Other books that might interest you

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  If Football's a Religion Why...

  Jere Longman

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  The last time a Philadelphia professional sports team won a championship, Ronald Reagan was in the White House and Return of the Jedi was number one at the box office. No city with all four major sports has gone longer without one. The local NFL franchise, the Eagles, has not won a title since 1960, putting its devoted fans through decades of futility and heartbreak.Peppered with riotous anecdotes about the grandstand brawlers and football lunatics who make Philadelphia one of the most entertaining places in America to watch a game, If Football's a Religion, Why Don't We Have a Prayer? is the hilarious day-by-day account of the operatic passion of Eagles fans in the buildup to the team's first Super Bowl appearance since 1981. With outrageous detail and beer-on-your-shoes reporting, New York Times sportswriter and longtime Philly resident Jere Longman reveals what happens when the losingest sports town in America finally has a shot at winning it all.

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  Deep Play - Climbing the world's...

  Paul Pritchard

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  Winner of the 1997 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, Paul Pritchard's Deep Play is a unique, stylish and timeless commentary reflecting the pressures and rewards of climbing some of the world's hardest and most challenging rock climbs. Pritchard started climbing in Lancashire before moving to join the vibrant Llanberis scene of the mid 1980s, at a time when the adventurous development of the Dinorwig slate quarries was in full swing. Many of the new slate routes were notable for their fierce technical difficulty and sparse protection, and Pritchard took a full part in this arcane sub-culture of climbing and at the same time deployed his skills on the Anglesey sea cliffs to produce a clutch of equally demanding wall climbs. Born with an adventurous soul, it was not long before Pritchard and his friends were planning exotic trips. In 1987, paired with Johnny Dawes, Pritchard made an epoch-making visit to Scotland's Sron Ulladale to free its famous aid route, The Scoop. Pritchard and Dawes, with no previous high altitude experience, then attempted the Catalan Pillar of Bhagirathi III in the Garwhal Himalaya in India, a precocious first expedition prematurely curtailed when Pritchard was hit by stonefall at the foot of the face. In 1992, Pritchard and Noel Craine teamed up with the alpinists Sean Smith and Simon Yates to climb a big wall route on the East Face of the Central Tower of Paine, Patagonia. Pritchard followed this with an equally fine first ascent of the West Face of Mt Asgard on Baffin Island. Other trips - to Yosemite, Pakistan and Nepal as well as returns to Patagonia - resulted in a clutch of notable repeats, first ascents and some failures. The failure list also included two life threatening falls (one on Gogarth, the other on Creag Meaghaidh), which prompted the author into thought-provoking personal re-assessments, in advance of his later near-terminal accident on The Totem Pole in Tasmania. A penetrating view of the adventures and preoccupations of a contemporary player, Deep Play stands alone as a unique first-hand account of what many consider to be the last great era in British climbing.

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  Pee Wees - Confessions of a...

  Rich Cohen

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  A New York Times bestselling author takes a rollicking deep dive into the ultra-competitive world of youth hockeyRich Cohen, the New York Times–bestselling author of The Chicago Cubs: Story of a Curse and Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, turns his attention to matters closer to home: his son’s elite Pee Wee hockey team and himself, a former player and a devoted hockey parent.In Pee Wees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent, Cohen takes us through a season of hard-fought competition in Fairfield County, Connecticut, an affluent suburb of New York City. Part memoir and part exploration of youth sports and the exploding popularity of American hockey, Pee Wees follows the ups and downs of the Ridgefield Bears, the twelve-year-old boys and girls on the team, and the parents watching, cheering, conniving, and cursing in the stands. It is a book about the love of the game, the love of parents for their children, and the triumphs and struggles of both.  A Macmillan Audio production from Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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  The Last Miracle - My 18-Year...

  Ed Kranepool, Gary Kaschak

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  No origin story of the New York Mets is complete without Ed Kranepool.The lefty first baseman known as "Steady Eddie" made his major-league debut at age seventeen during the team's inaugural season and would eventually depart, nearly two decades later, with his name written throughout the franchise's record books.In this definitive autobiography, Kranepool shares a remarkable life story, including early years playing stickball in the streets of the Bronx, the growing pains the Mets endured as an expansion club, his off seasons working as a New York stockbroker, and of course the miracle 1969 season that ended in an unforgettable World Series victory.He also opens up about the personal miracle which came fifty years after that famous championship: a lifesaving kidney transplant made possible by a Mets fan donor. A month after the surgery, Kranepool threw out the first pitch at Citi Field and boldly offered his services as a pinch hitter.Affable, open, and brimming with knowledge of the game, this thoroughly New York tale will delight baseball fans in Queens and beyond.

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  Legends of the Ring: Great...

  David Hudson

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  The definitive series on America’s boxing greats by a renowned boxing expert, author of over 40 books, and world-champion boxing judge.The bare-knuckle boxer John L. Sullivan in the late 1800s, the ferocious fists of “Iron” Mike Tyson in the 1980s, the culture shock of the legendary Jack Johnson, the worldwide phenomenon of Muhammad Ali—the sport of boxing has shaped American culture for more than a century.No sport is more enthralling than boxing—called “the noble art” and the “sweet science.” As famed boxing announcer Larry Merchant once noted, boxing is the “theater of the unexpected.” Its storied history has seen momentous bouts, the breakdown of racial barriers, and fights of the century. In this thrilling 18-part audio series, the inimitable David L. Hudson, Jr., takes you on a thrilling ringside ride. You’ll explore the rich history of the sport, its greatest heavyweight champions, controversial decisions, historic upsets, and much more.  Along the way, you will hear the sagas of such luminaries as Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott, Sugar Ray Robinson, Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Ray Leonard, Rocky Marciano, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, and Mike Tyson. Other lectures include segments on controversial decisions, great ring tragedies, ring weirdness, and bare-knuckle boxing. You don’t want to miss this revelatory, no-holds-barred exploration of boxing. This course is part of the Learn25 Collection.

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  Get Into Sport: Pedal Power -...

  Multiple Authors

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  Cycling gives you a great lower body workout and it doesn’t even feel like exercise - except when going up those hills!

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