Other books that might interest you

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  Until Victory Always - A Memoir

  Jim McGuinness

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  'There's a difference between living and being alive.'Jim McGuinness inherited a wounded thing when he took over as manager of the Donegal senior football team in the summer of 2010. When he stepped down just over four years later, the same group of players had won three Ulster championships, the All-Ireland title of 2012 and succeeded in overturning a century-old perception of how Gaelic football should be played.His departure also marked the end of a personal odyssey, which had begun almost three decades earlier and weathered the aftermath of two family tragedies. Destined to become a classic, Until Victory Always is McGuinness's unforgettable and highly personal account of his years at the helm of the Donegal team.Confessional, moving, funny and fiercely honest, it's at once the epic story of one team's audacious bid to rewrite its destiny and one man's moving testament to the power of sport to sustain us in our darkest moments.

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  Pipeline to the Pros - How D3...

  Ben Kaplan, Danny Parkins

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  Jeff Van Gundy. Brad Stevens. Frank Vogel. Mike Budenholzer. Tom Thibodeau. Sam Presti. Leon Rose. Before you knew his name, before he guided your team to a championship, he had a playing career of his own at an NCAA Division III college. He didn't play for fortune—the NBA was out of reach, and his school didn't even give athletic scholarships. He didn't play for fame—his games weren't televised, and the stands were rarely full. Whatever the motivation, he simply couldn't give up the game of basketball. And that didn't change after graduation, when it was time to pick a career path.For the first time in league history, NBA coaches and general managers are just as likely to have played Division III basketball as they are to have played in the NBA. While the number of former D3 players working in the NBA is higher than ever, small college alums have served in leadership positions since the league's founding. They shaped the NBA into what it is today, playing integral roles in the Lakers' initial success in LA, the inception of several expansion franchises, the creation of the popular All-Star Weekend dunk contest, and the globalization of the league. Their improbable and inspiring journeys tell a bigger story—the history of small college athletics, the evolution of coaching and management in the NBA, and the hiring practices in the most competitive fields.

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  Sinning Across Spain

  Ailsa Piper

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  Pilgrim seeks sinners for mutually beneficial arrangement. Tireless. Result-oriented. Reliable. Seven Deadlies a specialty. 
  
  
  On her 1,300 kilometre pilgrimage from Granada to Galicia, Ailsa Piper carried an unusual cargo. Walking in the tradition of medieval believers who paid others to carry their sins, Ailsa lugged a swag of confessions from friends, colleagues and strangers. 
  
  
  Although some days her load weighed heavy, Ailsa's story celebrates impossible kindnesses, the wonders of Spain and the simple but profound act of putting one foot in front of another for as long as it takes. Praying with her feet... 
  
  
  Audio exclusive: Ailsa Piper in conversation with Tony Doherty, coauthor of The Attachment: Letters from a Most Unlikely Friendship.

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  Golden Oldies - Stories of...

  Brian McFarlane

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  From its moving introductory homage to the late Jean Beliveau, to its subtle, remarkable considerations of how the sport was shaped by legends like Newsy Lalonde, Gordie Howe, Dick Irvin, Ted Kennedy and Hobey Baker, to its poignant lament for the untimely death of American hockey hero “Badger” Bob Johnston, Golden Oldies is the product of a lifetime love of hockey and a career in the game that spans six decades. 
  A brilliant addition to Brian McFarlane’s epic hockey canon, Golden Oldies explores the life of Sprague Cleghorn, a pioneer bad man who went from the bright lights of Broadway to a boondock in the Ottawa Valley, to stardom before and during the first years of the NHL. It follows the trail of Patsy Guzzo and his RCAF mates in 1948, ridiculed at home but rewarded with Olympic gold in Europe. And it chronicles the career-ending injuries to Ace Bailey, the last Leafs’ NHL scoring leader, the shameful treatment of the Canucks’ Mike Robitaille, and the horrific and near fatal injury suffered by Buffalo goalie Clint Malarchuk. 
  Golden Oldies is also filled with fascinating stories of the great gentlemen of the game, like Leo Dandurand who bought the Montreal Canadiens—for 11 grand—and insight into the giving and philanthropic spirit of beloved stars like Bobby Baun. Always entertaining, the lighter side of the game is also well represented, with laughs aplenty supplied by men like the irrepressible Frank “King” Clancy and the unpredictable Eddie “Clear the Track” Shack.

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  Sons of Baseball - Growing Up...

  Mark Braff

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  A rare glimpse of professional ballplayers, not as pitchers, hitters, managers, and coaches, but as dads and grandads.  
   
  Sons of major league baseball players grow up in a unique environment, not only because they are raised in part by professional athletes, but also because they are raised by the game itself. They come of age immersed in the distinct sounds and aromas of baseball. The locker rooms, the cinderblock-lined corridors beneath the stands, the dugouts, and the fields are the playgrounds of their youth.  
   
  In Sons of Baseball, Mark Braff interviews 18 men who share their exclusive stories, ballpark memories, and the challenges and rewards of having fathers whose talents enabled them to reach the pinnacle of their profession. Each chapter is devoted to one son talking about his experiences, from the poignancy of one son’s disclosure that his dad has not been able to acknowledge his son’s sexuality as a gay man, to the humor of another son absconding with the groundskeepers’ cart in Cleveland.  
   
  With a foreword by Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr. and interviews with the sons of beloved players such as Yogi Berra, Mariano Rivera, Roger Maris, Gil Hodges, and Larry Doby, Sons of Baseball provides a unique, well-rounded perspective on the lives of professional ballplayers and their families.

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  The Art of the Short Game -...

  Stan Utley, Matthew Rudy

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  Veteran golfers know that the secret to a lower score is a solid short game, but mastering those small strokes can be maddening—even for the pros. One of golf's most revered instructors, Stan Utley now reveals the step-by-step tactics behind his revolutionary short-game techniques in The Art of the Short Game.After introducing listeners to his groundbreaking philosophy that explains why most players don't see all the shots available to them near the green, Utley moves on to shatter conventional wisdom about stance, grip, and ball position. From choosing the right clubs (including a checklist of must-haves that should always be in your bag) to spin reduction during chipping and fearless sand play, The Art of the Short Game demystifies the most aggravating shots on the links. Though Utley's primer features a full set of drills, accompanied by more than seventy-five photos, his approach is far removed from the monotonous, mechanical instruction of yesteryear.Giving a time-tested secret weapon to every golfer at every level, Utley's short-game methods turn trouble shots into triumph.

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