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  The Game Is Not a Game - The...

  Robert Scoop Jackson

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  A study of “the hypocrisy of the game, capitalism, activism (a la Kaepernick), disrespect to female athletes, and who benefits from sports the most” (Electric Lit).   Part play-by-play, part op-ed, The Game Is Not a Game is an illuminating and unflinching examination of the good and evil in the sports industry. Liberating and provocative, with sharp wit and generous humor, Jackson’s essays explore the role that sports plays in American society and the hypocritical standards by which the athletes are often judged. The Game Is Not a Game is distinctly intended to challenge accepted ideology and to push the boundaries of mainstream sports media beyond the comfort zone. Chapters expose “Our Miseducation of LeBron James,” “#ThemToo: The UnRespected Worth of the Woman Athlete,” the duplicity of the NFL in its treatment of Colin Kaepernick and the anthem protests, the cultural bias of analytics, and the power of social activism versus the power and politics of professional sports ownership—all from the sharp, savvy, and self-critical perspective of one of the leading voices for social justice in sports media.   “Bristles with bracing and brutal insights that take no tea for the fever and offer no discount on truth or justice . . . an instant classic that reckons with the factors that make sports possible, and at the same time wrestles with the forces that make protest in sports necessary. The Game Is Not a Game is intersectional cultural analysis at its best!” —Michael Eric Dyson, New York Times bestselling author   “Jackson’s work is not about scores; rather, he stresses that sports are a self-contained microcosm of society at large. A thought-provoking, unfailingly insightful book.” —Booklist

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  Victory Favors the Fearless -...

  Darrin Donnelly

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  A Life-Changing Book About the Power of FEARLESS ThinkingYou will never achieve any important goal until you first defeat the fears that stand between you and that goal—the fears that say it's too risky, you don't deserve it, or you're not good enough.In fact, fearful thinking is one of the most destructive thought patterns you can fall into. Whenever you find yourself worrying, procrastinating, or questioning your potential—FEAR is getting the best of you.In this inspirational fable, Mickey McGavin is a pro boxer struggling to overcome the fears that are holding him back—in the ring and in life. With the help of a former world champion who becomes his trainer and mentor, McGavin learns he must defeat the fears in his mind before he can defeat his opponents in the ring.Boxing is the metaphor for life in this story, but the techniques used for defeating fear are universal.No matter your goal, FEAR is your ultimate opponent, and this book will show you how to defeat the fears that hold you back from living the life you were born to live.Listen to this life-changing book and discover why victory—in sports, in business, and in life—always favors the fearless.

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  The Year of the Robin - Watching...

  Jen Offord

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  SHORTLISTED IN THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 FOR NEW FEMALE SPORTS WRITING
  
  
  'Jen has captured the human (and humorous) side of following a football team. A compelling story hilariously told' Sara Pascoe
  'From family to football, Jen Offord has captured something we can all relate to. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. A must read.' Cariad Lloyd
  
  'Hilarious and moving in equal parts' Carrie Dunn
  Jen Offord watches it all go wrong for Charlton Athletic and the world.
  
  When her beloved Charlton Athletic clinched promotion to The Championship in May 2019, sportswriter Jen Offord splashed out on season tickets for herself and her sceptical brother Michael, setting out to chronicle the south-east London outfit's first season back in the second tier of English football.
  
  But this season, more than any other before it, would be a game of two halves. A billionaire takeover backfired spectacularly; the team plummeted into the relegation zone just as Coronavirus swept in to suspend life as we know it.
  
  
  The Year of The Robin is a love letter to the power of football even when there is no football to actually watch, filled with wild characters searching for redemption and wrestling over issues of money, racism and mental health. A funny, sharp and a thought-provoking exploration of the idea of family in unprecedented times and season from which the world may never fully recover.

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  Behind the Silver Fern - Playing...

  Lynn McConnell, Tony Johnson

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  A complete history of rugby’s most famous yet enigmatic team, the New Zealand All Blacks, told by the men who have worn the iconic black jersey. Go behind the scenes with the world’s most successful sports team. From the legendary 1905 “Originals” all the way through to Richie McCaw’s record-breaking back-to-back World Cup champions of 2015, this is a history of the All Blacks like you have never experienced it before. Thanks to exhaustive archival research and exclusive new material garnered from a vast array of interviews with players and coaches from across the decades, Behind the Silver Fern unveils the compelling truth of what it means to play for the team that has dominated Test match rugby for over a century—all the trials and tribulations behind the scenes, the glory, the drama and the honor on the field, and the passionate friendships and bonds of a brotherhood off it. Absorbing and illuminating, this is the ultimate history of New Zealand rugby—told, definitively, by the men who have been there and done it.“A treat for anybody who enjoys a little inside track into the great and controversial moments. There is little as revealing in sport as thoughts delivered straight from the horse’s mouth.” —The Rugby Paper

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  Wooden Spoon Rugby World 2021 -...

  Ian Robertson

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  This special anniversary edition is a celebration of the last 25 years of rugby. Twenty five leading rugby writers and broadcasters each remember what was special for them in one of those 25 years - Sir Ian McGeechan remembers the successful Lions tour of South Africa in 1997 and Sir Clive Woodward, not surprisingly, shares his memories of England's World Cup glory in 2003. Others remember a year for less obvious reasons - John Inverdale has special memories of the year that Italy beat France and Ireland in Rome and finished above both of them in the final table. There are memories of Grand Slams for Wales and Ireland and European Cup successes for Bath and Leicester as well as Premiership successes for Sale in 2006 and for Saracens in 2011. Among the contributors are Ian Robertson's former BBC colleagues Eddie Butler, Alastair Hignell, Miles Harrison, Alastair Eykyn, Andrew Cotter and Chris Jones.
  2021 marks the appearance of the 25th edition of the Wooden Spoon Rugby World which began its life in 1997 when what had for eight years been the Whitbread Rugby World transformed itself into a major fundraiser for the rapidly growing Wooden Spoon, the children's charity of rugby. Editor Ian Robertson has been an active supporter of Wooden Spoon since it was founded in 1983 and throughout the last 25 years has spoken at or hosted numerous Wooden Spoon dinners and the events in support of the book. Wooden Spoon Rugby World has become an established and eagerly awaited annual publication and one of the few sporting yearbooks to have survived in recent years.

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  Barefoot Zen - The Shaolin Roots...

  Nathan J. Johnson

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  Most books about Kung Fu or Karate deal with techniques or history. Few examine the underlying purpose of these arts, or approach them as a tool for spiritual, rather than physical, development. Barefoot Zen is a brave new approach to the martial arts, which clearly demonstrates that the traditional movements of both Kung Fu and Karate, contained in the solo choreographed sequences of movements known as forms (or kata), grew out of the spiritual practices of the Shaolin order of Buddhist monks and nuns. Nathan Johnson explains that this mystical and non-violent teaching is a profound and beautiful expression of Chan (Zen) Buddhism and its pur-suit of wisdom, peace, and enlightenment. Contrary to popular assumption, he contends that it was never intended to be an actual means of self-defense. Barefoot Zen bridges the gap between Kung Fu and Karate, and reveals their common origin through the disclosure of vital research material on three of the world's most important Karate kata. Part I explains the spiritual disciplines that contributed to what we know as the martial arts.Part II explains the creation of the art along with practical instruction for performing kata.Part III explains the formation of many of the world's Kung Fu styles. We learn that the original "empty hand art" was used as a method of kinetic meditation between pairs and was designed as a practical tool to assist practitioners in transcending the fear and insecurity of everyday living. Barefoot Zen makes the legacy of the Shaolin way accessible to all, releasing the art from the clutches of popular images and painful concerns about self-defense. The legendary courage of the Shaolin (Chan/Zen) order was not developed by fighting with enemies, but by not fighting!The Shaolin teaching was designed to free us from fear, the only true enemy.

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