- Table View
- List View
Backseat Quarterback
by Perian ConerlyBefore cable television and mega-contracts, professional jocks' lives were little different from those of the fans in the stands. Back then, the game they played was much simpler but far rougher than anything seen today. Ever cheering from the sidelines, Perian Conerly, wife of the New York Giants’ star quarterback Charlie Conerly, and the first female sportswriter in the National Sportswriters’ Association, wrote this lighthearted account of pro football during its heyday (1948–1961). Her husband led the Giants for fourteen seasons. As she describes the glory games, the players, and life on the road, she delivers from the inside the kind of personal reportage that fans adore. Her story begins with the hilarious misadventures of her wedding day in Clarksdale, Mississippi, “the Golden Buckle on the Cotton Belt.” It ends thirteen years later with Charlie's retirement at the age of forty. In between, there are vignettes of the closely knit cadre of Giants' wives, most of whom resided in the same Bronx hotel near Yankee Stadium. She also reports locker-room gossip and recounts amusing pro-ball anecdotes of a time before TV made athletes' images familiar in all households. Although their deeds on the gridiron were notable, their faces were not. Back then, players were so anonymous in public that many times they fell prey to imitators who stole their identities to mooch drinks and dinners from unsuspecting fans only for the thrill of passing as “somebody.” Along with her scoop reports on winning games, Mrs. Conerly paints an endearing portrait of her famous husband, an Ole Miss legend who, after retirement, was hired as the first Marlboro Man. Though her style is casual, she moves the reader painlessly through some of the finer points of the game. The Washington Evening Star touted her for “having written the best book on pro football in a long time.” The New York Times, for which Mrs. Conerly wrote occasional sports columns, said “Backseat Quarterback is exactly the kind of book that one would expect Perian Conerly to write. Its pages shine with her charm, gaiety, wit, intelligence, and sparkle.” Newsweek praised its “comic insight.” This reissue of a favorite book of 1963 has a foreword by the Conerlys' friend and teammate Frank Gifford.
Backtrack
by V. Paul ReynoldsIn Backtrack, former naval officer, avid outdoorsman, sportsman, editor, and award-winning journal- ist V. Paul Reynolds journeys back along the path of his life to revisit and share with readers many of his outdoor experiences. Reynolds was introduced to the outdoors by his father, Harvard Reynolds, in the 1940s. Harvard took his son to many of his own favorite hunt- ing and fishing spots, helping give birth to his son's lifelong love affair with the outdoors. Later, Harvard eventually took his son to his first smoke-filled hunting camp, where amber liquid flowed and profanity filled the room. Reynolds would soon understood how the out- doors could bestow both the love of nature and the joy of friendship. Reynolds' journey has since car- ried him from the brooks of Maine to hunting grounds across North America, as well as indoors to the hallways of Augusta, where he worked for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, and the editorial offices of the Northwoods Sporting Journal where he serves editor and publisher. Reynolds' life has been a great outdoor adventure; now the eloquent and thoughtful writer brings readers along on the trail to skin a deer in the field, fish with his dad, and hunt with his wife, Diane, herself a dedicated outdoorswoman.
Backup Goalie
by Jake MaddoxJamie thought everything was perfect on his hockey team. But when the goalie is injured, Jamie has to step in to play the unfamiliar position. With the state championship at stake, can Jamie help his team skate to victory or are they all on thin ice?
Backyard Brawl: Inside the Blood Feud Between Texas and Texas A & M
by W. K. StrattonIt happens once a year, creating a seismic divide throughout the country. It pits brother against brother. It breaks up business deals. It ruins relationships. And once it's finished, all both sides want is for another year to pass by so they can do it again. It is the Texas/Texas A& M football game. And in the football-obsessed state that is Texas, no single game resonates more. Every year during the Thanksgiving holidays, the two teams meet for something that has become much more than just a game. It's a blood feud that represents a tremendous cultural divide in the state. It's city against country, a rural agricultural school against an urban university. And yet both sides come from the same family, warring cousins who roll up their sleeves once a year in the backyard to settle the question of who's number one--at least for the time being. In Backyard Brawl, W. K. Stratton takes you through this rivalry and its history, covering the years when the game was postponed because the fans were just too violent, the branding of UT's beloved steer, Bevo, by a renegade Aggie, the kidnapping of A&M's beloved Reveille by boisterous UT students, the theft of UT's cannon, Old Smokey, and its unceremonious dumping into the murky waters of Austin's Town Lake, and the fistfights that broke out when celebrating UT fans rushed A&M's nearly sacred Kyle Field after Texas won the last-ever Southwest Conference title on the Aggies' home turf. Stratton also relates the more serious side of the rivalry, particularly the way both schools came together after tradition turned to tragedy in 1999, when the A&M bonfire collapse killed twelve students. And in a touching epilogue, he captures the angst that hit the College Station campus when officials decided to cancel the return of the bonfire in 2002. Stratton drew a bead on the 2001 season and followed both teams through their schedules leading up to the big clash in College Station. Taking you inside a renowned Aggie Yell practice and introducing you to fervid yet often zany orange-blooded Texas fans through their elaborate tailgating rituals, he creates revealing portraits of the two teams, including head coaches R. C. Slocum and Mack Brown, both of whom are legends in their own time, destined for the Hall of Fame. Backyard Brawl is a fascinating examination of the greatest war in college football, destined to become a classic for students of the game.
Backyard Sugarin': A Complete How-To Guide (4th Edition)
by Rink Mann Michael FarrellFrom buying equipment to tapping your own trees to boiling the sap, this is the classic, best-selling guide to making maple syrup This little book swept maple sugarin’ buffs off their feet when it first appeared and is still the top-selling guide to the craft after over 40 years in print. Backyard Sugarin’ tells you how you can make maple syrup right in your own backyard without having to build a sap house or buy buckets, holding tanks, evaporators, and other expensive paraphernalia. This new edition also features a foreword by maple expert Michael Farrell, author of The Sugarmaker’s Companion, who provides a contemporary look back at the old-school techniques presented in this book. With detailed “how-to” information and tips from sugarers across the country, this is the only maple sugaring guide you’ll ever need.
Bad As I Wanna Be
by Dennis RodmanA wild ride inside the glowing head of Dennis Rodman--the NBA's greatest rebounder and America's most outspoken and outrageous athlete. When Sports Illustrated put the man they call "America's most provocative athlete" on their cover, they sold more copies than any other issue they had sold in a decade (except the swimsuit issue). Why? Because Dennis Rodman, superstar basketball player who joined the Chicago Bulls for the 1996 season, has more in common with Mick Jagger than with his new teammate Michael Jordan. With his body-covering tattoos and ever-changing fluorescent hair, Rodman's sideline antics and celebrated benchings have captivated sports fans as much as his record-breaking on-court performances and earned him a reputation as a rebel with the same penchant for shocking behavior as his on-again off-again squeeze, Madonna. In Bad as I Wanna Be he shares his surprising and candid opinions on everything from fame, money, and race relations, to sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll--and he'll talk about his life, from going to prison for stealing watches to his daughter, the light of his life. At a time when most celebrities and professional athletes try to control their public personas like politicians and refrain from expressing their true beliefs, Dennis Rodman is a refreshingly unique, uncompromising individual who both transcends his world and refuses to conform to it. Bad as I Wanna Be is as candid, intriguing, and unforgettable as he is.
Bad Blood: The Secret Life of the Tour de France
by Jeremy WhittleEven the biggest cycling fan can one day wake up to find that he has lost his faith Bad Blood is the story of Jeremy Whittle's journey from unquestioning fan to Tour de France insider and confirmed sceptic. It's about broken friendships and a sport divided; about having to choose sides in the war against doping; about how galloping greed and corporate opportunism have led the Tour de France to the brink of destruction.Part personal memoir, part devastating exposé of a sport torn apart by drugs and scandal, Bad Blood is a love letter to one man's past, and a warning to cycling's future.‘Whatever you think about doping, you must read this book ... Well-balanced, considered, compelling’ RouleurShortlisted for the 2008 William Hill Sports Book of the Year
Bad Boy
by Diana WielerHockey is the only game worth playing in the rough-and-tumble prairie town of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. When sixteen-year-old A.J. Brandiosa makes the Triple A team of his dreams, he can hardly believe that his life is finally coming together. And then it falls apart. A.J. makes an unexpected discovery about his best friend and teammate, Tulsa Brown, and he can't keep his rage and fear from spilling onto the ice. An aggressive defenseman is becoming a violent one… An explosive novel by award-winning author Diana Wieler that looks honestly at teenage sexuality and the world of amateur hockey.
The Bad Boy and the Tomboy
by Nicole NwosuSome love stories begin in all the wrong ways.Always comfortable being one of the guys, Macy Anderson is laser focused on only three things: studies, soccer, and a scholarship. Romance is the last thing on Macy’s mind, until Cedric Cahill—the one boy she’s ever crushed on—asks her out on a date.Handsome and charismatic, Cedric’s everything Macy has ever wanted in a boyfriend. There’s just one problem: Cedric’s cousin Sam. Brazen and unapologetic with a bad-boy reputation to match, Sam has an annoying way of constantly showing up in Macy’s life. Something crackles beneath their “just friends” relationship, and soon Macy’s thinking about him in all the ways she shouldn’t—pushing things too far when she’s around him. As the tension between them escalates, Macy needs to decide if it’s worth risking both a friendship and a relationship to find out where her heart’s loyalties truly lie. Especially when the truth behind Sam’s bad-boy demeanor changes everything between them forever.
Bad Boys
by Tony BradmanSometimes - to survive - you have to FIGHT! Each year, City FC - known as 'the Hawks' - take on a group of thirteen-year-olds for the first tier of their special soccer school: training sessions in the evenings and weekends for truly talented players who are aiming to become professional players. It's a glamorous, exciting future for the few who succeed - with huge rewards. But the failure rate is also high - BAD BOYS, the second in the series, highlights a conflict between two players who want to play in the same position: Ben, who wants to be accepted as 'one of the lads', even if it means behaving badly; and Lee, who fights to make his own decisions, only to realize he's made the wrong choices...
Bad Break (The Gymnasts #6)
by Elizabeth A. LevyCindi's never been so scared. After her broken leg heals Cindi's confidence is still shaky. The fear she feels every time she tries to do gymnastics is even more scary than breaking her leg. She's afraid she'll never be able to perform the way she used to. Does it mean Cindi doesn't have what it takes to be a gymnast?
Bad Business: A Bad Boys of Sports Novel (Bad Boys of Sports #2)
by Nicole EdwardsThis player’s got a lot to learn if he wants to score . . . with the boss’s daughter. “Nicole Edwards sure does know how to write the bad boys of sports!”—L. P. Dover Stone: Football is more than a game to me. It’s my calling. Becoming the Dallas Wranglers’ starting quarterback before I retire is a dream come true, but with a few wins under my belt, suddenly everyone wants a piece of me. And even though being in the spotlight has its perks—beautiful women, star treatment, more beautiful women—what really gets me sweating is the watchful gaze of my sexy-as-hell PR coach, Savannah Andrews. The catch? Her father is kind of my boss. . . . Savannah: In my family, football is big business. When your dad owns an NFL franchise, you learn a thing or two about schmoozing, and from what I can tell, it’s not a skill in Jason Stone’s playbook. Sure, the veteran quarterback is literally larger than life. With broad shoulders, muscles on muscles, and a mouth made for kissing, he may be one of the hottest men in the league—and I should know. I’ve turned down enough players to start my own all-star team. But those guys just wanted to get close to my father. Meanwhile, Stone is getting temptingly close . . . to me.Advance praise for Bad Business “Bad Business is incredibly hot, sexy, and sweet. Nicole Edwards brings her A game to the must-read football romance of the year. Pick it up today, and thank me later.”—Sloane Howell, author of Bossed The Bad Boys of Sports come to life in these sexy standalone novels by New York Times bestselling author Nicole Edwards: BAD REPUTATION | BAD BUSINESS This ebook includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Bad Call: Technology's Attack on Referees and Umpires and How to Fix It (Inside Technology)
by Harry Collins Robert Evans Christopher HigginsHow technologies can get it wrong in sports, and what the consequences are—referees undermined, fans heartbroken, and the illusion of perfect accuracy maintained.Good call or bad call, referees and umpires have always had the final say in sports. Bad calls are more visible: plays are televised backward and forward and in slow motion. New technologies—the Hawk-Eye system used in tennis and cricket, for example, and the goal-line technology used in English football—introduced to correct bad calls sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong, but always undermine the authority of referees and umpires. Bad Call looks at the technologies used to make refereeing decisions in sports, analyzes them in action, and explains the consequences.Used well, technologies can help referees reach the right decision and deliver justice for fans: a fair match in which the best team wins. Used poorly, however, decision-making technologies pass off statements of probability as perfect accuracy and perpetuate a mythology of infallibility. The authors re-analyze three seasons of play in English Premier League football, and discover that goal line technology was irrelevant; so many crucial wrong decisions were made that different teams should have won the Premiership, advanced to the Champions League, and been relegated. Simple video replay could have prevented most of these bad calls. (Major League baseball learned this lesson, introducing expanded replay after a bad call cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.)What matters in sports is not computer-generated projections of ball position but what is seen by the human eye—reconciling what the sports fan sees and what the game official sees.
Bad Call: Technology's Attack on Referees and Umpires and How to Fix It
by Harry Collins Christopher Higgins Robert EvansGood call or bad call, referees and umpires have always had the final say in sports. Bad calls are more visible: plays are televised backward and forward and in slow motion. New technologies -- the Hawk-Eye system used in tennis and cricket, for example, and the goal-line technology used in English football -- introduced to correct bad calls sometimes get it right and sometimes get it wrong, but always undermine the authority of referees and umpires. Bad Call looks at the technologies used to make refereeing decisions in sports, analyzes them in action, and explains the consequences.Used well, technologies can help referees reach the right decision and deliver justice for fans: a fair match in which the best team wins. Used poorly, however, decision-making technologies pass off statements of probability as perfect accuracy and perpetuate a mythology of infallibility. The authors re-analyze three seasons of play in English Premier League football, and discover that goal line technology was irrelevant; so many crucial wrong decisions were made that different teams should have won the Premiership, advanced to the Champions League, and been relegated. Simple video replay could have prevented most of these bad calls. (Major League baseball learned this lesson, introducing expanded replay after a bad call cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.)What matters in sports is not computer-generated projections of ball position but what is seen by the human eye -- reconciling what the sports fan sees and what the game official sees.
The Bad Guys Won
by Jeff PearlmanOnce upon a time, twenty-four grown men would play baseball together, eat together, carouse together, and brawl together. Alas, those hard-partying warriors have been replaced by GameBoy-obsessed, laptop-carrying, corporate soldiers who would rather punch a clock than a drinking buddy. But it wasn't always this way ... <P><P>In The Bad Guys Won, award-winning former Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jeff Pearlman returns to an innocent time when a city worshipped a man named Mookie and the Yankees were the second-best team in New York. <P><P>So it was in 1986, when the New York Mets -- the last of baseball's live-like-rock-star teams -- won the World Series and captured the hearts (and other select body parts) of fans everywhere.But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. <P><P>Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's won 108 regular-season games, while leaving a wide trail of wreckage in their wake -- hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the eternally cursed Boston Red Sox. <P><P>With an unforgettable cast of characters -- Doc, Straw, the Kid, Nails, Mex, and manager Davey Johnson (as well as innumerable groupies) -- The Bad Guys Won immortalizes baseball's last great wild bunch of explores what could have been, what should have been, and thanks to a tragic dismantling of the club, what never was.
Bad Lies: A Field Guide to Lost Balls, Missing Links, and Other Golf Mishaps
by Charles LindsayInBad Lies, golf's wittiest observer, photographer Charles Lindsay, celebrates the hazards and pitfalls of the game. Lindsay stakes out the diabolic border territories that encroach on golf courses--moon-crater bunkers, waist-high fescue grass, murky lake bottoms--to capture the unbelievable my-ball-went-where? moments that make the game so infuriating and so addictive for so many. This hilarious follow-up to Lindsay's popular Lost Balls (Little, Brown, 2005) features inspired and gorgeous color photographs, plus larger-than-life pictures of some of the world's rarest--and oddest--golf balls. Texts include a foreword by outspoken golf commentator Gary McCord, definitions of the game's offbeat terminology, and a meditation on the golf ball and the immortal soul.
Bad-luck Basketball (Jake Maddox JV)
by Thomas Troupe Mike Ray Jake MaddoxThe Clovers have never been the best basketball team in the district, but lately their luck has been worse than ever. And it seems like everyone wants to blame Brandon for the team's losing streak. Can Brandon convince his teammates he's not bringing the bad luck before it's too late?
"Bad News": The Turbulent Life of Marvin Barnes, Pro Basketball's Original Renegade
by Bob Costas Mike CareyMarvin "Bad News" Barnes was considered a future Hall of Fame basketball player before he even graduated from college. A standout at Providence College, where he averaged 20.7 points and 17.9 rebounds per game, he was an All-American with the world at his fingertips.Although Barnes enjoyed two highly successful years in the American Basketball Association with the Spirits of St. Louis (winning Rookie of the Year honors and twice being named an All-Star), his career fizzled in the NBA as he wore out his welcome with the Detroit Pistons, Buffalo Braves, Boston Celtics, and San Diego Clippers in four years. His immaturity, as well as a chronic losing battle with drugs and alcohol, turned a potential superstar into a has-been by 1979. By then, his swagger was gone. So too was his game.Written by Mike Carey, who opened his house to Barnes later in his life, this is the story of a supremely gifted athlete whose self-destructive nature led to him living on the mean streets of East San Diego for three years as a panhandler and pimp. Eventually he would serve a total of five years in prison for various felony charges, including the sale of cocaine.Throughout his life, every time it appeared that "Bad News" had turned the corner, his demons reappeared and succeeded in luring him back into becoming a conniving dope fiend.On September 8, 2014, Barnes finally hit rock bottom, passing away due to acute cocaine and heroin intoxication. He was sixty-two years old.With stories and quotes from Julius Erving, Bill Walton, Larry Brown, Mike D'Antoni, and many others who crossed paths with Barnes, as well as a foreword from former Spirits announcer Bob Costas, "Bad News" is the story of a squandered talent who could never defeat his inner demons.
Bad Reputation: A Bad Boys of Sports Novel
by Nicole EdwardsMeet the most wanted players in sports . . . one ridiculously hot alpha male at a time. Chase: With a nickname like “Sin,” it’s no wonder they call me the bad boy of hockey. Opponents curse me. Fans scream my name—in the arena and in other, much more private places. Penalties or not, I’m not afraid to dish out a little pain. But pleasure? That’s my weakness. And no one knows it better than my best friend, Cassie Desrosiers. I’d have to be blind not to notice her rocking body and teasing grin. So when she invites me along on a trip to Vegas, my curiosity isn’t the only thing that’s aroused. Cassie: Chase Barrett is a world-class A-hole. As his best friend, I’m allowed to call him on his BS. Who else is going to do it? Certainly not the puck bunnies swooning at every flex of his biceps. Everyone knows that Chase is the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. There’s no such thing as commitment for the king of casual hookups. So why should I care? Maybe because all work and no play makes me a sexually frustrated girl. It’s time to put the hockey stud at my beck and call to good use . . . but after a week in Vegas with Chase, I might never want to go back to the real world.Praise for Bad Reputation“[Nicole] Edwards opens the Bad Boys of Sports contemporary romance series with a steamy, fun novel. . . . Readers will appreciate that Chase and Cassie are more than just two hot bodies going horizontal at the first opportunity. They are surrounded by friends and family who add nuance and depth (and some family drama) to their passionate romance.”—Publishers Weekly“Sinfully fun and exciting! The chemistry was off the charts. Nicole Edwards sure does know how to write the bad boys of sports!”—New York Times bestselling author L. P. Dover“An incredibly sexy story with some fun and exciting twists. . . . Bad Reputation was a fun escape from my day.”—Red Cheeks Reads This sexy standalone novel includes an excerpt from another Loveswept title.
Bad Shot (Lorimer Sports Stories)
by Sylvia Taekema12-year-old Cody loves basketball. When a new well-off kid Nick arrives at school and starts giving Cody pointers, Cody lands a spot on the team. Despite Nick's help, Cody still feels anxious all the time. Cody's performance gets worse until his one big shot at a basket goes into his own team's net! Cody soon realizes that Nick's help isn't what he needs to succeed. To play better, he knows he has to become more self-reliant and work on his basketball skills on his own terms. Set against the backdrop of a struggling small town, Bad Shot touches on the emotional realities of performance anxiety, socioeconomic status, and bullying. Distributed in the U.S by Lerner Publishing Group.
Bad Sports
by Dave ZirinA THOUGHT-PROVOKING LOOK AT THE BIG BUSINESS AND IMMORAL PRACTICES BEHIND PROFESSIONAL SPORTS BY ACCLAIMED SPORTSWRITER DAVE ZIRIN, HAILED AS THE "CONSCIENCE OF AMERICAN SPORTSWRITING" (THE WASHINGTON POST )The fastest-growing sector of today's sports audience is the alienated fan. Complaints abound: from inflated ticket prices, $6 hot dogs, and $9 beers to owners endlessly demanding new multimillion-dollar stadiums funded by public tax dollars. Those sitting in the owners' boxes are increasingly placing profit over players' performances and fan loyalty. Bad Sports cuts through the hype and bombast to zero in on tales of abusive, dictatorial owners who move their teams thousands of miles away from their fan base, use their stadiums as religious and political platforms, or hold communities ransom for millions of dollars of taxpayer money to fund their gargantuan stadiums.As the multibillion-dollar sports-industrial complex continues to lumber along, Dave Zirin is the voice in the wilderness, speaking out for the common fan with a tough, passionate, and intelligent voice that will remind readers that there is more to sportswriting than glowing athlete profiles.
Badass Boxing Workouts: A Hard-Hitting Program to Smash Stress, Have Fun and Get in the Best Shape of Your Life
by Jennifer ChiengPunch Boring in the FacePump up your fitness routine by following former Olympic boxer Jennifer Dugwen Chieng&’s badass boxing regimen. It&’s a high-intensity, full-body workout that is just as fun as it is impactful! This book teaches classic boxing techniques with lessons on footwork, punches, endurance, core strengthening and more.Hooks, Uppercuts & Strikes Intense Crunches Partner Work Quick Feet & SprintsThe exercises in Badass Boxing Workouts really pack a punch. You&’ll find yourself gaining stability, muscle tone, stamina and self-improvement, all while transforming your body and kicking ass.
Badass Survival Secrets: Essential Skills to Survive Any Crisis
by James HenryHistory is filled with incredible stories of the mountain men, experts in survival who relied on nothing except their own skills and ingenuity. If you want to learn to be one of them, then this is the book for you. Badass Survival Secrets will introduce you to everything that you need to be a modern day mountain man. You'll learn how to construct shelter, build fires, how to track and hunt your food, how to find clean water, and how to stay warm in brutal climates. Everything that you need to become a badass survivalist expert is in this book.
Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
by Peter RichmondCould a very good football team be more than just a very good football team? Could it be something more? Could it be legendary--not just Hall of Fame legendary but legendary as in the tales of ancient warriors, half-real and half-mythical, who mattered because they inspired people who needed to believe in figures mightier than their mundane selves? Could a football team seize the modern imagination because the days of true legend have long passed? Because we no longer have myths in sport or in life? Because long gone are the days when, as Ken Stabler put it to me, "you played for the name on the front of the jersey, not the name on the back"?
Badasses: The Legend of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden's Oakland Raiders
by Peter RichmondA book that explores the enduring legends of Snake, Foo, Dr. Death, and John Madden’s Oakland Raiders, Badasses is the definitive biography of arguably the last team to play old-fashioned tough-guy football. Peter Richmond, co-author of the New York Times bestseller The Glory Game, offers a fascinating look at the 1970s Oakland Raiders, led by colorful greats from another era: Ken Stabler, Willie Brown, Gene Upshaw, Jim Otto, Art Shell, head coach John Madden, and owner Al Davis. In the bestselling vein of Boys Will Be Boys, Badasses chronicles the bar-room exploits, practice-field pranks, and Super Bowl glories of the team’s many misfits, cast-offs, psychos, and geniuses of the game.