Other books that might interest you

• 

  Steve Hansen: The Legacy

  Gregor Paul

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  The making of a New Zealand coaching great 
    
  Between the years 2012 and 2019, Sir Steve Hansen oversaw an era of such remarkable success that it would be almost impossible to repeat. His 15-year career in the All Blacks coaching team is the heaviest footprint in rugby history. Of the 210 tests he was involved with, his team lost just 25 times. Of the 107 tests he served as head coach, Sir Steve accumulated a record 4 World Rugby Coach of the Year awards and orchestrated 93 victories - a winning percentage of 87 per cent, the highest of any All Blacks coach. 
  Steve Hansen: The Legacy delves into the highs and the lows that earned the New Zealand rugby knight a place in the pantheon of world rugby coaching greats. Revealing and perceptive, the book uncovers how Hansen dealt with the immeasurable pressure of leading the world's most famous rugby team; the tension created by being re-appointed specifically to win the Rugby World Cup; how he dealt with high-profile athletes and an exodus of New Zealand's all-time greats; the endless tug-of-war between commercialism and high performance; the increasing influence of referees on the game; the power battle between the northern and southern hemispheres; the Achilles heel that contributed to the All Blacks' 2019 Rugby World Cup loss; and how, during his career, he learnt to understand his weaknesses and use them to his advantage. 
  Much more than a biography, in Steve Hansen: The Legacy, award-winning writer Gregor Paul tells the compelling story of the former policeman from Mosgiel, his quest for world rugby dominance and his journey to coaching greatness.

  Show book

• 

  Black Gods of the Asphalt -...

  Onaje X. O. Woodbine

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  J-Rod moves like a small tank on the court, his face mean, staring down his opponents. "I play just like my father," he says. "Before my father died, he was a problem on the court. I'm a problem." Playing basketball for him fuses past and present, conjuring his father's memory into a force that opponents can feel in each bone-snapping drive to the basket.On the street, every ballplayer has a story. Onaje X. O. Woodbine, a former streetball player who became an all-star Ivy Leaguer, brings the sights and sounds, hopes and dreams of street basketball to life. He shows that big games have a trickster figure and a master of black talk whose commentary interprets the game for audiences. The beats of hip-hop and reggae make up the soundtrack, and the ballplayers are half-men, half-heroes, defying the ghetto's limitations with their flights to the basket.Basketball is popular among young black American men but not because, as many claim, they are "pushed by poverty" or "pulled" by white institutions to play it. Black men choose to participate in basketball because of the transcendent experience of the game. Through interviews with and observations of urban basketball players, Onaje X. O. Woodbine composes a rare portrait of a passionate, committed, and resilient group of athletes who use the court to mine what urban life cannot corrupt. If people turn to religion to reimagine their place in the world, then black streetball players are indeed the hierophants of the asphalt.

  Show book

• 

  The Guv'nor In His Own Words -...

  Peter Gerrard

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Born in East London in 1949, Lenny McLean grew up in an area that had been ravaged by the Second World War. Although money was scarce and fighting was commonplace, a camaraderie and deep sense of honour and respect remained. A victim of violent abuse at the hands of his stepfather, Lenny spent much of his teenage life in borstal as he began to follow a life of crime. However, it was his ability as a fighter that was to turn his life around.Lenny McLean inspired fear in many, but respect from all, as he became a bare-knuckle fighting legend. His fame became even greater in later life, appearing in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels just as his autobiography was reaching the top of the bestsellers chart. Lenny's untimely death from cancer in 1998 marked the beginning of the end of the old Cockney way of life and interest in his story has only increased since his passing, inspiring documentaries as well as a feature film, My Name is Lenny.In these unedited conversations between Lenny and his 'book man' Peter Gerrard, featuring many anecdotes that did not appear in The Guv'nor, we get to see the man behind the public image. As he looks back on his life, these transcripts reveal Lenny's humour and charm as well as the volatility that made him one of the most notorious figures ever to emerge from the East End.Although the original interview tapes have been lost, this immersive audiobook has replicated Lenny and Peter's conversations as they really happened.

  Show book

• 

  Hendo - The American Athlete

  Dan Henderson, David Kano

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Dan "Hendo" Henderson was the first fighter in MMA history to become a double champion, winning championships in PRIDE Fighting Championships and Strikeforce. He faced the biggest names in MMA, on his unparalleled run through the early days of MMA through its remarkable rise in popularity, squaring off against the likes of Fedor Emelianenko, Anderson Silva, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Michael Bisping, Vitor Belfort, and Renzo Gracie. Henderson's first fight against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in 2011 is considered one of the greatest fights in UFC history. 
   
   
   
  In this no-holds-barred look back on his life, Henderson provides context and insight into the biggest fights of his career, while reflecting on the wholly unique upbringing that shaped him into the warrior he needed to be to win. With his trademark humor, he sheds light on his two trips to the Olympics, his transformative time training in Europe and Russia, and his up-and-down relationship with Dana White. 
   
   
   
  Hendo: The American Athlete is a thrilling window into the life and mind of a true legend. There will never be another fighter like Hendo.

  Show book

• 

  A Rare Recording of Boxer Jack...

  Jack Johnson

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  In this recording, Johnson discusses his July 4, 1910, "Fight of the Century" victory over former undefeated heavyweight champion James J. Jeffries, in front of 20,000 people, at a ring built just for the occasion in downtown Reno, Nevada.

  Show book

• 

  Soccer Intelligence - Soccer...

  Chest Dugger

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Are you ready to take your soccer game to the next level? Or just looking for ways to improve your understanding of the game? Consider the greatest players the beautiful game has ever seen. Pele and Puskas, Maradona - from the present time, Messi and Ronaldo.The likes of Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, and Dennis Bergkamp, the great readers of the game such as Beckebauer and Bobby Moore and that devastating finisher, Gerd Muller. When we try to analyze what it is that made these players so successful and held in such regard, a number of similarities come to mind. They are, of course, mostly strikers, Beckenbauer and Moore apart. They played in the busiest, most challenging area of the pitch and in a position that could, and frequently did, change games. That is certainly true of the attacking players, but also applies to those with more defensive duties. Interestingly, though, the two defenders listed were known for their ball playing skills as much as their defensive ones. Each possessed pace, physical strength, fast feet. Each could control a ball in an instant, were balanced in their running and hard in their shooting. But there is something more that turns the merely very good into the exceptional, at whatever level they choose to play. And that is that indefinable quality we call soccer intelligence. Intelligent people in whatever field they work know that simple works best. Soccer is, at its heart, a simple game. Pass the ball, move into space (where it is easier to control a pass and to deliver a return), move the ball on. When the chance arises, attempt to score a goal. If you are a defender, try to deny the other side space. The purpose of this audiobook is to define soccer intelligence, to break it down into its constituent parts and, importantly, present drills that a good coach can use with his or her team to develop that intelligence to its greatest potential.

  Show book