Other books that might interest you

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  Cheers Geoff! - Tales from the...

  Geoff Shreeves

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  Geoff Shreeves is a giant of football. From reporting pitchside on the biggest matches to his iconic appearances in EA's FIFA series, Geoff's warmth, humour and expertise have made him a constant fixture of the sport. In this audio edition of Cheers Geoff!, read by the author himself, Geoff shares hilarious, bizarre and moving stories from across his incredible career.This audio edition includes a foreword from Alan Shearer.'Cracking read . . . loved it' - Piers Morgan'Packed with brilliant anecdotes about the biggest names' - The MirrorThere are just a handful of people who have been ever-present for the thirty years of the Premier League, but only one person has been at the very epicentre for the entire period: Geoff Shreeves. From signalling the very first ball to be kicked on Sky’s Premier League coverage to facing down Sir Alex Ferguson’s wrath (on countless occasions), Geoff is an integral part of the football fabric, respected by everybody in the game while still asking the toughest questions. Geoff’s interviews with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Arsène Wenger, Frank Lampard and Alan Shearer have become the stuff of legend, but it is his close personal relationships with the game’s star names that really sets him apart.Packed full of hilarious stories on and off the pitch – including trying to teach Sir Michael Caine how to act, a frightening encounter with Mike Tyson, as well as getting a lift home from the World Cup with Mick Jagger – Cheers, Geoff! is a must-listen autobiography for any fan of the beautiful game. A natural storyteller, Geoff brings an astonishing catalogue of tales to life with his unique brand of experience, insight and humour.'A legend' - Arsène Wenger'No one handles the big moments better' - Jordan Henderson

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  A Helluva Life in Hockey - A Memoir

  Brian McFarlane

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  A captivating memoir from Canada’s foremost hockey historian and a beloved NHL commentator
  		 
  It’s been 85 years since Brian McFarlane first laced a pair of skates and tested the black ice on a tiny pond. And then he discovered the joy of hockey. Ultimately, there would be grade school hockey, high school hockey, junior hockey, college hockey, and, miraculously, two decades with the NHL Oldtimers anchoring his life. He was the rank amateur playing on a line with the Big M and Norm Ullman, facing off against icons like Gordie Howe and Ted Lindsay at Maple Leaf Gardens — even scoring a goal. He suited up at the Montreal Forum, elbow-to-elbow against John Ferguson, before thousands of fans. (There was even a stint with the Flying Fathers who ordained him a “Bishop” after a hat trick.) Off the ice, in 1960, McFarlane was the first Canadian to be a commentator on CBS’s coverage of the NHL. He also survived 25 years of Hockey Night in Canada — despite confrontations with Punch Imlach, Harold Ballard, Bobby Hull, and Eddie Shack. Now, in this revealing autobiography, he remembers it all. For Brian McFarlane, it has been a helluva life in hockey.

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  Soccer Intelligence - Soccer...

  Chest Dugger

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  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.

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  The Old Ball Game - How John...

  Frank Deford

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  The legendary NPR sports commentator and Sports Illustrated journalist retells the story of an unusual friendship between two towering figures in baseball history.   At the turn of the twentieth century, Christy Mathewson was one of baseball’s first superstars. Over six feet tall, clean cut, and college educated, he didn’t pitch on the Sabbath and rarely spoke an ill word about anyone. He also had one of the most devastating arms in all of baseball. New York Giants manager John McGraw, by contrast, was ferocious. The pugnacious tough guy was already a star infielder who, with the Baltimore Orioles, helped develop a new, scrappy style of baseball, with plays like the hit-and-run, the Baltimore chop, and the squeeze play. When McGraw joined the Giants in 1902, the Giants were coming off their worst season ever. Yet within three years, Mathewson clinched New York City’s first World Series for McGraw’s team by throwing three straight shutouts in only six days, an incredible feat that is invariably called the greatest World Series performance ever. Because of their wonderful odd-couple association, baseball had its first superstar, the Giants ascended into legend, and baseball as a national pastime bloomed.   “A fine baseball book but just as fine a study of American popular culture.” —Booklist, starred review

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  Brooklyn's Sportsmen's Row -...

  Lucas G. Rubin

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  Tales of scandals, social class, and a city block where big names in horse racing—among other prominent people—lived: “Well researched . . . a fascinating read.” —Brooklyn Daily Eagle 
   
  In an era when horse racing reigned supreme and Brooklyn was at its very center, a remarkable collection of turf legends came to reside along one small stretch of northern Eighth Avenue in the exclusive neighborhood of Park Slope. Here, along Sportsmen’s Row, the lives of the sportsmen and those of their neighbors—men of prominence and distinction in theater, law, industry, and politics—came together in surprising and unexpected ways. Though the public saw a block dominated by the celebrities of the age, behind the closed doors of Sportsmen’s Row a more subtle narrative played itself out: of infidelity, gambling, excess and, regardless of fame, a world strictly ordered and preordained by social class. This history offers a compelling portrait of this colorful corner of Gilded Age Brooklyn. 
   
  Includes photos

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  Coaching for the Love of the...

  Jennifer L. Etnier PhD

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  More than 45 million children play youth sports in the United States each year, and most are coached by parent volunteers with good intentions but little training. This lack of training and an overemphasis on winning often results in stress and frustration for coaches and players alike, which can discourage young athletes so much that they walk away from sports altogether. 
  With this guide for amateur parent coaches, Dr. Jennifer Etnier, author of Bring Your 'A' Game, aims to change that. Dr. Etnier offers a system of positive coaching that can be applied to any sport, from the beginner level to high school athletics, and explains that good coaching requires working with young athletes at their developmental level and providing feedback designed to keep children engaged and having fun. 
  Etnier gives easy-to-understand guidance on important aspects of successful coaching—including information on the development of children's motor skills, communication with a young athlete's parents, and nurturing a growth-oriented mind-set-making this a critical resource for youth coaches of all experience levels.

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