Book picks similar to
Patrick Roy: Winning. Nothing Else. by Michel Roy
sports
biography
hockey
hoopla
It Shouldn’t Happen to a Manager
Harry Redknapp - 2016
There’ve been big highs, but a fair share of lows too. When I have to make difficult decisions, I make a point of avoiding newspapers, phone-ins, Twitter – all of it. But there’s always a load of armchair-pundits waiting to start on me. Being a manager has never been easy, but between the fans and the media it often feels impossible to get it right.In It Shouldn’t Happen to a Manager, I talk about how different the job is now from what it was like when I used to play. For one, managers used to drive up and down motorways all day to scout for players – now there’s so much analysis and global scouting. It’s a different thing, completely. In this book, I share everything I’ve learnt from a lifetime of both wins and losses, and wisdom from greats like Cloughie and Ferguson. I’ll tell you about what actually happens in the dressing room, including when Clough smashed the door off its hinges; the bust-ups at full-time, like when I kicked a tray of sandwiches on Don Hutchinson’s head; and the times when I had to swap an arm round a player’s shoulder for a boot up the arse. It’s my guide to being a manager, the Harry way.
Cold Hands, Warm Heart: One Woman's Story of Ten Years in the Alaskan Wilderness
Marilyn Moore-Shaver - 2016
Moore-Shaver, with her husband and children, spent ten years in the Alaskan bush where they lived a simple but satisfying lifestyle with all the attendant challenges and adventures. She and her family lived in the Interior of Alaska where winter temperature drop as low as -60 degrees or more and stay there for weeks on end. The summers are three months long, and everything must be done during that short season to prepare for the following winter. She tells of encounters with bears, surviving spring floods, and setting her husband's broken leg while looking at a first-aid book. Her desire to learn the skills of bush life led her to tan moose hides, catch fish in nets, snare rabbits for dinner, and much more, most of which was learned through trial and error. The average contact with others was about every three months when a friend might fly out to visit and maybe bring mail. Loneliness was never a problem, says the author, but it was exciting to see someone after a long stretch of isolation. Growing up near Boston, Massachusetts, hardly prepared Ms. Moore-Shaver for such a rough and primitive life, but her love of nature and her interest in learning all she could about this back-to-basics way of life come through in the pages of her book. She tells her story just as it happened and includes journal entries she made at the time.
Quinn: The Life of a Hockey Legend
Dan Robson - 2015
Tough guys sobbed. Networks carried montages of Quinn's rugged hits, his steely-eyed glare, and his famous victories. Quinn made a few enemies over the years, but there was no one who didn't respect the tough working-class kid who had fought his way to the very top of the hockey world. He had butted heads with superstars, with management, and with the league itself. And he had also succeeded at every level, finishing his journeyman's career as the captain of an NHL team, then quickly emerged as one of the best coaches in the league. He gathered executive titles like hockey cards, and done things his own way, picking up a law degree along the way. He was brash, dour, and abrasive--and people loved him for his alloy of pugnacity and flair, his three-piece suits and cigars, his Churchillian heft and his scowl. In the end, the player who would never even have dreamed of being inducted into the Hall of Fame was the chair of the Hall's selection committee. That is Quinn's story: an underdog who succeeded so completely that his legacy has become the standard by which others are judged. Told by bestselling author Dan Robson, and supported by the Quinn family and network of friends, Quinn is the definitive account of one of the game's biggest personalities and most storied lives.
Herb Brooks: The Inside Story of a Hockey Mastermind
John Gilbert - 2008
S. hockey team’s victory at the 1980 Olympics was a “Miracle on Ice”--a miracle largely brought about by the late Herb Brooks, the legendary coach who forged that invincible team. Famously antagonistic toward the press at Lake Placid, Brooks nonetheless turned to sportswriter John Gilbert after each game, giving his longtime friend and confidant what became the most comprehensive coverage of the ’80 team. This book is Gilbert’s memoir of Brooks. Neither strictly biography or tell-all exposé, Herb Brooks: Born to Coach is the story of an extraordinary man as it emerged in the course of a remarkable friendship.Gilbert, writing for the Minneapolis Tribune, first met Brooks during his coaching days at the University of Minnesota, whose hockey program he resurrected in the 1970’s. The two became fast friends, and here, for the first time, Gilbert relates anecdotes--his own and former players’--that illuminate Brooks’ oftentimes hard-nosed coaching methods, his dramatic successes, and his incomparable character. From Brooks’ beginnings in East St. Paul and his stint with the 1960 gold medal-winning Olympic team (from which he was famously the last player cut), Gilbert goes on to dissect the coach’s tenure with the Gophers (including three national titles) and the Lake Placid story, from the selection process and yearlong barnstorming tour to the Games themselves. Throughout this and later chapters of Brooks’ career--including coaching turns with St. Cloud State University, four NHL teams, and the 2002 U.S. Olympic squad--readers are treated to impossibly colorful quotes, rare photographs from Brooks’ playing and coaching careers, and pertinent sidebar pieces that originally appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune.
They Don't Play Hockey in Heaven: A Dream, A Team, and My Comeback Season
Ken Baker - 2003
. . colorful descriptions make this a fun read." -Los Angeles Times "One of the best sports books of the year." -Booklist Ken Baker wanted nothing more than to play ice hockey with the pros-until a brain tumor cut his dreams short while in college. After surgery and several years of rehab, Baker, who in high school was a top prospect for the U.S. Olympic team, put his successful journalism career on hold to attempt the seemingly impossible: a comeback. He moved away from his family to become the third-string goalie for the Bakersfield Condors, an AA-level minor-league team in the dusty oil town of Bakersfield, California. At the age of thirty-one, Baker became the oldest rookie in all of pro-hockey, facing 100-m.p.h. slap shots and long bus rides, hostile fans and cheap motel rooms, body bruises, and battle-worn teammates. From his visit to an NHL training camp to his first nerve-rattled minutes as a pro, Baker joins the rookies who still dream of making it to the Show, the veterans long past their prime, and the obsessive fans who keep them going. When the season is over, Baker's pro-hockey adventure ends up teaching him nearly everything he will ever need to know about life.
Coach: The Pat Burns Story
Rosie DiManno - 2012
He worked with the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils, and seemed always to enjoy instant success. He capped his extraordinary career by coaching the New Jersey Devils to a Stanley Cup victory in 2003. Cancer--his third bout--finally claimed him in 2010, aged 58. Rosie DiManno, who knew Burns well, has written a revealing, exhilarating and heartfelt account of his life: his childhood as a fatherless, solitary male surrounded by many women, his years as a police officer, his glorious coaching career and his long and characteristically valiant ending."Coach "is both the first major biography of Burns and one that, with its revelations, personal insights and riveting prose, is--like the man himself--sure to be both controversial and hard to beat. Rosie DiManno knew, liked and admired Burns, and in the writing of this book has interviewed many, many people from every stage of his life. She is not blind to his less endearing qualities, but seeks to explain them."" DiManno reveals a man of contradictions--gruff and crude, bullying and sentimental, and easily wounded. She shows, moreover, a man of hockey. The Burns who rode motorcycles, dressed like a cowboy, and sweet-talked the ladies was, says DiManno, a self-creation. His one indisputable, true talent was for coaching hockey. He was a pure coach. DiManno tells a compelling story and helps us to understand a complex man, one who gave little of himself to the public and yet whose funeral was a spectacle. How did that happen? Who was Pat Burns? Rosie DiManno, who witnessed much of the story, has the answers.
Catch 22: My Battles, in Hockey and Life
Rick Vaive - 2020
He did it three years in a row (only two others have scored 50 since) before being unceremoniously stripped of his captaincy and traded out of town, and he did it for a promising team that was nonetheless largely stuck at the bottom of the standings. So why isn't his number 22 hanging from the rafters of the Leafs' rink and his name as revered in Leafs lore as Gilmour, Sundin and Clark?You could blame it on a team that lost far more than it won. You could blame Harold Ballard and his erratic ownership. You could blame the fans, the media...Rick Vaive doesn't blame anybody. Sometimes, life just doesn't go your way. He'd know. Growing up in a household plagued by alcoholism, the gifted young hockey player took shelter in the company of his grandmother and a blind and severely disabled uncle. Rick learned quickly that there are more valuable things in life than hockey. Even after his promising coaching career stopped dead when it ran into Don Cherry in Mississauga--one of the worst seasons in Ontario junior hockey history--he still doesn't point fingers. Life is too sweet for regrets, but learning that lesson can be one hell of a ride.
Warren Gatland: My Autobiography: The definitive story by the three-time Grand Slam-winning coach
Warren Gatland - 2019
The personal journey has been rewarding and challenging in equal measure, spanning many of the sport's most passionate heartlands such as New Zealand, Ireland, England and Wales. Gatland reflects in characteristically forthright and intelligent fashion on a lifetime spent playing and coaching the sport which has been his passion since as a young boy he first picked up an oval ball on New Zealand's North Island, dreaming of joining the ranks of the mighty All Blacks.Along the way we encounter the greatest matches, players and rivalries the sport has to offer, get introduced to a stunning cast of unforgettable characters who grace the story with their humour and humanity, and emerge with a striking appreciation of how rugby has managed to retain its appeal for millions around the globe.
Hitter: The Life and Turmoils of Ted Williams
Ed Linn - 1993
But the tag that really fits is Hitter. “A riveting retrospective” (Baseball americanca). Index; career statistics; photographs.
Undercover - Ajit Doval in Theory and Practice
The Caravan Magazine - 2017
His designation grants him sweeping powers over the Indian security and intelligence apparatuses, and a say in foreign relations that he has exercised vigorously, particularly when it comes to the country’s neighbours. His outlook combines strident Hindu nationalism with habits learnt over his decades in the Intelligence Bureau. The results have been far from extraordinary—yet large sections of the media continue to laud him. Doval’s public persona as a super-spy and statesman may be too good to be true. The Caravan -India's finest magazine of politics, culture and business. Since its relaunch in 2010, The Caravan has earned a reputation as one of South Asia's most sophisticated publications, a showcase of the region's finest writers, with a distinctive blend of masterful reporting, unique criticism and stunning photo essays.
Confessions of a Good Girl: My Story
Andrea McLean - 2012
The honest, entertaining and often surprising autobiography of one of our favourite Loose Women.
Playing for More: Trust Beyond What You Can See
Case Keenum - 2018
Recruited by just one college, undrafted, and released three times, Case has overcome every obstacle to become a successful starting quarterback. In 2017, Keenum captured America’s imagination by leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 13-3 record and an NFC North title. His game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of their divisional playoff game against the Saints, the "Minneapolis Miracle," made Case part of NFL history. Keenum shares stories from every stage of his life, starting out as a ball boy for his father’s college team in West Texas, going on to win a state title in high school, and rewriting the NCAA record book at the University of Houston. A devastating knee injury almost derailed his football career, but helped him get closer to the woman who would soon become his wife. Throughout his story, Case will explain how being a Christian helped him navigate the winding path to success. No matter what obstacle has been placed in front of him, Case believes God has a plan for him. That’s why he plays football and that’s why he’s writing this book: To glorify God and to help others who face adversity in their everyday life. “Am I a football player who happens to be a Christian?” Case writes, "No, I’m a Christian who happens to be a football player. That’s my calling. That’s my defining characteristic. Once I realized that, everything else fell into place. I became a better football player and, more importantly, a better person.”
Me, Family and the Making of a Footballer: The warmest, most charming memoir of the year
Jamie Redknapp - 2020
Cheat: The Not-So Subtle Art of Conning Your Way to Sporting Glory
Titus O'Reily - 2020
One of the Family
John George Pearson - 2003
Moreover, he was as legendary a figure on the streets of New York as on the streets of London.Pearson persuaded the mysterious criminal leader to talk to him - and the result was a story even more extraordinary than that of the Kray twins. Here Pearson reveals the true story of the Englishman who became the adopted son of Joey Pagano, the head of one of the major New York crime families. Here the Englishman tells the story that no-one else dared to tell.