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A vivid trip through the mind of the top professional wrestler in the business—a nobody from nowhere who achieved his ambitions and walked away with the gold and the girl of his dreams. Ride alongside Jon Moxley as he retraces some of the highways traveled on his remarkable journey. Revel in the never-before-told stories about his early life in Cincinnati, Ohio; the gritty independent wrestling scene where he cut his teeth; the complicated corporate landscape of the WWE where he bucked against authority; and the rebellious upstart AEW, where he won the championship in 2020 and was finally free to achieve the vision of the wrestler he’d always wanted to be. With plenty of pitstops and revelatory insights, including grisly ultraviolent encounters, crazy characters who became lifelong friends, and his unforgettable matches in Japan, MOX is the riveting account of the life of a brawler. It is a tale written in blood and soaked in debauchery, with a good dose of wisdom accumulated along the way. More than a backstage pass into the arena, MOX is a ticket into the ring. Once inside, you’ll never look at pro wrestling the same again. |
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An unflinching memoir from the six-time NBA Champion, two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Hall of Famer—revealing how Scottie Pippen, the youngest of twelve, overcame two family tragedies and universal disregard by college scouts to become an essential component of the greatest basketball dynasty of the last fifty years. Scottie Pippen has been called one of the greatest NBA players for good reason. Simply put, without Pippen, there are no championship banners—let alone six—hanging from the United Center rafters. There’s no Last Dance documentary. There’s no “Michael Jordan” as we know him. The 1990s Chicago Bulls teams would not exist as we know them. So how did the youngest of twelve go from growing up poor in the small town of Hamburg, Arkansas, enduring two family tragedies along the way, to become a revered NBA legend? How did the scrawny teen, overlooked by every major collegiate basketball program, go on to become the fifth overall pick in the 1987 NBA Draft? And, perhaps most compelling, how did Pippen set aside his ego (and his own limitless professional ceiling) in order for the Bulls to become the most dominant basketball dynasty of the last half century? In Unguarded , the six-time champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist finally opens up to offer pointed and transparent takes on Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, and Dennis Rodman, among others. Pippen details how he cringed at being labeled Jordan’s sidekick, and discusses how he could have (and should have) received more respect from the Bulls’ management and the media. Pippen reveals never-before-told stories about some of the most famous games in league history, including the 1994 playoff game against the New York Knicks when he took himself out with 1.8 seconds to go. He discusses what it was like dealing with Jordan on a day-to-day basis, while serving as the facilitator for the offense and the anchor for the defense. On the 30th anniversary of the Bulls’ first championship, Pippen is finally giving millions of adoring basketball fans what they crave; a raw, unvarnished look into his life, and role within one of the greatest, most popular teams of all time. |
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The Mamba Mentality: How I Play is Kobe Bryant’s personal perspective of his life and career on the basketball court and his exceptional, insightful style of playing the game—a fitting legacy from the late Los Angeles Laker superstar. In the wake of his retirement from professional basketball, Kobe “The Black Mamba” Bryant decided to share his vast knowledge and understanding of the game to take readers on an unprecedented journey to the core of the legendary “Mamba mentality.” Citing an obligation and an opportunity to teach young players, hardcore fans, and devoted students of the game how to play it “the right way,” The Mamba Mentality takes us inside the mind of one of the most intelligent, analytical, and creative basketball players ever. In his own words, Bryant reveals his famously detailed approach and the steps he took to prepare mentally and physically to not just succeed at the game, but to excel. Readers will learn how Bryant studied an opponent, how he channeled his passion for the game, how he played through injuries. They’ll also get fascinating granular detail as he breaks down specific plays and match-ups from throughout his career. Bryant’s detailed accounts are paired with stunning photographs by the Hall of Fame photographer Andrew D. Bernstein. Bernstein, long the Lakers and NBA official photographer, captured Bryant’s very first NBA photo in 1996 and his last in 2016—and hundreds of thousands in between, the record of a unique, twenty-year relationship between one athlete and one photographer. The combination of Bryant’s narrative and Bernstein’s photos make The Mamba Mentality an unprecedented look behind the curtain at the career of one of the world’s most celebrated and fascinating athletes. |
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Dale Earnhardt’s death is the most prominent moment in NASCAR history, and millions of people around the world know about the tragedy on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. But, only a handful of people know what went on behind the scenes before and after that horrible crash. In the Red is an insider’s look at the 2001 NASCAR season with his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Earnhardt Jr. began his second season in NASCAR’s Winston Cup Series with swagger and confidence, only to see his entire life changed drastically. In the Red is the story of how Dale Jr. persevered, overcoming boundless grief to thrive on and off the track. Written by Earnhardt Jr’s publicist, Jade Gurss (who also co-authored Dale Jr’s best-selling book, Driver #8 ), In the Red puts you inside the race car as Junior and his No. 8 Budweiser team made an emotional but triumphant return to Daytona, then scored another momentous victory in the first race after the September 11 terrorist attacks. Off the track, follow along as Junior attends the MTV Music Video Awards, and makes memorable appearances in the pages of Rolling Stone and Playboy magazines as well as emotional interviews on The Today Show and many more. |
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The century-old Toronto Argonauts, like the rest of the Canadian Football League, seemed to be in shambles in 1991. Then everything changed. The Argos were acquired by an unlikely trio: the greatest hockey player of all time, Wayne Gretzky; a universally beloved comic genius, John Candy; and an upstart sports magnate, Bruce McNall, whose apparent Midas touch masked dark secrets.  They audaciously swiped from the NFL the most-hyped college athlete in years, Rocket Ismail, by signing him to the richest football contract ever, and set their sights on a league championship. Candy's friend Dan Aykroyd summoned the Blues Brothers band to fly in from Europe and perform, along with Candy, Jim Belushi, and Mariel Hemingway, at the Rocket's first game. And the season only got crazier from there...  Year of the Rocket is the untold saga of one of the greatest gambles in sports history, and one of the most unforgettable seasons on any gridiron, brought to life by a veteran sportswriter who combines meticulous research with the perspective and passion of a lifelong fan. |
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À seulement 28 ans, Peter Sagan est déjà l’un des plus grands sprinteurs de tous les temps. Avec un palmarès bien complet  : 6 maillots verts au Tour de France, 3 championnats du monde de course sur route, un Paris-Roubaix et de nombreux autres classiques à son actif, le monde du cyclisme est unanime  : ce coureur intense est parmi les plus dominants et les plus amusants à regarder de sa génération. Dans cette autobiographie, les passionnés de vélo seront ravis de découvrir son quotidien de sportif, révélant toute la profondeur de son dévouement pour la compétition et de sa détermination à atteindre la ligne d’arrivée en premier. Il se confie sur sa relation avec ses coéquipiers, ses héros, mais également sur les détails techniques de sa préparation, l’art du sprint, et toutes les tactiques utilisées lors d’une étape en compétition. Découvrez ce personnage unique, dans son intimité  : de sa passion pour les cascades à vélo à son étonnante connaissance des répliques de John Travolta en passant par ses paris entre amis qui se terminent bien souvent en danse des canards sur la ligne d’arrivée. Rencontrez le vrai Peter Sagan et comprenez pourquoi la personnalité la plus atypique du cyclisme ne prend jamais trop au sérieux les victoires. |
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A definitive and exhaustive biography Is there a way to find truth in the stuff of legend? You may think you know André the Giant — but who was André Roussimoff? This comprehensive biography addresses the burning questions, outrageous stories, and common misconceptions about his height, his weight, his drawing power as a superstar, and his seemingly unparalleled capacity for food and alcohol. But more importantly, The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant transports readers beyond the smoke and mirrors of professional wrestling into the life of a real man. Born in France, André worked on his family’s farm until he was 18, when he moved to Paris to pursue professional wrestling. A truly extraordinary figure, André went on to become an international icon and world traveler, all while battling acromegaly. While his disorder is what made him a giant and a household name, it’s also what caused his untimely death at 46. With exhaustive research, exclusive interviews with family and friends, and an exploration of André’s amazing in-ring career and the indelible mark he left on pop culture, Laprade and Hébert have crafted the most complete portrait of a modern-day mythical being. |
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An incredible but true account of achieving one of the most awe-inspiring midlife physical transformations ever On the night before he was to turn forty, Rich Roll experienced a chilling glimpse of his future. Nearly fifty pounds overweight and unable to climb the stairs without stopping, he could see where his current sedentary life was taking him—and he woke up. Plunging into a new routine that prioritized a plant-based lifestyle and daily training, Rich morphed—in a matter of mere months—from out of shape, mid-life couch potato to endurance machine. Finding Ultra recounts Rich’s remarkable journey to the starting line of the elite Ultraman competition, which pits the world’s fittest humans in a 320-mile ordeal of swimming, biking, and running. And following that test, Rich conquered an even greater one: the EPIC5—five Ironman-distance triathlons, each on a different Hawaiian island, all completed in less than a week. In the years since Finding Ultra was published, Rich has become one of the world’s most recognized advocates of plant-based living. In this newly revised and updated edition, he shares the practices, tools, and techniques he uses for optimal performance, longevity, and wellness, including diet and nutrition protocols. Rich reflects on the steps he took to shift his mindset and leverage deep reservoirs of untapped potential to achieve success beyond his wildest imagination, urging each of us to embark on our own journey of self-discovery. |
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For decades, distinct professional wrestling territories thrived across North America. Each regionally based promotion operated individually and offered a brand of localized wrestling that greatly appealed to area fans. Promoters routinely coordinated with associates in surrounding regions, and the cooperation displayed by members of the National Wrestling Alliance made it easy for wrestlers to traverse the landscape with the utmost freedom. Dozens of territories flourished between the 1950s and late ’70s. But by the early 1980s, the growth of cable television had put new outside pressures on promoters. An enterprising third-generation entrepreneur who believed cable was his opportunity to take his promotion national soon capitalized on the situation. A host of novel ideas and the will to take chances gave Vincent Kennedy McMahon an incredible advantage. McMahon waged war on the territories and raided the NWA and AWA of their top talent. By creating WrestleMania , jumping into the pay-per-view field, and expanding across North America, McMahon changed professional wrestling forever. Providing never-before-revealed information, Death of the Territories is a must-read for fans yearning to understand how McMahon outlasted his rivals and established the industry’s first national promotion. At the same time, it offers a comprehensive look at the promoters who opposed McMahon, focusing on their noteworthy power plays and embarrassing mistakes. |
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Along with Sun Tzu's The Art of War, The Book of Five Rings is considered to be one of the most insightful texts on the subtle arts of confrontation and victory to emerge from Asia. Composed in 1643 by the famed duelist and undefeated samurai Miyamoto Musashi, The Book of Five Rings analyzes the process of struggle and mastery over conflict that underlies every level of human interaction. For Musashi, the way of the martial arts was a mastery of the mind rather than simply technical prowess—and it is this path to mastery that is the core teaching in The Book of Five Rings. This brilliant manifesto is written not only for martial artists but for anyone who wants to apply the timeless principles of this text to their life. |
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “[H]onest, sprawling, meticulously reported, and beautifully written." —Chad Finn, Boston Globe The explosive, long-awaited account of the making of the greatest dynasty in football history—from the acclaimed ESPN reporter who has been there from the very beginning. Over two unbelievable decades, the New England Patriots were not only the NFL’s most dominant team, but also—and by far—the most secretive. How did they achieve and sustain greatness—and what were the costs? In It’s Better to Be Feared, Seth Wickersham, one of the nation’s finest investigative sportswriters, presents the definitive account of the New England Patriots dynasty, capturing the brilliance, ambition, and ruthlessness that powered it. Having covered the team since Tom Brady took over as starting quarterback in 2001, Wickersham draws on an immense range of sources, including previously confidential game plans, scouting reports, and internal studies as well as hundreds of interviews gathered over two decades—with Brady, Bill Belichick, and other players, coaches, and front office personnel—to offer a behind-the-scenes chronicle of the dynasty’s three acts: the initial burst of Super Bowls from 2001 to 2005; the plateau period, 2006 to 2014, stalked by scandal, injury, and near-misses; and the second three Super Bowl victories between 2015 and 2019, which allowed the Patriots to make their claim upon history. At every step, Wickersham demonstrates just how Belichick and Brady shaped the Patriots and reshaped the entire NFL. We are taken deep into Belichick’s tactical mind, odd work habits, and strained relationships, including his sincere but unspoken love for the players and a near fistfight with a former assistant coach. It is an illuminating depiction of a mastermind, and an organization, dedicated not only to winning but to breaking a league designed to prevent the emergence of a single, unbeatable team. Yet it is in Wickersham’s portrait of Brady—from his childhood in northern California to his challenging years at the University of Michigan to his astonishing early superstardom in the NFL—that the source of the Patriots’ sheer endurance comes into focus. Even as he navigated an improbable rise to fame, Brady was driven by a totalizing ambition to be great, not as an endpoint, but as an ever-unfolding process. Sustaining greatness, however, came with a price. Wickersham reveals, to an extent no other journalist has, the clashes among the coach, the quarterback, and the owner, Robert Kraft—conflicts that resulted in the team’s best performances but also, eventually, the dissolution of the dynasty itself. Raucous, unvarnished, and propulsive, It’s Better to Be Feared is an instant classic of American sportswriting, and an unforgettable study of what it takes to reach, and remain at, the summit of human achievement. |
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Master your  game from the inside out! With more than 800,000 copies sold since it was first published thirty years ago, this phenomenally successful guide has become a touchstone for hundreds of thousands of people. Not just for tennis players, or even just for athletes in general, this handbook works for anybody who wants to improve his or her performance in any activity, from playing music to getting ahead at work. W. Timothy Gallwey, a leading innovator in sports psychology, reveals how to • focus your mind to overcome nervousness, self-doubt, and distractions • find the state of “relaxed concentration” that allows you to play at your best • build skills by smart practice, then put it all together in match play Whether you're a beginner or a pro, Gallwey's engaging voice, clear examples, and illuminating anecdotes will give you the tools you need to succeed. “Introduced to The Inner Game of Tennis  as a graduate student years ago, I recognized the obvious benefits of [W. Timothy] Gallwey's teachings. . . . Whether we are preparing for an inter-squad scrimmage or the National Championship Game, these principles lie at the foundation of our program.”—from the Foreword by Pete Carroll |
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With a new preface by the author • As featured in the upcoming motion picture Everest, starring Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson, Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, and Jake Gyllenhaal   “I can tell you that some force within me rejected death at the last moment and then guided me, blind and stumbling—quite literally a dead man walking—into camp and the shaky start of my return to life.”   In 1996 Beck Weathers and a climbing team pushed toward the summit of Mount Everest. Then a storm exploded on the mountain, ripping the team to shreds, forcing brave men to scratch and crawl for their lives. Rescuers who reached Weathers saw that he was dying, and left him. Twelve hours later, the inexplicable occurred. Weathers appeared, blinded, gloveless, and caked with ice—walking down the mountain. In this powerful memoir, now featuring a new Preface, Weathers describes not only his escape from hypothermia and the murderous storm that killed eight climbers, but the journey of his life. This is the story of a man’s route to a dangerous sport and a fateful expedition, as well as the road of recovery he has traveled since; of survival in the face of certain death, the reclaiming of a family and a life; and of the most extraordinary adventure of all: finding the courage to say yes when life offers us a second chance.   Praise for Left for Dead   “Riveting . . . [a] remarkable survival story . . . Left for Dead takes a long, critical look at climbing: Weathers is particularly candid about how the demanding sport altered and strained his relationships.” — USA Today   “Ultimately, this engrossing tale depicts the difficulty of a man’s struggle to reform his life.” — Publishers Weekly |
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The story of how the NFL, over a period of nearly two decades, denied and sought to cover up mounting evidence of the connection between football and brain damage   “ League of Denial may turn out to be the most influential sports-related book of our time.”— The Boston Globe   “Professional football players do not sustain frequent repetitive blows to the brain on a regular basis.” So concluded the National Football League in a December 2005 scientific paper on concussions in America’s most popular sport. That judgment, implausible even to a casual fan, also contradicted the opinion of a growing cadre of neuroscientists who worked in vain to convince the NFL that it was facing a deadly new scourge: a chronic brain disease that was driving an alarming number of players—including some of the all-time greats—to madness.   In League of Denial, award-winning ESPN investigative reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Steve Fainaru tell the story of a public health crisis that emerged from the playing fields of our twenty-first-century pastime. Everyone knows that football is violent and dangerous. But what the players who built the NFL into a $10 billion industry didn’t know—and what the league sought to shield from them—is that no amount of padding could protect the human brain from the force generated by modern football, that the very essence of the game could be exposing these players to brain damage.   In a fast-paced narrative that moves between the NFL trenches, America’s research labs, and the boardrooms where the NFL went to war against science, League of Denial examines how the league used its power and resources to attack independent scientists and elevate its own flawed research—a campaign with echoes of Big Tobacco’s fight to deny the connection between smoking and lung cancer. It chronicles the tragic fates of players like Hall of Fame Pittsburgh Steelers center Mike Webster, who was so disturbed at the time of his death he fantasized about shooting NFL executives, and former San Diego Chargers great Junior Seau, whose diseased brain became the target of an unseemly scientific battle between researchers and the NFL. Based on exclusive interviews, previously undisclosed documents, and private emails, this is the story of what the NFL knew and when it knew it—questions at the heart of a crisis that threatens football, from the highest levels all the way down to Pop Warner. |
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In the summer of 1998 two of baseball leading sluggers, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa, embarked on a race to break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record. The nation was transfixed as Sosa went on to hit 66 home runs, and McGwire 70. Three years later, San Francisco Giants All-Star Barry Bonds surpassed McGwire by 3 home runs in the midst of what was perhaps the greatest offensive display in baseball history. Over the next three seasons, as Bonds regularly launched mammoth shots into the San Francisco Bay, baseball players across the country were hitting home runs at unprecedented rates. For years there had been rumors that perhaps some of these players owed their success to steroids. But crowd pleasing homers were big business, and sportswriters, fans, and officials alike simply turned a blind eye. Then, in December of 2004, after more than a year of investigation, San Francisco Chronicle reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams broke the story that in a federal investigation of a nutritional supplement company called BALCO, Yankees slugger Jason Giambi had admitted taking steroids. Barry Bonds was also implicated. Immediately the issue of steroids became front page news. The revelations led to Congressional hearings on baseball’s drug problems and continued to drive the effort to purge the U.S. Olympic movement of drug cheats. Now Fainaru-Wada and Williams expose for the first time the secrets of the BALCO investigation that has turned the sports world upside down. Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroid Scandal That Rocked Professional by award-winning investigative journalists Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, is a riveting narrative about the biggest doping scandal in the history of sports, and how baseball’s home run king, Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants, came to use steroids. Drawing on more than two years of reporting, including interviews with hundreds of people, and exclusive access to secret grand jury testimony, confidential documents, audio recordings, and more, the authors provide, for the first time, a definitive account of the shocking steroids scandal that made headlines across the country. The book traces the career of Victor Conte, founder of the BALCO laboratory, an egomaniacal former rock musician and self-proclaimed nutritionist, who set out to corrupt sports by providing athletes with “designer” steroids that would be undetectable on “state-of-the-art” doping tests. Conte gave the undetectable drugs to 28 of the world’s greatest athletes—Olympians, NFL players and baseball stars, Bonds chief among them. A separate narrative thread details the steroids use of Bonds, an immensely talented, moody player who turned to performance-enhancing drugs after Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals set a new home run record in 1998. Through his personal trainer, Bonds gained access to BALCO drugs. All of the great athletes who visited BALCO benefited tremendously—Bonds broke McGwire’s record—but many had their careers disrupted after federal investigators raided BALCO and indicted Conte. The authors trace the course of the probe, and the baffling decision of federal prosecutors to protect the elite athletes who were involved. Highlights of Game of Shadows include: Barry Bonds A look at how Bonds was driven to use performance-enhancing drugs in part by jealousy over Mark McGwire’s record-breaking 1998 season. It was shortly thereafter that Bonds—who had never used anything more performance enhancing than a protein shake from the health food store—first began using steroids. How Bonds’s weight trainer, steroid dealer Greg Anderson, arranged to meet Victor Conte before the 2001 baseball season with... |
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Be sure to check out IRON AMBITION: My Life with Cus D’Amato by Mike Tyson “Raw, powerful and disturbing—a head-spinning take on Mr. Tyson's life.”— Wall Street Journal   Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon—Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most ferocious boxers of all time—and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior. Yet—even after hitting rock bottom—the man who once admitted being addicted “to everything” fought his way back, achieving triumphant success as an actor and newfound happiness and stability as a father and husband. Brutal, honest, raw, and often hilarious, Undisputed Truth is the singular journey of an inspiring American original. |
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Highly entertaining, idea-packed, and loaded with practical techniques and strategies, Training for Climbing presents a distillation of thirty years of experience and experimentation by accomplished veteran climber, renowned author, and performance coach Eric J. Horst. This is an illustrated, how-to guide, and the only one climbers will need. |
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Sumo is a fresh and funny introduction to the fascinating world of sumo, Japan's national sport. Author David Benjamin peels away the veneer of sumo as a cultural treasure and reveals it as an action-packed sport populated by superb athletes who employ numerous strategies and techniques to overcome their gargantuan opponents. Sumo provides an engaging, witty, behind-the-scenes look at sumo today. |
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The easiest, most inexpensive way to build muscle strength, size, and power turns out to be the best, with this supremely effective guide from the world's largest men's magazine Workout fads and fitness equipment come and go, but as trainers and bodybuilders know: nothing tops a simple set of dumbbells for convenience, reliability, and versatility when you are trying to build muscles and get in shape. In Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Guide , Myatt Murphy, a fitness expert and longtime contributor to Men's Health, shows readers how to use dumbbells to develop just about every part of their bodies. For anyone who believes that dumbbells can be used only for arms and shoulders, Myatt Murphy proves them wrong. Featuring 200 photographs, Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Exercises demonstrates how to perform a total body workout and get maximum results. There are exercises here—lunges, squats, dead lifts, curls, shrugs, kickbacks, presses, and more—that develop abs, arms, chest, legs, and shoulders, along with innovative new ways to get the most of this versatile piece of strength-training equipment. With instructions for creating literally thousands of dumbbell exercises for the novice to advanced lifter, Men's Health Ultimate Dumbbell Exercises will be an indispensable addition to any home gym. |
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Dropping the Gloves candidly tracks Barry Melrose's career in hockey - a road that has not changed substantially for today's aspiring players. Not many have Melrose's credentials or his breadth of experience in professional hockey. He's played and coached in Junior Hockey, the American Hockey League, and the NHL. As he says, he's been hired and fired, and had his share of disappointments and failures. He's also had successes at every level. Now an ESPN broadcaster and one of the most respected NHL analysts on television. With his trademark hair, custom suits and energetic style, Melrose is applauded for offering fans his honest - tell it like it is opinion.     Written in Barry's voice and style, the narrative follows his career in hockey, from its start in Kelvington, Saskatchewan, through his years in Junior, the WHA, and finally, the NHL. Along the way, Barry muses on the state of the game, what makes some teams work and other fail, and how he worked to instill a winning attitude in all the teams he coached.      Filled with behind-the-scene stories of all the legendary players Barry played with or coached - Gretzky, Yzerman, Messier, Bobby Hull, and Brad Park - Dropping the Gloves is a true to life, insiders account of the world of professional hockey and an absolute must read for fans of the game. |
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When Eddie Olczyk looks at his life, he can't believe how many times he's beaten the odds. At age sixteen, he was selected for the 1984 U.S. Olympic hockey team, and four months after the competition ended he was drafted in the first round by his hometown Chicago Blackhawks. He played alongside Mario Lemieux and Mark Messier and saw his name engraved on the Stanley Cup. He's brought hockey into American homes as one of the most recognizable voices of the sport, and he's even become a respected analyst in the world of horse racing, thanks to his talent as a bettor—Olczyk once won more than $500,000 picking the winners of six consecutive races while wagering only $168. But perhaps there is no greater example of Eddie O. beating the odds than in 2018 when he went into remission eight months after being diagnosed with Stage 3 colon cancer. He will readily admit that this was the greatest victory of his life. This memoir is an honest and emotional account of everything Olczyk has experienced: the sacrifices his parents made so he could pursue a career in the NHL, the joy of playing for the Hawks, the mental and physical stress involved in the life of a professional athlete, the incredible moments he's called from the broadcast booth, and the profound lessons learned while battling cancer. |
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A fascinating in-depth analysis of six of the NHL’s most interesting drafts From Guy Lafleur to Sidney Crosby to Connor McDavid, the annual draft of hockey’s most talented young prospects has long been considered the best route to Stanley Cup glory. Inexact Science delivers the remarkable facts behind the six most captivating NHL Drafts ever staged and explores the lessons learned from guessing hockey horoscopes. How did it change the business of the sport? And where is the draft headed next? The authors answer intriguing questions like: What if Montreal in 1971 had chosen Marcel Dionne No. 1 overall and not Guy Lafleur? How exactly is it that Wayne Gretzky went undrafted? How did the Red Wings turn their franchise around so dramatically in the 1989 Draft? Evan and Bruce Dowbiggin also delve into the controversies, innovative ideas, and plain old bad judgment that’s taken place on the draft floor. Always informative and entertaining, Inexact Science encapsulates the many compelling, wild, and unique stories in five-plus decades of NHL Draft history. |
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On the west bank of the Mississippi lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Short on hope but big on dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. For years, this football program has brought glory to Algiers, winning three consecutive state championships and sending dozens of young men to college on football scholarships. Although he is preparing for a fourth title, head coach Brice Brown is focused on something else: keeping his players alive. An epidemic of gun violence plagues New Orleans and its surrounding communities and has claimed many innocent lives, including Brown’s former star quarterback, Tollette “Tonka” George, shot near a local gas station. In Across the River, award-winning sports journalist Kent Babb follows the Karr football team through its 2019 season as Brown and his team—perhaps the scrappiest and most rebellious group in the program’s history—vie to again succeed on and off the field. What is sure to be a classic work of sports journalism, Across the River is a necessary investigation into the serious realities of young athletes in struggling neighborhoods: gentrification, eviction, mental health issues, the drug trade, and gun violence. It offers a rich and unflinching portrait of a coach, his players, and the West Bank, a community where it’s difficult—but not impossible—to rise above the chaos, discover purpose, and find a way out. |
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Fully updated and revised, Camping Arizona contains detailed information on more than 150 public campgrounds in Arizona. It's a guide for everyone from tenters to RVers. |
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Detailed information on nearly 500 public campgrounds in Southern California accessible by car. Guide for everyone from tenters to RVers. |
