In the first edition of Classic Pens readers were reminded of the franchise's most memorable contests, from its beginnings in the 1960s through the 2010s. is new edition brings the team's standout games up to date, including their triumphant 2016 Stanley Cup victory. During the Penguins' early years, it wasn't uncommon to buy a $5 ticket for a seat at the top of the Civic Arena (the "Igloo") and at the end of the first period move to a seat in the first row behind the glass. Except for a few winning moments scattered through their first three decades, the idea of a full-season sold-out arena was too farfetched, never mind the thought of a Stanley Cup. The only constant was that the Penguins were always in financial trouble and often threatening to move out of the Steel City. The 1983-84 campaign proved to be the season that turned everything around. e Penguins' prize was Mario Lemieux, an 18-year-old center from Montreal, Quebec, who would lift the Pens out of the canyon of last-place finishes to the lofty heights of backto-back Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992. Lemieux went on to become one of the greatest players the game had ever seen. He and teammates such as Jaromir Jagr, Tom Barrasso, Ron Francis, Joe Mullen, Kevin Stevens, Larry Murphy, and Paul Coffey soon made the Civic Arena the place to be. In 1999 Mario Lemieux, now in his 30s, headed a group that purchased the club. e new ownership began a renaissance in which players like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang, and Jordan Staal again made the Pens a powerhouse on the ice, led them to a third Stanley Cup championship in 2009, and secured one of the best new buildings in the NHL: the Consol Energy Center. In 2016 the Penguins qualified for the playoffs for the tenth consecutive season, winning their fourth Stanley Cup by defeating the San Jose Sharks in a 4-2 series. In Classic Pens, author David Finoli's tour of the best moments in the Penguins' long history will evoke special memories from longtime fans and delight those who currently follow the team.

Telling the story of Saints football in New Orleans is a way to understand larger social, political and economic conditions during pivotal moments of the city's history. This book is the first to explore the team's role in rebuilding the city following Hurricane Katrina. The author documents New Orleans' initial efforts to attract professional football, the Katrina disaster and some successes and failures during 10 years of post-disaster recovery. The narrative of community recovery and cohesion crafted by Saints fans transcends racial divides and illustrates the relationship between professional sports and the American city. The voices of female fans-largely overlooked in the study of sports-compel a more inclusive definition of football fandom.

The emergence of baseball as the ""national pastime"" established the dynamics of spectator sports. Evolving in an urban landscape, the game attracted a dedicated fan base and enshrined the sports hero as a national celebrity. The game's allure was colored by the ethnic ambitions of the players and their supporters. Ethnic tensions were magnified when players began to see the game as a vehicle for individual rather than group achievement. The effect Irish-American players had on how the game was played and their support of Jim Crow culture shaped baseball into the next century. Players' salaries and off-season occupations were not overlooked by the public, who questioned their entitlement to the fruits of notoriety and derided their gratifying lifestyles. This book examines the development of baseball as 19th-century popular culture and as an institution that reinforced ideas about race, masculinity and American exceptionalism.

Big, blond and a goal-scoring machine, Kerry Dixon delighted Chelsea and England fans during the 1980s. Yet his fall from grace, from the pinnacle of a playing career that had few equals, has been, by his own admission, spectacular. Kerry's life in recent years has been bedevilled with problems with gambling, drugs and, worst of all, a prison sentence in 2015 after he was convicted of grievous bodily harm following a fight in a pub. At that point, one of football's golden boys finally hit rock bottom. This book is the honest, unflinching account of his rise and fall, and of the new life he is now slowly and patiently building. His memories of playing in a more robust era of the game, before the days of multi-million-pound salaries and all the rest of the modern football circus, will appeal to plenty of nostalgic football fans, as well as to all those who remember him as one of the game's all-time greats. Equally, his unflinching recollections of his darkest days, culminating in his time in prison, are about as far from the Beautiful Game as anyone can imagine, and as fascinating as they are sometimes uncomfortable.In the end, however, his stunningly successful career at Chelsea has ensured that he remains loved by fans, despite his troubles. The world is all too familiar with tales of once-famous sportsmen and women falling from grace. Kerry Dixon's story, however, is unique at once for its flashes of humour in adversity, its clear-eyed reflections on a different age of football, when leading players could all too easily be treated as disposable, and for its humility. For Kerry Dixon, as this often moving autobiography shows, the only way is up.

In 2016 the Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles - having left L.A. for St. Louis in 1995 - causing much heartbreak among fans. NFL teams are notorious for decamping to more profitable markets and the Rams' history of opportunistic moves goes back to 1946, when they left Cleveland, Ohio, their original hometown where fans had cheered them to a championship a month earlier. The move to L.A. from Cleveland shocked the NFL and shook up its power structure. It also jolted the all-white league into integration, preparing the way for the Browns and making the Rams the only NFL champs ever to have spent the following season in a different city. This is the story of how the Rams went from a homegrown Ohio team funded by local businessmen to the first major-league franchise on the West Coast, and how their departure jumpstarted a chain of events in Cleveland that continues to this day.

This brand-new edition of Classic Cavs counts down the fifty greatest Cleveland Cavaliers games, from their 67-loss inaugural NBA season in 1970-71 through the franchise's renaissance following the triumphant return of LeBron James. The rich, colorful history of the Cavs is woven into tales that tie together the early games at rickety old Cleveland Arena, the incredible highs and heartbreaking lows played out at Richfield Coliseum, and the fierce battles waged at the "Q." Knight ranks last-second nail-biters alongside satisfying routs and postseason epics, from the phenomenon known as the "Miracle of Richfield" to the Cavs' trips to the NBA Finals. Included are the heroics of characters like Bingo Smith, Austin Carr, World B. Free, Mark Price, Craig Ehlo, Kyrie Irving, and, of course, LeBron James. Whether it was because of a fantastic finish or an amazing individual performance, each game included in Classic Cavs is worth remembering and revisiting, appealing to Cavaliers fans everywhere.

Dublin 4, probably best-known in sporting terms as the spiritual home of Leinster Rugby, has one of the highest densities of diverse sports clubs in all of Ireland. In this new work from Kurt Kullmann, a founding member of the Donnybrook, Ballsbridge and Sandymount Historical Society, the author explores the history of these clubs, creating a picture of the kaleidoscopic nature of Dublin's sporting culture.

The 1911 New York Giants stole an astonishing 347 bases, a record that still stands more than a century later. That alone makes them special in baseball history, but as Maury Klein relates in Stealing Games they also embodied a rapidly changing America on the cusp of a faster, more frenetic pace of life dominated by machines, technology, and urban culture. Baseball, too, was evolving from the dead-ball to the live-ball era--the cork-centered ball was introduced in 1910 and structurally changed not only the outcome of individual games but the way the game itself was played, requiring upgraded equipment, new rules, and new ways of adjudicating. Changing performance also changed the relationship between management and players. The Giants had two stars--the brilliant manager John McGraw and aging pitcher Christy Mathewson--and memorable characters such as Rube Marquard and Fred Snodgrass; yet their speed and tenacity led to three pennants in a row starting in 1911. Stealing Games gives a great team its due and underscores once more the rich connection between sports and culture.

Steinbrenner nearly beats the Cavaliers to the NBA by eight years In an eleventh-floor corner office in downtown Cleveland during the spring of 1961, 30-year-old George Steinbrenner sketched with his hands the future as he dreamed it. He grabbed the young basketball player who was sitting near him by the shoulder with one hand and jabbed the air with invisible designs with the other. A glittering 12,000-seat basketball palace, Steinbrenner said to Larry Siegfried, the just-graduated captain of the Ohio State basketball team, would soon spring from the weedy empty lots along the Lake Erie shoreline. It would be an arena fit for the basketball royalty Steinbrenner was assembling for the Cleveland Pipers of the new American Basketball League. Before the Pipers' tumultuous story was over, Steinbrenner would win Siegfried's services and the ABL championship. In George Steinbrenner's Pipe Dream, Bill Livingston brings to life the remarkable story of the one-season wonder Pipers and their unlikely national championship. Drawing on personal interviews and extensive research, he introduces readers to the personalities that surrounded the organization, including John McLendon, the first African American head coach in any professional sport; Jerry Lucas, one of college basketball's greatest players; Dick Barnett, the best player on the team and the driving force for their ABL championship; the extravagantly talented prodigy Connie Hawkins; and Jack Adams, the Pipers' captain, who was traded in midseason in a fit of pique on Steinbrenner's part. Bill Livingston takes readers along for the Pipers' short but wild ride, providing a compelling and entertaining story about a fascinating chapter in sports history.

The Detroit Tigers gave a memorable performance in the pennant race against the New York Yankees in 1961, the American League's first expansion season. Starting faster, the Tigers held first place for more than half the season, until the Yankees caught up in late July. They met in a climactic three-game series at Yankee Stadium. The Bronx Bombers swept all three, winning the pennant for the eleventh time in 13 seasons. But the 18 games the Tigers and Yankees played against each other were some of the most exciting contests of '61. The Yankees' saga is well known but the Tigers' tale has largely been ignored. This book chronicles the season highlights, such as the home run duel between Roger Maris, who slugged a record 61, and Mickey Mantle, who hit a personal best 54. Other outstanding performances were given by the Tigers' Norm Cash, who led the league with a .361 average, and Rocky Colavito, who hit 45 home runs.

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.

Between 1979 and 1937, Hall of Fame coach Jock Sutherland took the championship program at the University of Pittsburgh that was built by his mentor Glenn ""Pop"" Warner, and won five of the nine national championships the school now claims. While a successful period, it was also controversial: Sutherland employed the help of wealthy boosters named the Golden Panthers, who helped him secure the services of the best players western Pennsylvania had to offer. While they made sure the players had what they needed, the school also made sure the players had enough money to be comfortable. Critics accused Pitt of employing what amounted to professional athletes in a college sport. These accusations not only embarrassed the school administration, but led to the end of their dynasty and its coach. This book tells the exciting tale of their championship run, and describes how their downfall began what has since been a continual academics-versus athletics tug-of-war at the school.

Glamorgan CCC Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Dragons. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the opposing vicar who scored a hundred, the game when Glamorgan only had five fielders, or the side that were all born in Wales? How about the times when a number 11 was top scorer for the county, or when a batsman was dismissed twice in the space of a minute? Do you know who was keeping wicket when Glamorgan won the 1969 Championship? Who took a wicket with his first-ever ball? Or who was the club's tallest ever player? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any Dragons fan who holds the riches of the club's history close to their heart.

Rooting for the Home Team examines how various American communities create and maintain a sense of collective identity through sports. Looking at large cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, and Los Angeles as well as small rural towns, suburbs, and college towns, the contributors consider the idea that rooting for local athletes and home teams often symbolizes a community's preferred understanding of itself, and that doing so is an expression of connectedness, public pride and pleasure, and personal identity. Some of the wide-ranging essays point out that financial interests also play a significant role in encouraging fan bases, and modern media have made every seasonal sport into yearlong obsessions. Celebrities show up for big games, politicians throw out first pitches, and taxpayers pay plenty for new stadiums and arenas. The essays in Rooting for the Home Team cover a range of professional and amateur athletics, including teams in basketball, football, baseball, and even the phenomenon of no-glove softball. Contributors are Amy Bass, Susan Cahn, Mark Dyreson, Michael Ezra, Elliott J. Gorn, Christopher Lamberti, Allison Lauterbach, Catherine M. Lewis, Shelley Lucas, Daniel A. Nathan, Michael Oriard, Carlo Rotella, Jaime Schultz, Mike Tanier, David K. Wiggins, and David W. Zang.

Did you know: Hull City is the only team in the English Football League which hasn't got a single letter that you can colour in? City's early matches were played at The Boulevard, the old home of rugby league side Hull FC? Up to 2008, the nation's favourite trivia quiz question was: which is the largest city in England to have never had a team in the top division? The answer, of course, was Hull - but promotion in May 2008 rendered the question defunct and the search is now on for an updated version. The Hull City Miscellany - a book on the Tigers like no other, packed with facts, stats, trivia, stories and legend. Now, with the club tasting previously uncharted highs, look back at what has made this club what it is today - the players and characters that have represented City over the years and the events that have shaped the club. If you want to know the record crowd for a home game, the record appearance holder or longest-serving manager, look no further - this is the book you've been waiting for. From record goal scorers, to record defeats; from Boothferry Park to Dean Windass - it's all in The Hull City Miscellany - can you afford not to own a copy?

It is probably not surprising to learn that the modern craze for running is not new: our species has been running since we were able to stand upright. What may be surprising, however, are the many ways and reasons we have performed this painful, exhausting and yet exhilarating activity down the ages. In this original, humorous and almost improbable world history, Thor Gotaas brings us many unusual and curious stories showing the remarkable diversity of running, from earliest times to the immense popularity of running today at athletics meetings, world championships and Olympic games. Amongst the myriad characters the author describes are King Shulgi of Mesopotamia, who four millennia ago boasted about his ability to maintain high speeds while running long distances, and once claimed to have run from Nippur to Ur, a distance of not less than 160 kilometres, and Norwegian Vikings who exercised by running races against animals. There are also the little-known naked runs, backward runs, monk runs, snowshoe runs, the Incas' ingenious infrastructure of professional runners and the running culture of Native Americans. This unique book will be a revelation to everyone who reads it. It will appeal to all who wish to know more about why the ancients shared our love, and hatred, of this physically demanding yet spiritually rewarding pastime.

Ireland On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the Republic's footballing past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable diary - with an entry for every day of the year. From the Irish Free State's debut at the 1924 Olympics through to the Aviva Stadium era, the green-and-white faithful have witnessed a host of famous international victories and heart-rending near misses at home and abroad. Timeless greats such as Liam Brady, Niall Quinn and Johnny Giles, Packie Bonner, John Aldridge and Noel Cantwell loom larger than life in a history capped by uplifting displays in the World Cup and Euros. Revisit 21 September 1949: the Boys in Green become the first non-UK side to win in England. 18 June 1994: Jack's Army vs. Italy in New York. 23 May 2002: Keano vs. McCarthy...

England On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the national cricket team's illustrious past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable England diary - with an entry for every day of the year. From the first ever Test match in 1877 through to the Twenty20 era, England's faithful fans have witnessed world domination and tragicomic failures, grudge matches, controversy and absurdity - all present here. Timeless greats such as Ian Botham, Jack Hobbs and Fred Trueman, Denis Compton, Harold Larwood and Andrew Flintoff all loom larger than life. Revisit 5 January 1971, when a Melbourne Test became the first ever one day international. 30 July 1995: Dominic Cork takes England's first hat-trick in 38 years! Or 6 September 1880, when WG Grace and his two brothers all made their Test debuts - two successful, one tragic.

Oldham Athletic Miscellany collects together all the vital information you never knew you needed to know about the Latics. In these pages you will find irresistible anecdotes and the most mindblowing stats and facts. Heard the one about the insulting newspaper article that ended Ken Bates' 1960s reign as chairman? How about the fan who changed his name to Oldham Athletic? Or the successful stopper who was inspired by Brian Clough on a Sunderland beach? Did you know comedian Eric Sykes was on the Oldham board in the '70s? That Athletic have beaten, once or more, every team that they've ever played in the League and FA Cup? Or that Roger Palmer's pre-match ritual involved watching horse-racing before kick-off? All these stories and hundreds more appear in a brilliantly researched collection of trivia - essential for any Latics fan who holds the riches of the club's history close to their heart.

Though not one of English cricket's more glamorous or successful counties, Derbyshire have nonetheless had many wonderful players, and their dedicated supporters will enjoy this look back at 100 of the finest. There are undisputed all-time legends such as Mike Hendrick and Bob Taylor, plus some undeniably great but rather more controversial figures such as Dominic Cork. Derbyshire's tradition of superb pace bowlers is much in evidence here, with almost a third of those featured being players in that mould. Featuring player biographies, statistics and illustrations, this book is essential reading for any fan of the club.

Oldham Athletic On This Day revisits all the most magical and memorable moments from the club's rollercoaster past, mixing in a maelstrom of quirky anecdotes and legendary characters to produce an irresistibly dippable diary of Latics history - with an entry for every day of the year. From the club's Victorian formation through to the Premier League era, the Boundary Park faithful have witnessed championships, promotions and relegations, hard-fought Lancashire derbies, breathtaking Cup runs, a Wembley trip and a re-election saga - all featured here. All-time greats including Eric Gemmell and Andy Ritchie, Bobby Johnstone, Roger Palmer and Andy Goram all loom larger than life. Revisit 10 April 1994, when the Latics were 13 minutes away from winning the League Cup. 24 April 1915: a 2-0 defeat by Liverpool that left Oldham runners-up in the League. Or 25 October 1989, when at one point the scoreboard read Frankie Bunn 6 Scarborough 0!

Nick Barnes is a journalist for the BBC, and was tasked with following Sunderland's first season in the Premiership. With full press access this is his story of their first, and following his dramatic resignation on 4 December, Keane's final season. It follows Keane as he pits his wits against his old boss Alex Ferguson, his former teammates, and former enemies.

The New York Yankees played their first game in the American League in 1903. Since then, they have become the best team in baseball, bar none. Now this action-packed and fact-filled volume brings the Yankee's great history to life. From Babe Ruth's called shot and Lou Gehrig's tearful farewell speech, to Reggie Jackson's three hits on three pitches and Derek Jeter's game-saving catches, classic moments are recounted with such vivid description that readers will swear they can smell the popcorn and hear the crack of the bat. The book includes team records and post-season results from 1903 to 2006, as well as lists of Yankees inducted into the Hall of Famers and photos of the most memorable plays and people in Yankee history. For New York fans and people who just like to know everything about baseball, this is a must-read!