Prepared to be awed and inspired by Chris Froome riding on at the Tour de France with a broken wrist or Geraint Thomas finishing it with a broken pelvis.In The Hardmen the writers behind cycling superblog Velominati.com and The Rules will tell the stories and illuminate the myths of not just the greatest cyclists ever, but the toughest. From Eddy Merckx to Beryl Burton, and from Marianne Vos to Edwig Van Hooydonk, the book will lay bare the secrets of their extraordinary and inspirational endurance in the face of pain, danger and disaster. After all, suffering is one of the joys of being a cyclist. Embrace climbs, relish the descents, and get ready to harden up. . .

    The media portrayed Kennedy as a hero for breaking the code of silence in professional hockey and bringing James to justice. The heroic myth intensified in 1998 when Kennedy announced that he was going to in-line skate from Newfoundland to British Columbia to raise awareness of sexual abuse. The skate raised over $1 million for Canadian Red Cross sexual abuse programs, and Kennedy settled in Calgary with his wife and young daughter. Anyone who has followed hockey in the last ten years is familiar with the story of ex-NHL player Sheldon Kennedy. As one of the most promising hockey talents to emerge from the Canadian minor leagues in the last two decades, Kennedy was destined for hockey greatness. But after he was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in 1988, he attracted more attention for his off-ice antics than for his contributions to the score sheet. Plagued by rumours of drug and alcohol abuse and a string of injuries, Kennedy drifted from team to team. The happy ending promised by the headlines never materialized. Still haunted by the demons of sexual abuse, Kennedy's life spiralled out of control. Now he has finally come forward to tell his story, and the story of coach Graham James, who is out of prison and currently coaching hockey in Europe.

    It’s a national obsession. But what does that really mean when your child wants to play on a team? As a former varsity athlete and university instructor teaching sport literature, novelist Angie Abdou is no stranger to sports obsession, but she finds herself conflicted when faced with the reality of the struggles, joys, and strains of having a child in amateur hockey. In Home Ice, Abdou charts a full season of life as an Atom-level hockey mom, from summer hockey camp to end-of-season tournaments. With equal parts humour and anguish, she offers a nuanced portrait of today’s hockey parent. Her revealing stories and careful research of an often troubling sport culture offer a compellingly honest and complex insider’s view of parenting today’s young athlete in a competitive and high-pressure culture.

    Young, bright, photogenic, personable, and a media darling, the only question that remained was whether he could handle the big time. From an international advertising deal with Reebok to a season that seems to go from triumph to triumph--with a little argument from Don Cherry along the way--Sid the Kid has proven that he already is the man. In the tradition of A

    

    Kaitlyn Johanson is chosen by heartthrob, nationally-acclaimed lacrosse player, Axel Olsen, for a dream date. She didn't know a man touching her hand could feel like heaven, but she awkwardly blacks out then admits to him that she's in a relationship. Kaitlyn comes home to Echo Ridge hoping to rekindle her relationship with her high school boyfriend, Mason. She never expects Axel to show up in her hometown, hosting a lacrosse camp with Mason and his stepdad. When Axel steals her attention and possibly her heart from the man she is supposed to marry, she has to decide if she'll take a risk on new love or give old love a second chance.

    In Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Legends, Neyer breathes new life into both classic and obscure stories throughout twentieth-century baseball—stories that, while engaging on their own, also tell us fascinating things about their main characters and about the sport's incredibly rich history. With his signature style, Rob gets to the heart of every anecdote, working through the particulars with careful research drawn from a variety of primary sources. For each story, he asks: Did this really happen? Did it happen, sort of? Or was the story simply the wild invention of someone's imagination? Among the scores of legends Neyer questions and investigates... -Did an errant Bob Feller pitch really destroy the career of a National League All-Star? -Did Greg Maddux mean to give up a long blast to Jeff Bagwell? -Was Fred Lynn the clutch player he thinks he was? -Did Tommy Lasorda have a direct line to God? -Did Negro Leaguer Gene Benson really knock Indians second baseman Johnny Berardino out of baseball and into General Hospital? -Did Billy Martin really outplay Jackie Robinson every time they met? -Oh, and what about Babe Ruth's “Called Shot”? Rob checks each story, separates the truths from the myths, and places their fascinating characters into the larger historical context. Filled with insider lore and Neyer's sharp wit and insights, this is an exciting addition to a superb series and an essential read for true fans of our national pastime.

    She helps when the guys drink too much before a game. She tapes them up when they're injured. And in return, they watch her back. While most students spend their time partying, Lily spends her free time working. But her job as the assistant athletic trainer for the PSU football team comes with the benefit of being friends with every player on the team. Except the entirely too cocky, reckless, and charming golden boy of the team: Vincent Bradshaw. When they aren't spouting insults at one another, Vincent and Lily are doing everything in their power to avoid each other. That is, until Vincent gets injured.

    Huge. Magnum. That's how ladies talk about me. I’ve dominated the soccer field all my life. Now, I'm going to dominate Miss Reesa Brighton with all my strength! The moment I saw her I knew I wanted to score a goal in her! Those curves, those eyes, that sweet voice! I want it all for me! I'll claim her sweetness, her innocence. I'm gonna take what's mine. She can play hard to get all she wants. I'll give her my big, fat tool to play with at the end. And I'll make sure she gets every inch of it! I've decided to take what's mine and I will. She is my biggest temptation… Temptation is a standalone 30,000+ words novella with a guaranteed HEA, no cheating, and no cliffhanger! BONUS Bad Boy content included for a limited time! Warning: 18+ only

    Yesterday in broadcasting. Tomorrow in book form.” —Steve Simmons, Toronto Sun After nearly 50 years behind the microphone, the voice of hockey in America opens up in a must-read memoir. Mike “Doc” Emrick has seen everything there is to see in a hockey game. Sizzling slap shots. Commitment, courage, and camaraderie. Pugnacious pugilists. Game-winning goals. To hockey fans across the country, his voice—and vocabulary—have become synonymous with the game they love.  In Off Mike, Doc takes readers back to the beginning, detailing how a Pittsburgh Pirates fan from small-town Indiana found himself in the wild world of professional hockey, calling games for the New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers, and finally NBC.    He’s covered All-Star Games, Stanley Cup Finals, the Olympics, and everything in between, rubbing shoulders with hockey’s immortals both on and off the ice. Yet Doc’s life has had its share of ups and downs, from almost leaving behind the love of his life to the passing of beloved companions to personal health scares.  After years of being welcomed into our homes, in this autobiography Doc welcomes us into his, revealing the stories, wit, and wisdom that have made him one of the most beloved figures in sports.

     Losing both of my parents in a tragic accident ripped that world apart. And I'd fallen hard for tomboy Emmy Sullinger, the girl who'd put me back together again. The problem is that the story doesn't end there—it's just getting started. Because Emmy, the girl I'm completely crazy about, is my best friend Sully's little sister. Sully's not only my best friend, he's also my teammate—and there are lines you just don't cross. Going after your best friend's sister is one of them. So I've kept my feelings—and my hands—to myself for the last three years. After all, making a play for her would result in the biggest penalty I could ever take. With Emmy away and attending University in New York City, being tempted by her hasn't been an issue. But when she comes home to Toronto for summer vacation looking sexy as hell—and suggests we hook up? Damn. I just know I'm going to end up in the penalty box…

    S. hockey team’s victory at the 1980 Olympics was a “Miracle on Ice”--a miracle largely brought about by the late Herb Brooks, the legendary coach who forged that invincible team. Famously antagonistic toward the press at Lake Placid, Brooks nonetheless turned to sportswriter John Gilbert after each game, giving his longtime friend and confidant what became the most comprehensive coverage of the ’80 team. This book is Gilbert’s memoir of Brooks. Neither strictly biography or tell-all exposé, Herb Brooks: Born to Coach is the story of an extraordinary man as it emerged in the course of a remarkable friendship.Gilbert, writing for the Minneapolis Tribune, first met Brooks during his coaching days at the University of Minnesota, whose hockey program he resurrected in the 1970’s. The two became fast friends, and here, for the first time, Gilbert relates anecdotes--his own and former players’--that illuminate Brooks’ oftentimes hard-nosed coaching methods, his dramatic successes, and his incomparable character. From Brooks’ beginnings in East St. Paul and his stint with the 1960 gold medal-winning Olympic team (from which he was famously the last player cut), Gilbert goes on to dissect the coach’s tenure with the Gophers (including three national titles) and the Lake Placid story, from the selection process and yearlong barnstorming tour to the Games themselves. Throughout this and later chapters of Brooks’ career--including coaching turns with St. Cloud State University, four NHL teams, and the 2002 U.S. Olympic squad--readers are treated to impossibly colorful quotes, rare photographs from Brooks’ playing and coaching careers, and pertinent sidebar pieces that originally appeared in the Minneapolis Tribune.

    For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Centre Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT.Acclaimed wrestling historian Keith Elliot Greenberg's Too Sweet: Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution takes readers back to the beginning, when a half century ago outlaw promotions challenged the established leagues, and guides us into the current era. He paints a vivid picture of promotions as diverse as New Japan, Ring of Honor, Revolution Pro, Progress, and Chikara, and the colorful figures who starred in each. This is both a dynamic snapshot and the ultimate history of a transformational time in professional wrestling.

    This engaging new book is about the hockey heroes and hard-boiled businessmen who built the game, and the rise and fall of legendary teams pursuing the Stanley Cup. With a historian’s perspective and fan’s passion, Stephen Harper presents a riveting and often-surprising portrait, capturing everything from the physical contests on the rinks to the battles behind the scenes and the changing social conventions of the twentieth century.A Great Game shows that many things have stayed the same. Rough play, fervent hometown loyalties, owner-player contract disputes, dubious news coverage, and big money were issues from the get-go. Most important in these early years was the question: Was hockey to be a game of obsessed amateurs playing for the love of the sport, or was it a game for paid professionals who would give fans what they wanted? Who should be responsible for the sport – including its bouts of violence – both on and off the ice?A century ago, rinks could melt, and by half time the blades screwed to the players’ shoes could be sinking in mud. It was during this time that teams such as the Toronto Professionals of 1908 and the Toronto Blue Shirts of 1914 took turns battling for the city’s very first Stanley Cup. Against the fanatical opposition of amateur hockey leaders, these “forgotten Leafs” would lay the groundwork for the world’s most profitable hockey franchise.In paying tribute to these hockey pioneers and the contagious loyalty of their fans, Harper resurrects the history of hockey’s first decades. Lavishly illustrated with photographs of the game’s greatest arenas and earliest star players, this entertaining and original book will captivate you from start to finish.

    Now, critics, sports writers and fans across America are cheering The NEW Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football as the worthy heir to Zimmerman's 1971 classic The Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football, which Howard Cosell called "the best book of its kind I've ever read." Far more than a revision, The NEW Thinking Man's Guide to Pro Football is virtually a brand-new book (in 1984) prompted by, as Zimmerman writes in his introduction, "a whole new generation of players and coaches (who have) given rise to a new set of reflections about a world that is ever changing." Zimmerman examines positions, tactics, the great players and moments of peak performance, football scouting, broadcasting, minor leagues, the rule changes of the pst decade and how they have inspired new playing stategies (crisply illustrated with diagrams). And with characteristic verve, insight and no-nonsense prose, Zimmerman pays close attention to the effect of football''s pounding nose-to-nose competition on the everyday player's personality.