Runnin' Rebel: Shark Tales of "Extra Benefits," Frank Sinatra, and Winning It All


Jerry Tarkanian - 2005
    Runnin' Rebel is Tarkanian unplugged, dishing his wildest, most ridiculous, and most hilarious recruiting stories, capers, and tales from a colorful career as college basketball's ultimate lovable rogue.

Start Your Engines: My Unstoppable CrossFit Journey


Sam Briggs - 2020
    This is the story of how she got to the top, and battled with everything she had to stay there. Sam’s memoir takes in the whole story, from being kicked out of ballet lessons as a child but being accepted on the boys’ sports teams, to working as a firefighter in West Yorkshire for ten years, tackling dangerous and adrenaline-fueled situations on a daily basis, and to taking up CrossFit at the comparatively ancient age of 27. Sam tells of what it took to become champion a mere three years later, and after a year out with a broken patella. Despite the numerous setbacks and debilitating injuries that have plagued her in the years that followed, when most other athletes would have thrown in the towel, Sam has fought, and continues to fight, to be the very best that she can be. Start Your Engines is the story of how, with a combination of grit, training and dogged motivation, it’s never too late to achieve your dreams.

The Magnificent Masters: Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Weiskopf, and the 1975 Cliffhanger at Augusta


Gil Capps - 2013
    A veritable Hall of Fame list of competitors had gathered that spring in Augusta, Georgia, for the game's most famous event, including Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Hale Irwin, Billy Casper, and Sam Snead. The lead-up had been dominated by Lee Elder, the first black golfer ever invited to the exclusive club's tourney. But by the weekend, the tournament turned into a showdown between the three heavyweights of the time: Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, and Tom Weiskopf. Never before had golf's top three players of the moment summoned the best golf of their lives in the same major championship. Their back-and-forth battle would rivet the sporting world and dramatically culminate in one of the greatest finishes in golf history.In The Magnificent Masters, Gil Capps, a twenty-two-year veteran of the golf industry with NBC Sports and Golf Channel, recaptures hole-by-hole the thrilling drama of this singular event during golf's golden era, from the media-crazed build-up and intertwined careers of the three combatants to the tournament's final dramatic putts that would change the game of golf forever.

Six Machine: I Don't Like Cricket... I Love It


Chris Gayle - 2016
    In fact, the West Indies cricket legend has broken every batting record in the book: most runs and sixes in a career, most hundreds, most man-of-the-match awards . . . He is untouchable. Off the pitch he's no less notorious—known for his excessive partying, he will regularly pull an all-nighter, eat his trademark pancake breakfast, and then play another record innings. Now the man known and loved for his supersize bats, huge frame, and even bigger smile opens up his world. Funny, riveting, outrageous . . . welcome to the Six Machine, the big-hitting cricket legend's funny, outrageous memoir.

Personal Foul


Tim Donaghy - 2009
    Personal Foul takes an in-depth look at former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and the betting scandal that rocked professional basketball. Containing never-before-seen documentation and correspondence between the league office, referees, coaches, players and owners, this is the decisive book that reveals exactly what was done and how it all happened. Which games were affected and how? Is it true that referees targeted particular players? Just how much did the NBA know and when? How did the mafia get involved? Personal Foul answers all of these questions and more. Thrilling and poignant, Personal Foul takes the reader on the journey of one man wrestling his own demons and shines a light on a culture of gambling and "directive" officiating in the NBA that promises to change the way sports fans view the game forever.

Wayne Bennett: Don't Die With The Music In You


Wayne Bennett
    

I Should Be Dead by Now


Dennis Rodman - 2005
    The controversial and flamboyant former basketball star, who recently had a tryout with the Denver Nuggets and has played with the Long Beach Jam of the ABA in hopes of getting another shot at the National Basketball Association, is back in the national spotlight once again with I Should Be Dead By Now.The new book from the two—time best—selling author details Rodman's struggles in life since he stopped playing in the NBA, including the breakup of his marriage to movie and TV star Carmen Electra and his problems with alcohol. I Should Be Dead By Now is a look at the life of one of America's most recognizable sports stars since the lights of professional basketball stopped shining as brightly, and how Dennis Rodman hopes to make a successful return to the game that made him famous.

The Tour According to G: My Journey to the Yellow Jersey


Geraint Thomas - 2018
    In the summer of 2018, that curse was blown away in spectacular fashion - from the cobbles of the north and the iconic mountain climbs of the Alps to the brutal slopes of the Pyrenees and, finally, the Champs-Elysees in Paris. As a boy, G had run home from school on summer afternoons to watch the Tour on television. This July, across twenty-one stages and three weeks, and under constant attack from his rivals, he made the race his own.With insight from the key characters around Geraint, this is the inside story of one of the most thrilling and heart-warming tales in sport. Not only can nice guys come first - they can win the biggest prize of all.

In It for the Long Run: Breaking records and getting FKT


Damian Hall - 2021
    

Federer


Chris Bowers - 2013
    This authoritative and affectionate biography traces Federer's rise, from his first tentative strokes with a tennis racket to how he dealt with being sent away to a training academy where he struggled to communicate in a French-speaking part of Switzerland, as well as how he handled the sudden death of his first real coach and mentor. It also examines how Roger has bounced back from arguably one of the most challenging periods of his career; following a serious illness and a dip in form, he broke his run of successive Wimbledon championship wins and was toppled from the number one spot by rival Rafael Nadal—but in characteristic style, silenced his critics by once again returning to winning form. This biography explains how Roger's professionalism and charm, as well as the time he devotes to his charitable foundation, have won him huge amounts of respect from both his fellow athletes and tennis professionals alike.

Fibber in the Heat


Miles Jupp - 2012
    But perhaps deciding to bluff his way into the press corps during England's Test series in India wasn't his best idea.By claiming to be the cricket correspondent for BBC Scotland and getting a job with the (Welsh) Western Mail, Miles lands the press pass that will surely be the ticket to his dreams. Soon, he finds himself in cricket heaven - drinking with David Gower and Beefy, sharing bar room banter with Nasser Hussain and swapping diarrhoea stories with the Test Match Special team. Amazing!But struggling in the heat under the burden of his own fibs, reality soon catches up with Miles as - like a cricket-obsessed Boot from Evelyn Waugh's Scoop - he bumbles from one disaster to the next. A joyous, charming, yet cautionary tale, Fibber in the Heat is for anyone who's ever dreamt about doing nothing but watching cricket all day long.

Rafa


Rafael Nadal - 2011
    In his memoir, written with award-winning journalist John Carlin, he reveals the secrets of his game and shares the inspiring personal story behind his success. It begins in Mallorca, where the tight-knit Nadal family has lived for generations. Coached by his uncle Toni from the age of four and taught humility and respect by his parents, Nadal has managed the uncommon feat of becoming an acclaimed global celebrity while remaining a gracious, hardworking role model for people in all walks of life. Now he takes us behind the scenes, from winning the Wimbledon 2008 final-described by John McEnroe as "the greatest game of tennis" he had ever seen-to the family problems that brought him low in 2009 and the numerous injuries that have threatened his career. With candor and intelligence, Nadal brings readers on his dramatic and triumphant journey, never losing sight of the prize he values above all others: the unity and love of his family. From RAFA: "During a match, you are in a permanent battle to fight back your everyday vulnerabilities, bottle up your human feelings. The more bottled up they are, the greater your chances of winning, so long as you've trained as hard as you play and the gap in talent is not too wide between you and your rival. The gap in talent with Federer existed, but it was not impossibly wide. It was narrow enough, even on his favorite surface in the tournament he played best, for me to know that if I silenced the doubts and fears, and exaggerated hopes, inside my head better than he did, I could beat him. You have to cage yourself in protective armor, turn yourself into a bloodless warrior. It's a kind of self-hypnosis, a game you play, with deadly seriousness, to disguise your own weaknesses from yourself, as well as from your rival."

Between a Rock and a Hard Place


Aron Ralston - 2004
    It started out as a simple hike in the Utah canyonlands on a warm Saturday afternoon. For Aron Ralston, a twenty-seven-year-old mountaineer and outdoorsman, a walk into the remote Blue John Canyon was a chance to get a break from a winter of solo climbing Colorado's highest and toughest peaks. He'd earned this weekend vacation, and though he met two charming women along the way, by early afternoon he finally found himself in his element: alone, with just the beauty of the natural world all around him. It was 2:41 P.M. Eight miles from his truck, in a deep and narrow slot canyon, Aron was climbing down off a wedged boulder when the rock suddenly, and terrifyingly, came loose. Before he could get out of the way, the falling stone pinned his right hand and wrist against the canyon wall. And so began six days of hell for Aron Ralston. With scant water and little food, no jacket for the painfully cold nights, and the terrible knowledge that he'd told no one where he was headed, he found himself facing a lingering death -- trapped by an 800-pound boulder 100 feet down in the bottom of a canyon. As he eliminated his escape options one by one through the days, Aron faced the full horror of his predicament: By the time any possible search and rescue effort would begin, he'd most probably have died of dehydration, if a flash flood didn't drown him before that. What does one do in the face of almost certain death? Using the video camera from his pack, Aron began recording his grateful good-byes to his family and friends all over the country, thinking back over a life filled with adventure, and documenting a last will and testament with the hope that someone would find it. (For their part, his family and friends had instigated a major search for Aron, the amazing details of which are also documented here for the first time.) The knowledge of their love kept Aron Ralston alive, until a divine inspiration on Thursday morning solved the riddle of the boulder. Aron then committed the most extreme act imaginable to save himself. Between a Rock and a Hard Place -- a brilliantly written, funny, honest, inspiring, and downright astonishing report from the line where death meets life -- will surely take its place in the annals of classic adventure stories.

Behind the Laughter


Sherrie Hewson - 2011
    From her dazzling performances in the Carry On films to Russ Abbott's Madhouse, to her favourite character Maureen Holdsworth in Coronation Street to the green hills of Emmerdale, Sherrie's warmth and good humour won her a place in the heart of the nation. And now an adored presenter on Loose Women, which she joined eight years ago, Sherrie has become a friend and confidante to the millions who tune in for her naughty sense of fun, openness and quick wit.But behind the laughter Sherrie has been hiding a secret heartache. After 30 years of marriage, she is finally divorcing the man who cheated on her and squandered all her money, leaving her bankrupt, on the brink of an alcohol problem and suicidal. It has taken her nine years to reach this point; but Sherrie is now ready to share her story – and it's one that at times seems more fitting to a soap opera than real life.From living in a brothel to being ditched at the altar, to living in fear of her stalker to nearly murdering her Corrie co-star (by accident, of course!), to the on- and off-screen lovers, friends and foe, to struggling to conceive her much-loved daughter,Sherrie – a natural storyteller – always manages to see the funny side and tells it like it is with warmth and a cheeky smile.Brimming with brilliantly funny anecdotes and larger-than-life characters, Sherrie’s story will delight, entertain and, above all, make you laugh.

Hands of Stone: The Life and Legend of Roberto Duran


Christian Giudice - 2006
    Often called the greatest boxer of all time, he held world titles at four different weights, is the only boxer in history to have fought in five different decades, and his bouts with fellow greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler have gone down in fistic folklore. He finally retired in January of 2002, at age fifty-two, with a professional record of 104 wins (69 by KO) in 120 fights. They called him Manos de Piedra: “Hands of Stone.” Now journalist Christian Giudice has written the first—and definitive—story of Duran’s incredible life both in and out of the ring. He has interviewed the fighter, his family, closest friends, and scores of his opponents to separate truth from myth. Duran was born in utter poverty in Panama and grew up in the streets, fighting to survive. His talent with his fists soon emerged, and he had his first professional fight in 1967. Duran grew into a fighter’s fighter. His hunger to destroy opponents and his willingness to take on anyone, anywhere, made him a huge favorite while his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring made headline news. Duran was one of the first Latino fighters to become a mainstream sports star in the United States, and his natural talent, unprecedented achievements, and longevity made an indelible mark on the world of sport.