Book picks similar to
Fab Five: Basketball, Trash Talk, the American Dream by Mitch Albom
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basketball
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nonfiction
The John Carlos Story: The Sports Moment That Changed the World
John Carlos - 1994
Yet their show of defiance remains one of the most iconic images of Olympic history and the Black Power movement. Here is the remarkable story of one of the men behind the salute, lifelong activist John Carlos.John Carlos is an African American former track and field athlete, professional football player, and a founding member of the Olympic Project for Human Rights. He won the bronze medal in the 200 meters race at the 1968 Olympics, where his Black Power salute on the podium with Tommie Smith caused much political controversy. The John Carlos Story is his first book.Dave Zirin is the author of four books, including Bad Sports, A People's History of Sports in the United States, and What's My Name, Fool? He writes the popular weekly online sports column "The Edge of Sports" and is a regular contributor to SportsIllustrated.com, SLAM, Los Angeles Times, and The Nation, where he is the publication's first sports editor.
The Guy on the Left: Sports Stories from the Best Seat in the House
James Duthie - 2015
The biggest games, the biggest trades, the juiciest rumours—chances are Duthie is the guy you tuned in to hear talk about them. There are other experts and insiders, stats guys and analysts, but no one else who can talk about sports with the humour, the knowledge, and the charisma Duthie brings to every event he covers. He also makes the best spoof videos.The Guy on the Left tells the story of Duthie’s career in broadcasting, from a nerdy appearance on a game show to chatting with Tiger Woods in the men’s room at The Masters. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at celebrated moments like Sidney Crosby’s famous game-winning goal at the Vancouver Olympics, but also less celebrated insights, like the disclosure that sports broadcasters often aren’t wearing pants on air. There are stories about goofing around with NHL superstars like Roberto Luongo and Anze Kopitar. There are also stories about wandering into the wrong house after walking his dog and surprising his neighbour in her underwear. His stories can also be serious. Tragedy strikes more than once in the sports world. Most notably, he had to go to air on the evening of September 11, 2001. His reflections on the way sport is part of all of our lives, from the athletes and sports figures on the planes to the kids who lost coaches and parents, are a powerful reminder of both the importance of sport and how lucky we all are to be part of it. Funny, thoughtful, self-deprecating, and wry, The Guy on the Left is everything fans love about James Duthie.
The Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery, Vol. 1: 1889-1910
L.M. Montgomery - 1986
Spontaneous and frank, they are unusual for their narrative interest: Montgomery's gifts as a storyteller are as much evidence here as in her novels.This first volume of the immensely successful Selected Journals of L.M. Montgomery launched in 1985, takes Montgomery to 1910, the year before her marriage, when she left Prince Edward Island. The autobiographical content will fascinate every devoted reader of the Anne books. But the Montgomery journals are especially interesting because they provide a unique social history and the privilege of viewing closely the life of a remarkable woman. Comprising perhaps the most vivid and detailed memoir in Canadian letters, the journals join Anne of Green Gables in ensuring Montgomery's lasting place in Canadian literature. This volume is a rich and engrossing prelude to the whole.
Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, Balco, and the Steroids Scandal That Rocked Professional Sports
Mark Fainaru-Wada - 2006
But as track stars like Marion Jones blazed their way to Olympic medals and sluggers such as Mark McGwire brought fans back to baseball with stratospheric home runs, sports officials, the media, and fans looked past the rumors and cheered on the stars to ever-higher levels of performance. Then, in December 2004, after more than fifteen months of relentless reporting, "San Francisco Chronicle" reporters Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams broke the story of the Bay Area Lab Co-operative, a tiny nutritional supplement company that according to sworn testimony was supplying elite athletes, including baseball MVP Jason Giambi, with banned drugs. The stories, exposing rampant cheating at the highest levels of athletics, shocked the nation as sports heroes were brought low and their records were tainted. The exposes led to Congressional hearings on baseball's drug problems, and a revived effort to purge the U.S. Olympic movement of drug cheats. Now, in "Game of Shadows," Fainaru-Wada and Williams tell the complete story of BALCO and the investigation that has shaken the foundations of the sporting world. They reveal how an obscure, self-proclaimed nutritionist, Victor Conte, became a steroid svengali to multi-millionaire athletes desperate for a competitive edge, and how he created superstars with his potent cocktails of miracle drugs. They expose the international web of coaches and trainers who funneled athletes to BALCO, and how the drug cheats stayed a step ahead of the testing agencies and the law. They detail how an aggressive IRS investigator doggedly gathered evidence until Conte and his co-conspirators were brought to justice. And at the center of the story is the biggest star of them all, Barry Bonds, the muscle-bound MVP outfielder of the San Francisco Giants whose suspicious late-career renaissance has him threatening Hank Aaron's all-time home run record.Shocking, revelatory, and page-turning, "Game of Shadows" casts light into the shadows of American sport to reveal the dark truths at the heart of the game today.
Valvano: They Gave Me a Lifetime Contract, and Then They Declared Me Dead
Jim Valvano - 1991
2 cassettes.
Wilt: Just Like Any Other 7 Foot Black Millionaire Who Lives Next Door
Wilt Chamberlain - 1973
Pure Dynamite: The Price You Pay for Wrestling Stardom
Tom Billington - 1999
Twice world champion, Billington was featured in the pages of Playboy magazine and was an international celebrity. Although he should have been a millionaire when he retired in 1993, after 16 years of professional wrestling, he had little but memories are scar tissue to show for it. As one of the first bona fide superstars in the World Wrestling Federation, Billington's career parallels the development of the WWF, from the early days to the decade following the first Wrestlemaina event at Madison Square Gardens in 1985. He worked with every major promoter, and wrestled with some of the biggest names in the sport. His story is a candid expose of the highs and lows of a cultural phenomenon that is still growing today. Now confined to a wheelchair as a result of serious damage to his back and legs, his years of steroid use have also damages Billington's heart and personal life. Pure Dynamite is as much a cautionary tale as it is a glimpse into the world of a wrestling legend.
Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero
David Maraniss - 2006
David Maraniss now brings the great baseball player brilliantly back to life in "Clemente: The Passion and Grace of Baseball's Last Hero," a book destined to become a modern classic. Much like his acclaimed biography of Vince Lombardi, "When Pride Still Mattered," Maraniss uses his narrative sweep and meticulous detail to capture the myth and a real man. Anyone who saw Clemente, as he played with a beautiful fury, will never forget him. He was a work of art in a game too often defined by statistics. During his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he won four batting titles and led his team to championships in 1960 and 1971, getting a hit in all fourteen World Series games in which he played. His career ended with three-thousand hits, the magical three-thousandth coming in his final at-bat, and he and the immortal Lou Gehrig are the only players to have the five-year waiting period waived so they could be enshrined in the Hall of Fame immediately after their deaths.
Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports
Dave Zirin - 2007
Features chapters such as “Barry Bonds is Gonna Git Your Mama: The Last Word on Steroids,” “Pro Basketball and the Two Souls of Hip-Hop,” “An Icon’s Redemption: The Great Roberto Clemente,” and “Beisbol: How the Major Leagues Eat Their Young.” Zirin’s commentary is always insightful, never predictable. Dave Zirin is the author of the widely acclaimed book What’s My Name, Fool? (Haymarket Books) and writes the weekly column “Edge of Sports” (edgeofsports.com). He writes a regular column for The Nation and Slam magazine and has appeared as a sports commentator on ESPN TV and radio, CBNC, WNBC, Democracy Now!, Air America, Radio Nation, and Pacifica. Chuck D redefined rap music and hip-hop culture as leader and co-founder of the legendary rap group Public Enemy. Spike Lee calls him “one of the most politically and socially conscious artists of any generation.” He co-hosts a weekly radio show on Air America.
Alex Ferguson: My Autobiography
Alex Ferguson - 2013
Sir Alex announced his retirement as manager of Manchester United after 27 years in the role. He has gone out in a blaze of glory, with United winning the Premier League for the 13th time, and he is widely considered to be the greatest manager in the history of British soccer. Over the last quarter of a century there have been seismic changes at Manchester United, with the only constant element the quality of the manager's league-winning squad and United's run of success, which included winning the Champions League for a second time in 2008. Sir Alex created a purposeful, but welcoming, and much envied culture at the club which has lasted the test of time. He discusses managing these seismic changes, and the growth of Man U as a global sports power. He shares the farewells to Roy Keane and David Beckham, describes the process of building a new Champions League side around Ronaldo and Rooney, and ruminates upon the great rivalries with Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and City. He also shares his thoughts on the psychology of management, and his passions and interests outside the game.
The Journals of Lewis and Clark
Meriwether Lewis - 1905
Keenly aware that the course of the nation's destiny lay westward—and that a "Voyage of Discovery" would be necessary to determine the nature of the frontier—President Thomas Jefferson commissioned Meriwether Lewis to lead an expedition from the Missouri River to the northern Pacific coast and back. From 1804 to 1806, accompanied by co-captain William Clark, the Shoshone guide Sacajawea, and thirty-two men, Lewis mapped rivers, traced the principal waterways to the sea, and established the American claim to the territories of Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. Together the captains kept this journal: a richly detailed record of the flora and fauna they sighted, the native tribes they encountered, and the awe-inspiring landscape they traversed, from their base camp near present-day St. Louis to the mouth of the Columbia River, that has become an incomparable contribution to the literature of exploration and the writing of natural history.
Every Second Counts
Lance Armstrong - 2003
A few months after that historic victory, he became a father for the first time. His first book,
It's Not About the Bike
, charted his journey back to life and went on to become an international bestseller, and to win the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2000.Now, in this much-anticipated follow-up, Armstrong shares more details of his remarkable life story, including four more Tour de France wins, an Olympic medal, and the births of his twin daughters Grace and Isabelle. Never shy of controversy, Lance Armstrong is a genuine global sports superstar and one of cycling's greatest ever champions. Here he offers us his life philosophy - his thoughts on thoughts on training, competing, winning and failure. He also recounts the work done for the Foundation he set up following his dramatic recovery and introduces further inspirational tales of cancer survival.Every Second Counts is another extraordinary and awe-inspiring book from a man who strives every day to meet life's momentous challenges.
Covert: My Years Infiltrating the Mob
Bob Delaney - 2008
Delaney accepted, and became Bobby Covert, the president of Alamo Trucking, a fully-operational business used by law enforcement as flypaper for snagging crooks. At the height of The Godfather era, Delaney wore a wire and lived among wiseguys who modeled themselves on their on-screen counterparts, quoting lines from “The Movie” and boasting of how often they’d seen it. Delaney even crossed paths with Joe Pistone, the real-life Donnie Brasco (though neither knew the other was undercover), knowing all the while that a single slip could get him killed.Ultimately gathering enough evidence to convict 30 members of the Bruno and Genovese crime families, Project Alpha was a success, but Delaney struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder and traces of Stockholm syndrome after getting too close to those he investigated. Therapy helped him come to terms with all he’d endured during his three tense years undercover, and, once a college basketball star, Delaney began officiating high school and intramural games as a way to rebuild his life—eventually working his way up to the NBA, where he has been a referee for more than two decades.
Got To Give the People What They Want: True Stories and Flagrant Opinions from Center Court
Jalen Rose - 2015
Jalen Rose has never been quiet. Not as a kid growing up in Detroit in the 70’s and 80’s. Not as the brash, trash-talking leader of the legendary “Fab Five” at the University of Michigan. Not as the player under the stewardship of Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas and others throughout his 13-year NBA career. And certainly not as a commentator and analyst on ABC/ESPN and Grantland. In Got to Give the People What They Want, no topic is off limits. Honest, unfiltered, unbiased. Raw, refreshing, real. This colorful collection of stories and opinions about basketball and life gives people the kind of insight and understanding they don’t get anywhere else in the sports world.
12 Years a Slave and Other Slave Narratives
Solomon Northup - 1853
in 1841 and sold into slavery—for twelve years.Included this edition of 12 Years a Slave are:• The complete unabridged text of Solomon Northup's Twelve Years a Slave, as well as the original classic illustrations, perfectly formatted for your Kindle reader.• Four additional slave narratives, including Uncle Tom's Cabin and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass.• Links to free, full-length audio recordings of the narratives included in this collection.• An individual, active Table of Contents for each book accessible from the Kindle "go to" feature.• Perfect formatting in rich text compatible with Kindle's Text-to-Speech features.• A low, can't-say-no price!Five Complete WorksFive remarkable accounts of slavery in America. Works included:• Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup* includes original illustrations!• Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe* includes original illustrations by Hammatt Billings!• Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass• Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Ann Jacobs• Up From Slavery by Booker T. WashingtonAdditional Resources:• A comprehensive list of the many film and television adaptations of the slave narratives included, as well as additional list of depictions of slavery in film.• Links to free, full-length audio recordings of the narratives included in this collection, as well as other slave narratives by other authors.