During the 1972-73 season, the Philadelphia 76ers were not just a bad team; they were fantastically awful. Doomed from the start after losing their leading scorer and rebounder, Billy Cunningham, as well as head coach Jack Ramsay, they lost twenty-one of their first twenty-three games. A Philadelphia newspaper began calling them the Seventy Sickers, and they duly lost their last thirteen games on their way to a not-yet-broken record of nine wins and seventy-three losses.
Charley Rosen recaptures the futility of that season through the firsthand accounts of players, participants, and observers. Although the team was uniformly bad, there were still many memorable moments, and the lore surrounding the team is legendary. Once, when head coach Lou Rubin tried to substitute John Q. Trapp out of a game, Trapp refused and told Rubin to look behind the team's bench, whereby one of Trapp's friends supposedly opened his jacket to show his handgun. With only four wins at the All-Star break, Rubin was fired and replaced by player-coach Kevin Loughery.
In addition to chronicling the 76ers' woes, "Perfectly Awful" also captures the drama, culture, and attitude of the NBA in an era when many white fans believed that the league had too many black players, most of whom were overtly political and/or using recreational drugs.

Chicago in the Roaring Twenties was a city of immigrants, mobsters, and flappers with one shared passion: the Chicago Cubs. It all began when the chewing-gum tycoon William Wrigley decided to build the world's greatest ball club in the nation's Second City. In this Jazz Age center, the maverick Wrigley exploited the revolutionary technology of broadcasting to attract eager throngs of women to his renovated ballpark. Mr. Wrigley's Ball Club transports us to this heady era of baseball history and introduces the team at its crazy heart-an amalgam of rakes, pranksters, schemers, and choirboys who take center stage in memorable successes, equally memorable disasters, and shadowy intrigue. Readers take front-row seats to meet Grover Cleveland Alexander, Rogers Hornsby, Joe McCarthy, Lewis "Hack" Wilson, Gabby Hartnett. The cast of characters also includes their colorful if less-extolled teammates and the Cubs' nemesis, Babe Ruth, who terminates the ambitions of Mr. Wrigley's ball club with one emphatic swing.

"Fear and Loathing in La Liga" is the definitive history of the greatest rivalry in world sport: FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid. It's Messi vs. Ronaldo, Guardiola vs. Mourinho, the nation against the state, freedom fighters vs. Franco's fascists, plus majestic goals and mesmerizing skills. It's the best two teams on the planet going head-to-head. It's more than a game. It's a war. It's El Clasico.
Only, it's not quite that simple. Spanish soccer expert and historian Sid Lowe covers 100 years of rivalry, athletic beauty, and excellence. "Fear and Loathing in La Liga" is a nuanced, revisionist, and brilliantly informed history that goes beyond sport. Lowe weaves together this story of the rivalry with the history and culture of Spain, emphasizing that it is "never about just the soccer." With exclusive testimonies and astonishing anecdotes, he takes us inside this epic battle, including the wounds left by the Civil War, Madrid's golden age in the fifties when they won five European cups, Johan Cruyff's Barcelona Dream Team, the doomed Galactico experiment, and Luis Figo's "betrayal."
By exploring the history, politics, culture, economics, and language--while never forgetting the drama on the field--Lowe demonstrates the relationship between these two soccer giants and reveals the true story behind their explosive rivalry.

No owners...Five players under contract...In administration...Not even a kit to play in...Is it any wonder that Port Vale FC were written off as 18th favourites for promotion at the start of the 2012-2013 season? But by the end of a memorable campaign, the club had been promoted, finished as the division's top scorers and a life-long Vale fan was the club's top goalscorer. How on earth did that happen? Rob Fielding, editor of the award-winning Port Vale website onevalefan.co.uk chronicles one of the most extraordinary seasons in the long history of Port Vale FC. A contribution to charity will be made for every book sold.

On April 4, 2012, the former Florida Marlins of Major League Baseball played their first official game under their new name-the Miami Marlins. Many in attendance were unaware, however, that the original Miami Marlins had played in their city more than 50 years earlier. As part of the AAA International League, the 1956 Marlins helped set the stage for major league baseball's entry into south Florida. During the five years this minor league club played in Miami Stadium, fans were treated to their first taste of high level baseball, with a team made up of battle-hardened veterans and fresh up-and-comers. The Forgotten Marlins: A Tribute to the 1956-1960 Original Miami Marlins brings to life one of the most colorful and flamboyant teams to ever play in baseball's minor leagues. During their five years of existence, the Marlins featured prominent personalities such as eccentric manager Pepper Martin, zany Mickey McDermott, maverick promoter Bill Veeck, and Hall-of-Famer Satchel Paige. Although the team was an instant sensation, drawing national attention with their outlandish promotions, success did not always follow. The Forgotten Marlins relives those days in detail and follows the players through their triumphs and tribulations both on and off the diamond. Including rarely-heard stories about baseball icon Satchel Paige's years in Miami, and containing interviews between the author and several of the surviving ballplayers, this book is a unique and comprehensive account of a truly original baseball team. The Forgotten Marlins is an entertaining and engaging read for all baseball fans and historians.

Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid: A Tactical Analysis - Attacking A Chance for You to Learn Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 System of Play, Tactics, Each Player's Responsibilities, Positioning & Movement With Every Possible Phase of Play The long awaited study of Jose Mourinho's tactics is finally here with an extensive analysis of his Real Madrid team's 4-2-3-1 formation. You can now see a full analysis of Real Madrid's attacking and defending tactics which have been so important to their success. They scored 121 goals in La Liga and this book shows Real's 4-2-3-1 system of play, each player's responsibilities, positioning and movement within every possible phase of play. The attacking phase was key for Real Madrid and the main features were creating width, maintaining superiority in numbers around the ball zone, long diagonal passes, in/out swinging crosses from the flank and Ronaldo's efficiency in front of goal. Terzis Athanasios is a Tactical Professor of Football and has compiled an extensive assessment of Real Madrid's defensive play after over 1000 hours of studying all the games from the 2011-12 season. Real Madrid won the La Liga title, beating Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team, one of the most successful club sides in history, by 9 points. This attacking book starts with the characteristics of the players and builds into a comprehensive overview of the attacking tactics employed with clear diagrams and detailed descriptions. This gives you a unique opportunity to use the same 4-2-3-1 pattern of plays that Jose Mourinho's used for his winning Real Madrid team.. Integrate them into your sessions Now This Attacking book includes: Pages: 286 Diagrams: 382 Coaching Topics: 131 Printed: B/W Don't miss this unbelievable chance for you to learn Jose Mourinho's 4-2-3-1, how the team play and adapt their tactics to all conceivable situations. Their attacking and defensive play is key to their great success and the blueprint is available right here for you to learn and apply the same tactics for your team.

Of all the New York Yankees championship teams, the 1947 club seemed the least likely. Bridging the gap between the dynasties of Joe McCarthy and Casey Stengel, the team, managed by Bucky Harris, was coming off three non-pennant-winning seasons and given little chance to unseat the defending American League champion Boston Red Sox. And yet, led by Joe DiMaggio, this un-Yankees-like squad of rookies, retreads, and a few solid veterans easily won the pennant over the Detroit Tigers and the heavily favoured Red Sox, along the way compiling an American League-record nineteen-game winning streak. They then went on to defeat the Brooklyn Dodgers in a dramatic seven-game World Series that was the first to be televised and the first to feature an African American player. Bridging Two Dynasties commemorates this historic club - the players, on the field and off, and the events surrounding their remarkable season. Along with player biographies, including those of future Hall of Famers DiMaggio, Bucky Harris, Yogi Berra, and Phil Rizzuto, the book features a seasonal timeline and covers pertinent topics such as the winning streak, the Yankees' involvement in Leo Durocher's suspension, and the thrilling World Series.

By 1964 the storied St. Louis Cardinals had gone seventeen years without so much as a pennant. Things began to turn around in 1953, when August A. Busch Jr. bought the team and famously asked where all the black players were. Under the leadership of men like Bing Devine and Johnny Keane, the Cardinals began signing talented players regardless of colour, and slowly their star started to rise again. Drama and Pride in the Gateway City commemorates the team that Bing Devine built, the 1964 team that prevailed in one of the tightest three-way pennant races of all time and then went on to win the World Series, beating the New York Yankees in the full seven games. All the men come alive in these pages - pitchers Ray Sadecki and Bob Gibson, players Lou Brock, Curt Flood, and Bobby Shantz, manager Johnny Keane, his coaches, the Cardinals' broadcasters, and Bill White, who would one day run the entire National League - along with the dramatic events that made the 1964 Cardinals such a memorable club in a memorable year.

The story of a typical English rugby club set in its historical context linked to the tale of the rare survival of a multi-sport Victorian complex. This will be of interest and use to local people, sports enthusiasts and serious sports historians.

Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid: A Tactical Analysis - Attacking & Defending A Chance for You to Learn Mourinho's 4-2-3-1 System of Play, Tactics, Each Player's Responsibilities, Positioning & Movement With Every Possible Phase of Play The long awaited study of Jose Mourinho's tactics is finally here with an extensive analysis of his Real Madrid team's 4-2-3-1 formation. You can now see a full analysis of Real Madrid's attacking and defending tactics which have been so important to their success. They scored 121 goals in La Liga and this book shows Real's 4-2-3-1 system of play, each player's responsibilities, positioning and movement within every possible phase of play. The defensive phase was key for Real Madrid and the main features were applying pressure near the opposition's penalty area to regain the ball, aggressive zonal marking across the whole pitch, using intelligent positioning to double mark opposing players and Xabi Alonso's great tactical awareness. Terzis Athanasios is a Tactical Professor of Football and has compiled an extensive assessment of Real Madrid's defensive play after over 1000 hours of studying all the games from the 2011-12 season. Real Madrid won the La Liga title, beating Pep Guardiola's Barcelona team, one of the most successful club sides in history, by 9 points. This defending book starts with the characteristics of the players and builds into a comprehensive overview of the defensive tactics employed with clear diagrams and detailed descriptions. This gives you a unique opportunity to use the same 4-2-3-1 pattern of plays that Jose Mourinho's used for his winning Real Madrid team.. Integrate them into your sessions Now This Defending book includes: Pages: 244 Diagrams: 292 Coaching Topics: 103 Printed: B/W Don't miss this unbelievable chance for you to learn Jose Mourinho's 4-2-3-1, how the team play and adapt their tactics to all conceivable situations. Their attacking and defensive play is key to their great success and the blueprint is available right here for you to learn and apply the same tactics for your team.

National league glory last visited Manchester City in 1968, when the likes of Bell, Lee and Summerbee lifted the English Football League Championship trophy. Fast forward forty-four years. The 2011/12 Premiership season belongs to Manchester City. It has been a long wait, but premiership glory has finally come to rest at the Ethiad Stadium. My Eyes Have Seen the Glory is a match-by-match, blow-by-blow, superbly illustrated account of the most memorable season of English football in recent years. The world has looked on as Man City has grown in strength under the steady leadership of Roberto Mancini. The chairman expected, the fans expected; Mancini has delivered. It has been a season of magnificent highs - the 6-1 trouncing of Manchester United, named by Sir Alex Ferguson as 'the worst result in my history' - and depressing lows - the infamous Carlos Tevez saga - but there has always been drama, passion and world-class football. Victory in the Premiership is to be cherished; My Eyes Have Seen the Glory is the book every Man City fan has been waiting to read. Read it, bask in the glory of long-awaited victory, and celebrate the birth of a new era in the Premiership - Manchester City's era.

The Giro d'Italia is one of the world's most important and popular bicycle races, yet there is almost no information in English about this magical Italian race's rich past. With "The Story of the Giro d'Italia," the fabulous history of Italy's national tour is at last available. Volume One took the story of the Giro from its origin as a desperate promotional gamble by a nearly broke newspaper to Eddy Merckx's convincing 1970 victory. Volume Two describes the growth of the Giro into a modern, vital international race that is followed by cycling fans all over the world. Along the way, the stories and races that have excited the public over the last forty years are told, including the Francesco Moser/Giuseppe Saronni rivalry, the tragic tale of Marco Pantani and the Alberto Contador affair that left the Spaniard stripped of his 2011 Giro championship.

For the Baltimore Orioles, the glory days stretched to decades. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the team arguably had the best players, the best manager, the best Minor League teams, the best scouts and front office-and, unarguably, the best record in the American League. But the best of all, and one of baseball's greatest teams ever, was the Orioles team of 1970. Pitching, Defense, and Three-Run Homers documents that paradoxically unforgettable yet often overlooked World Champion team. Led by the bats of Frank Robinson and Boog Powell and a trio of 20-win pitchers, the Orioles won 108 regular season games and dropped just 1 postseason game on their way to winning the World Series against the Reds. The club featured three future Hall of Fame players (Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson, and Jim Palmer), a Hall of Fame manager (Earl Weaver), and several other star players in the prime of their careers. Featuring biographical articles on Weaver, his coaches, the broadcasters, and the players of the 1970 season, this book tells what happened in and out of the game. It details highlights and timelines, the memorable games, spectacular plays, and the team's working philosophy, "the Oriole Way"-and in sum recreates the magic of one of the greatest seasons in baseball history.

Of all the teams in the annals of baseball, only a select few can lay claim to historic significance. One of those teams is the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers, the first racially integrated Major League team of the twentieth century. The addition of Jackie Robinson to its roster changed not only baseball but also the nation. Yet Robinson was just one member of that memorable club, which included Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Pete Reiser, Duke Snider, Eddie Stanky, Arky Vaughan, and Dixie Walker. Also present was a quartet of baseball's most unforgettable characters: co-owners Branch Rickey and Walter O'Malley, suspended manager Leo Durocher, and radio announcer Red Barber. This book is the first to offer biographies of everyone on that incomparable team as well as accounts of the moments and events that marked the Dodgers' 1947 season: Commissioner Happy Chandler suspending Durocher, Rickey luring his old friend Burt Shotton out of retirement to replace Durocher, and brilliant outfielder Reiser being sidelined after running into a fence. In spite of all this, the Dodgers went on to win the National League pennant over the heavily favored St. Louis Cardinals. And of course, there is the biggest story of the season, where history and biography coalesce: Jackie Robinson, who overcame widespread hostility to become Rookie of the Year-and to help the Dodgers set single-game attendance records in cities around the National League.

In 1937, when local beer baron Emil Sick stepped in, the Seattle Indians were a struggling minor-league baseball team teetering on collapse. Moved to mix baseball and beer by his good friend and fellow brewer, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, Sick built a new stadium and turned the team into a civic treasure. The Rainiers (newly named after the beer) set attendance records and won Pacific Coast League titles in 1939, '40, '41, '51, and '55. The story of the Rainiers spans the end of the Great Depression, World War II, the rise of the airline industry, and the incursion of Major League Baseball into the West Coast (which ultimately spelled doom for the club). It features well-known personalities such as Babe Ruth, who made an unsuccessful bid to manage the team; Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who did manage the Rainiers; and Ron Santo, a batboy who went on to a storied career with the Chicago Cubs. Mixing traditional baseball lore with tales of mischief, "Pitchers of Beer" relates the twenty-seven-year history of the Rainiers, a history that captures the timeless appeal of baseball, along with the local moments and minutiae that bring the game home to each and every one of us. "Pitchers of Beer" showcases fifty-two photographs of players and memorabilia from noted Northwest baseball collector David Eskenazi.

We may not always be World Cup standard on the field, but on the page we are the best. This anthology brings together heroes, favourite grounds and historic moments from Welsh soccer as Cardiff's Dannie Abse lines up alongside the Rhondda's Ron Berry, John Toshack pens a poem on the immortal John Charles, and the great Trevor Ford writes about himself. This is a new-look Welsh XI that shows that our football is world class.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing many of these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

In 1937, when local beer baron Emil Sick stepped in, the Seattle Indians were a struggling minor-league baseball team teetering on collapse. Moved to mix baseball and beer by his good friend and fellow brewer, New York Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, Sick built a new stadium and turned the team into a civic treasure. The Rainiers (newly named after the beer) set attendance records and won Pacific Coast League titles in 1939, '40, '41, '51, and '55. The story of the Rainiers spans the end of the Great Depression, World War II, the rise of the airline industry, and the incursion of Major League Baseball into the West Coast (which ultimately spelled doom for the club). It features well-known personalities such as Babe Ruth, who made an unsuccessful bid to manage the team; Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby, who did manage the Rainiers; and Ron Santo, a batboy who went on to a storied career with the Chicago Cubs. Mixing traditional baseball lore with tales of mischief, "Pitchers of Beer" relates the twenty-seven-year history of the Rainiers, a history that captures the timeless appeal of baseball, along with the local moments and minutiae that bring the game home to each and every one of us. "Pitchers of Beer" showcases fifty-two photographs of players and memorabilia from noted Northwest baseball collector David Eskenazi.

The Giro d'Italia is one of the world's most important and popular bicycle races, yet there is almost no information in English about this magical Italian race's rich past. With "The Story of the Giro d'Italia," the fabulous history of Italy's national tour is at last available. Volume One takes the story of the Giro from its origin as a desperate promotional gamble by a nearly broke newspaper to Eddy Merckx's convincing 1970 victory.

The Butler Bulldogs advanced to the NCAA National Championship basketball game against Duke University upon defeating Michigan State on April 3, 2010. With only 4,500 students, Butler was the smallest school to play for a national championship since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Coached by Brad Stevens just three years into his position as head basketball coach the undefeated Bulldogs were a hometown team, playing before a hometown crowd on the national stage. Two days later, Butler lost narrowly to Duke, 61 59, but their run for the championship had become a national phenomenon. From her vantage point as a Butler professor, acclaimed writer Susan Neville observed (and participated in) Hoosier Hysteria firsthand. In Butler's Big Dance, she intertwines her recollections of the events with interviews, anecdotes, and photographs to bring readers a taste of the on-campus and courtside excitement of the Bulldogs David-and-Goliath bid for the national title."

Two childhood friends grow up on opposite sides of the two rival soccer teams in this memoir of friendship and loyalty. As they approached their teenage years a new youth phenomenon which had already began to appear on the soccer scene in Britain--the Casual movement. Instead of becoming bitter rivals and sworn enemies they stood side by side in the one and only group in the city which defended both their teams. This is the true, honest, and very unique story of the Dundee Utility thugs.

This book looks back at the last 17 seasons of Premiership football. Featuring in-depth profiles of the club's chairmen and manager and 23 of the best players to don the red shirt, this is an essential guide to England's pre-eminent club. There are also in-depth statistical analyses of every Premiership season, all cup results since 1992 and every result in the Manchester Derby since 1894.

With "Final Innings" Dean Sullivan concludes his four-volume documentary history of baseball, whose three earlier volumes have been called "a broad array of illuminating and often unexpected materials" ("Sports Collectors Digest"), "an invaluable reference tool" ("Newark Star-Ledger"), and a "fascinating collection" ("Washington Post"), in which "ancient myths are shattered and new facts are uncovered" ("USA Today Baseball Weekly"). Culling the most pertinent, newsworthy, and just plain curious stories from newspapers and periodicals, and putting each into context, Sullivan constructs an informative and entertaining account of Major League baseball from 1972 through 2008. The 105 essays cover key topics such as George Steinbrenner's purchase of the Yankees, the first free-agent draft, the coming of lights to Wrigley Field, the cancellation of the World Series in 1994, and the BALCO steroid probe. They also bring to light lesser-known gems like the rise of sabermetrics and the federal injunction against team owners in 1995. Offering a you-are-there view of the events that made baseball into the game we know today, this book gives readers a chance to go back and experience baseball's recent history as it happened and was reported by many of the game's finest writers and most prominent voices.