect industry-specific content with current trends in social media and provide readers with a balance between theory and experience. Instructors and students can use the book as a primary resource for teaching and learning about traditional sport marketing/public relations principles as they relate to social media. Instructors will appreciate the inclusion of case studies, which can be used to generate discussions; students will benefit from the numerous examples. The book can also serve as a guidebook for those who want to put ideas into action immediately. The experienced author team includes a sport marketing professor as well as practitioners involved in social media project management and development.

When pro football players formed a union to stand up against the NFL for their own interests, they chose lawyer Ed Garvey as their Executive Director. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA), would take on the NFL over player contracts, collective bargaining agreements, and antitrust suits. It lobbied for players' free agency, contract rights, and impartial arbitration of disciplinary disputes. Garvey navigated strikes, lockouts, scabs, stooges, lies, as well as the sports media complex-to maintain players' dignity. According to the league, the players were to take what they were given and "never ask why." In Never Ask "Why," journalist Chuck Cascio presents the late Garvey's rich account of the early years of the NFLPA, taking readers among the players as they held the league accountable to play fair. Learning from their mistakes, the NFLPA would succeed in curbing commissioner Pete Rozelle's disciplinary power and striking down the Rozelle Rule's absolute control over free agency. Garvey tells the intimate stories of how pro football players, rivals on the field, rallied together to stand up for themselves. He worked tirelessly to change a system that exploited players and even controlled the media. In the end, Garvey shows how the NFLPA transformed the state of pro sports leagues today and how, even still, they work to keep down the players on whose backs they profit.

As the sport business continues to evolve, so too, does Sport Finance and Management. The first version of this book took an in-depth look at changes in the sport industry, including interconnecting financial issues between teams and their associated businesses, the nature of fan loyalty influences, and the impact of sponsorship on team revenues. This second edition updates each of these elements, introduces relevant case study examples in new chapters, and examines the impact of changes in facility design, media opportunities, and league and conference policies on the economic success of teams, the salaries earned by professional players, and the finances of collegiate athletics.

The history of Cairo's football fans is one of the most poignant narratives of the 25 January 2011 Egyptian uprising. The Ultras Al-Ahly and the Ultras White Knights fans, belonging to the two main teams, Al-Ahly F.C. and Zamalek F.C respectively, became embroiled in the street protests that brought down the Mubarak regime. In the violent turmoil since, the Ultras have been locked in a bitter conflict with the Egyptian security state. Tracing these social movements to explore their role in the uprising and the political dimension of soccer in Egypt, Ronnie Close provides a vivid, intimate sense of the Ultras' unique subculture. Cairo's Ultras: Resistance and Revolution in Egypt's Football Culture explores how football communities offer ways of belonging and instill meaning in everyday life. Close asks us to rethink the labels 'fans' or 'hooligans' and what such terms might really mean. He argues that the role of the body is essential to understanding the cultural practices of the Cairo Ultras, and that the physicality of the stadium rituals and acerbic chants were key expressions that resonated with many Egyptians. Along the way, the book skewers media cliches and retraces revolutionary politics and social networks to consider the capacity of sport to emancipate through performances on the football terraces.

Issues of reputation management are negotiated in a wide array of contexts, yet arguably one of the most visible of these areas involves how such stories unfold within the sporting arena. Whether involving individual athletes, teams, organizations, leagues, or global entities, the process of navigating issues of image repair and/or restoration and crisis-based communication has never been more byzantine with a plethora of communicative media outlets functioning in myriad manners. Reputational Challenges in Sport explores the intersection of reputation, sport, and society. In doing so, the book advances theory and then explores individual, team, and organizational applications from varied methodological perspectives as they relate to reputation and identity management and crisis orientations. The book provides a synthesis of previous works while offering a contemporary advancement of these subjects from a variety of epistemological approaches. It gives voice to variety of perspectives that offer a robust advancement of issues relating to reputation, sport, and modern society.

Fifty Shades of White is Gary Edwards's fifth book; and he returns with more fabulous, rib-tickling tales that come with half a century of following one of the most talked about football clubs in the world. Like the time he was asked to accompany a four-and-a-half-foot tall monk with a large hearing aid, who hadn't previously left his abbey for 25 years, to a Leeds United game as part of a BBC documentary. Or the time he escaped from hospital, still in his hospital gown and attached to a catheter, a blood bag, several needles and with two tampons stuck up his nose to travel 70 miles up the A1 in a thunderstorm for a relatively meaningless Leeds game at Darlington. There is a fascinating, controversial and hilarious insight into Leeds United's former owner Ken Bates, gleaned from being a special guest at his birthday and Christmas parties for eight consecutive years. Fifty Shades of White gives a unique fan insight into the club and a life devoted to Leeds United.

""Nobody ever beats Wales at rugby. They just score more points." --Graham Mourie, former New Zealand captain"
In the 1970s, an age long before World Cups, rugby union to the British public meant Bill McLaren, rude songs, and, most of all, Wales. Between 1969 and 1979, the men in red shirts won or shared eight Five Nations Championships, including three Grand Slams and six Triple Crowns. But the mere facts resonate less than the enduring images of the precision of Gareth Edwards, the sublime touch of Barry John, the sidesteps of Gerald Davies and Phil Bennett, the courage and extravagant sideburns of J.P.R. Williams, and the forward power of the Pontypool Front Row and "Merv the Swerve" Davies. To the land of their fathers, these Welsh heroes represented pride and conquest at a time when the decline of the province's traditional coal and steel industries was sending thousands to the dole queue and threatening the fabric of local communities. Yet the achievements of those players transcended their homeland and extended beyond mere rugby fans. With the help of comedian Max Boyce, the culture of Welsh rugby and valley life permeated Britain's living rooms at the height of prime time, reinforcing the sporting brilliance that lit up winter Saturday afternoons. In "Nobody Beats Us," David Tossell, who spent the 1970s as a schoolboy scrum-half trying to perfect the Gareth Edwards reverse pass, interviews many of the key figures of a golden age of Welsh rugby and vividly recreates an unforgettable sporting era.

Birmingham City On This Day revisits the most magical and memorable moments from the club's distinguished history, mixing in a maelstrom of anecdotes and characters to produce an irresistibly dippable Blues diary - with an entry for every day of the year. From its beginnings as Small Heath Alliance in 1875 right through to the modern era and golden goals at Wembley, here are all the rollercoaster highs and lows. The club won the first ever Second Division title in 1893; Blues were the first English team to compete in European competition and the first to reach a European final. Birmingham City have twice won the League Cup and twice reached the FA Cup final. Relive the day in 1963 when Blues beat Villa to win a first major trophy, remember when Darren Carter's penalty clinched promotion in Cardiff, and when Obafemi Martins shocked Arsenal to recapture the League Cup. Recall the exploits of legends such as Joe Bradford, Gil Merrick and Bob Latchford, Trevor Francis, Michael Johnson and Christophe Dugarry.

Presents a blueprint for success in sports at a number of levels Offers a step-by-step plan for building a team culture that will lead to winning consistently Introduces specific tools that can be easily implemented by any coach or program to achieve success Aims to help every team fulfil its true potential through camaraderie, leadership, performance and fun

What does it mean when a hit that knocks an American football player unconscious is cheered by spectators? What are the consequences of such violence for the participants of this sport and for the entertainment culture in which it exists? This book brings together scholars and sport commentators to examine the relationship between American football, violence and the larger relations of power within contemporary society. From high school and college to the NFL, Football, Culture, and Power analyses the social, political and cultural imprint of America's national pastime. The NFL's participation in and production of hegemonic masculinity, alongside its practices of racism, sexism, heterosexism and ableism, provokes us to think deeply about the historical and contemporary systems of violence we are invested in and entertained by. This social scientific analysis of American football considers both the positive and negative power of the game, generating discussion and calling for accountability. It is fascinating reading for all students and scholars of sports studies with an interest in American football and the wider social impact of sport.

Sports are the opiate of the people, particularly in the United States, Europe, and parts of South America. Globally, billions of fans feverishly focus on the summer and winter Olympics. In theory, international fraternalism is boosted by these "friendly competitions," but often national rivalries eclipse the theoretical amity. How the Olympics have dealt with racism over the years offers a window to better understanding these dynamics. Since their revival in 1896, the modern Olympics were periodically agitated by political and moral conundrums. Racial tensions, the topic of this volume, reached their apex under the polarizing presidency of Avery Brundage. Race in sports cannot be disentangled from societal problems, nor can race or sports be fully understood separately. Racial conflict must be contextualized. Racism and the Olympics explores the racial landscape against which a number of major disputes evolved. The book covers various topics and events in history that portray discrimination within Olympic games, such as the Nazi games of 1936, the black American protest on the victory stand in Mexico City's Olympics, as well as international political forces that removed South Africa and Rhodesia from the Olympics. Robert G. Weisbord considers the role of international politics and the criteria that should be used to determine nations that are selected to take part in and serve as venues for the Olympic Games.

Can sport and physical activity (PA) be used to improve the communities we live in? How do community groups manage facilities that provide sport and PA? How can managers ensure the services they deliver meet the needs of their community? What role should community sport schemes play in society? Answer these questions and more in this, the first textbook to focus on the theory and practice of community-level sport management and development. Bringing together academics and practitioners with expertise in sport management, sport development, the sociology of sport, PA programming and community coaching, this book outlines best practice and explores contemporary issues relating to: Community enhancement through sport and PA Leadership, enterprise and innovation Budgeting and decision making Event and facility management Corporate social responsibility (CSR) Monitoring and evaluation. The book is divided into three sections: Part I provides an introduction to developing and managing community sport; Part II outlines the key issues and challenges that face those working in the sector; and Part III examines the leadership and management qualities needed to effectively manage and develop community sport. Insightful and user-friendly, Managing and Developing Community Sport is written in an easy to read style and is a vital resource for sport management practitioners or students hoping to work in community-level sport.