And she's the game changer he never knew he needed.The Perfect Game tells the story of college juniors, Cassie Andrews & Jack Carter. When Cassie meets rising baseball hopeful Jack, she is determined to steer clear of him and his typical cocky attitude. But Jack has other things on his mind... like getting Cassie to give him the time of day. They're both damaged, filled with mistrust and guarded before they find one another (and themselves) in this emotional journey about love and forgiveness. Strap yourselves for a ride that will not only break your heart, but put it back together. Sometimes life gets ugly before it gets beautiful...This is a MATURE YOUNG ADULT/NEW ADULT novelSuitable for ages 17+ Contains strong language, sexual situations and references

    No hits, no walks, no men reaching base. In nearly four hundred thousand contests in more than 130 years of Major League Baseball, it has only happened twenty times. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga threw baseball’s twenty-first perfect game. Except that’s not how it entered the record books.That’s because Jim Joyce, a veteran umpire with more than twenty years of big league experience, the man voted the best umpire in the game in 2010 by baseball’s players, missed the call on the final out at first base. “No, I did not get the call correct,” Joyce said after seeing a replay. But rather than throw a tantrum, Galarraga simply turned and smiled, went back to the mound and took care of business. “Nobody’s perfect,” he said later in the locker room.In Nobody’s Perfect, Galarraga and Joyce come together to tell the personal story of a remarkable game that will live forever in baseball lore, and to trace their fascinating lives in sports up until this pivotal moment. It is an absorbing insider’s look at two lives in baseball, a tremendous achievement, and an enduring moment of sportsmanship.

    Yet decades after he retired and now after his passing, his wisdom capsulized so clearly in his famous "Pyramid of Success "continues to guide new generations of athletes, coaches, and people of all walks of life. In "The Greatest Coach Ever, "the Fellowship of Christian Athletes features 40 tributes from athletes, coaches, and other influential leaders like Bobby Bowden, Tom Osborne, Sue Semrau, Tony Dungy, Mike Singletary, Tamika Catchings, Joe Girardi, Jim Tressel and David Robinson playing honor to Coach Wooden and reflecting on how his example has challenged and changed them. Their stories can challenge and change your life, too. Coach Wooden appreciated the tributes and the honor of being called the greatest coach ever, but felt uncomfortable with the title. He was eager to see that this book points to the one whom he calls the greatest coach ever. I am happy being remembered as a man of integrity. I like that, --John Wooden, May 21 2010.

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    On the cusp of turning thirty, overweight, and saddled with a 14 handicap, Coyne embarked on a yearlong quest to do everything he could to lift his game—and find out if he could make it through the PGA Tour Qualifying School. Paper Tiger takes you on a rollicking ride into the beer-gutted underbelly of semipro golf, into a world of crash diets, punishing workout regimens, high-flying sports shrinks, cutting-edge club technology, and obscure tournaments. With his girlfriend as caddy, Coyne traverses from Miami to Chicago to Toronto to see how he stacks up against the competition. Ultimately he takes his game to a new level—or at least a new continent—on the links of Australian Q-School, where amidst forty-mile-an-hour winds he must choose between the love of a fickle game and the love of the long-suffering woman who has stood by him throughout all the shanks, hooks, yips, and chili dips. Brimming with humor and insight about the world’s most beautiful and maddening game, Paper Tiger will delight golfers and the sane people who love them.

    During the bloodiest years of the civil rights movement, Bear Bryant and Joe Namath-two of the most iconic and controversial figures in American sports-changed the game of college football forever. Brilliantly and urgently drawn, this is the gripping account of how these two very different men-Bryant a legendary coach in the South who was facing a pair of ethics scandals that threatened his career, and Namath a cocky Northerner from a steel mill town in Pennsylvania-led the Crimson Tide to a national championship. To Bryant and Namath, the game was everything. But no one could ignore the changes sweeping the nation between 1961 and 1965-from the Freedom Rides to the integration of colleges across the South and the assassination of President Kennedy. Against this explosive backdrop, Bryant and Namath changed the meaning of football. Their final contest together, the 1965 Orange Bowl, was the first football game broadcast nationally, in color, during prime time, signaling a new era for the sport and the nation. Award-winning biographer Randy Roberts and sports historian Ed Krzemienski showcase the moment when two thoroughly American traditions-football and Dixie-collided. A compelling story of race and politics, honor and the will to win, Rising Tide captures a singular time in America. More than a history of college football, this is the story of the struggle and triumph of a nation in transition and the legacy of two of the greatest heroes the sport has ever seen.

    It also analyses what needs to be done to ensure Arsenal continue to compete at football's top-table.

    The impact he had on the state of Alabama and the entire college football world cannot be overstated. For twenty-five years as the head coach of the Crimson Tide, and thirteen years before that at Maryland, Kentucky, and Texas A&M, Bear Bryant’s outsized personality and deep charisma made him the dominant figure in the world of college football, turning boys with ordinary talent but extraordinary heart into winners—both on the gridiron and off. At Alabama, Bear Bryant would go on to become the winningest coach of all time, achieving the best record in the country in both the 60s and 70s. He is the only coach to win national championships with both segregated teams and integrated ones. His secret lay not in any strategic brilliance he brought to the game, but in his gift for molding individual talents into a cohesive unit that could achieve far more than the sum of its parts would suggest. That ability made him a great coach, but to many, Bryant represented more than just a coach: He was everything a southern gentleman was supposed to be—tough, principled, charismatic, modest in victory yet quick to assume blame in defeat, and as mindful of where he’d come from as where he was going. Coach is not only about the man and his tremendous ability to succeed, it’s also a tribute to the South and the legacy Coach Bryant left behind. In a divisive era, Bryant gave Alabamians something to be proud of. And, he was simply the greatest football coach of all times.

    After making million in mobile phones he decided to buy his boyhood club, Crystal Palace. At 31, he became the youngest chairman ever. He was also the most outspoken, announcing at his first Palace press conference: 'I don't give a **** about football protocol.' Football is a notoriously murky world: overpriced players, dodgy transfers, top-level corruption. Of course, the establishment always closes rank and those at the top stay quiet. But Jordan doesn't do quiet. And now, for the first time, he lifts the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes in football. With his year-round tan Jordan may be a 'marmite' figure, but love him or hate him his story is a revelation. Every fan dreams of owning their own club. As a boy Simon would break into the Palace grounds, where his dad once played, for a kick-about with his brother. And Simon's love for Palace remains undimmed to this day. But his owner's tale is a hair-raising story of desire and whimsy, success and disaster. It's a reminder to any fan -- be careful what you wish for.

    . . all of whom just so happened to play professional basketball. The 2019-20 Nets were the team of tomorrow—a player-first franchise, in a star-first city, at a nation-first moment—and anything was possible. As soon as the mega-stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving arrived, the Nets were destined to become a dynasty for the ages.Then came the wildest year in modern NBA—and world—history.Can't Knock the Hustle is the definitive chronicle of the season when basketball's status as a force for progress in society was put to the ultimate test, and Matt Sullivan had a courtside seat: Deal-making with Kyrie and Jay-Z. Rehabbing with KD at the Nets' world-class health facility. International intrigue between LeBron James and the Chinese government. The final days of Kobe Bryant, front-row at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The first days of Covid-19, when the Nets found themselves at the epicenter of a virus—and integral to a comeback of the very culture they had come to define.Hundreds of interviews—with NBA Hall-of-Famers, All-Stars, coaches, owners and power-brokers from across the globe—provide a lasting portrait of an unforgettable time, as sports brought people back together again, like never before.

    That’s why this hard-partying college student plays by her own code of bedroom conduct, refusing to stay with the same guy for too long. She gets all the pleasure of having a good time without the messiness of a relationship.. So what if frat house–hopping has earned her a certain reputation around campus? At least no one gets hurt this way—especially her.When ridiculously gorgeous Jaxon Riley moves in next door, Emerson’s not sure how long her vow against emotional intimacy can last. Jaxon’s tattoo, muscles, and sexy voice make him tempting, but he also seems to really understand her…until his jealous ex-girlfriend and Emerson’s life-changing discovery about her parents get thrown into the mix. After everything she’s been through, can Emerson handle a real relationship? Or will breaking her rules just lead to a broken heart? Revised edition: This edition of Beautiful Broken Rules includes editorial revisions.

    After a humiliating scandal sophomore year, she's avoided the social scene and anything having to do with boys, especially of the popular variety. But with senior year approaching, Minka decides it's time to take life back into her own hands. That is, until Owen Axel, the type of guy she's always avoided, decides he wants her in his hands.Owen Axel is the definition of popular. Good looks, all-star worthy pitching arm and a former pro-athlete father make him Mitchum's town God. Returning from college for the summer, his plan is simple. Beach, booze, and beautiful girls. But one look at Minka Braxton and he knows what he wants. He just doesn't count on her not wanting him.As the summer unfolds, both must decide how much to reveal, how deep they should fall, and what might happen if they strike out.HITTING TO WINAfter a lifetime of neglect and sorrow, Miles Farriston has hit rock bottom after his lying ex-girlfriend proves that no one in his life sticks around. On the outs with his friends, in jeopardy of losing his baseball career and this close to getting kicked out of Kappa Eta Sigma, Miles is forced to compete in the Greek Life dance competition. What he didn't bank on was getting bright, cheery Chloe Trabucco as a partner.Ballet, friends and her sorority. The only three things Chloe Trabucco wants to focus on and excel at. So when she is asked to compete, as a freshman, in the popular Greek dance competition, she couldn't be happier. That is, until she learns Miles is her partner. The same Miles she's had a huge crush on for half of her life, and the same guy who made it clear more than a year ago that he wants nothing to do with her.Her positivity and patience annoy him. His attitude and anger finally drive her to the breaking point. Can they hit a home run, both on and off the dance floor, or will they go down swinging?CATCHING TO WINKelsey O'Brien is the definition of a free spirit. She goes where she wants, when she wants, and takes to bed who she wants. And when she arrives back at Grover University after eight months on an African animal preserve, it’s her newly hunky best friend that has caught her eye. As their friendship turns physical, Kelsey begins to form feelings she swore she'd never have for anyone. But when the past she's not ready to face finds her, she must make a decision whether to stop running, or confront the truth.The first time Clint Bellows laid eyes on Kelsey, he fell hard. Too bad she looked right through him. A year and countless hours in the gym later, she's back and hardly recognizes him and his new body. After a drunken encounter takes them over the line of friendship, Clint agrees to Kelsey's proposal of a benefits-added relationship. Only he's playing for keeps, and is willing to round all of the bases trying to score the self-proclaimed gypsy.She's running from her demons. He's committed to winning her over. Can he catch her in time, or will she be out of his grasp before he can blink?

    In order to save her farm, she sends for a mail-order husband. U.S. Marshal Jude Malstrom is a loner dedicated to his work, but when a dying man asks him to deliver a letter, he reluctantly carries out the task. When nature unleashes her fury, Jude and Anne Marie find themselves in each other's company for longer than they wish. Can they see beyond obligation and find an unlikely love?

    Haunting, exquisite Rosalind Maybrick, wife of a billionaire owner, one day can't quite decide what it is she wants, and discovers too late that her whole life is transformed . . . Twenty-year-old Tiffany Morse, stuck in her job at Wal-Mart, prays, "Please make something happen here . . . This time, I mean it," and something does . . . Farley, a good trainer in a bad slump; Buddy, a ruthless trainer who can't seem to lose even though he knows that his personal salvation depends upon it; Roberto, an apprentice jockey who has "the hands" but is growing too big for his dream career with every passing day; Leo the gambler and his earnest son, Jesse, who understands everything about his father's "system" except why it doesn't work; Elizabeth, the 62-year-old theorist of sex and animal communication, and her best friend, Joy, the mare manager at the ranch at the center of the universe—all are woven together by the horses that pass among them: Two colts and two fillies who begin with the promise of talent and breeding, and now might or might not achieve stardom. There are the geldings—Justa Bob, the plain brown horse who always wins by a nose, a lovable claimer who passes from owner to owner on a heart-wrenching journey down from the winner's circle; and the beautiful Mr. T., raced in France and rescued in Texas, who is discovered to have some unusual and amazing talents. And then there is the Jack Russell terrier, Eileen, a dog with real convictions—and the will to implement them.The strange, compelling, sparkling, and mysterious universe of horse racing that has fascinated generations of punters and robber barons, horse-lovers and wits, has never before been depicted with such verve and originality, such tenderness, such clarity, and, above all, such sheer exuberance.

    To her, it’s a painful reminder of her past relationship mistakes. But after losing a bet to her sister, she finds herself at an Atlanta Hawks game, hating life. There, she meets basketball star Landon Prince and treats herself to one steamy night with him. Landon sees Kelsi as the kind of girl he could fall for, but it takes a bit of convincing for her to give them a chance. When she finally relents, Landon fully believes he can protect her from the trappings of his fame. He was wrong. One reporter was all it took to catch a picture of them in a compromising position, that could cost Kelsi her teaching job. But when Kelsi’s ex sees the picture, he formulates a plan to exploit the situation in a vicious custody battle. Can Landon and Kelsi work together to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and begin a full court press to their happily ever after? Or will the price of his fame tear them apart?