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The Naked Olympics
The True Story of the Ancient Games
A history of the original Olympic games depicts the events of the first competitions more than 1,200 years ago, during which tens of thousands of sweltering-hot spectators watched nude athletes participate in such events as hoplitodromia, a full-armor sprint, and the pankration, a no-holds-barred lethal brawl.
News and Reviews
The Book of Olympic Lists
Features more than one hundred fifty unexpected Olympic trivia lists, including the ten unluckiest competitors, the eleven strangest sports ever contested, and the fourteen most unusual injuries.
News and Reviews
Root for the Home Team
Minor League Baseball's Most Off-the-Wall Team Names and the Stories Behind Them
Sportscaster Tiim Hagerty delves into the weirdly wonderful world of minor league baseball's team names.
News and Reviews
Austerity Olympics
When the Games Came to London in 1948
Janie Hampton remembers the 1948 London Olympics, which took place in a city still recovering from World War II and cost less than one-one hundredth of a percent of London 2012's budget.
News and Reviews
How to Watch the Olympics
The Essential Guide to the Rules, Statistics, Heroes, and Zeroes of Every Sport
David Goldblatt and Johnny Acton offer an entertaining guide to the rules, strategy and history of each Olympic sport through witty, detailed descriptions and illustrations.
News and Reviews
Wherever I Wind Up
My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball
Relates the author's unlikely journey to the big leagues after his athletic dream was nearly destroyed and how he was sustained by his Christian faith and the love of his family before emerging as one of the National League's premier pitchers.
News and Reviews
The Longest Fight
In the Ring With Joe Gans, Boxing's First African American Champion
An account of the lesser-known story of early sports hero Jon Gans centers on his epic 1906 boxing match against Oscar "Battling" Nelson, discussing how the competition reflected period racial tensions and the realities endured by African-American athletes.
News and Reviews
The Big Fight
My Life in and Out of the Ring
The International Boxing Hall of Fame icon shares the story of how he rose from impoverished origins to become a national Golden Gloves champion, Olympic gold medalist and top-rate pro, offering insight into such topics as his professional relationships, exposure to sport corruption and struggles with addiction. 75,000 first printing.
News and Reviews
In the Long Run
A Father, a Son, and Unintentional Lessons in Happiness
A former chief White House correspondent reveals how during a crossroads in his personal and professional life he learned about his late father's marathon achievements and resolved to run the 2009 New York Marathon himself.
News and Reviews
Soccernomics
Why England Loses, Why Germany and Brazil Win, and Why the U.S., Japan, Australia, Turkey—and Even Iraq—are Destined to Become the Kings of the World's Most Popular Sport
Using insights and analogies from economics, statistics, psychology, and business to cast a new and entertaining light on how the game of soccer works, "Soccernomics" reveals the often surprisingly counterintuitive truths about the world's most popular game. An essential guide for the 2010 World Cup.
News and Reviews
Over Time
My Life As a Sportswriter
The eminent sportswriter traces his career from his early years at "Sports Illustrated" in the 1960s to the present, interweaving a narrative of the history of American sportswriting with his own personal story.
News and Reviews
Cuban Star
How One Negro-League Owner Changed the Face of Baseball
Shares the story of Negro League team owner Alex Pompez's founding of a notorious Harlem numbers racket as part of his efforts to finance the New York Cubans, describing his role in retaining the team throughout integration, transitioning players to the majors, and achieving a Negro League World Series Championship.
News and Reviews
Wild
From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
At 22, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than 1,000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington state — and she would do it alone.NPR Bestseller
News and Reviews
Damn Yankees
Twenty-Four Major League Writers on the World's Most Loved (And Hated) Team
Celebrating the New York Yankees, who have been an American institution for nearly a century, this exciting collection of original essays from renowned contemporary writers covers a broad range of subjects.
