Every summer, college baseball teams from around the nation come to Omaha, Nebraska, to play pure move-the-man-over, run-manufacturing baseball in a series that's part college bowl game, part county fair. In the spirit of "3 Nights in August" and "The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty," veteran sports writer Ryan McGee goes behind the scenes, into the stands, and onto the field to reveal an exciting yet personal look at one of the hottest sports championships in the country---the College World Series.
In 2008, the ten-day, eight-team tournament was the scene of one of the greatest series in its illustrious history. And Ryan McGee puts the reader behind closed doors with the underdog champs, the Fresno State Bulldogs, as well as with their seven opponents, from the first batting practice session, to bus rides to the ballpark, to the locker room and the dugout. It's the CWS as few ever see it.
But "The Road to Omaha" goes far beyond the 2008 season. It's an in-depth look at the managing strategies and playing style of college baseball, as well as a series of profiles that examine the people behind and around the CWS---the players, coaches, and fans who keep that feeling of good-old-days innocence alive through their reverence for the Great American Pastime.
McGee also takes up residence at Rosenblatt Stadium itself, reliving its rich history and tapping into the electricity around it, from the tailgating fans to the surrounding neighborhoods. "The Blatt" is America's last real connection to the baseball belief that "Field of Dreams "can actually happen: a wooden-framed ballpark with cramped concourses where teams share locker rooms, change clothes in the parking lot, and sign autographs for kids until their fingers cramp. "The Blatt" is a monument to tradition---and the last of its kind to keep that tradition alive.
Thanks to Ryan McGee's quick eye for play-by-play action, as well as his deep love for sports, " The Road to Omaha" is a rare glimpse into the kind of baseball our grandfather's knew---a snapshot of the one of the last remaining vestiges of pure Americana: a hometown, baseball, and the people who shape it and are shaped by it in turn.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s only authorized book revealing the inside track on his final
year of racing and retirement from the driver's seat.

"Time was running out on my charade. . . . My secrets were about to be
exposed to the world."

When NASCAR star Dale Earnhardt Jr. retired from professional stock car racing in
2017, he walked away as a healthy man. But for years he had worried that the
worsening effects of multiple racing-related concussions would end not only his time
on the track but also his ability to live a full and happy life.

Torn between a race-at-all-costs culture and the fear that something was terribly
wrong, Earnhardt started keeping private notes about his escalating symptoms. They
showed a vicious cycle: suffering injuries on Sunday, struggling through the week,
then recovering in time to race again. For the first time he shares these notes and
fully reveals the physical and emotional struggles he faced as he fought to close out
his career on this own terms.

In this candid reflection Earnhardt opens up about his frustration with the slow
recovery, his admiration for the woman who stood by him through it all, and his
determination to share his own experience so others don't have to suffer in silence.

Steering his way to the final checkered flag of his storied career proved to be the
most challenging race-and most rewarding finish-of his life.