Heart of the Game: Life, Death, and Mercy in Minor League America


S.L. Price - 2009
    S.L. Price, award-winning writer for Sports Illustrated and author of Pitching Around Fidel, gives a tragic but ultimately uplifting account of the death of minor league baseball coach Mike Coolbaugh, and in doing so, illustrates the many reasons and myriad ways in which baseball still has a hold on America. A Friday Night Lights for baseball fans, Heart of the Game reveals the classic heart of small-town America.

Mickey and Willie: Mantle and Mays, the Parallel Lives of Baseball's Golden Age


Allen Barra - 2012
    Culturally, Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were light-years apart. Yet they were nearly the same age and almost the same size, and they came to New York at the same time. They possessed virtually the same talents and played the same position. They were both products of generations of baseball-playing families, for whom the game was the only escape from a lifetime of brutal manual labor. Both were nearly crushed by the weight of the outsized expectations placed on them, first by their families and later by America. Both lived secret lives far different from those their fans knew. What their fans also didn't know was that the two men shared a close personal friendship--and that each was the only man who could truly understand the other's experience.

The Biography of Tottenham Hotspur


Julie Welch - 2012
    So, after a meeting under a lamp post about 100 yards from where White Hart Lane stands today, they formed Hotspur Football Club. Players paid sixpence to join up, and the club played its first match in a dark blue strip with a red 'H' badge. Now Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is one of the greatest names in the greatest games of all, with an illustrious history of footballing firsts including having become the first non-league team to win the FA Cup, the first team of the modern era to win the league and cup Double and the first British team to win a European trophy. Beyond that, the club has a proud tradition of ambition, excellence and of playing football the right way, 'the Spurs Way'. It is an unspoken but implicit prerequisite that the teams who pull on the famous lilywhite shirts will always endeavour to entertain and exhilarate the club's fans with fast, quick-passing, attacking football. "The game," as the great Spurs captain Danny Blanchflower so succinctly put it, "is about glory". In The Biography of Tottenham Hotspur, renowned author Julie Welch who has lilywhite and blue blood coursing through her veins brilliantly deconstructs the history of the club to get to the very heart and soul of Tottenham Hotspur. How did Spurs develop their unique and precious character? Who were the key individuals and what were the key events that shaped the modern Spurs?Packed with wonderful stories from the formation of the club to the present day, and the memories of numerous legendary players, managers, supporters and other key figures, The Biography of Tottenham Hotspur brings the rich and glorious history of Spurs to life from a new and fascinating perspective.

Loopers: A Caddie's Twenty-Year Golf Odyssey


John Dunn - 2013
    The lifers - as in "caddies for life" - that plied the loops were an ensemble of misfits and degenerates that made the caddy yard look more like an OTB parlor than anything near a country club.  But Dunn came of age in those yards and on those courses, and after an eye-opening experience caddying in Aspen during college the magnetism of the game and the lifestyle proved irresistible. One adventure after another kept him coming back summer after summer, until - out of college - he found himself migrating with the seasons, looping at some of the most exquisite and exclusive golf locations in the world; Sherwood, Augusta, Bandon Dunes, Shinnecock, and St. Andrews to name a few. Dunn criss-crossed the country on his own big loop; working inside the privet hedges while camping on the mountains; following the back roads and stumbling across unexpected moments of profound natural beauty; embracing the freedom of what he calls the last vagabond existence in America, all while trying to decide whether to quit the loop and get a real job. Maybe next season...

And it was Beautiful: Marcelo Bielsa and the Rebirth of Leeds United


Phil Hay - 2021
    

Suddenly A Footballer: My Story


Juan Mata - 2019
    This thoughtful footballer gives his views on the experiences and personalities that have helped to shape his career.

Moving the Chains: Tom Brady and the Pursuit of Everything


Charles P. Pierce - 2006
    And with good reason: he was the youngest quarterback to ever win a Super Bowl; the only quarterback in NFL history to win three Super Bowls before turning twenty-eight; the fourth player in history to win multiple Super Bowl MVP awards. He started the season with a 57-14 record, the best of any NFL quarterback since 1966.Award-winning sports journalist Charles P. Pierce's "Moving the Chains "explains how Brady reached the top of his profession and" "how he stays there. It is a study in highly honed skills, discipline, " "and making the most of good fortune, and is shot through with ironies--a sixth-round draft pick turned superstar" "leading a football dynasty that was once so bedraggled it had to play a home game in Birmingham, Alabama, because no stadium around Boston would have it. It is also about an ordinary man and an ordinary" "team becoming extraordinary. Pierce interviewed Brady's friends, family, coaches, and teammates. He interviewed" "Brady (notably for "Sports Illustrated"'s 2005 Sportsman of the Year cover article). And then he got the" "one thing he needed to truly take Brady's measure: 2005 turned out to be the toughest Patriots season in five years.

Lipsticks, Love And Lies


Katie Price - 2013
         The last three years of Katie Price's life have been some of the most dramatic and startling yet. In this dazzling instalment of her life, Katie reveals the many ups and downs from the highly publicised divorce from Alex Reid, the romance and split from Leo Penna and a whirlwind marriage and surprise pregnancy with Kieran Hayler. And that'’s just her love life.     Katie has also dealt with increasingly bitter disputes with first husband Peter Andre and her former manager, as well as her public spat with comedian Frankie Boyle who made offensive comments about her disabled son Harvey.     Despite her personal life being played out in the public arena, Katie remains true to her heart by always speaking her mind and living life to the full. Lipstick, Love and Lawsuits gives her side of the story, once again expressing her humour, passion and strength to her loyal fans.

Out of the Pocket : Football, Fatherhood, and College GameDay Saturdays


Kirk Herbstreit - 2021
    Herbstreit will describe how a combination of hard work, perseverance, and a little luck landed him on the set of ESPN’s iconic College GameDay show, surrounded by tens of thousands of fans who treat their Saturdays like a football Mardi Gras.He’ll take you into the television production meetings, on to the GameDay set, and into the broadcast booth. You’ll live his life during a football season, see the things he sees, experience every chaotic twist and turn as the year unfolds. Not to mention the relationships he’s established and the insights he’s learned from the likes of coaches and players such as Nick Saban, Tim Tebow, Dabo Swinney, and Peyton Manning, as well as his colleagues, including Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, and his “second dad,” the beloved Coach Lee Corso.Yes, Kirk Herbstreit is the undeniable face and voice of college football—but he’s also a survivor. He’s the quiet kid who withstood the collapse of his parents’ marriage. The boy who endured too many overbearing stepdads and stepmoms. The painfully shy student who always chose the last desk in the last row of the classroom. The young man who persevered through a frustrating Ohio State playing career. The new college graduate who turned down a lucrative sales job after college to pursue a “no way you’ll make it” dream career in broadcasting.An inspiring, gripping, and eye-opening memoir, Out of the Pocket is the ultimate read for anyone who loves football and with a dream worth pursuing.

Urban's Way: Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and His Plan to Win


Buddy Martin - 2008
    Martin takes the reader where no other journalist has gone before as he reports the most intimate details about one of the nation’s top college football programs and its coach.During the show-and-tell story of the 2007 Gator season, Martin listened on the headsets in the coaching booth, monitored Meyer’s locker room speeches, conducted in-depth interviews with assistant coaches and support personnel, ran on Florida Field with the team prior to the Gators game against Tennessee, and gave Tim Tebow his first Heisman Trophy quiz while having dinner together just weeks before he was named as the winner.Urban’s Way, however, is much more than a look at the 2007 season. Martin dug deep into Meyer’s background, from his growing-up days in Ashtabula, Ohio, under the strict guidance of his father; to his tumultuous days as a young assistant when he almost quit the profession; to the dynamics of his close relationship with mentors Earle Bruce and Lou Holtz; to the ultimate prize as coach of the 2006 national champion Florida Gators. Readers learn how Meyer was encouraged by his father and his wife, Shelley, to keep going; how his career took off at Notre Dame and then as a head coach at Bowling Green and Utah; how the Falcons came together after their historic “Black Wednesday”; and the impressive manner in which he championed diversity among players in Salt Lake City. Florida fans will be surprised to discover how close Meyer came to choosing the Notre Dame job over the one in Gainesville, despite his yearnings as a small boy to someday coach the Fighting Irish. Through his intense research---and talks with Urban himself---Buddy Martin provides an amazingly detailed look into how a football coach is made.This is not simply the authorized biography of one of college football’s top coaches; Buddy Martin also gives fans the inside scoop on the 2006 National Championship. In the chapter “The Joy of Winning It All,” players and coaches share their stories of that championship season that produced the middle leg of the “Gator Slam,” leading to the good life on the so-called Cul de Sac of Champions, which Urban shares with Gators basketball coach Billy Donovan.It is rare that fans get inside the head of a top coach, but here full disclosure is offered about Urban’s personal faith, his Plan to Win, and the inner workings of the Spread offense. Readers are also treated to Meyer’s own breakdown of the national championship tape, including his Six Key Plays of the game.Buddy Martin shines a bright light on Urban Meyer, the Florida Gators, and one of the top programs in the country. This is a must-have for Florida Gator football fans and one of the most insightful books ever written on college football.

The Wit and Wisdom of Yogi Berra


Phil Pepe - 1974
     New York Times–bestselling author Phil Pepe takes readers along on Yogi Berra’s journey from St. Louis to New York’s Yankee Stadium, including all the stops along the way—from his days as a tack-puller in a women’s shoe factory, to a pre-game tribute in St. Louis, when he coined the phrase, “I want to thank all those that made this night necessary,” to his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Pepe explores Yogi Berra as a boy, player, hero, coach, manager, husband, father, and jokester, including all of the “Yogi-isms,” in an absorbing treatment that is simultaneously comical, thoughtful, and biographical.   Famous Yogi-isms:   - About a popular restaurant: “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” - On Little League Baseball: “I think it’s wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.” - On why the Yankees lost the 1960 World Series: “We made too many wrong mistakes.”

Bringing the Heat


Mark Bowden - 1994
    The team is the 1992 Philadelphia Eagles, a group of players assembled in the iconoclastic image of their former head coach Buddy Ryan. They are known throughout the league for their ferocious defense and for the otherworldly talents of their quarterback Randall Cunningham.Award-winning journalist Mark Bowden gets deep inside the world of professional football in a way no writer has ever done before, with an insightful and hilarious portrait of one of the most exciting teams ever to play the game. He spares none of the game's ugliness - the greed, the racism, and the often sadistic violence - while capturing the beauty of athleticism at its highest level, the courage of men who face each play knowing that one bad hit can end a career, and above all the exultant glory of victory that inspires their struggle to be the best.

Bootlegger's Boy


Barry Switzer - 1990
    Considered by the NCAA as the outspoken outlaw of college football, Switzer brought a succession of All-Americans, Heisman Trophy winners, and three National Championships to his beloved school before being brought down by the excesses of some unruly players.

Heart and Steel


Bill Cowher - 2021
    Now, for the first time, Cowher will shine a light on a life filled with success, achieved through will and resilience in situations which, often times, appeared to be hopeless.In Heart and Steel, Cowher will take you on his journey from childhood to the undersized, mohawked, disco-dancing North Carolina State linebacker, to fighting for a spot as a "bubble player" with the Browns and Eagles, before injuries ended his playing career. Bill will discuss how that same drive led to his big coaching break, running Special Teams for Marty Schottenheimer and the Cleveland Browns at just twenty-seven-years-old, before taking over the Pittsburgh Steelers just seven years later. Cowher will reveal exclusive, never-before-told anecdotes and candid thoughts on the biggest games, players, and moments that defined his fifteen-year Steelers tenure.But this is more than a "football story."In 2010, Bill lost his beloved wife, Kaye, and father, Laird, within three months of one another. It forced him, yet again, to summon that resiliency to unearth a stronger version of himself—not only so he could march on, but to add a deeper level to the loving, supportive father his three daughters had always known.Cowher's learned many lessons in his life; as a father, grandfather, husband, coach, and broadcaster. He will show you how you can continue to grow by embracing transition, personally and professionally, through renewed perspective and social consciousness."Billy from Crafton" has come a long way. Through love and conviction, Cowher's achieved more than he ever could have dreamed of. You can, too, with the same heart and steel.

Heroes, Villains & Velodromes: Chris Hoy & Britain's Track Cycling Revolution


Richard Moore - 2008
    How does he do it? And why? What drives him to put his body through the physical and mental hurdles to become the best in the world? This is also the story of an extraordinary year in the life of an extraordinary sportsman, one which started with his best-ever world championships in Mallorca—where, for the first time in his career, he became a double world champion—continued with his attempt on the world kilometer record in La Paz, Bolivia, went on to Japan where he spent three months riding the crazy keirin circuit, before returning to training at the world-class Manchester velodrome in the buildup to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.By shadowing Hoy through a season with the British track cycling team, author Richard Moore has gained an unembellished insight into the mind of a world champion. He has also attained unprecedented levels of access to the key members of the all-conquering British team (which smashed all records and dominated the 2007 world championships) and support staff, including top coaches, world-renowned psychiatrists, doctors (where the subject of drug abuse is an ever-present shadow), and the pivotal characters behind the scenes. Combining his forensic knowledge of the cycling world with his acclaimed skills as a tenacious investigative journalist, Moore captures the mood of the British team and explores an area of professional sport that has rarely been seen before.