The Big Fix: The Hunt for the Match-Fixers Bringing Down Soccer


Brett Forrest - 2014
    For the first time, investigative journalist Brett Forrest takes us inside the underworld of one of organized crime's most profitable businesses—a $1 trillion annual international betting market, of which soccer comprises 70 percent.Forrest uncovered a web of nefarious dealings across the world, even on U.S. soil. As he found, no match is safe—not even the World Cup tournament—and law enforcement officials lack the resources to stop it. But one man has taken this criminal enterprise on: Chris Eaton, former head of security for FIFA. Now with the International Center for Sports Security in Qatar, this rough and tumble Australian and longtime Interpol cop has tracked down some of the biggest fixers and their financial backers and continues his mission to clean up the world's most popular sport.Filled with headline making revelations, The Big Fix is must reading for soccer fans and true crime aficionados.

Sleep, Interrupted: A physician reveals the #1 reason why so many of us are sick and tired


Steven Y. Park - 2008
    Or you have persistent pain you and your doctor can't explain. Man or woman, you may be fighting fluctuating hormone levels. Or maybe you snore like a freight train.Anything that narrows the throat and interrupts sleep, particularly breathing problems brought on by sleep position, illness, life changes, or your anatomy, may be key to understanding a host of common health issues. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Steven Park outlines a simple, rational explanation for what s making you sick, and provides guidance for treatment options that address specific health problems.

The Point After: How One Resilient Kicker Learned There Was More to Life Than the NFL


Sean Conley - 2020
    Embodying the spirit of the underdog, this is a moving tale of strength, determination, and spiritual grit."An amazing story! I devoured this book! This was so much MORE than a football story." - BOOKISHLY OVERDUE“The Point After is a page-turner. You don't have to be a real fan of football to fall in LOVE with this book. 5 stars!” - PICK A GOOD BOOKA vivid account of life in the NFL—and an inspiring story of everything that comes after.Against seemingly impossible odds, Sean Conley became the starting kicker for the University of Pittsburgh in his senior year. A year later, he suited up for the Detroit Lions. But when he joined the New York Jets soon after, Conley’s injuries caught up to him, and his lifelong dream came crashing down in a crisis of denial and fear.The Point After is an all-access look at the NFL, one of the most intense workplaces in sports. Conley describes pushing through pain at NFL training camps, surrounded by rookies, All-Pro veterans, and long-shot undrafted free agents, all hell-bent on staying in the game. He recounts the insecurities he dealt with on and off the field, and the despair that overtook him when his career ended.But while Conley thought life was over, it was just beginning.

Gordie: A Hockey Legend: An Unauthorized Biography of Gordie Howe


Roy MacSkimming - 1994
    Signed by the Detroit Red Wings at 16, Gordie became a six-time leading scorer, a six-time Hart Trophy winner as the most valuable player, and he surpassed Rocket Richard's NHL goals record to reach an amazing total of 801--unmatched for years until Gretzky finally caught up to his mentor and idol. Gordie also includes a new introduction.

Wrigleyworld: A Season in Baseball's Best Neighborhood


Kevin Kaduk - 2006
    But for Cubs fans, "never say die" is a way of life. And Kevin Kaduk is no exception-so much so that in a fit of loyalty to his "Lovable Losers," he quit his job as a sportswriter in Kansas City and moved back to the Windy City on a quest to find the heart and soul of what has come to be known as "Wrigleyville"-the idiosyncratic neighborhood that has sprung up around Wrigley Field." This is a rollicking adventure of baseball, blind faith, and America's pastime as it's played in America's heartland.

Bear: The Hard Life and Good Times of Alabama's Coach Bryant


Paul W. Bryant - 1975
    Bear's personal off the field and his accomplishments on the field have contributed equally to his ever-growing status as an American icon.

Weird But True: Stupid Criminals: 100 Brainless Baddies Busted, Plus Wacky Facts


National Geographic Kids - 2012
    This collection of chuckle-worthy stories about stupid criminals and the ridiculous ways they gave themselves away is illustrated with wacky collage art, and sprinkled with more than 150 weird-but-true facts about crime, including: funny laws; hilarious costumes criminals have worn while robbing banks; animal crimes and midemeanors; strange food crimes; great escapes; and more...

Born to Rise - My Story


Sergio Kun Aguero - 2014
    The book features a foreword from his best friend, Lionel Messi, and includes colourful dressing room revelations about his fellow countryman and a revealing insight into the greatest footballer on the planet. Against an incredible backdrop of hardship, Sergio is lucky to have been born after an epic ordeal for his young mother and an incredible twist as to how he took a surname that is now familiar around the world. From fathering a son with Maradona's daughter to winning junior World Cups and clinching the most dramatic Premier League title in modern history. This is a book every Manchester City fan will want to read, but also any football fan who is fascinated by that elite group of World greats who were touched by destiny and born to rise.

Allez Allez Allez: The Inside Story of the Resurgence of Liverpool FC, Champions of Europe 2019


Simon Hughes - 2019
    He takes them to Chapel Street, where the club’s business is determined, and to America, where it is owned. He takes them into Anfield, where many of the most important moments are defined, and he takes them on to the pitches of the Premier League and the Champions League, as we revisit how Liverpool stormed their way to the top of the Premier League this season.

When Friday Comes: Football in the War Zone


James Montague - 2008
    James Montague travelled there for three years, observing the region's cultures and politics through the prism of football and interviewing all the major teams along the way. He soon realised that to understand the game there is to understand its people. For as much as football forms an unlikely common thread between different countries, the sport also reflects what is unique in the national characters of those who play, support and organise it.When Friday Comes is an insightful and humorous account of Montague's journey, during which he gets stoned with the Yemeni FA, harangues Iran's Deputy President at the World Cup, has a gun pulled on him by genocidal Lebanese football fans, encounters a rioting group of fanatical young Jews singing 'I'm West Ham 'til I Die' in mockney English and was made to strip and then dance for the Iraqi national team.This is a compelling travel memoir that will enlighten, surprise and entertain football fans everywhere.

Not Your Average Runner: Why You’re Not Too Fat to Run and the Skinny on How to Start Today


Jill Angie - 2017
    With humor, compassion, and lots of love, Jill Angie delivers the goods: overcoming the challenges of running with an overweight body and giving individuals’ self-esteem an enormous boost in the process. This isn't a guide to running for weight loss, or a simple running plan. It shows readers how a woman carrying a few (or many) extra pounds can successfully become a runner in the body she has right now. Jill Angie is a certified running coach and personal trainer who wants to live in a world where everyone is free to feel fit and fabulous at any size. She started the Not Your Average Runner movement in 2013 to show that runners come in all shapes, sizes and speeds, and, since then, has assembled a global community of revolutionaries that are taking the running world by storm. If you would like to be part of the revolution, flip to the inside and find out more!

Jelleyman's Thrown a Wobbly: Saturday Afternoons in Front of the Telly


Jeff Stelling - 2009
    To the millions unable to get to their teams' games on Saturday afternoons, the next best thing is undoubtedly the pleasurable company of Jeff and the Sky Sports videprinter for a cozy marathon on the sofa. If someone's got to reveal that your beloved team have just gone 3�0 down away from home and had a man sent off, it's best if it's consummate professional Jeff who breaks the news to you. Avid Hartlepool fan Jeff knows our pain and shares our joy—but mostly he knows our pain. The long-time host of SkySports' iconic Soccer Saturday show has become a cult figure, universally admired for his encyclopedic knowledge of the game, his genuine and unlimited enthusiasm for all levels of soccer, and his wicked sense of humor which makes the six-hour long show simply whiz by. This deliciously chaotic, hugely entertaining, anecdote-ridden, humorous taste of life in the Soccer Saturday studio reveals what Jeff has to say about some of the show's legendary pundits over the years—ex-players such as George Best, Rodney Marsh, Chris Kamara, Charlie Nicholas, and Matt Le Tissier. Get the inside track on all those great one-liners: "Mansfield Town's Gareth Jellyman has been shown the red card for dissent. Looks like Jellyman's thrown a wobbly." "Darlington's equalizer has been scored by Guyain Ndumbu-Nsungu. Very much a case of local boy makes good." "They'll be dancing in the streets of Total Network Solutions tonight." "James Brown's grabbed a second for Hartlepool. I feel good!" Jellyman's Thrown a Wobbly goes a long way to demonstrate how a six-hour long, studio-based show with no live action pictures and featuring men gazing into TV monitors which the viewer can't see, can hold a huge audience enthralled every Saturday afternoon between August and May.

Bobby Moore: The Man in Full


Matt Dickinson - 2013
    Since his death at just 51 from pancreatic cancer, this has been the accepted view of a national hero. But how much do we really know of England’s only World Cup-winning skipper? We all know that Bobby Moore was an extraordinary captain and defender, but alongside his legendary feats on the pitch he knew scandal, death threats, bankruptcy business, and the sack. He divorced after a long affair, was rumored to have friends in the East End underworld, and he loved a drink. The tragedy of his life was to be ignored by soccer in his latter years and to drift into obscurity. After he applied to be England manager, the FA didn’t even bother to send a rejection letter. There was no job in the game and, famously, no knighthood. As well as the undeniable moments of glory, this long overdue, definitive biography won’t shy away from the grit. Tracing his journey from the East End to a pedestal outside Wembley Stadium, it will, for the first time, look at Moore’s life from all sides, through the testimony of teammates, rivals, family, and friends. What was Moore like to play with, to drink with? What was he like as a husband, father, opponent, and captain? A struggling manager and a failed businessman? This book will tell the story of an Essex boy who became the patron saint of English soccer, revealing a lifetime of intrigue, triumph, and tragedy in between.

The Farther Corner: A Sentimental Return to North-East Football


Harry Pearson - 2020
    Now, a generation later, Harry Pearson returns to the region to discover how much things have changed - and how much they have remained the same.  In the mid-1990s, Kevin Keegan brought sporting romance and expectation of trophies to Newcastle, Sunderland moved the the Stadium of Light backed by a wealthy consortium, Middlesbrough signed one of the best Brazilians of the era and won their first major trophy - even little Darlington had a former safe-cracker turned kitchen magnate in charge, promising the world. The region even provided England's two key players in Euro 96 in Alan Shearer and Paul Gascoigne - the far corner seemed destined to become the centre of England's footballing world. But it never happened. Using travels to and from matches in the 2018-19 season, The Farther Corner will explore the changes in north-east football and society over the past twenty-five years. Visiting new places and some familiar ones, catching the stories, the sentiment and the sound of the supporters, locating where football now sits in the life of a region that was once proud to be what John Arlott suggested was ‘The Hotbed of Soccer’, it will be about love and loss and the happiness to be found eating KitKats and joking about Bobby Mimms on cold February days in coal-scented northern air. The region may have been left behind in the Champions League stakes, but few would doubt the power of its beating heart.

Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile


Nate Jackson - 2013
    Degenerative brain conditions, early onset arthritis, bad knees, hips, shoulders: such is the glory that awaits the retired veteran of the NFL-as well as the terrible pensions and imminent financial ruin for the majority that lack college degrees. But for the millions of NFL fans, the average NFL player is faceless; his pain and suffering virtually invisible.Nate Jackson was a receiver at tiny Division III Menlo College, on the coast of California. Talented enough to sign as a free agent with the 49ers, he then played for six seasons with the Denver Broncos, bouncing from the practice squad to the active roster and eventually a starting spot-a player barely holding on to a career in the pros, like the majority of his fellow players.As he traces the arc of his career, Jackson brings to light the story of hundreds of everyday, "expendable" players whose lives-unlike those of their superstar colleagues-aren't captured in high-definition. From scouting combines to training camps, off-season parties to game-day routines, this remarkably written memoir-funny, candid, controversial, and artful-is an unforgettable look at life in the NFL, and the real lives of young men risking their bodies, and ultimately their lives, to play pro football.