Other books that might interest you

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  Let Me Tell You a Story - A...

  John Feinstein

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  America's favorite sportswriter teams up with Red Auerbach, the most successful and admired coach in basketball history, to tell the best stories of a legendary life.Living legend Arnold "Red" Auerbach led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA championships, eight of them consecutive, during his 17 year tenure in Boston, from 1950 to 1966. The fiery coach is a unique personality; brash, opinionated, and unfailingly accurate. As a coach, he never stood still along the sidelines, and in retirement he remains a lively part of the game, still consulted by coaches, players, and general managers at age 86.For years, John Feinstein has met regularly with Red Auerbach and his friends, drawing out Red's life story in a raucous series of unforgettable sessions. From those smoke-and laughter-filled rooms come the colorful reports about all the players and coaches Red has worked with and played against over the years. Bob Cousy, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Sam Jones, Bill Russell, and Michael Jordan, you name them, the basketball greats are all here.Red Auerbach's incredible experiences in sports and John Feinstein's unparalleled skill as a sports storyteller make this one of the greatest books to come out of the game of basketball.

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  The Best in the World - At What...

  Peter Thomas Fornatale, Chris...

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  World Wrestling Entertainment has named Chris Jericho one of the top ten wrestlers-and one of the top five talkers-of all time. Certainly, the past six years have been spectacular for Jericho. After a sluggish return from his 2005 sabbatical, Jericho found new inspiration in watching No Country for Old Men and completely reinvented his character-ultimately going on to capture three world WWE titles. The Best in the World chronicles some of the incredible and often preposterous highlights of Jericho's recent career, including how Mickey Rourke challenged Jericho to a match then backed out; his escape from the 2010 Icelandic volcanoes in a broken-down, European rental-car shuttle; his encounters with Bob Barker, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, Al Sharpton, and Mike Tyson; and his on-again, off-again relationship with WWE chief Vince McMahon.

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  The Baseball Whisperer - A...

  Michael Tackett

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  “Field of Dreams was only superficially about baseball. It was really about life. So is The Baseball Whisperer . . . with the added advantage of being all true.” —MLB.com   From an award-winning journalist, this is the story of a legendary coach and the professional-caliber baseball program he built in America's heartland, where boys would come summer after summer to be molded into ballplayers—and men.    Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000, sits two hours from anything. There, between the cornfields and hog yards, is a ball field with a bronze bust of a man named Merl Eberly, who specialized in second chances and lost causes. The statue was a gift from one of Merl’s original long-shot projects, a skinny kid from the Los Angeles ghetto who would one day become a beloved Hall-of-Fame shortstop: Ozzie Smith.  The Baseball Whisperer traces the “deeply engrossing” story (Booklist, starred review) of Merl Eberly and his Clarinda A’s baseball team, which he tended over the course of five decades, transforming them from a town team to a collegiate summer league powerhouse. Along with Ozzie Smith, future manager Bud Black, and star player Von Hayes, Merl developed scores of major league players. In the process, he taught them to be men, insisting on hard work, integrity, and responsibility. More than a book about ballplayers in the nation’s agricultural heartland, The Baseball Whisperer is the story of a coach who put character and dedication first, reminding us of the best, purest form of baseball excellence.   “Mike Tackett, talented journalist and baseball lover, has hit the sweet spot of the bat with his first book. The Baseball Whisperer takes one coach and one small Iowa town and illuminates both a sport and the human spirit.” —David Maraniss, New York Times-bestselling author of Clemente and When Pride Still Mattered

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  All Fishermen Are Liars

  John Gierach

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  For John Gierach, "the master of fly-fishing" (Sacramento Bee), fishing is always the answer-even when it's not clear what the question is. In All Fishermen Are Liars, Gierach travels around North America seeking out quintessential fishing experiences, whether it's at a busy stream or a secluded lake hidden amid snow-capped mountains. He talks about the art of fly-tying and the quest for the perfect steelhead fly ("The Nuclear Option"), about fishing in the Presidential Pools previously fished by the elder George Bush ("I wondered briefly if I'd done something karmically disastrous and was now fated to spend the rest of my life breathing the exhaust of this elderly Republican"), and the importance of traveling with like-minded companions when caught in a soaking rain ("At this point someone is required to say, 'You know, there are people who wouldn't think this is fun'"). And though Gierach loses some fish along the way, he never loses his passion and sense of humor.Wry, contemplative, and lively-that is to say, pure Gierach-All Fishermen Are Liars is a joy to listen to-and, as always, the next best thing to fishing itself.

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  Basketball: Which Position...

  Dre Baldwin

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  Using Which Position Should I Play?, you will know: Best utilize your skills to help a team Play your ideal position Describe your game to an interested coach or scout Contribute consistently to a team  
  In basketball, unlike hockey, soccer, and baseball, any player can do anything. Score in the post. Dribble. Shoot the ball. Guard whomever has the ball on the opposition. Unlike a soccer midfielder, who cannot use his hands like the goalie, or a baseball shortstop, who can’t throw pitches to the batter, a basketball player, as long as he is on the court, can perform any function the game requires. Anyone can move to any spot on the floor, and the same rules apply to every player regardless of size or designated position (if any).  
  To this idea, basketball is and has always been “positionless,” but it is still useful to have a general idea of what your game is. The better you know your own game, the more easily you fit into a role on a team. The better you know your own game, the better you can sell yourself to a coach or general manager who’s looking to fill his roster. The better you know your own game, the more easily you can look at a game situation, see what is needed, and contribute.  
  Even at the professional level, some coaches still want more structure: They will designate positions for players and sometimes define (or confine) players’ roles based on those positions. This helps the coach maintain order and helps a coach hold players accountable for certain jobs on the court. It’s not right nor wrong: On a basketball team, a coach is the boss, and the boss makes the rules.  
  You want to know which skills to develop next, and you want that skill to seamlessly blend with your other skills. Plus, you may be a member of one of these more structured teams now or in the future. 

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  How to Shit in the Woods - An...

  Kathleen Meyer

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  World changes come fast and furious, and in the backcountry it is no different. The practice of "packing-it-out"-adopted to protect high-use areas and fragile ecosystems-is here to stay. We are now often urged or even required to haul our poop home. To assist with all this responsible human waste disposal, Kathleen Meyer discusses the latest in product innovations, from classy high-tech to inexpensive do-it-yourself. She covers the most current solutions to the health risks of drinking straight from wilderness waterways, presents a raft of natural substitutes for the purist swearing off toilet tissue, and offers a wealth of new recommendations for ladies who must make do without a loo. In rowing hundreds of urbanites down whitewater rivers, Meyer honed her squatting skills. Her delightfully shameless discussion of a once-shameful activity, her erudite examination of its associated vocabulary, and her unapologetic promotion of its colorful vernacular make How to Shit in the Woods essential-and vastly entertaining-listening for anyone who has ever paused at the edge of the forest and pondered: "Where do I go to go?"

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