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The Big Field
by Mike LupicaPlaying shortstop is a way of life for Hutch-not only is his hero, Derek Jeter, a shortstop, but so was his father, a former local legend turned pro. Which is why having to play second base feels like demotion to second team. Yet that's where Hutch ends up after Darryl "D-Will" Williams, the best shortstop prospect since A-Rod, joins the team. But Hutch is nothing if not a team player, and he's cool with playing in D-Will's shadow-until, that is, the two shortstops in Hutch's life betray him in a way he never could have imagined. With the league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?
The Big Fight
by Leonard Sugar Ray Arkush MichaelThe Big Fight is Sugar Ray Leonard's unflinching autobiography, revealing the Olympic hero and world champion in five weight divisions, and the man who struggled with depression, rage, drug addiction and greed. One of six children in a chaotic impoverished family, Ray started boxing as a teenager. His remarkable talent and determination guaranteed his swift rise through the ranks of amateur boxing, culminating in his gold medal win at the 1976 Olympics. In the 1980s his remarkable fights against 'Marvelous' Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran u known collectively as the 'Four Kings of the Ring' u revolutionised the sport. This legendary series of fights made Leonard the star at the centre of the golden era of modern boxing, and, next to Ali, the biggest ever draw in the sport's history. Leonard tells of the gruelling workouts, the fierce competition, and the notorious corruption he encountered within the sport as he battled to become a champion. With candour and humour he comes to terms with the contradictions that tormented him. Despite his enormous strength, focus and discipline, he was a serial adulterer who suffered bouts of rage and succumbed to alcohol and drug addiction. In examining his victories and failures, Sugar Ray Leonard presents a remarkable portrait of the rise, fall, and ultimate redemption of a true fighter u both inside and outside of the ring.
The Big Fix: The Hunt for the Match-Fixers Bringing Down Soccer
by Brett Forrest<p>Can the most beloved sport in the world beat the corruption that threatens to tear it apart? <p>Known as the "beautiful game," soccer is the world's most popular sport, crossing borders and language barriers to entertain billions. But underneath it all--the raucous fans in the stadiums; the beloved players; and FIFA, the international governing body with a membership of 209 national associations--is a scandal that threatens to make soccer the ugliest sport in the world. An underworld of international gambling rings, corrupt players and officials, and shadowy figures preys on the far-flung edges of the game, making match-fixing in soccer one of organized crime's new, profitable businesses. <p>Now, for the first time, journalist Brett Forrest takes us inside the $700 billion international soccer betting market. In 2013 Europol revealed that more than 700 international matches have been fixed since 2008. Forrest pulls back the curtain, exposing a web of nefarious dealings across the world, even on U.S. soil, with opportunistic fixers bribing players, influencing officials, and staging fake matchups, while Asian criminal syndicates pull the strings. <p>No match is safe--not even the World Cup tournament--especially while local law enforcement officials lack the resources and the will to investigate. But one man has taken on this criminal enterprise: Chris Eaton, a hardheaded Australian, longtime Interpol director, and the former head of security for FIFA. Forrest follows Eaton's journey from local beat cop to FIFA's security chief for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It was at this competition that Eaton first grasped the extent of match-fixing and the threat it posed to the game. From that point on, Eaton made it his mission to track down the elusive perpetrators: fixers who shed identities, crisscross borders, and target players and clubs on behalf of international criminal syndicates. <p>Filled with headline-making revelations, <i>The Big Fix</i> is a must-read for soccer fans and true crime aficionados. The story brings us inside Chris Eaton's hunt for the world's biggest fixers and their backers--from the roots of fixing in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, to FIFA headquarters in Zurich and World Cup preparation in South Africa and Qatar, to fixing's expansion into nearly every country in the world--and the fight to save the beautiful game.
The Big Fix
by Brett ForrestCan the most beloved sport in the world beat the corruption that threatens to tear it apart?Known as the "beautiful game," soccer is the world's most popular sport, crossing borders and language barriers to entertain billions. But underneath it all--the raucous fans in the stadiums; the beloved players; and FIFA, the international governing body with a membership of 209 national associations--is a scandal that threatens to make soccer the ugliest sport in the world. An underworld of international gambling rings, corrupt players and officials, and shadowy figures preys on the far-flung edges of the game, making match-fixing in soccer one of organized crime's new, profitable businesses. Now, for the first time, journalist Brett Forrest takes us inside the $700 billion international soccer betting market. In 2013 Europol revealed that more than 700 international matches have been fixed since 2008. Forrest pulls back the curtain, exposing a web of nefarious dealings across the world, even on U.S. soil, with opportunistic fixers bribing players, influencing officials, and staging fake matchups, while Asian criminal syndicates pull the strings. No match is safe--not even the World Cup tournament--especially while local law enforcement officials lack the resources and the will to investigate. But one man has taken on this criminal enterprise: Chris Eaton, a hardheaded Australian, longtime Interpol director, and the former head of security for FIFA. Forrest follows Eaton's journey from local beat cop to FIFA's security chief for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. It was at this competition that Eaton first grasped the extent of match-fixing and the threat it posed to the game. From that point on, Eaton made it his mission to track down the elusive perpetrators: fixers who shed identities, crisscross borders, and target players and clubs on behalf of international criminal syndicates. Filled with headline-making revelations, The Big Fix is a must-read for soccer fans and true crime aficionados. The story brings us inside Chris Eaton's hunt for the world's biggest fixers and their backers--from the roots of fixing in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, to FIFA headquarters in Zurich and World Cup preparation in South Africa and Qatar, to fixing's expansion into nearly every country in the world--and the fight to save the beautiful game.
The Big Fix (Bareknuckle Ser.)
by Nathan SacksGeorge Choogart has just stepped off the boat to Manhattan. In England, he was a teenage star reporter. But he'll have to prove himself all over again if he wants an American newspaper job. When George stumbles across the Woodrat, an underground boxing club, he realizes he's found his next story. The Woodrat's owner shows George a world of corruption—a world that might be too dangerous for either of them. Woodrat staffers are disappearing. Big Jim Dickinson, one of New York's wealthiest men, might be to blame. But if George wants to stop Big Jim, he'll have to conquer the boxing ring first.
The Big Fix (Bareknuckle)
by Nathan SacksGeorge Choogart has just stepped off the boat to Manhattan. In England, he was a teenage star reporter. But he'll have to prove himself all over again if he wants an American newspaper job. When George stumbles across the Woodrat, an underground boxing club, he realizes he's found his next story. The Woodrat's owner shows George a world of corruption—a world that might be too dangerous for either of them. Woodrat staffers are disappearing. Big Jim Dickinson, one of New York's wealthiest men, might be to blame. But if George wants to stop Big Jim, he'll have to conquer the boxing ring first.
The Big Foot in the End Zone: The Big Foot in the End Zone (Scream Team #3)
by Bill DoyleAre you ready for some Bigfoot-ball?Karl and the rest of the Scream Team kick off football season with a new monster on the squad! It's Dr. Neuron's nephew. And this cranky creature is pulling out every prank to keep victory on the sidelines. Not good news for Karl who's howling ready to play in the Wolfenstein Muck Bowl, or for Beck whose big feet have become the league's biggest joke. One thing's for sure, the game of football has never been so funny!
The Big Game
by Tim GreenNew York Times bestselling author and former NFL defensive end Tim Green encourages readers to fight for their dreams in this heartfelt story about a young football star grappling with the stress of living up to his father’s name. Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica! <P><P>Danny Owens is dedicating his seventh-grade season to his Super Bowl champion father, who recently passed away. Danny promises everyone that, just like his dad, he’ll dominate the big game at the end of the season and earn a spot on the high school varsity team. <P><P>Then his English teacher catches him cheating on a test. Even though Danny can retake it, he knows there’s no point. He can’t read. And if Danny can’t pass this class, he won’t be eligible to play in the championship game that could unlock his future. <P><P>While his resentment rises against the only person willing to help him win off the field, the pressure to succeed begins to weigh heavily on Danny’s shoulders. Danny is being tested on every level now, and to pass, he may very well have to choose a different path from his father’s.
Big Game: The NFL in Dangerous Times
by Mark LeibovichFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of This Town, an equally merciless probing of America's biggest cultural force, pro football, at a moment of peak success and high anxiety <P><P>Like millions of Americans, Mark Leibovich has spent more of his life tuned into pro football than he'd care to admit. <P><P>Being a lifelong New England Patriots fan meant growing up on a steady diet of lovable loserdom. That is, until the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era made the Pats the most ruthlessly efficient and polarizing sports dynasty of the modern NFL, and its fans the most irritating in all of Pigskin America. Leibovich kept his obsession quiet, making a nice career for himself covering that other playground for rich and overgrown children, American politics. <P><P>Still, every now and then Leibovich would reach out to Tom Brady to gauge his willingness to subject himself to a profile. He figured that the chances of Brady agreeing were a Hail Mary at best, but Brady returned Mark's call in summer 2014 and kept on returning his calls through epic Patriots Super Bowl victory and defeat, and a scandal involving Brady--Deflategate--whose grip on sports media was as profound as its true significance was ridiculous. <P><P>So began a four-year odyssey that took Mark Leibovich deeper inside the NFL than anyone has gone before. From the owners' meeting to the draft to the sidelines of crucial games, he takes in the show at the elbow of everyone from Brady to big-name owners to the cordially despised NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. <P><P>Ultimately, BIG GAME is a chronicle of "peak football"--the high point of the sport's economic success and cultural dominance, but also the time when the dark side began to show. It is an era of explosive revenue growth, but also one of creeping existential fear. Players have long joked that NFL stands for "not for long," but as the true impact of concussions becomes inescapable background noise, it's increasingly difficult to enjoy the simple glory of football without the buzz-kill of its obvious consequences. <P><P>And that was before Donald Trump. In 2016, Mark's day job caught up with him, and the NFL slammed headlong into America's culture wars. <P><P>BIG GAME is a journey through an epic storm. Through it all, Leibovich always keeps one eye on Tom Brady and his beloved Patriots, through to the 2018 Super Bowl. Pro football, this hilarious and enthralling book proves, may not be the sport America needs, but it is most definitely the sport we deserve. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
The Big Game from the Black Lagoon
by Mike ThalerIn this book from the hilarious Black Lagoon Adventure series , Hubie's class has to play a football game against the older kids in school.
The Big Game of Everyhting
by Chris LynchYou have to love your family. You do, even if you don't, right? You don't have to understand them or play tennis with them, but you have to love them. It's a rule, and it's the kind of rule you don't break unless you're some kind of animal. My brother happens to be some kind of animal. My sister rides this sweet gold Honda scooter and has amazing hair. You'd hate her. My parents are vegetarian let-the-sunshine-in freaks. Lovable freaks but freaks all the same. My grandfather possesses a shocking comb-over, a kilt, about half of his original marbles, and his own golf complex. This summer, we are all working for him. It is going to be two hot, lucrative, carefree months of paradise. Or, possibly something else.
Big Game Shooting in Alaska
by Cpt. C. R. E. RadclyffeCaptain Radclyffe was an English gentleman-hunter who visited Alaska in 1903. He bagged Dall sheep on the Kenai Peninsula, back then a relatively new destination for sport hunting. He shot excellent brown bear and moose, one a 57-incher on Kussiloff Lake on the Alaska Peninsula. On his final bear hunt, a sow charged him and his native guide abandoned him. He was arrested for game law violations that prematurely ended his hunt for sheep, adding another interesting dimension to this well-written story. The charges against Radclyffe were later dismissed since he had an off-season permit to collect for the British Museum, but the author’s partner was not so lucky. Radclyffe writes of how the judge enjoyed rubbing the dismissal into the face of the arresting marshal, and he paints a vivid picture of the interactions of the hunters, guides, and authorities. After all his troubles, he lost most of his trophies because of shipping problems related to the Russo-Japanese War. Radclyffe had a way with words that makes the account of his trip to the Alaskan frontier come alive. This is an extremely interesting and well-written account of the game as well as the people that existed 100 years ago in the frozen North. Big Game Shooting in Alaska is dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt, a longtime friend of Radclyffe’s.Richly illustrated throughout.
Big Game Shooting in Alaska
by C. R. E. RadclyffeEmbark on a thrilling adventure through the rugged wilderness of Alaska with C. R. E. Radclyffe's Big Game Shooting in Alaska. This captivating account provides an exhilarating glimpse into the world of big game hunting at the turn of the 20th century, offering readers a front-row seat to the challenges and triumphs of tracking and hunting some of the most majestic creatures in the Alaskan frontier.C. R. E. Radclyffe, an experienced hunter and storyteller, shares his firsthand experiences of hunting in one of the world’s most remote and untamed landscapes. Through vivid and engaging narrative, Radclyffe brings to life the breathtaking beauty and harsh realities of the Alaskan wilderness, capturing the essence of the hunt and the spirit of adventure that drives it.Big Game Shooting in Alaska delves into the pursuit of various big game species, including moose, caribou, grizzly bear, and mountain goat. Radclyffe provides detailed descriptions of the hunting techniques, equipment, and strategies employed, as well as the physical and mental stamina required to navigate the challenging terrain and extreme weather conditions.The book also offers insights into the natural history and behavior of the animals, enriching the reader’s understanding of the intricate dynamics between hunter and prey. Radclyffe's respect for the wildlife and the environment shines through, emphasizing the importance of ethical hunting practices and conservation.Big Game Shooting in Alaska is an essential read for hunting enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers, and anyone fascinated by the untamed beauty of Alaska. C. R. E. Radclyffe’s masterful storytelling and keen observations make this book a timeless classic, celebrating the spirit of adventure and the enduring allure of the wild.
Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure
by Alexander WolffAlex Wolff canvasses the globe and travels to 16 different countries (and 10 states in the U. S.) to find out exactly why basketball has become a worldwide phenomenon. Whether it's in a pick-up game on the Royal court in Bhutan, in the heart of a former female college player of the year turned cloistered nun, in the tragedy of the legendary junior national team in war torn Yugoslavia, or in the life's work of one of the greatest players to ever play in the NBA, Alex Wolff discovers that basketball can define an individual, a race, a culture, and in some instances even a country. Fusing John Feinstein's talent for finding the human drama behind sport with Bill Bryson's travelogue style, Wolff shows how the power and love of basketball extends to the four corners of the earth and engages people of all cultures, races, genders, and generations.
Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure
by Alexander WolffDuring the late 1990s, eminent basketball journalist Alexander Wolff traveled the globe to determine how a game invented by a Canadian clergyman became an international phenomenon. Big Game, Small World presents Wolff’s dispatches from sixteen countries spread across five continents and multiple US states. In them, he asks: What can the game tell us about the world? And what can the world tell us about the game? Whether traveling to Bhutan to challenge its king to a pickup game, exploring the women’s game in Brazil, or covering the Afrobasket tournament in Luanda, Angola, during a civil war, Wolff shows how basketball has the power to define an individual, a culture, and even a country.This updated twentieth anniversary edition features a new preface in which Wolff outlines the contemporary rise of athlete-activists while discussing the increasing dominance within the NBA of marquee international players like Luka Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo. A loving celebration of basketball, Big Game, Small World is one of the most insightful books ever written about the game.
Big Hair and Plastic Grass: A Funky Ride Through Baseball and America in the Swinging '70s
by Dan EpsteinA wild pop-culture history of baseball’s most colorful and controversial decade, the 70s: “A trove of nuggets many of us either never knew . . . or forgot.” —The New York TimesThe Major Leagues witnessed more dramatic stories and changes in the 1970s than in any other era. The American popular culture and counterculture collided head-on with the national pastime, rocking the once-conservative sport to its very foundations. Outspoken players embraced free agency, openly advocated drug use . . . and even swapped wives.Controversial owners such as Charlie Finley, Bill Veeck, and Ted Turner introduced Astroturf, prime-time World Series, garish polyester uniforms, and outlandish promotions such as Disco Demolition Night. Hank Aaron and Lou Brock set new heights in power and speed while Reggie Jackson and Carlton Fisk emerged as October heroes and All-Star characters like Mark “The Bird” Fidrych became pop icons.For the millions of fans who grew up during this time, and especially those who cared just as much about Oscar Gamble’s afro as they did about his average, Dan Epstein’s Big Hair serves up a delicious, Technicolor trip down memory lane.
The Big Hit (Rigby PM Plus Blue (Levels 9-11), Fountas & Pinnell Select Collections Grade 3 Level Q #Yellow (Levels 6-8))
by Jenny Giles Betty GreenhatchAdapted from a favourite PM title, The Big Hit, this PM Oral Literacy Little Play has been specifically crafted for level 6 readers. Students will love performing as their favourite PM characters! The PM Oral Literacy Little Plays motivate students to project and adapt their voices, while exploring the meaning of these carefully levelled texts. Comprehensive teaching notes are included on the inside front cover of each book.
The Big Horse
by Joe Mcginniss"The big horse," in racing vernacular, is the animal that brings fame and fortune to a stable. He's the heavyweight champion, the All-American quarterback, the four-legged Michael Jordan of the barn. Seabiscuit was once Tom Smith's "big horse." A generation ago, Secretariat was Lucien Lauren's. In 2003, Funny Cide was Barclay Tagg's. In sixty years as a trainer, P. G. Johnson had never had one -- until Volponi. P. G. Johnson was a blue-collar wizard, a hardscrabble tough guy who had come east from Chicago, determined to make his mark on New York. And he did. He became leading trainer at all three New York tracks -- Saratoga, Belmont, and Aqueduct -- as well as at Florida's Tropical Park. And he did it without ever winning a Triple Crown or Breeders' Cup event, or having "the big horse." "I never knew how to kiss rich people's asses, and I got too old to learn. If no owner was going to give me a big horse, I figured I'd have to find one myself," he said. He did that, in his seventies, buying a mare for $8,000, breeding her to a $20,000 stallion, and in 1998 producing Volponi, the horse that would change his life. In October 2002, weakened by surgery and radiation treatment for cancer, P. G. watched Volponi -- the longest shot in the field at 43 to 1 -- bring home more than $2 million by winning the Breeders' Cup Classic, the richest race in America. The following summer at Saratoga, McGinniss -- journalist, investigative reporter, and horse racing obsessive -- began showing up, more Tuesdays with Morrie than Guys and Dolls, at P. G.'s barn in the predawn hours to listen to the inside racing stories and lore P. G. had gathered. McGinniss came to appreciate that Johnson was not only a stellar horseman but an American original whose wit and wisdom carried far beyond the confines of the racetrack. As for Volponi, the big horse had given P. G. the perfect Disney ending with the Breeders' Cup victory, and, indeed, Disney soon bought film rights to P. G.'s life story. "He'll be even better next year," P. G. had said, but by the time McGinniss got to Saratoga, Volponi had not won a race in nine months. His faith undiminished, P. G. continued to race Volponi against the best, at Saratoga and beyond, until in the end it came down to the 2003 Breeders' Cup Classic in Santa Anita, a race only one horse in history had ever won twice. As fires burned in the Southern California hills, Volponi -- with Funny Cide's jockey, Jose Santos, in the saddle -- ran the last race of his life. This book is about what happened that day, about what came after, and about much of what had come before. It's the most exciting, rewarding, and heartwarming story about the world of horse racing that you'll ever read, by one of America's finest writers, at the top of his form.
Big League Babble On: The Misadventures of a Rabble-Rousing Sportscaster and Why He Should Be Dead By Now
by John GallagherVeteran radio and television personality John Gallagher’s salacious, voracious, and dangerously delicious memoirs of a life lived on the edge in the midst of some of the world’s biggest celebrities. Long-time sportscaster John Gallagher has had close to four decades of hosting some of the top-rated radio and TV shows in Canada and, while he was at it, doing enough drugs to wipe out a small village. Along the way there was plenty of drinking, cavorting, and gallivanting with some of the coolest, biggest, and baddest sports stars and Hollywood celebs around. In Big League Babble On, John spares no one, not even himself. Read about his nights boozing with the likes of Tony Curtis, Stevie Nicks, Colin Farrell, and Leafs head coach Pat Burns. Find out how partying with Gallagher saved Mark Wahlberg’s life. Or how he once came a little too close to Princess Di. And the time Muhammad Ali stole John’s Penthouse magazine … for the articles. Gallagher is a pop culture Cuisinart and a walking — but mostly talking — sports almanac. From hot tubbing with Wendel Clark to “chasing skirt” with Robbie Alomar, Gallagher has met (and often partied with) all of the greats. This book will give you an accredited backstage pass and get you close enough to sniff Bo Derek’s perfume (Tigress by Fabergé?).
The Big Leagues Go to Washington: Congress and Sports Antitrust, 1951-1989
by David George SurdamBetween 1951 and 1989, Congress held a series of hearings to investigate the antitrust aspects of professional sports leagues. Among the concerns: ownership control of players, restrictions on new franchises, territorial protection, and other cartel-like behaviors. In The Big Leagues Go to Washington, David Surdam chronicles the key issues that arose during the hearings and the ways opposing sides used economic data and theory to define what was right, what was feasible, and what was advantageous to one party or another. As Surdam shows, the hearings affected matters as fundamental to the modern game as broadcasting rights, player drafts and unions, league mergers, and the dominance of the New York Yankees. He also charts how lawmakers from the West and South pressed for the relocation of ailing franchises to their states and the ways savvy owners dodged congressional interference when they could and adapted to it when necessary.
Big Mal: The High Life and Hard Times of Malcolm Allison, Football Legend
by David TossellMalcolm Allison is one of the most controversial figures of the last half-century of English football. Leader of the famed 'West Ham Academy', his playing career was cut short by the loss of a lung to tuberculosis. Disillusioned, he became a professional gambler before acknowledging that football was his calling. After humble beginnings as a coach, he began a celebrated partnership with Joe Mercer, turning Manchester City into one of the most stylish teams English football has produced. Along with the trophies came the birth of Big Mal, the larger-than-life personality who helped revolutionise televised football. He became instantly recognisable for his cigar and Fedora, and equally notorious for a string of affairs with beautiful women. As the dark side of Big Mal took over, he was banned for life from the touchlines, became embroiled in a series of boardroom battles and spent time in police cells and rehabilitation clinics fighting the effects of alcoholism. Yet despite the often-destructive effect of his Big Mal persona, Malcolm Allison retains his status as one of the most incisive minds to have graced the game. This book tells both sides of the story, tracing the life and times of one of the most charismatic characters in British sport.
The Big Miss: My Years Coaching Tiger Woods
by Hank HaneyThe Big Miss is Hank Haney's candid and surprisingly insightful account of his tumultuous six-year journey with Tiger Woods, during which the supremely gifted golfer collected six major championships and rewrote golf history. Hank was one of the very few people allowed behind the curtain. He was with Tiger 110 days a year, spoke to him over 200 days a year, and stayed at his home up to 30 days a year, observing him in nearly every circumstance: at tournaments, on the practice range, over meals, with his wife, Elin, and relaxing with friends. The relationship between the two men began in March 2004 when Hank received a call from Tiger in which the golf champion asked him to be his coach. It was a call that would change both men's lives. Tiger--only 28 at the time--was by then already an icon, judged by the sporting press as not only one of the best golfers ever, but possibly the best athlete ever. Already he was among the world's highest paid celebrities. There was an air of mystery surrounding him, an aura of invincibility. Unique among athletes, Tiger seemed to be able to shrug off any level of pressure and find a way to win. But Tiger was always looking to improve, and he wanted Hank's help. What Hank soon came to appreciate was that Tiger was one of the most complicated individuals he'd ever met, let alone coached. Although Hank had worked with hundreds of elite golfers and was not easily impressed, there were days watching Tiger on the range when Hank couldn't believe what he was witnessing. On those days, it was impossible to imagine another human playing golf so perfectly. And yet Tiger is human--and Hank's expert eye was adept at spotting where Tiger's perfection ended and an opportunity for improvement existed. Always haunting Tiger was his fear of "the big miss"--the wildly inaccurate golf shot that can ruin an otherwise solid round--and it was because that type of blunder was sometimes part of Tiger's game that Hank carefully redesigned his swing mechanics. Hank's most formidable coaching challenge, though, would be solving the riddle of Tiger's personality. Wary of the emotional distractions that might diminish his game and put him further from his goals, Tiger had developed a variety of tactics to keep people from getting too close, and not even Hank--or Tiger's family and friends, for that matter--was spared "the treatment." Toward the end of Tiger and Hank's time together, the champion's laser-like focus began to blur and he became less willing to put in punishing hours practicing--a disappointment to Hank, who saw in Tiger's behavior signs that his pupil had developed a conflicted relationship with the game. Hints that Tiger hungered to reinvent himself were present in his bizarre infatuation with elite military training, and--in a development Hank didn't see coming--in the scandal that would make headlines in late 2009. It all added up to a big miss that Hank, try as he might, couldn't save Tiger from. There's never been a book about Tiger Woods that is as intimate and revealing--or one so wise about what it takes to coach a superstar athlete.
The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game
by Oscar P. RobertsonPerhaps the greatest all-around player in basketball history, Oscar Robertson revolutionized basketball as a member of the Cincinnati Royals and won a championship with the Milwaukee Bucks. When he was twenty-three, in 1962, he accomplished one of basketball’s most impressive feats: averaging the triple-double in a single season—a feat never matched since. Cocaptain of the Olympic gold medal team of 1960; named the player of the century by the National Association of Basketball Coaches; named one of the fifty greatest players in NBA history; and inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980—Robertson’s accolades are as numerous as they are impressive. But The Big O is also the story of a shy black child from a poor family in a segregated city; of the superstar who, at the height of his career, became the president of the National Basketball Players Association to try to improve conditions for all players. It is the story of the man forced from the game at thirty-four and blacklisted from coaching and broadcasting. But two years after he left basketball, after six years of legal wrangling, Robertson won his lawsuit against the NBA, eliminating the option clause that bound a player to a single NBA team in perpetuity and ending restrictions on free agency. The Big O is the story of how the NBA, as we now know it, was built; of race in America in the second half of the twentieth century; and of an uncompromising man and a complex hero.
The Big One: An Island, an Obsession, and the Furious Pursuit of a Great Fish
by David KinneyPublished to rave reviews in hardcover and purchased by DreamWorks in a major film deal, The Big One is a spellbinding and richly atmospheric work of narrative journalism in the tradition of Friday Night Lights. Here is the story of a community-Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts-and a sporting event-the island’s legendary Striped Bass & Bluefish Derby-that is rendered with the same depth, color, and emotional power of the best fiction. Among the characters, we meet: Dick Hathaway, a crotchety legend who once caught a bluefish from a helicopter and was ultimately banned for cheating; Janet Messineo, a recovering alcoholic who says that striped bass saved her life; Buddy Vanderhoop, a boastful Native American charter captain who guides celebrity anglers like Keith Richards and Spike Lee; and Wyatt Jenkinson, a nine-year-old fishing fanatic whose mother is battling brain cancer. At the center of it all is five-time winner Lev Wlodyka, a cagey local whose next fish will spark a storm of controversy and throw the tournament into turmoil.Much more than just a book for fishing enthusiasts, The Big One is an exhilarating story of passion and obsession-and a powerful testament to the dreams that keep us all going.
Big Orange Country: The Most Spectacular Sights and Sounds of Tennessee Football
by Athlon SportsTrue Volunteer fans can tell you where they were when championships were won, heartbreakers were lost, records were broken, and heroes were made. Big Orange Country is a gift book for true University of Tennessee fans, celebrating the history, the pageantry, and the drama of Tennessee Football in both print and on an audio CD that Volunteer fans will listen to over and over.Big Orange Country is a tribute to a football program that has received national acclaim and a loyalty within its region that few schools achieve.The audio CD contains the school's fight song and classic calls of the most memorable plays in University of Tennessee football history.