|
Showing 1 - 6 of
6 matches in All Departments
In late 1975 and early 1976, at the height of the Cold War, two of
the Soviet Union’s long-dominant national hockey teams traveled
to North America to play an eight-game series against the best
teams in the National Hockey League. The culmination of the
“Super Series” was HC CSKA Moscow’s faceoff against the
reigning champion Flyers in Philadelphia on January 11, 1976. Known
as the “Red Army Club,” HC CSKA hadn’t lost a game in the
series. Known as the “Broad Street Bullies,” the Flyers were
determined to bring the Red Army team’s winning streak to an end
with their trademark aggressive style of play. Based largely on
interviews, Ed Gruver’s book will tell the story of this epic
game and series as it lays out the stakes involved: nothing less
than the credibility of the NHL. If the Red Army team had completed
its series sweep by defeating the two-time Stanley Cup champion
Flyers, the NHL would no longer have been able to claim primacy of
place in professional-level hockey. Gruver also describes how the
game and series affected the styles of both Russian and NHL teams.
The Soviets adopted a more physical brand of hockey, while the NHL
increasingly focused on passing and speed.
The day of the Ice Bowl game was so cold, the referees' whistles
wouldn't work; so cold, the reporters' coffee froze in the press
booth; so cold, fans built small fires in the concrete and metal
stands; so cold, TV cables froze and photographers didn't dare
touch the metal of their equipment; so cold, the game was as much
about survival as it was about skill and strategy. On New Year's
Eve, 1967, the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers met for a
classic NFL championship game, played on a frozen field in sub-zero
weather. The "Ice Bowl" challenged every skill of these two great
teams. Here's the whole story, based on dozens of interviews with
people who were there-on the field and off-told by author Ed Gruver
with passion, suspense, wit, and accuracy.
Sports fans had much to occupy themselves with during the memorable
summer of '41, including New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio's
record-setting consecutive games hit streak and Boston Red Sox star
Ted Williams' dogged pursuit of batting .400. No sports story,
however, loomed larger that summer than Joe Louis versus Billy
Conn, the hard-hitting heavyweight champion, Detroit's Brown
Bomber, battling the stylish and cocky Pittsburgh Kid." Considered
one of the greatest matches in boxing history, the fight saw the
underdog Conn well ahead on points until Louis knocked him out in
the 13th round. Ed Gruver captures the high drama of that sultry
night at the Polo Grounds, the brash confidence of the challenger
from Pittsburgh, and the quiet dignity of the Black champion Louis,
who personified "the memory of every injustice practiced upon his
people and the memory of every triumph."
Hell with the Lid Off looks at the ferocious five-year war waged by
Pittsburgh and Oakland for NFL supremacy during the turbulent
seventies. The roots of their rivalry dated back to the 1972
playoff game in Pittsburgh that ended with the "Immaculate
Reception," Franco Harris's stunning touchdown that led the
Steelers to a win over the Raiders in their first postseason
meeting. That famous game ignited a fiery rivalry for NFL
supremacy. Between 1972 and 1977, the Steelers and the
Raiders-between them boasting an incredible twenty-six Pro Football
Hall of Famers-collided in the playoffs five straight seasons and
in the AFC title game three consecutive years. Both teams favored
force over finesse and had players whose forte was intimidation.
Pittsburgh's Steel Curtain defense featured Mean Joe Greene, Jack
Lambert, Jack Ham, and Mel Blount, the latter's heavy hits forcing
an NFL rule in his name. The Raiders countered with "The Assassin,"
Jack Tatum, Skip Thomas (aka "Dr. Death"), George Atkinson, and
Willie Brown in their memorable secondary. Each of their
championships crowned the eventual Super Bowl winner, and their
bloodcurdling encounters became so violent and vicious that they
transcended the NFL and had to be settled in a U.S. district court.
With its account of classic games, legendary owners, coaches, and
players with larger-than-life personalities, Hell with the Lid Off
is a story of turbulent football and one of the game's best-known
rivalries.
Hairs vs. Squares is an ode to an unforgettable season that began
with the first major players' strike in the history of North
American sports and ended with a record-setting World Series played
by two of the game's greatest and most colorful dynasties. In a
sign of the times it was Hippies vs. Hardhats, a clash of cultures
with the hirsute, mod Mustache Gang colliding with the clean-cut,
conservative Big Red Machine on the game's grandest stage. When the
Oakland A's met the Cincinnati Reds in the 1972 Fall Classic, more
than a championship was at stake. The more than two dozen
interviews bring to life a time when controversy was commonplace,
both inside and outside the national pastime. In baseball, Willie
Mays was traded, Hank Aaron was chasing down Babe Ruth's home run
record, and Dick Allen was helping to save the Chicago White Sox
franchise while winning the American League's Most Valuable Player
award. Outside the American pastime the war in Vietnam was raging,
campus protests spread throughout the country, and Watergate and
the Munich Olympics headlined the tumultuous year. The 1972 Major
League Baseball season was marked by the rapid rise of rookies and
young stars, the fall of established teams and veterans, courageous
comebacks, and personal redemptions. Along with the many
unforgettable and outrageous characters inside baseball, Hairs vs.
Squares emphasizes the dramatic changes that took place on and off
the field in the 1970s. Owners' lockouts, on-field fights, maverick
managers, controversial trades, artificial fields, the first full
five-game League Championship Series, and the closest, most
competitive World Series ever, combined to make the 1972 season as
complex as the social and political unrest that marked the era.
Unable to buy into an existing team and rebuffed by National
Football League owners who had no desire to expand, 27-year-old
Lamar Hunt, the son of Texas billionaire H.L. Hunt, formed the
American Football League in 1959. He placed his team in Dallas,
called them the Texans, and invited other young entrepreneurs to
join him. The seven men who did called themselves members of the
"Foolish Club, " but on September 9, 1960, the AFL made its regular
season debut and went on to change the face of football forever.
Unlike the NFL, the American Football League featured wide open
offenses and innovative coaching strategies, capturing a new
generation of fans dedicated to the league and its players. The AFL
aggressively pursued college stars--Heisman Trophy winner Billy
Cannon in its inaugural season and Joe Namath in 1965. The eight
teams signed a collective television agreement that split the money
equally among the franchises, thus providing far more stability and
balance than earlier start-up leagues. Based on interviews with
owners, coaches, players, scouts, broadcasters and writers from the
era, this is a colorful account of the AFL and its place in sports
history.
|
|