If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs . . . then you're probably not a football fan. Years of underachievement. An heroic sense of injustice. A seemingly infinite capacity for self-destruction. John Crace and Spurs were made for each other. But then the team started to play like possible champions. For most fans, these are the glory moments they dream about. For Crace they just opened a new dimension of anxiety: the fear of success. Crace has supported Spurs for 40 years. His wife thinks he suffers from a psychiatric disorder, but fandom is not only one of the ways he negotiates his relationships, it also helps him make some sense of his life. Vertigo is the story of why fandom that starts out in boyish hope always ends in dark comedy.

Rapid development of new technologies is leading to ever more versatile, multipurpose mobile devices, including 3G and 4G Internet-enabled cell phones. Wireless networking and wireless Internet access are developing and expanding on a global basis at a rapid rate. Meanwhile, RFID (radio frequency identification) will revolutionize wireless tracking, inventory and logistics, from manufacturing to shipping to retailing. We analyze mobile advertising, mobile banking, WiMax, LTE and other wireless standards. Mobile entertainment is covered, including TV and other programming adapted for the cell screen. In addition, we cover wireless markets in India, China and Africa, competition between handset manufacturers, as well as the iPhone and other smartphones. Our coverage includes business trends analysis and industry statistics. We also include a wireless and cellular business glossary and a listing of industry contacts, such as industry associations and government agencies. Next, we profile hundreds of leading companies. Our 330 company profiles include complete business descriptions and up to 27 executives by name and title. Purchasers will find a form in the book enabling them to register for 1-year, 1-seat online access to tools at Plunkett Research Online, including the ability to view the market research/industry trends section and industry statistics. You have access, at no additional charge, to the very latest data posted to Plunkett Research Online. Online tools enable you to search and view selected companies, and then export selected company contact data, including executive names. You'll find a complete overview, industry analysis and market research report in one superb, value-priced package.

During the 1956 baseball season in the city of Los Angeles, Mickey Mantle's pursuit of Babe Ruth's single-season home run record was matched only by the day-to-day drama of Steve Bilko's exploits in the Pacific Coast League. While Mantle was winning the Triple Crown in the American League, Bilko was doing the same in the highest of all the minor leagues with the Los Angeles Angels. He led the league hitters in eight categories, and the Angels romped to the pennant. Bilko hit one mighty home run after another to earn Minor League Player of the Year honors and inspire the team's nickname, "The Bilko Athletic Club." The Bilko Athletic Club tells the story of the 1956 Los Angeles Angels, a team of castoffs and kids built around Steve Bilko, a bulky, beer-loving basher of home runs. Author Gaylon H. White provides an intimate portrait of life in minor league baseball in the 1950s and gives readers a glimpse inside the heads and hearts of the players as they experience the same doubts and frustrations many face in the pursuit of a dream. The Angels' unforgettable season unfolds through stories told by the players themselves, as they racked up runs and rolled to a 107-61 won-loss record, finishing sixteen games ahead of their closest competitor. Featuring in-depth interviews with Steve Bilko and twenty-five of his '56 Angels teammates, The Bilko Athletic Club also includes several photos and is highlighted by never-before-told anecdotes. A fascinating account of a season to remember, The Bilko Athletic Club will take fans and historians of the national pastime back to the golden era of baseball.

Orient fans rarely get to glimpse truly great footballers, unless, of course, they are playing for the other team. This book pays tribute to 12 of these Orient greats: Peter Allen, Sid Bishop, Steve Castle, Alan Comfort, Stan Charlton, Laurie Cunningham, Tony Grealish, Tommy Johnston, Peter Kitchen, Matt Lockwood, Dennis Rofe, Tommy Taylor.

Bill Struth is the most celebrated Manager in the history of Rangers Football Club. In his 34 year tenure, he led the club to 30 major trophies and nurtured many of the club's greatest players. To them, he was simply 'Mr. Struth' - a father figure who guided them with the principle that, '... to be a Ranger is to sense the sacred trust of upholding all that such a name means in this shrine of football.' If these words set the ideals for his players to attain, his own personal life was clouded by moments of indiscretion which were to influence the course of his life and career. Drawing on family accounts and Rangers archives, the book explores his early life in Edinburgh and Fife, as well as his celebrated years in Glasgow. It recounts his career in professional athletics and in football with Heart of Midlothian, Clyde and ultimately, Rangers. It reflects on the legacy of the Struth era and his influences that remain at Ibrox today.

The rivalry between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox involves not just the teams, but the cities, owners, ballparks, fans, and the media. Its roots reach back to before even Babe Ruth and Harry Frazee, yet it is as contemporary as the next Red Sox-Yankees game. This book tells the story of the rivalry from the first game these epic teams played against each other in 1901 through the 2013 season in what former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani called 'the best rivalry in any sport.'

This text gives readers the chance to experience the unique character and personalities of the African American game of baseball in the United States, starting from the time of slavery, through the Negro Leagues and integration period, and beyond. For 100 years, African Americans were barred from playing in the premier baseball leagues of the United States-where only Caucasians were allowed. Talented black athletes until the 1950s were largely limited to only playing in Negro leagues, or possibly playing against white teams in exhibition, post-season play, or barnstorming contests-if it was deemed profitable for the white hosts. Even so, the people and events of Jim Crow baseball had incredible beauty, richness, and quality of play and character. The deep significance of Negro baseball leagues in establishing the texture of American history is an experience that cannot be allowed to slip away and be forgotten. This book takes readers from the origins of African Americans playing the American game of baseball on southern plantations in the pre-Civil War era through Black baseball and America's long era of Jim Crow segregation to the significance of Black baseball within our modern-day, post-Civil Rights Movement perspective. Presents a wide variety of original materials, documents, and historic images, including a never before published certificate making Frederick Douglass an honorary member of an early Black baseball team and author-conducted personal interviews Chronological chapter organization clearly portrays the development of Black baseball in America over a century's time Contains a unique collection of period photographs depicting the people and sites of Black baseball A topical bibliography points readers towards literature of Black baseball and related topics

On a rainy night in Gothenburg in May 1983 twelve young Scotsmen turned the footballing world on its head. Against all the odds, those players took on the might of Spanish giants Real Madrid, and beat them convincingly. Aberdeen were winners of the European Cup Winners Cup. The manager, Alex Ferguson, would go on to become one of the greats, his team Pittodrie legends. The tale of that season, the remarkable triumph in the Ullevi Stadium and of the men who made it possible has never fully been told - until now. "Glory In Gothenburg" goes behind the scenes, deep into the inner sanctum, and through a series of in-depth interviews with all the main characters reveals what made that side and those players so special and what drove them on to achieve unparalleled success. Thirty years later, the story remains one of the most astonishing in the history of Scottish football.

A collection of short biographies of the great Sunderland players named as Player of the Year who helped to define the club's image and set the standard to its future stars.

The book is the day by day story of the 1954 Indians, whose .721 winning percentage is still the highest in American League history. It tells how down the city of Cleveland was on the team following three straight second place finishes, how little was expected of it by its fans, and even some of its players, and how it exceeded all expectations by winning a league-record 111 games and a pennant, before flopping in the World Series.

They had two future Hall of Famers, the last pitcher to win thirty games, and a supporting cast of some of the most peculiar individuals ever to play in the majors. But more than that, the 1968 Detroit Tigers symbolize a lost era in baseball. It was a time before runaway salaries and designated hitters. Before divisional playoffs and drug suspensions. Before teams measured their well-being by the number of corporate boxes in their ballpark and the cable contract in their pocket. It was the last season of baseball's most colorful and nostalgic period. It was surely not a more innocent time. The 1968 Tigers were a team of hell-raisers, the second coming of the Gas House Gang. They brawled on the field and partied hard afterward. They bickered with each other and ignored their manager. They won game after game with improbable rallies on their last at-bat and grabbed the World Championship by coming back from a three games to one deficit to beat the most dominant pitcher in the World Series history in the deciding seventh game. Their ultimate hero, Mickey Lolich, was a man who threw left-handed, thought "upside down," and rode motorcycles to the ballpark. Their thirty-game winner, Denny McLain, played the organ in various night spots, placed bets over the clubhouse phone, and incidentally, overpowered the American League. Their prize pinch-hitter, Gates Brown, had done hard time in the Ohio Penitentiary. Their top slugger, Willie Horton, would have rather been boxing. Their centerfielder, Mickey Stanley, a top defensive outfielder, would unselfishly volunteer to play the biggest games of his life at shortstop, so that their great outfielder, Al Kaline, could get into the World Series lineup. The story of this team, their triumph, and what happened in their lives afterward, is one of the great dramas of baseball history. The Tigers of '68 is the uproarious, stirring tale of this team, the last to win a pure pennant (before each league was divided into two divisions and playoffs were added) and World Series. Award-winning journalist George Cantor, who covered the Tigers that year for the Detroit Free Press, revisits the main performers on the team and then weaves their memories and stories (warts and all) into an absorbing narrative that revives all of the delicious-and infamous-moments that made the season unforgettable. Tommy Matchick's magical ninth-inning home run, Jim Northrup's record-setting grand slams, Jon Warden's torrid April, Dick McAuliffe's charge to the mound, Denny McLain's gift to Mickey Mantle, the nearly unprecedented comeback in the World Series, and dozens more. The '68 Tigers occupy a special place in the history of the city of Detroit. They've joined their predecessors of 1935 as an almost mythic unit-more than a baseball team. The belief has passed into Detroit folklore. Many people swear, as Willie Horton says, that they were "put here by God to save the city." The Tigers of '68 will help you understand why.

"Magic Carpet Ride" is the story of Niall Quinn's time at Sunderland as player, manager and chairman. Featuring insights from writers, business associates and former players, this is a tale of ups, downs, taxi cabs and clowns. This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the Black Cats, but Quinn's tale will reach a national and international audience. He is very highly regarded in the game and massive in the ROI. He is currently one of the main summarisers on Sky Sports. Niall Quinn's love affair with Sunderland AFC is well documented. From arriving as a player to leaving as a director, having been manager and chairman in between, Quinn really saw it all in his time on Wearside. For the first time since leaving the club, writers from "Seventy3 Magazine" chart the ups, downs, taxi cabs and clowns during Quinn's tenure at the club.

The history of Fulham Football Club told through the stories of the major matches, charting the path of a club with humble beginnings that rose and fell several times over the last 100 years.