Book picks similar to
Let Me Tell You a Story: A Lifetime in the Game by Red Auerbach
sports
basketball
biography
non-fiction
Dan Carter - My Story
Duncan Greive - 2015
Daniel William Carter is acknowledged as the greatest fly-half to have played international rugby. A veteran of more than 100 test matches, he is the world record holder for most test points, has twice been named the IRB’s Player of the Year and twice named New Zealand Player of the Year. Legendary unbeaten All Blacks coach, Sir Fred Allen, who followed international rugby from the 1920s until after the 2011 Rugby World Cup, had no hesitation in naming Carter as the greatest fly-half he ever saw. Carter, though, is renowned for his modesty and unassuming nature, and argues that he has he always ‘just tried to do the best job I can for the All Blacks’. In Dan Carter — My Story the great All Blacks pivot with the model good looks, opens up for the first time about his stellar 13-year career. He looks back on the myriad highs, including that virtuoso performance for the All Blacks against the Lions in the second test of the 2005 series. And, with an equal measure of honesty, he reflects on the lows of his career, speaking frankly of the mental anguish he felt after twice being invalided out of Rugby World Cups. As well, he talks about his unflinching loyalty to the famous black jersey and the reasons why he elected to make a long-term commitment to New Zealand.
All Too Human
George Stephanopoulos - 1999
At thirty, the author was at Bill Clinton's side during the presidential campaign of 1992, & for the next five years he was rarely more than a step away from the president & his other advisers at every important moment of the first term. What Liar's Poker did to Wall Street, this book will do to politics. It is an irreverent & intimate portrait of how the nation's weighty business is conducted by people whose egos & idiosyncrasies are no sturdier than anyone else's. Including sharp portraits of the Clintons, Al Gore, Dick Morris, Colin Powell, & scores of others, as well as candid & revelatory accounts of the famous debacles & triumphs of an administration that constantly went over the top, All Too Human is, like its author, a brilliant combination of pragmatic insight & idealism. It is destined to be the most important & enduring book to come out of the Clinton administration.
To Hate Like This Is to Be Happy Forever
Will Blythe - 2006
A thoroughly obsessive, intermittently uplifting, and occasionally unbiased account of the Duke–North Carolina basketball rivalry
Shooting Stars
LeBron James - 2009
United by their love of the game and their yearning for companionship, they quickly forged a bond that would carry them through thick and thin (a lot of thin) and, at last, to a national championship in their senior year of high school.They were a motley group who faced challenges all too typical of inner-city America. LeBron grew up without a father and had moved with his mother more than a dozen times by the age of ten. Willie McGee, the quiet one, had left both his parents behind in Chicago to be raised by his older brother in Akron. Dru Joyce was outspoken, and his dad was ever present; he would end up coaching all five of the boys in high school. Sian Cotton, who also played football, was the happy-go-lucky enforcer, while Romeo Travis was unhappy, bitter, even surly, until he finally opened himself up to the bond his teammates offered him.In the summer after seventh grade, the Shooting Stars tasted glory when they qualified for a national championship tournament in Memphis. But they lost their focus and had to go home early. They promised one another they would stay together and do whatever it took to win a national title.They had no idea how hard it would be to fulfill that promise. In the years that followed, they would endure jealousy, hostility, exploitation, resentment from the black community (because they went to a “white” high school), and the consequences of their own overconfidence. Not least, they would all have to wrestle with LeBron’s outsize success, which brought too much attention and even a whiff of scandal their way. But together these five boys became men, and together they claimed the prize they had fought for all those years—a national championship.Shooting Stars is a stirring depiction of the challenges that face America’s youth today and a gorgeous evocation of the transcendent impact of teamwork.
Jackie, Ethel, Joan: Women of Camelot
J. Randy Taraborrelli - 2000
Ethel Skakel. Joan Bennett. Three women who married into America's royal family and became forever linked in legend. Set against the panorama of explosive American history, this unique story offers a rarely-seen look at the relationship shared among the three women -- during the Camelot years and beyond. Whether dealing with their husbands' blatant infidelities, stumping for their many political campaigns, touring the world to promote their family's legacy, raising their children, or confronting death, the Kennedy wives did it all with grace, style and dignity.
Underbelly Hoops: Adventures in the CBA - A.K.A. The Crazy Basketball Association
Carson Cunningham - 2011
Well – sort of close. He ended up in the minor leagues of professional basketball instead, in the storied and now defunct CBA, a league that has turned out a record-setting number of NBA players and coaches, such as Phil Jackson and George Karl. It wasn’t glamorous, in fact the playing conditions in the CBA were pretty grim; near-empty arenas, interminable bus rides to nowheresville, oddball coaches, little loyalty from management, meager pay, these were a few realities of CBA life. And yet, even as it chipped away at your dignity and made little economic sense to remain, the CBA drew you in with the allure of action and the prospect of an NBA call-up. And it could inspire, like when you and your teammates caught a rhythm that made you remember why basketball is such a beautiful game, or when you saw guys continue to strive, to persevere, even if their dreams weren't fully realized.Carson writes honestly, hilariously and often touchingly of his running and gunning days as a CBA also-ran, with flash backs to his college days where the future seemed brighter than a new pair of Nikes. A top recruit with superior ballhanding and shooting skills along with a sixth basketball sense, in 1997 Carson was a Sporting News All-American freshman who broke Gary Payton's freshman scoring record and a few years later helped his team at Purdue get within a game of the Final Four.
Torres: El Niño: My Story
Fernando Torres - 2009
From local Madrid idol to Kop hero and European Championship winner, he talks here for the first time about the unique challenges faced in his two seasons in England, with candid snapshots of his early years in Spain and life in the North West on and off the field. Born in Madrid in March 1984, he played for his first football team at age five as a goalkeeper and signed as a professional for Atletico Madrid at 15, making his first-team debut two years later. After 200 appearances for Atletico, he was signed for a club-record 20 million by Liverpool in July 2007, and in his debut season in the Premier League became the first Liverpool player in 12 years to score 20 goals. He made his debut for Spain in 2003, has amassed over 50 caps to date, and has played in two European Championships and one World Cup. He scored the winning goal for Spain in the 2008 European Championships Final. He has an older brother and sister, and has a current personal fortune estimated at more than 14 million.
Ascent
Chris Bonington - 2017
He has undertaken nineteen Himalayan expeditions, including four to Mount Everest which he climbed in 1985 at the age of fifty, and has made many first ascents in the Alps and greater ranges of the world. Along the way we will be fascinated by his many daring climbs, near-death adventures, and the many luminaries of the mountain fraternity he has climbed with, and in some cases - witness their deaths on the rock. The mercurial Dougal Haston; the legendary-tough Don Whillans, the philosopher of the rock Stephen Venables, and the enigmatic Doug Scott, plus many more – this will be an expert’s opinion on the past sixty years of British/ world mountaineering.In Ascent Chris also discusses his first wife (Wendy) who tragically passed away after a long battle with motor neuron disease - his many years of caring for her, and then in his twilight years deciding to return to an iconic climb from his past - The Old Man of Hoy - to summit at the age of 80 years of age. He has now also found love again amidst the sadness and grief. It is a truly inspirational tale.
Ascent
will be a memoir like no other. Not only a cerebral narrative on what it takes to conquer fear, and learn/ develop the technical skills necessary to climb the world’s greatest peaks; what it is like to survive in places no human being can ultimately reside in for longer than a few months at very high altitude, but also how one overcomes emotional obstacles, too, and rediscover what drives us on to happiness.
Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions
Ben Mezrich - 2002
In two years, this ring of card savants earned more than three million dollars. Filled with tense action and incredibly close calls, this is a real-life adventure that could have stepped straight out of a Hollywood film.
Paper Lion: Confessions of a Last-String Quarterback
George Plimpton - 1966
Displaying his characteristic wit and insight, Paper Lion was met with both critical and commercial success, and inspired a movie starring Alan Alda. The late
Quiet Strength: The Principles, Practices & Priorities of a Winning Life
Tony Dungy - 2007
How is it possible for a coach--especially a football coach--to win the respect of his players and lead them to the Super Bowl without the screaming histrionics, the profanities, the demand that the sport come before anything else? How is it possible for anyone to be successful without compromising faith and family? In this inspiring and reflective memoir, Coach Dungy tells the story of a life lived for God and family--and challenges us all to redefine our ideas of what it means to succeed. Includes a foreword by Denzel Washington and a 16-page color photo insert.
Blessed - The Autobiography
George Best - 1999
A legend in his own lifetime, he is undoubtedly the greatest footballer the UK has ever produced. Blessed with an extraordinary gift he brought a beauty and grace to the game never before seen. But Best was unable to cope with the success and fame his football genius brought. His fabled story is littered with tales of women and sex and, of course, alcohol. Much has been written about Best, but very little substantiated by the man himself. That is until George Best opened his heart and engaged us in one of the most exhilarating life stories for years, Blessed. In his own words George recounts the halcyon days at Manchester United, the big games and European Cup win of '68. And then there's the heartbreaking truth about the death of his mother and his struggles with alcohol that forced him to face up to a life without drink. Blessed reveals the man behind the up-for-a-laugh, boozy, womanizing stereotype that had dogged George Best for so long. Open and honest about his mistakes, George is also incredibly candid about his triumphs, his regrets, and, only three years before his death, what he had hoped for the future.'Don't coach him, he's a genius' Sir Matt Busby'Unquestionably the greatest' Sir Alex Ferguson
Touching My Father's Soul: A Sherpa's Journey to the Top of Everest
Jamling Tenzing Norgay - 2001
As Climbing Leader of the famed 1996 Everest IMAX expedition led by David Breashears, Jamling Norgay was able to follow in the footsteps of his legendary mountaineer father, Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary was the first to reach the summit of Mount Everest, in 1953. Jamling Norgay interweaves the story of his own ascent during the infamous May 1996 Mount Everest disaster with little-known stories from his father's historic climb and the spiritual life of the Sherpas, revealing a fascinating and profound world that few -- even many who have made it to the top -- have ever seen.
Fatty Batter
Michael Simkins - 2007
The hilarious story of one man’s cricket obsession: from his earliest days as a fat boy growing up in a Brighton sweetshop to his years running a team of dysfunctional inadequates, cricket has offered shelter from life’s irksome realities.
I Was Right On Time
Buck O'Neil - 1996
As a first baseman and then manager of the legendary Kansas City Monarchs, O'Neil witnessed the heyday of the Negro leagues and their ultimate demise. In I Was Right on Time, he charmingly recalls his days as a ballplayer and as an African-American in a racially divided country. Whether he's telling of his barnstorming days with the likes of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson or the day in 1962 when he became the first African-American coach in the major leagues, O'Neil takes us on a trip not only through baseball's past but through America's as well.