But it is also gripping social history. Andreas Campomar shows how the sport that started as the eccentric pastime of a few ex-pat cricket players has become a defining force, the architect of national identity and a reflection of the region’s soul. How can you hope to understand this tumultuous and disparate collection of young republics without first understanding the game that has become such a dominant presence in every corner of South American society?Including not only the well-known heroes of ‘the beautiful game’ – Garrincha, Maradona, Pelé, Schiaffino, Di Stéfano, Sánchez and Messi – but also the numerous forgotten gems of Latin American football – ‘The Black Chief’, Obdulio Varela; Heleno de Freitas, the Brazilian who squandered his talent and died half-mad with syphilis; Peru’s 1930s golden generation; the unstoppable River Plate of La Máquina; El Ballet Azul, the Colombian team who were so lavishly gifted that they all but dispensed with defending; Omar Corbatta, El Loco, undisputed master of the nutmeg and author of ‘the most impossible move ever’, and the indomitable Bolivian team of the early 1990s – ¡Golazo! is the extraordinary tale of how football came to define a continent.

    Newly married, with a big league paycheck and a brand new house, Hayhurst was ready for a great season in the Bigs. Then fate delivered a crushing hit. Hayhurst blew out his pitching shoulder in an insane off-season workout program. After surgery, rehab, and more rehab, his major-league dreams seemed more distant than ever. From there things got worse, weirder, and funnier. In a crazy world of injured athletes, autograph-seeking nuns, angry wrestlers, and trainers with a taste for torture, Hayhurst learned lessons about the game--and himself--that were not in any rulebook. Honest, soul?searching, insightful, hilarious, and moving, Dirk Hayhurst's latest memoir is an indisputable baseball classic. Praise for The Bullpen Gospels and Out of My League"Dirk Hayhurst writes about baseball in a unique way. Observant, insightful, human, and hilarious." --Bob Costas "A fun read. . .This book shows why baseball is so often used as a metaphor for life." --Keith Olbermann"Entertaining and engaging. . .reminiscent of Jim Bouton's Ball Four." --Booklist"A rare gem of a baseball book." --Tom Verducci, Sports Illustrated"A humorous, candid, and insightful memoir of Hayhurst's rookie season in the majors. . .Grade: Home Run." --Cleveland Plain Dealer

    Among the prospects are Virginia defensive end Chris Canty, who overcomes a devastating early-season knee injury to reestablish himself as a top draft hopeful, only to suffer a detached retina in a nightclub skirmish; and Fred Gibson, a talented but rail-thin Georgia wide receiver who struggles to put on the weight needed to go over the middle in the NFL.It's a complex environment, with college coaches attempting to protect their student-athletes from exploitation (while fully aware that they can only remain competitive if they attract NFL-caliber players to their schools), along with sports agents and NFL scouts trying to stay a step ahead of their competition. These parties provide a multi-angled view of the world of emerging NFL talent. The reader follows the season through the eyes of a host of power players and scouts, from veteran agent Pat Dye Jr. to Jerry Maguire clone Jack Scharf, to the coaching divisions of Florida State University and the University of Virginia---headed by longtime Bill Parcells disciple Al Groh. Also central to the narrative are the Atlanta Falcons and executives Rich McKay and Tim Ruskell (now with Seattle), who use a character-based evaluation system to set their draft board. These parallel stories weave together, culminating in draft weekend, to create a gripping and fascinating look at a world few see from the inside.

    Straightforward yet sly, funny but perhaps a little crazy, Roll calls it like he sees it. Here are anecdotes about the Tour de France, international mountain-bike tournaments, training struggles, heart-stopping fascinating inside look at the world of championship cycling.Way out West --The day the big men cried --One racer's view --Believe or leave --Blind faith was my motto at the '86 Tour --Springtime in hell --Bobke on the defensive --Lost in the Jemez --Bobke takes to the dirt --Deep down dirty with Bobke --Living in a lactic-acid crippling haze --Euro' trashed --Dream season --Nerves + neurosis --Rhythm is a racer --The watch --The sport according to Bobke --The "water hole" revisited --One heli tour --Bobke's back! --Dry bread wants a Harley --Lance and the dipped in ding-dong doodle down in Dixie --Nine guesses --A day at the fair --The night before Amstel --Into the twenty-first century --51 things to do before you die --Eurotrash and the Texas Tornado --Training tips with Bobke --Il Becco Bartalese, following in Coppi's and Bartali's tracks

    While no two are identical, Brandel Chamblee, the highly regarded television analyst and former PGA Tour professional, once noticed that the best players of all time have shared similar positions in each part of the swing, from the grip and setup to the footwork, backswing, and follow-through. Since then, Chamblee, a student of the game’s history, has used scientific precision and thoroughness to make a study of the common swing positions of the greats. Now, in The Anatomy of Greatness, he shares what he has learned, offering hundreds of photographs as proof, to show us how we can easily incorporate his findings into our own swings to hit the ball farther, straighter, and more consistently. What does it tell us that the majority of the greats—from Jack Nicklaus and Byron Nelson to modern masters like Tiger Woods—employ a “strong” grip on the club? How did legends like Ben Hogan, Sam Snead, Mickey Wright, and Gary Player unlock hidden power and control by turning in the right knee at address? Why are some modern teachers preaching quiet footwork when forty-eight of the top fifty golfers of all time lifted their left heels on the backswing, allowing them to build power? At the same time that Chamblee is encouraging certain swing virtues, he also debunks a number of popular—but misguided—swing philosophies that have been hindering golfers for years. The result is perhaps the best and clearest explanation of how to hit a golf ball ever published. Golfers can take The Anatomy of Greatness to the driving range and use Chamblee’s clear explanations to build better swings—and get more speed and consistency into their swings—immediately. This book is like having a series of private lessons from the best golfers of all time, and it will help golfers build swings that make the game easier and more fun.

    Through it all, the former Torquay United player-coach never fails to illuminate his words with sharp comparisons and ironic contrasts that are part and parcel of the game in this country.Following on from his first book, the bestselling Left Foot Forward, Garry Nelson has established himself as an excellent writer and a shrewd and thoughtful analyser of football.

    And yet, question marks have followed him around; question marks about his goalkeeping suitability after arriving on Merseyside; question marks about his integrity after match fixing allegations were laid against him. Here, Grobbelaar takes you to Africa, where nothing is at it seems; he takes you back to an era when Liverpool ruled Europe; he takes you to the benches of the Anfield dressing room, where only the strongest personalities survived. For the first time, he takes you inside the court room, detailing the draining fight to clear his name.

    No Lions team had ever defeated the All Blacks in a Test series. Since 1904, six Lions sides had travelled to New Zealand and all had returned home with their tails between their legs. But in 1971 a tour party led by John Dawes set out to carve their names into the annals of the sport with their assault on the great bastion of world rugby. Lying in wait were team after team of hardened rugby warriors and an All Blacks side filled with legends of the game. But as the Lions began to sweep their way across the length and breadth of the country, displaying ferocity and magic in equal measure, it became clear that a Test series of epic proportions was set to unfold. When Lions Roared delves into the very heart of that famous summer as Lions, All Blacks and provincial players recount their memories to bring to life one of the most celebrated tours in rugby history - one that changed the game forever and continues to resonate powerfully to this day.

    Alphas. Protectors. Bad to the bone. Fall for the hottest mountain men around in a collection box set of 3 Amazon Best Sellers. Picking a favorite? Impossible. Putting the Kindle down? You won’t stand a chance! Includes Amazon top 100 titles Feral, Reckless, and Savage. Complete set with HEAs. Books included: BOOK 1 – FERAL You can’t tame a beast that’s truly wild. She’s my best friend’s sister. But I don’t see ‘off limits’. I see a challenge. Little Ava’s come home with curves in all the right places and a sassy mouth to match. She’s forbidden forest fruit ripe for the ravaging. But I’m going to take her body before I take her heart. BOOK 2 – RECKLESS My mountain, my rules. Until Federal Agent Edie Ness arrives and breaks every god-damned one of them. With her perfect curves and sassy mouth she’s going to get herself killed going after these poacher bastards. Unless I stand in their way. Because I always protect what’s mine. And she will be mine--screaming and moaning for every hard inch. BOOK 3 – SAVAGE Tame me? The Mountain King? She can try. I don’t do commitment. The only strings in my life are the lacy, hanging-off-the-bedhead kind. Getting laid is a matter of clicking my fingers. But Lexi Shane is different. Her country smile and soft curves don’t fool me. She’s hiding something… and it’s more than a great a$s. She wants the legend of Hell's Bitters, she’s going to get it The entire length of my long, hard mountain wood.

    Plus, the Philadelphia Phillies' 2011 rotation also happens to include Cole Hamels--the 2008 NLCS and World Series MVP--and an alternating fifth starter. This awe-inducing rotation has been the talk of baseball since coming together in December 2010. They were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated's 2011 baseball- preview edition, interviewed on the MLB Network on opening day of spring training, covered in the New York Times Magazine, and mentioned in numerous newspapers and magazines nationwide.Authored by two of the most knowledgable and connected Phillies beat writers, The Rotation is a remarkably detailed day-in-the-life story of one complete season with a Major League Baseball starting-pitching staff. The authors offer deep daily access to the Phillies players, coaches, and front-office staff, as well as the players and staff of other major league teams and the national baseball media.With firsthand reporting and extensive interviews, plus two full-color photo inserts, this is a fascinating and detailed look into the day-to-day operation of what is arguably the greatest pitching rotation ever assembled. It is a must-read for Phillies fans and general baseball fans alike.

    For five straight years, from 1958 through 1963, the home of Knute Rockne and Frank Leahy could not produce one winning season. Plagued by a series of bad coaching choices, inept management, and a loss of institutional support, no one could be sure if the Fighting Irish would ever return to glory. When "Touchdown Jesus" was erected in 1964, it presided over a team so hopeless that the entire football program was on the brink of collapse.Little did anyone know, help was on its way in the form of Ara Parseghian, a controversial choice for head coach---the first one outside of the Notre Dame "family"---who had only set foot on Notre Dame soil when his football teams played (and won) there. It was now his responsibility to rebuild the once-proud program and teach the Fighting Irish how to win again. This was no small task.The men of Notre Dame football were a bunch of unlikelies and oddballs, but Parseghian transformed them into a team: a senior quarterback who would win the Heisman Trophy two weeks before he picked up his first letter jacket; a five-foot-eight walk-on who would go on to make first team All-American; and an exceptionally rare black player, who would overcome much more than his quiet demeanor to rise to All-American, All-Pro, NFL Hall of Famer, and to justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court.Parseghian would change everything, from the uniforms and pads to the offensive strategy. He switched players from position to position like pieces on a chessboard, and just before the season opener, he hung a motto over the locker-room door:"What tho the odds""Be great or small""Notre Dame men""Will win over all"It would be a huge gamble against great obstacles, but Ara Parseghian had that look in his eye. . . ."New York Times" bestselling author Jim Dent chronicles one of the greatest comeback seasons in the history of college football---the first season in what is known as the "Era of Ara." Once again confirming his position as one of the top sportswriters in the country, Dent writes with passion, humor, and incredible insight, bringing the legends of Notre Dame football to life in an unforgettable story of second chances, determination, and unwavering spirit.

    RightI never wanted a wife.The only thing I wanted was to play football.But now, with my knee blown out and my parents hearing wedding bells, my life isn't exactly going according to plan.At least my physiotherapist, Naomi, is sexy as sin, right?That's what I tell myself, until someone snaps a photo of us together and all hell breaks loose.'Billionaire Bachelor Engaged', the headlines scream.Fantastic.They're only tabloids, and I should just brush it off.But Naomi needs a bit of cash, and I need to buy some time. And plus, I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress.So, we're engaged.Or at least, we're pretending to be....until it starts to feel a little too real, and I don't know if I want to pretend at all.Engaged to Mr. Right features a brooding, alpha hero and his feisty, no-BS heroine. It's one of three books included the Mr. Right Series collection.  You'll also get Engaged to Mr. Wrong and Engaged to Mr. Perfect.  Sizzling-hot, absolutely swoonworthy, and packed full of oh-so-satisfying moments, this collection is a must-read!

    They became engaged, had a child, and settled into a life of love and happiness as they prepared for their future together. But life is a curveball, and when a voice from the past shows up, it threatens to tear the Martin family apart.Can Wes and Kristin handle what is thrown at them?

    Built by an eccentric owner, molded by a visionary coach and loaded with hardscrabble miners, college All Americans and the sky's the limit ethos of the Roaring Twentys, the Maroons did the unthinkable and dominated the NFL in their rookie season. (Their improbable rise was chronicled each week in the local paper by a rookie Pottsville sportswriter named John OOHara.)Little Pottsville outscored its first seven opponents 162-6. The boys so thoroughly pummeled one opponent, angry fans shot up their train car as the Maroons rode out of town. In the final game of that first season the Maroons traveled to the Midwest to face the league-leading Chicago Cardinals in what was viewed as the championship game for 1925. The Maroons overcame a Windy City snowstorm and an injury to their best player to defeat the Cardinals 21-7.But the fans wanted more.College ball was still king. And as news of PottsvilleOs success was splashed across the news reels and headlines throughout the country, a movement began to have the Maroons face a team of college All-Stars from the University of Notre Dame, featuring the legendary Four Horsemen, the finest collection of talent the game had ever known. Experts believed the NFL was still decades away from competing with college football. But on a neutral field in Philadelphia, in a battle described as The Greatest Football Game Ever Seen, the Maroons shocked the world and turned the football establishment upside-down, defeating Notre Dame 9-7 on a last-second field goal by their captain Charlie Berry who had his kicking cleat bronzed for eternity.The championship was theirs. The NFL was finally on the map. The Maroons victory over Notre Dame had legitimized the league. It also destroyed the town and the team that made it all possible.Claiming the upstart Maroons had violated the territory of another franchise by playing Notre Dame in Philadelphia, the NFL suspended Pottsville and awarded the 1925 NFL championship to the Chicago Cardinals. The Cardinals refused to accept the bogus title and the 1925 crown was never officially awarded. For more than 80 years, fans of the Pottsville MaroonsNthe team Red Grange said was the greatest he ever facedNhave fought to have the 1925 title returned to its rightful owners.With Breaker Boys their remarkable story is told at last.

    ALS known today as "Lou Gehrig's Disease" robbed him of his physical skills at a relatively young age, and he died in 1941. Ray Robinson re-creates the life of this legendary ballplayer and also provides an insightful look at baseball, including all the great players of that era: Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and more.