One cool new sneaker. For a company like Nike, the combination can equal millions of dollars in profits. That's why the shoe companies are engaged in a frantic full-court press to find and sign the next generation of hoop stars -- before the competition does. The result: America's playgrounds, high schools, and junior high schools have become corporate battlegrounds for the hearts, minds, and feet of young athletes. This shocking expose shows how money is driving the amateur basketball world, even attempting to control coaches, teams, and whole universities -- and how young men and women with a little talent and a dream are being tempted to sacrifice their future for glittering promises and a new pair of shoes.

    Essential reading for T20 fans and traditional followers’ - Scyld Berry‘An invaluable guide by two smart young writers to the story of T20 cricket, to the strategies that underpin it and to the players who have made the format’ - Mike Atherton‘Tim and Freddie are the torchbearers of tomorrow, we must listen to them’ - Harsha Bhogle‘T20 is here to stay and we should celebrate and cherish all the skills involved . . . it is only going to get bigger’ - Michael VaughanCricket 2.0 tells the story of how an old, traditional game was transformed by Twenty20 and how this format moved from being a gimmick to the face of modern cricket.Using exclusive interviews with those at its heart, Tim Wigmore and Freddie Wilde chronicle this revolution with insight, forensic analysis and story-telling verve.The iconic captain Brendon McCullum, England’s T20 visionaries Eoin Morgan and Jos Buttler and Trinidad’s Kieron Pollard and Sunil Narine, who rose to become among the first T20 millionaires, explain how they shaped T20 - and how it shaped them. Test greats Rahul Dravid and Ricky Ponting recount what a sea-change T20 represented and decode T20 strategy. AB de Villiers explores the limits of modern batting. The Afghan phenomenon Rashid Khan shows that T20 superstars can now come from anywhere. Venky Mysore, the cricket revolutionary you have never heard of, reveals how the game is changing off the field.Through a prism of compelling human-interest stories and featuring interviews with more than fifty players and coaches, Cricket 2.0 examines how a cocktail of globalisation, new aggressive tactics and huge investment are changing the sport faster than ever before, while analysing the myriad ways in which a traditional game has been revolutionised forever, both on and off the pitch.Told with vivid clarity and insight, this is the extraordinary and previously misunderstood story of Twenty20 cricket and how it is shaping the future of the game.

    Filled with wit, candor, insight, and the kind of bold statements that caused Notre Dame to rescind a job offer, My Life on a Napkin delivers what sports fans love most: good talk, good stories, and good game.

    The ability to keep going despite setbacks is more important than your IQ, character or other external factors like your upbringing or surroundings.But what does it really mean to “never give up”? What exactly is grit? How do you persevere when faced with larger than life difficulties? How do you keep going when you’re at the brink of exhaustion and all your hard work hasn’t been rewarded yet?I wrote this book to explore the subject of persistence from a more scientific point of view than cliché self-help sayings. I want to share with you how exactly to stick to your goals according to peak performers and science – not vague motivational advice that assumes we have unlimited strength once we’re motivated enough.Here are just a couple of things you will learn from the book:- A crucial piece of advice you can learn from the first people who reached the South Pole. If you make the wrong choice, you’ll burn out – guaranteed.- What famous American comic Jerry Seinfeld did in his early days of career to keep going. It’s a simple trick that provides huge results.- What a study on top musicians, athletes, actors and chess players can teach you about achieving results and persistence. The elite performers practice much fewer hours than you believe.- Five of the most common ways you lead yourself to self-sabotage. Usually, you’re not even aware of how many of your efforts go for naught simply because of the five things I discuss in this book.- According to studies, this one trait is strongly associated with grit and persistence. Learn what it is and how to develop it in five different ways.- Five focusing questions to keep going. Asking yourself these questions will help you boost your motivation when you’re at the brink of giving up.- How listening to others whining makes a part of your brain shrink and affects your ability to persevere when faced with setbacks.- Six bestselling authors and bloggers share their best techniques on how to keep going when you want to give up: Stephen Guise (author of “Mini Habits: Smaller Habits, Bigger Results”), Joel Runyon (blogger at ImpossibleHQ.com), Serena Star-Leonard (bestselling author of “How to Retire in 12 Months: Turning Passion into Profit”) Derek Doepker (bestselling author of “Why You’re Stuck”), Michal Stawicki (bestselling author of “Trickle-Down Mindset: The Missing Element in Your Personal Success”), and Hung Pham (bestselling author of “Break Through: 12 Powerful Steps to Destroy Your Mental Barriers and Achieve Success”).There’s no reason why you should give up if you’re working on the right goal. Learn how to make sure you’ll reach your objectives. Scroll up and buy the book now.For more free resources, sign up for my self-improvement newsletter:http://www.profoundselfimprovement.co...

    Now, Son Rise: The Miracle Continues presents not only the expanded and updated journal of Barry and Samahria Kaufman's successful effort to reach their "unreachable" child but goes beyond to include a sensitive portrayal of how that singular event has become a worldwide phenomenon.When their son Raun was a year old, he began to withdraw from human contact. Diagnosed as autistic, Raun tested with an I.Q. of under 30. Experts offered no hope and advised institutionalizing him. Barry and Samahria refused to accept this prognosis. For several years they worked with Raun in a program of their own design, based on unconditional love and acceptance. By age three and a half, Raun was functioning above his age level — a bright and curious little person. The story of the Kaufmans' experience to this point makes up Part I of Son Rise: The Miracle Continues.Part II continues Raun's story and describes the intervening years as the Kaufmans offered hope and healing to thousands of families with special-needs children. At age twenty, Raun attended a top university, and displayed a near-genius I.Q. Today, he shows no trace of his former condition.Part III of the book highlights the moving stories of five families who, guided by the Kaufmans and the Son-Rise Program, have created "rebirths" for their own special children.

    After building the Buffalo Bills team that went to four consecutive Super Bowls and taking the expansion Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship just two years after the team’s creation, he was responsible for the Indianapolis Colts drafting Peyton Manning with the first overall pick in 1998 and oversaw the team’s victory in Super Bowl XLI. Now, Polian shares his blueprint for building a successful football team in The Game Plan. He details the decisions both a team needs to make in the regular season and the offseason to bring teams to the postseason and the NFL’s ultimate test of a well-built team: the Super Bowl.

    With heartfelt advice, practical wisdom, and examples from the field, Todd Whitaker explains the qualities and practices that distinguish great principals. New features include:Developing an accurate sense of self Understanding the dynamics of change Dealing with negative or ineffective staff membersOne of the nation's leading experts on staff motivation, teacher leadership, and principal effectiveness, Todd Whitaker has written over 20 powerful books for educators of every level. Discover what you can do differently.

    After more than three decades in the minor leagues as a player and coach, he was promoted to head coach of the Washington Capitals in 2007. Boudreau revived the Caps, written off as dead, to a division championship and received the Jack Adams award as the National Hockey League’s Coach of the Year in June 2008. His story is an entertaining odyssey of triumph, disappointment, and perseverance, stretching from Toronto to Washington. As a pro rookie, Boudreau had a cameo appearance in Slap Shot with star Paul Newman. Today Boudreau coaches superstar Alexander Ovechkin and a young Washington club poised to become an elite NHL team vying for the Stanley Cup. Boudreau stole the limelight at the 2008 NHL Awards Show with his self-deprecating and folksy manner, which has made him a popular personality at every stop he’s made. Hockey fans know there’s only one Boudreau.

    This simple way to manage your household income and expenses includes a stylish cover, coin purse, places for your checkbook and check register, memo pad, debit card holders, and extra cash-management envelopes.

    Bicycling was simply the method by which he chose to distract himself from his grief. But for Hancock, the 2,747-mile journey from the Pacific Coast to the Atlantic Coast became more than just a distraction. It became a pilgrimage, even if Hancock didn't realize it upon dipping his rear tire in the Pacific Ocean near Huntington Beach, California in the wee hours of a July morning. On his two-wheel trip, Hancock battled searing heat and humidity, curious dogs, unforgiving motorists and the occasional speed bump--usually a dead armadillo. Hancock's thoughts returned to common themes: memories of his son Will, the prospect of life without Will for him and his wife, and the blue moth of grief and depression.

    In "Hard Work," he tells the story of his life, from his turbulent childhood through a coaching career with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. With his new afterword, Williams takes us past the two NCAA championship titles to the subsequent 2010 season, its shake-up losses, the unexpected departure of key players, and on to a new season of coaching some of the most dazzling young players in the country--and a surprising ACC championship.Williams recounts his rough early years; his long tenure as head coach at the University of Kansas; how he recruits, teaches, and motivates his players; how he's shepherded teams through some of the most nail-biting games at both Kansas and UNC; and how he suffered through one of the roughest seasons of his tenure and came out on the other side to be awarded 2011 ACC Coach of the Year.

    From Jordan to Kobe Bryant to Dwyane Wade and countless other superstars, Grover’s revolutionary methods have made the best even better, year after year. In Jump Attack, Grover shares the revolutionary program he uses to train the pros. A fitness bible for athletes around the world, this three-phase, twelve-week program has been completely updated with new exercises and workouts as well as cutting-edge information on training, nutrition, longevity, injury prevention, and more. Devised for explosive power, quickness, endurance, and agility, this intensely challenging workout pushes athletes out of their comfort zones, tests their capacity to go harder, and turns “I can’t” into “Just try and stop me.” You don’t have to be an elite athlete to benefit from Grover’s program—but you can attain the mindset of a champion through the physical program outlined in this complete plan. Says Grover: “This is how my pros do it. If you want to become more explosive, stronger, and faster, if you want to jump higher and improve your overall athletic performance in any sport, this is exactly how we do it today: This program is the difference between jumping and taking flight.”

    

    An Olympic gold medalist recalls his four years on Indiana University's basketball team under the brilliant but controversial coach Bobby Knight, whose volatility and manipulativeness exacted a heavy toll from his players.An Olympic gold medalist recalls his four years on Indiana University's basketball team under the brilliant but controversial coach Bobby Knight, whose volatility and manipulativeness exacted a heavy toll from his players.

    His womanising and frank admissions of doping appalled 1960s French society, even as his five Tour de France wins enthralled it. Paul Fournel was besotted with him from the start ("Too young to understand, I was nevertheless old enough to admire") and followed Anquetil's career with the passion of a fan and the eye of a poet. In this stunningly original biography of a complex and divisive character, Fournel - author of the seminal Vélo (or Need for the Bike) blends the story of Anquetil's life with scenes from his own, to create a classic of cycling literature.