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Fun City: John Lindsay, Joe Namath, and How Sports Saved New York in the 1960s
By Sean Deveney. 2015
On January 1, 1966, New York came to a standstill as the city’s transit workers went on strike. This was…
the first day on the job for Mayor John Lindsay--a handsome, young former congressman with presidential aspirations--and he would approach the issue with an unconventional outlook that would be his hallmark. He ignored the cold and walked four miles, famously declaring, "I still think it is a fun city. ” As profound social, racial, and cultural change sank the city into repeated crises, critics lampooned Lindsay’s "fun city. ” Yet for all the hard times the city endured during and after his tenure as mayor, there was indeed fun to be had. Against this backdrop, too, the sporting scene saw tremendous upheaval. On one hand, the venerable Yankees--who had won 15 pennants in an 18-year span before 1965--and the NFL’s powerhouse Giants suddenly went into a level of decline neither had known for generations, as stars like Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford on the diamond and Y. A. Tittle on the gridiron aged quickly. But on the other, the fall of the city’s sports behemoths was accompanied by the rise of anti-establishment outsiders--there were Joe Namath and the Jets, as well as the shocking triumph of the Amazin’ Mets, who won the 1969 World Series after spending the franchise’s first eight seasons in the cellar. Meanwhile, the city’s two overlooked franchises, the Knicks and Rangers, also had breakthroughs, bringing new life to Madison Square Garden. The overlap of these two worlds in the 1960s--Lindsay’s politics and the reemerging sports landscape--serves as the backbone of Fun City. In the vein of Ladies and Gentlemen: The Bronx is Burning, the book tells the story of a remarkable and thrilling time in New York sports against the backdrop of a remarkable and often difficult time for the city, culturally and socially. The late sixties was an era in which New York toughened up in a lot of ways; it also was an era in which a changing of the guard among New York pro teams led the way in making it a truly fun city.After enduring decades as one of professional football’s worst teams, the Pittsburgh Steelers began their streak of dominance in the…
1970s, recording four world championships in that decade alone. The Steelers now share the record for most Super Bowl appearances (8) and championships (6). Now supporters of one of the NFL’s most storied franchises will go into the locker room and onto the turf with over twenty Steelers legends in Game of My Life Pittsburgh Steelers. Sportswriter Matt Loede opens the doors to players’ private remembrances of how it was and how they reacted to the spotlight. Big touchdowns, career-making moments, and championship glory shared all come to the surface for Steelers of the past half-century. Readers will hear tales from Hall of Famers such as Joe Greene, Jack Ham, Mel Blount and fan favorites including Charlie Batch, Tunch Ilkin, and Mike Tomczak. Within these pages, Pittsburgh gridiron greats offer glimpses of the National Football League in the 1960s, the 1970s, and right up through present-day play. More than forty years of Steelers experience is represented in this collection of tales told by the men who played in some of the most memorable games in franchise history.Since their dominance of professional football in the 1960s, the Green Bay Packers have reemerged as one of the elite…
teams in the NFL, with Super Bowl championships in 1996 and 2010. The victory and legend of Green Bay Packers continues in Chuck Carlson’s Tales from the Green Bay Packers Sideline , now updated through the 2014 season. In this behind-the-scenes look at the NFL’s second oldest franchise, Carlson captures the determination, aggression, and vision that have constantly spurred the Packers to greatness. Through interviews and extensive research, Carlson brings to life stories from Packers legends such as Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Brett Favre, and the stars of today’s Packers like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, Jr. Tales from the Green Bay Packers Sideline opens a window into the greatest Packers moments both on and off the field. Why was Vince Lombardi against the idea of rededicating the Packers stadium and naming it Lambeau Field? How was Monday Night Football changed forever during a Packers game on October 17, 1983? How did Aaron Rodgers respond to the pressure of Super Bowl XLV? Readers will relive the greatest moments and quirkiest anecdotes from throughout Packers history. This newly updated collection is a must-have for any Green Bay fan.Philadelphia's Big Five: Celebrating the City of Brotherly Love?s Basketball Tradition
By Dan Baker, Skip Clayton. 2012
The 2015-16 season marks the 60th anniversary of the Big 5, Philadelphia’s top men’s college basketball teams--LaSalle, Penn, Saint Joseph's,…
Temple, and Villanova. No other city has schools that participate in a full round robin, which has grown in popularity in such a sports-driven city. Philadelphia’s Big Five highlights the history of these five schools, their basketball programs, and their unique relationship with one another. Author Skip Clayton has interviewed prominent figures from each school to get a look into some of the biggest moments in Big 5 history. One chapter focuses exclusively on the legendary coaches from these teams, including several who went on to coach in the NBA (three from Penn, three from Saint Joseph’s, and one from Temple), and four who became general managers. Clayton also provides stats on how each Big 5 team did against each other in the City Series games, the most exciting events for Big 5 fans. Some of the legends highlighted include: * LaSalle: Larry Cannon, Ken Durrett, Tom Gola * UPenn: Steve Bilsky, Corky Calhoun, Bob Morse * Saint Joseph’s: Cliff Anderson, Matt Guokas Jr. , Jim Lynam * Temple: John Baum, Eddie Jones, Aaron McKie * Villanova: Harold Jensen, Wali Jones, Jim Washington * Coaches: Tom Gola, Jack McKinney, Phil Martelli Philadelphia’s Big Five is a great read for Big 5 alumni and all fans of Philadelphia basketball!Champions of Philadelphia: The Greatest Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers Teams
By Pat Williams, Rich Westcott. 2016
Since the start of the twentieth century, Philadelphia’s professional teams in four major sports have won a combined total of…
seventeen championships. All of Philadelphia’s current teams--the Phillies in baseball, the Eagles in football, the Flyers in ice hockey, and the 76ers in basketball--have won championships. The list of champs also includes long-gone teams such as the Athletics in baseball, the Warriors in basketball, and the Frankford Yellow Jackets in football. In Rich Westcott’s The Champions of Philadelphia, each of these teams earns a chapter devoted to its championship season. There are detailed descriptions of the games and players, plus noteworthy interviews. Starting with teams from the 1940s, Westcott has interviewed more than fifty players, managers, coaches, and others, including luminaries such as Mike Schmidt, Chuck Bednarik, and Bobby Clarke. The City of Brotherly Love is also a city that loves its champions. Westcott’s in-depth account of Philadelphia’s athletic triumphs will attract fans of each of the four active professional teams.The newly reissued Legends of the Philadelphia Phillies, originally published in 2005, takes an in-depth look at the legends that…
have shaped the Phillies’ identity over the last seventy years. Each chapter profiles a different beloved Phillies personality that colored the latter half of the twentieth century. Most were cheered; some were booed. Philadelphia is a city that loves you back, just sometimes in strange ways. With quotes and interviews from former and current Phils, Legends of the Philadelphia Phillies profiles Mitch Williams, Darren Daulton, Dave Hollins, Jim Eisenreich, Pete Incaviglia, and Milt Thompson from 1993’s "Beards, Bellies, and Biceps” National League championship team, as well as Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton, and Tug McGraw from the 1980 World Series championship team. Author Robert Gordon also includes their notable predecessors, from Hall of Famers Robin Roberts and Richie Ashburn to former All-Stars like Johnny Callison and Del Ennis. No Phillies book would be complete without the off-the-field names who have defined the Phillies, such as team president Bill Giles, announcer Harry Kalas, and Dave Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic. Each of these legends played a unique role in shaping one of sports’ greatest franchises, and Legends of the Philadelphia Phillies brings them to life once again.Tales from the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Demon Deacon Stories Ever Told (Tales from the Team)
By Skip Prosser, Dan Collins. 1982
Based on the gold-standard currency of tradition and success, few college basketball programs are richer in history than Wake Forest…
University’s. This reissue of Tales from the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Locker Room, first published in 2004, traces that vibrant history from the birth of the league to the growing successes of the team today. An original member of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Demon Deacons have provided the acclaimed league with much of its color and character--not to mention many of its colorful characters. Author Dan Collins provides stories about legendary players like Muggsy Bogues, the 5’3” guard who defied the description of basketball as a big man’s game, and the glory days of Tim Duncan, the onetime aspiring Olympic swimmer who grew up to become a five-time NBA champion and one of the greatest players in the game. The book looks at great coaches like Richard Crozier, the director of the university gymnasium who introduced basketball to Wake Forest; coach Murray Greason, whose love for the game of basketball was second only to his love for his beagle hounds; and coach Bones McKinney, the hyperactive Baptist minister whose dual, and at times dueling, religions were based on the Bible and basketball. Tales from the Wake Forest Demon Deacons Locker Room chronicles how Wake Forest basketball survived the university’s relocation from the quaint town of Wake Forest to the city of Winston-Salem, and how the university has thrived with the support of its devoted fans.Coach in Progress: Marshall Football?A Story of Survival and Revival
By Fred Biletnikoff, Bobby Bowden, Patrick Garbin, Red Dawson. 2015
A Coach in Progress depicts the catastrophe of the Southern Airways flight that crashed en route to Huntington, West Virginia,…
in 1970, killing all seventy-five passengers on board: players, coaches, and boosters of the Marshall University football team, as well as the flight crew. From this tragedy, the foundation of the Marshall football program was laid, and it has thrived ever since, culminating with the Thundering Herd being the winningest team in the NCAA Division I program in the 1990s, portrayed in the hit movie We Are Marshall, and currently under the direction of head coach Doc Holliday. This book is written from the viewpoint of Red Dawson, a former Marshall assistant football coach, who was one of the few team members not on the plane. Still suffering from survivor’s guilt decades after the crash, Red has recovered enough to finally discuss the disaster in full. What’s more, Red helped build a team with mostly freshmen and walk-ons in 1971, and thus was recognized as bridging "the gap from tragedy to rebirth” of the Marshall football program. Red also reveals what he previously would not discuss: the seemingly insurmountable obstacles he faced prior to the plane crash and the difficulties that followed the tragedy, like the heated tension that persisted between school administrators and a harassed and confused Red as they all attempted to rebuild the devastated program. This book is the story of Red Dawson’s involvement with Marshall football during the last near half century spent living with the memories of the worst sports-related air tragedy in history.Philadelphia Eagles: Where Have You Gone? (Where Have You Gone?)
By Fran Zimniuch. 2015
Philadelphia Eagles: Where Have You Gone? takes an informative stroll down memory lane with the Philadelphia Eagles of yesteryear, helping…
fans who are wondering where the time has gone. Local icons such as Chuck Bednarik, Tom Brookshier, and Ron Jaworski have remained in the spotlight years after their playing days ended. But this book tells fans about what happened to players like Pete Liske, Leroy Keyes, Super Bill Bradley, and other favorites who have made being an Eagles fan in Philadelphia so much fun. The book goes beyond the helmet and shoulder pads and takes a look at the human side of these former guardians of the gridiron. From Norm Van Brocklin to Jeff Kemp, Wilbert Montgomery to Cyril Pinder, Jim Skaggs to Guy Morriss, and Don Hultz to Tim Rossovich, the book looks not only at the playing careers of many former Birds, but also at their lives after their playing days ended. Many former players have stayed in the game at some level and enjoyed coaching. Many fans, however, do not know which former Eagles player later became an NFL official, which former defensive standout became a salmon fisherman, which wide receiver became a respected judge, or which player now operates hospital-based centers treating sleep apnea. This reissue of Philadelphia Eagles: Where Have You Gone?, first published in 2004, reveals all this and more, providing fans with a look into the past while also bringing them up-to-date with some of Philadelphia’s greats.Facing America's Team: Players Recall the Glory Years of the Dallas Cowboys (Facing)
By John Mcfarland. 2015
The Dallas Cowboys were dubbed America’s Team nearly forty years ago, and the label has stuck in the minds and…
hearts of football fans to this day. Facing America’s Team takes you onto the field to see what it was like to take on Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, and the other legends who captured five Super Bowl titles while building the legacy of America’s Team. Eighty noted Dallas foes share their stories about the Cowboys’ greatest rivals, biggest games, and most memorable plays. You will hear from Hall of Famers and rivals, including: * Jerry Rice * "Mean Joe” Greene * Jack Youngblood * Joe Theismann * Randall Cunningham * Aeneas Williams * Paul Warfield * Ken Houston * Jackie Smith * Conrad Dobler * And many more! With eight Super Bowl appearances under their belt and a thirty-year run of success unmatched by any NFL team, the Cowboys are one of the best-known franchises worldwide--and for good reason. This book is the perfect gift for fans of one of the most successful organizations in sports history.The New Baseball Bible: Notes, Nuggets, Lists, and Legends from Our National Pastime
By Dan Schlossberg, Alan Schwarz, Jay Johnstone. 2017
For fans of baseball trivia, this updated version of The New Baseball Bible, first published as The Baseball Catalog in…
1980 and selected as a Book-of-the-Month Club alternate, is sure to provide something for everyone, regardless of team allegiance. The book covers the following topics: beginnings of baseball, rules and records, umpires, how to play the game (i.e., strategy), equipment, ballparks, famous faces (i.e., Hank Aaron vs. Babe Ruth), managers, executives, trades, the media, big moments in history, the language of baseball, superstitions and traditions, spring training, today’s game, and much more. Veteran sportswriter Dan Schlossberg weaves in facts, figures, and famous quotes, discusses strategy, and provides stats and images-many of them never previously published elsewhere.With this book, you’ll discover how the players’ approach, use of equipment, and even salaries and schedules have changed over time. You will also learn the origin of team and player nicknames, fun facts about the All-Star Game and World Series, and so much more. The New Baseball Bible serves as the perfect gift for fans of America’s pastime.Skipper Supreme: Buck Showalter and the Baltimore Orioles
By Jeff Seidel, Todd Karpovich, Jason La Canfora. 2016
For the first decade of the 21st century, the Baltimore Orioles were perpetual cellar dwellers, with losing seasons from 1998-2011-fourteen…
straight years. They were the worst team in baseball when two-time American League Manager of the Year Buck Showalter took over as manager in August 2010, but they went 34-23 in the last two months of the season, and that set the tone for everything to follow.Buck, along with Andy MacPhail (president of baseball operations) and Dan Duquette (general manager), worked hard to change things in Baltimore, and the results have shown. In 2012, the Orioles went 93-69 and reached the postseason for the first time since 1997. In 2013, they fell short of the playoffs, but they still hit the most homers in the majors. They also set a new record in errorless games and fewest errors in a season. In addition, the Orioles boasted three Gold Glove winners: third baseman Manny Machado, center fielder Adam Jones, and shortstop J.J. Hardy. In 2014, after winning the AL East, they swept the Tigers in the divisional series before losing to the red-hot Royals in the American League Championship.This book details the club’s miraculous turnaround under Buck. It discusses key signings like Nelson Cruz, the quiet effectiveness of Nick Markakis, Jones’s leadership, the struggles of Chris Davis, and several other story lines from Showalter’s tenure.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports-books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.This Day in Philadelphia Sports
By Charlie Manuel, Kevin Reavy, Brian Startare. 2016
This Day in Philadelphia Sports, first published in 2014 and now newly updated in paperback to cover events from the…
2014-15 season, offers a concise 366-day approach to looking back at the history of Philadelphia sports. Every day on the calendar is represented with a fun tidbit of information of what has happened on that specific day, over the years, in the history of one of the greatest sports towns in the world: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Every page is filled with accounts of specific events from the Phillies, Eagles, Flyers, and 76ers, as well as the local college and high school sports teams. The authors incorporate fun facts, specific information, and thoroughly researched statistical data into each entry.From the inception of the Penn Relays in 1895 to the Eagles’ Nick Foles’s record-tying performance in 2013, this book covers it all. Relive the evening in late October of 2008 when the Phillies captured their second World Series title or Allen Iverson’s 55-point showing against the Hornets in the first game of the 2003 playoffs. The authors take you through the greatest moments in Philadelphia-sports history, as well as the moments when the pain of being a sports fan is in full force in the City of Brotherly Love. It’s all here, in This Day in Philadelphia Sports.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports-books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.Dingers: The 101 Most Memorable Home Runs in Baseball History
By Joshua Shifrin, Tommy Shea. 2016
From splitters to spitters; from a frozen rope to the suicide squeeze; from extra innings to no hitters, baseball is…
truly a great game. But nothing hypes up a crowd like a home run, a round tripper, a big bomb . . . the long ball! Hitting the ball out of the park is one of the greatest feats in baseball, and doing so in the clutch can make an average player a hero overnight.In Dingers, authors Joshua Shifrin and Tom Shea break down the 101 most memorable home runs in baseball history, telling their stories and how they affected the game of baseball. Whether it’s "The Shot Heard ’Round the World” or Hank Aaron’s 715th blast, readers will get an inside scoop on some of the most famous moments that now live in baseball lore.Whether you were there when Reggie Jackson hit three-straight home runs in Game 6 of the 1977 World Series, watched Joe Carter’s 1993 World Series-winning home run live, or have seen highlights from Bill Mazeroski’s memorable shot in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, Dingers is for baseball fans young and old. Relive the moments you cherish to the ones you’ve only heard tales about.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports-books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team.Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.Ranking the best coaches in NFL history is no easy task. How do we decide which coach had a bigger…
on-field impact? Or the best tactical skills, both defensively and offensively? Not to mention measuring the strength of what a coach does behind the scenes, how he motivates his players, or how he keeps them from cracking under the pressure. Is the "Hoodie” the greatest coach ever, or just lucky to have Tom Brady? What about Bill Parcells, Vince Lombardi, and John Madden? Where do they rank? Such are the questions that pro football writer Steve Silverman addresses in Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Coaching?. As statistician Elliott Kalb did with baseball, basketball, and golf, and Silverman himself did with football players in Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Coaching?, Silverman takes the next logical step in this new book. Taking the analytical methods he developed over his years as a senior editor at Pro Football Weekly, he applies them to an evaluation of coaches going back to the earliest days of the NFL. The result is a fascinating ranking of the best of the sideline, from legendary old-timers like Vince Lombardi to present-day blue-collar coaches like Tom Coughlin. Throughout, Silverman discusses the many considerations that must be made when comparing modern coaches with coaches of past eras, or when comparing abrasive and domineering coaches with the more relaxed and Zen-like coaches. Including biographical essays on those top fifty coaches and detailed statistics for their career records in both the playoffs and regular season, Who’s Better, Who’s Best in Coaching? is a must-have for anyone who considers football more than just a game and who is fascinated by how it’s coached.Derek Jeter #2: Thanks for the Memories
By David Fischer. 2014
This book commemorates "The Captain's" career in pinstripes through words and images. David Fischer traces Derek Jeter's legendary baseball career,…
from his early minor-league struggles, through his exhilarating days as a Yankees superstar, to his status as an enduring symbol of the steroid-free athlete. Indeed, Jeter's intangible ability to play at a high level in the postseason makes him the face of the modern Yankees dynasty-and of America's national pastime. Fischer makes clear that Jeter walks in the footsteps of other Yankees greats such as Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle, and that someday his shadow will loom just as large.The author celebrates Jeter's career in a fully illustrated, scrapbook-style album with passionate and vivid prose, supreme photographic images and memorabilia, call-out quotes, and dozens of personal anecdotes and recollections about Jeter from prominent members of the Yankees organization and the New York community. Treasures from the Baseball Hall of Fame and the Yankees Museum-rarely seen photographs and artifacts-enhance the nostalgic experience. This unique collection captures the magic of Derek Jeter, making it an essential addition to every Yankee fan's library and a fitting tribute to one of the game's greatest players.Like a Rose: Life Lessons from a Training Camp with Hank Stram and the Kansas City Chiefs
By Rick Telander. 2012
More than thirty years ago, acclaimed author and Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist Rick Telander was drafted out of Northwestern University…
by a Kansas City Chiefs team filled with future Pro Football Hall of Famers and coached by the legendary Hank Stram. In 2004, Telander found the tattered, spiral-bound journal he kept while in that training camp and, after rereading the entries he kept until being cut from the team, was amazed and moved by the life lessons he took away from that once-in-a-lifetime experience and how they can be applied to people's lives today.In Like a Rose, Rick Telander reproduces his training-camp journal, following each entry with his views today on how those unique events and the heartbreak of not being able to fulfill his NFL dream helped propel him into a life as one of the country's most highly respected and well-known sportswriters. Telander, whose other books include Heaven Is a Playground, ranked as the fifteenth best sports book of all-time by Sports Illustrated, hopes to show how a game some see as being violent can instead offer lessons that people from any walk of life can understand. He also promises to explain the poignancy behind the enigmatic title, Like a Rose.Super Agent: The One Book the NFL and NCAA Don't Want You to Read
By J David Miller, Jerry Argovitz. 2012
Super Agent. Maverick. Reformer. Iconoclast. Dealmaker. Dentist? Jerry Argovitz has worn many hats in his remarkable life, both inside and…
outside of the world of sports. As a player agent representing and advising some of the biggest names in the game, Argovitz challenged the NFL both at the negotiating table and in the courtroom, earning a reputation as one of the most powerful men in professional sports. He successfully negotiated the first milliondollar guaranteed contract in NFL history, wrote the language for career-ending insurance policy underwriting for Lloyds of London, and brokered the deal that brought Heisman Trophy-winner Herschel Walker to the upstart USFL as a junior, which opened the floodgates for all underclassmen to follow.As the owner of the Houston Gamblers of the USFL, Argovitz helped to implement several rules which were subsequently adopted by the NFL, and served as a principal figure in a lawsuit against the NFL that proved the league was guilty of Sherman Antitrust violations. Now, Argovitz has a plan to reform the corrupt world of college sports, a plan he will share in this eye-opening book.Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.Tales from the Sacramento Kings Locker Room: A Collection of the Greatest Kings Stories Ever Told (Tales from the Team)
By Jerry Reynolds, Grant Napear, Don Drysdale. 2014
Jerry Reynolds was country before country was cool. He also was part of the Sacramento Kings before that was cool.…
2015 marks the team's 30th season in California's capital, and Jerry has been there from the start. Quietly, he has been instrumental in the team's growth from a shoestring operation that couldn't compete to a model NBA franchise that is always on the short list of title contenders. He has been a firsthand witness of the league's evolution, from Bird and Magic, to Jordan, to LeBron and Yao Ming. Jerry Reynolds has been a human Swiss Army knife, serving the Kings as a scout, assistant coach, head coach, player personnel director, general manager, and television analyst. Because he has held so many positions in the Kings' front office the last two decades, Jerry has a unique perspective on how the Kings have evolved, and he offers that perspective in Tales from the Sacramento Kings Locker Room.For those who've been on the Kings bandwagon only the last decade, it wasn't always C-Webb, Peja, and Bibby. In this reissue of Reynolds Remembers, Jerry recounts the hollow feeling of putting a CBA-quality lineup on the floor for an exhibition game against the Lakers: set for the tip-off, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and . . . Randy Allen? He remembers being left to explain the Kings' latest defeat to the media while Bill Russell snuck out the side door. But there were victories, too. He also still has a spark in his eye from trading draft rights to Billy Owens for superstar Mitch Richmond. Whether the Kings were stuck in the mud or winning 50-plus games, Jerry Reynolds remained the same-colorful, outspoken, engaging, and insightful.Tales from the San Diego Chargers Sideline: A Collection of the Greatest Chargers Stories Ever Told (Tales from the Team)
By Sid Brooks, Dan Fouts, Gerri Brooks. 2014
During his 27-year tenure with the San Diego Chargers, equipment manager Sid Brooks kept over 5,000 football players from appearing…
naked before their cheering fans. The first African American to hold the job of equipment manager in the NFL, Brooks' job was to see that each player left the locker room in uniform. But the means to that end was far more complicated-and outrageous-than one would believe.This reissue of Tales from the Chargers Locker Room takes the reader aboard the elevator to B2, the basement of Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers locker room is housed. In that basement, the equipment department and trainers, affectionately known as "dungeon rats," ran the Chargers locker room. There, Sid Brooks became caretaker for all who crossed its threshold.In this book, Sid recounts stories unique to a life spent working behind the scenes in the Chargers locker room. He features stories about Chargers greats like Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner, Kellen Winslow, Louie Kelcher, John Jefferson, Rodney Harrison, and Junior Seau. With an eye for detail, he recounts tales of spies sent out to capture the opposing team's playbooks; the night the lights went out on Don Shula; wild cab rides with Fouts, Joiner, and Winslow; the zany pre-game rituals and idiosyncrasies of Russ Washington, Wilbur Young, Pat Curran, Woodrow Lowe, and others; rivalries born not on the playing field, but at the dominoes table; and plenty of pranks and good-natured ribbing.Rarely does a book offer more than a passing glance at what makes a football team a family. But Sid Brooks not only introduces the family here-he also invites the reader over for dinner.