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High Stakes: The rise of the Waterhouse dynasty
By Paul Kennedy. 2014
Drama, glamour, scandal, success - and very high stakes. The story of Australia's best known horse racing family has it…
all.When it comes to racing, the name most Australians associate with the racetrack is Waterhouse. This is their compelling story.HIGH STAKES takes us from Bill Waterhouse's introduction to the world as a sixteen-year-old, working as a bookmaker for his father in the late thirties - going on to make money both on and off the track - to the headlines caused by his involvement in the notorious Fine Cotton affair in the eighties.It examines his son Robbie's rise as a respected bookie and a knowledgeable judge of horses, to his spectacular fall, as a result of that same Fine Cotton affair, which led to a life ban from involvement in the racing industry. While the ban was lifted in 2001, he keeps a low profile these days. As Kennedy reveals, the same cannot be said of Robbie's wife, Gai, daughter of the legendary horse trainer TJ Smith. In a male-dominated world, she has gone on to rival her father as one of Australia's best trainers, training horses for a star-studded clientele that has ranged from John Singleton to the Queen of England.Yet as HIGH STAKES shows, the scandal aside, the marriage between Gai and Robbie was always going to be problematic. As the Sydney Morning Herald put it: 'It's not that the Smiths and the Waterhouses were necessarily the Capulets and the Montagues but the country's leading trainer and the world's biggest bookmaker were hardly natural kinsfolk either.'Despite an already colourful history, when their son, Tom, stepped into the family business and became one of the best-known and most controversial bookies the country had ever seen, Kennedy describes how the dramas for the Waterhouse dynasty were only just beginning...This is the book for anyone who wants to know the inside story of contemporary Australian horse racing, a world where premiers and millionaires rub shoulders with gangsters and girls with fancy hats. It's a world of passion, action - and very high stakes.So Close: Bravest, Craziest, Uunluckiest Defeats in Aussie Sport
By Patrick Mangan. 2013
A tribute to the bravest, craziest, unluckiest, most ridiculous defeats in Australian sporting history.Typically, there?s only one way to win…
? by being the best. But there are countless ways of having victory snatched from your grasp. Remember Pat Rafter?s 2001 Wimbledon final against the enigmatic Goran Ivanisevic. Think of Allan Border and Jeff Thomson?s titanic last-wicket partnership against England in 1982 that nearly won one of the closest-fought Tests ever.Look no further than Australian walker Jane Saville, only a few hundred metres from a gold medal at Sydney 2000 when she was tragically disqualified. And yet, as Adam Scott shows, a devastating defeat can sometimes spur a champion on to glory.From the calamitous to the hilarious, from the poignant to the absurd, sport is about so much more than gold medals, premiership trophies and urns filled with ashes. And in So Close, some of those sportspeople will finally get the recognition they deserve.Goal!: Intimate portraits and interviews with every living FIFA World Cup Final scorer
By Michael Donald. 2017
Beautifully illustrated and officially licensed by FIFA, Goal! is a unique football book that captures the essence of the ultimate…
sporting achievement.This is a fascinating portrait of the men who have lived the dream of every football fan worldwide. Includes: Intimate portraits by award-winning photographer Michael DonaldInterviews with the players, giving fascinating insight into the occassion, from the music they played on the bus to the stadium, to the meal they ate afterwardsProfiles on Pelé, Ronaldo, Zidane, Götze annd many more of the greatsThe book includes the story of what happened in each FIFA World Cup?, what happened to the players afterwards and what they do today. There's also a comprehensive statistics section covering all the facts and figures for each World Cup tournament so readers can relive the matches they saw, and discover the details about the ones they didn't.The Master: The Life and Times of Dally Messenger Australia's First Sporting Superstar
By Sean Fagan, Dally Messenger. 2007
Dally Messenger was an Australian sporting superstar in the early years of the 20th century - a rugby league icon,…
rugby union champion, and the most popular sporting personality of this day.He was courted by all codes in that heady period of the early 1900s, when rugby league and Australian rules were fighting to become the dominant winter sport. He represented Australia in rugby league and rugby union and also represented New Zealand in rugby league. Thousands flocked to the grounds when he was playing, and he his revered as an icon in rugby league to this very day.The Master is a popular and authoritative account of the life and times of a superlative sportsman, a tribute to a rugby league player without peer, and an inspiring story for all those who would marvel at this sporting excellence and outstanding achievements.Eddie: The rise and rise of Eddie McGuire
By Michael Bodey. 2015
The inspiring biography of one of Australia's best-known businessmen, TV stars and footy club presidents.Eddie McGuire charts the incredible rise…
of Edward Joseph McGuire AM from his childhood in the working-class Melbourne suburb of Broadmeadows, through his nightclub days as an ambitious young sports reporter to the heights of television, radio,the AFL and politics.Award-winning author and journalist Michael Bodey explores McGuire's rise to the presidency of the most popular football club in the land, Collingwood; his creation of Channel Nine's 'The Footy Show'; his ascent to become Australian television's 'Eddie Everywhere' before his unlikely appointment as Nine's CEO and 'Five Million Dollar Man'; as well as his political ambitions, including his role opposite Malcolm Turnbull heading the republican campaign.Covering Eddie McGuire's many feuds, his missteps, his successes, the turnaround of his beloved Magpies and his seemingly unstoppable rise, this is the inspiring and unique story of the ultimate working-class boy made good.Harold Larwood
By Duncan Hamilton. 2009
Winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, this is the first ever biography of Harold Larwood. Larwood,…
one of the most talented, accurate and intimidating fast bowlers of all time is mainly remembered for his role in the infamous Bodyline series of 1932-3 which brought Anglo-Australian diplomatic relations to the brink of collapse.Larwood was made the scapegoat--and despite the fact he was simply following his captain's instructions, he never played cricket for England again. Devastated by this betrayal, he eventually immigrated to Australia, where he was accepted by the country that had once despised him.Acclaimed author Duncan Hamilton has gained unprecedented access to the late sportsman's family and archives to tell the story of a true working-class hero and cricketing legend.Believe: Young Readers Edition
By Mike Yorkey, Eric Legrand. 2012
Believe is the profoundly moving story of Eric LeGrand, the former defensive tackle for the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights football…
team, who suffered a severe spinal cord injury and was left paralyzed by a crushing on-field tackle during a heated game with Army. A remarkable true account of a courageous young athlete whose unshakable faith, spirit, positive outlook, and rousing motto, “BELIEVE!” would serve as inspiration to legions of fans—and as motivation in his own quest to walk again—Eric’s story has received national attention, heavily covered by ESPN and Sports IllustratedThis Is Gonna Hurt
By Tito Ortiz. 2008
He's the ultimate showman in the world's greatest spectator sport -- a controversial, charismatic figure who has dominated Ultimate Fighting…
for more than ten years as one of its most exciting and skillful stars. But for Tito Ortiz, life very nearly took a different path. Growing up in Huntington Beach, California, Ortiz spent part of his childhood living in motels and in the backs of other people's houses, as his heroin-addicted parents were forced to leave one apartment after another. By the time he was in sixth grade, he had dabbled in almost every drug available, and his early youth involved time in juvenile detention centers, a string of petty crimes, and a stint in a local gang. Then, in high school, Tito discovered wrestling -- the perfect match for this tough, streetwise, ambitious kid. Tito made his mixed martial arts debut at UFC 13 in 1997, winning his first fight in twenty-two seconds. In 2000, he was chosen as a light heavyweight contender in UFC 25 and took the belt, successfully defending it five times in the following three years. Tito Ortiz pulls no punches as he recounts his journey from Huntington Beach Bad Boy to UFC superstardom -- his difficult upbringing, his first marriage and struggles with fidelity, his battles with the UFC, his career highs and lows, and his current happy relationship with former porn star Jenna Jameson. An inspirational story of beating the odds, and an incredible glimpse into just what it takes to win in the world's most brutal arena, This Is Gonna Hurt is raw, frank, funny, and as fearless as its subject.Pray
By Nick Hornby. 2012
Nick Hornby, author of the bestselling soccer classic Fever Pitch, offers an insightful account of an extraordinary sports season. Concentrating…
on a number of significant games in British soccer during the 2011-2012 season, Hornby chronicles the emotional, political, and societal highlights and woes that played out on the field. There were alleged racist clashes, revealing the deep cultural fissures still present in British life. There was a fairy-tale return for the legendary Thierry Henry, and the terrifying collapse of Bolton's Fabrice Muamba, clinically dead for seventy-eight minutes after a heart attack. Throughout, Hornby delves into the impact of the economy on the beloved sport of Britain. As sheikhs and oligarchs buy and sell teams and players at astronomical financial levels, other teams are left behind to struggle with diminished talent. And as income inequality hits all-time highs worldwide, so it does in British soccer. It was a season of tumultuous incident and enormous entertainment, a season more glorious than most. By the end, in May 2012, fans of most clubs had been enthralled, appalled, depressed, elated, shocked, and enraged. Along the way, soccer had somehow managed to encompass politics, high finance, the law, and matters of life and death. Read all about it, and relive it, here.Clemente (Spanish Edition)
By The Clemente Family. 0021
INCLUYE FOTOS Gigante del béisbol, hombre de familia, activista humanitario... la vida y el legado de Roberto Clemente, contado aquí…
por su familia. Con la rapidez de su bate y un atletismo inigualable, Roberto Clemente intimidó a la mayoría de los lanzadores de las grandes ligas durante dieciocho temporadas, compilando más de tres mil hits. Tenía las piernas más veloces de la época. Su brazo era uno de los más fuertes; con increíble frecuencia fusilaba a los corredores de base desde el jardín derecho. Pasó toda su carrera luchando por ganarse el respeto del público y finalmente lo obtuvo con un desempeño histórico durante la Serie Mundial y a lo largo de la segunda mitad de su carrera, la cual lo dejaría en compañía de grandes nombres como Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays y Mickie Mantle. Pero es lo que Roberto Clemente hacía fuera del campo lo que lo convirtió en un gran ser humano. Fue uno de los primeros atletas en comprender cómo utilizar el poder de los deportes para transformar no sólo un puñado de vidas sino miles de ellas. Murió siendo fiel a su consciencia y a lo que le pedía su corazón. Clemente estaba llevando suministros a una Nicaragua afectada por el terremoto cuando su avión se cayó en el Atlántico. Cuarenta años después de esta trágica fecha, la viuda y los hijos de este atleta ejemplar y activista humanitario consumando, hablan por primera vez del hombre que perdieron. Con una colección de fotografías exclusivas nunca antes vistas, este poderoso libro cuenta la inspiradora historia de Roberto Clemente en la voz de quienes mejor lo conocieron.An American Caddie in St. Andrews
By Oliver Horovitz. 2013
A hilarious and poignant memoir of a Harvard student who comes of age as a caddie on St. Andrews’s fabled…
Old Course. In the middle of Oliver Horovitz’s high school graduation ceremony, his cell phone rang: It was Harvard. He’d been accepted, but he couldn’t start for another year. A caddie since he was twelve and a golfer sporting a 1. 8 handicap, Ollie decides to spend his gap year in St. Andrews, Scotland—a town with the U. K. ’s highest number of pubs per capita, and home to the Old Course, golf ’s most famous eighteen holes—where he enrolls in the St. Andrews Links Trust caddie trainee program. Initially, the notoriously brusque veteran caddies treat Ollie like a bug. But after a year of waking up at 4:30 A. M. every morning and looping two rounds a day, Ollie earns their grudging respect— only to have to pack up and leave for Harvard. There, Ollie’s new classmates are the sons of Albania’s UN ambassador, the owner of Heineken, and the CEO of Goldman Sachs. Surrounded by sixth generation legacies, he feels like a fish out of water all over again and can’t wait to get back to St. Andrews. Even after graduation, when his college friends rush to Wall Street, Horovitz continues to return each summer to caddie on the Old Course. A hilarious, irresistible, behind-the-scenes peek at the world’s most celebrated golf course—and its equally famous caddie shack—An American Caddie in St. Andrews is certain to not only entertain golfers and fans of St. Andrews but also anyone who dares to remember stumbling into adulthood and finding one’s place in the world. .Namath
By Mark Kriegel. 2004
In between Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan there was Joe Namath, one of the few sports heroes to transcend the…
game he played. Novelist and former sports-columnist Mark Kriegel’s bestselling biography of the iconic quarterback details his journey from steel-town pool halls to the upper reaches of American celebrity—and beyond. The first of his kind, Namath enabled a nation to see sports as show biz. For an entire generation he became a spectacle of booze and broads, a guy who made bachelorhood seem an almost sacred calling, but it was his audacious “guarantee” of victory in Super Bowl III that ensured his legend. This unforgettable portrait brings readers from the gridiron to the go-go nightclubs as Kriegel uncovers the truth behind Broadway Joe and why his legend has meant so much to so many. .Juan Uribe (Superstars of Baseball)
By Tania Rodriguez. 2013
Juan Uribe has come a long way from his roots in the Dominican Republic. He's played in two World Series,…
and he earns millions of dollars every year. But it's his roots that still make him strong. Uribe is proud of his homeland--and his homeland is proud of him! Read about Juan Uribe's life. Find out what it takes to be a baseball superstar!José Valverde (Superstars of Baseball)
By Tania Rodriguez. 2013
Today, José Valverde is one of baseball's best relief pitchers. Valverde has pitched in the All-Star game. He's won awards…
and made millions of dollars. Valverde even had a perfect regular season in 2011! Valverde's path to finding success in the MLB was a long one, though. He had to work hard to make it to where he is today. Read how Valverde started playing baseball thanks to his uncle, former MLB pitcher José Mercedes. Learn about Valverde's success in the minor leagues and find out how he became one of baseball's best pitchers.Inside the Helmet
By Michael Strahan, Jay Glazer. 2007
Following a magical season that ended in Super Bowl glory, one of the NFL's biggest stars delivers a no-holds-barred, hardhitting…
hitting account of life in the league. Michael Strahan is one of the NFL's most talented players, and he is also one of the game's most vocal personalities. In Inside the Helmet, Strahan exposes all of the pressure, pain, and glory of life in the NFL, venturing into territory no previous football author has had the nerve to tread. Bringing the reader right into the middle of the action, Strahan recounts exhilarating victories and reveals the hair-raising details of the ruthless grit required for every win. He gives an honest account of the brutality on the field and the myriad injuries from which he continues to suffer. He describes the relationships among teammates (including an account of his well publicized feuding with Tiki Barber), the practical jokes players use to preserve their sanity and the violent blow-ups that occur when the pressure gets too intense, and the challenges of taking orders from head coach Tom Coughlin and his squadron of assistant coaches. Strahan also writes about dealing with the relentless media coverage, rabid and demanding fans, and the struggle to live up to a multimillion-dollar salary. Finally, in two new chapters for the paperback edition, Strahan writes about the ups and downs of a truly sensational 2007 season that saw the Giants overcome the odds to win the Super Bowl. For the millions of rabid NFL fans, Inside the Helmet is an all-access pass into the huddle, the locker room, and the minds of the warriors on the field.The Lion in Autumn
By Frank Fitzpatrick. 2005
“Fascinating. . . . One of the best books ever written on the rise and fall of a great college…
football coach. ” —Allen Barra, San Francisco Chronicle The Lion in Autumntakes readers inside Penn State’s storied football program as legendary coach Joe Paterno fights to turn his struggling team into a winner once again. In more than a half century at Penn State, Paterno has won more bowl games (21) than any other coach and more games (354) than all but one, en route to two national championships and five perfect seasons. But in the new millennium hard times arrived in Happy Valley. His Nittany Lions had losing seasons in four of five years, dropping sixteen of twenty-three games in 2003 and 2004. There were boos at Beaver Stadium and increasing calls for the aging Paterno to step down. Award-winning sportswriter Frank Fitzpatrick followed JoePa through the 2004 season as the beloved coach struggled to save himself and his storied program. Fitzpatrick trailed Paterno from fund-raisers to the spring practices to the sidelines, detailing how the coach endured another losing season while building a team that would win the Orange Bowl and compete for the national championship in 2005. Interweaving stories from past seasons into the narrative, Fitzpatrick fleshes out the legend of Paterno. BACKCOVER: “Insightful. . . . Fascinating reading. ” —Chicago Tribune “A rather startling success. . . . Significant. . . . literary. . . . [Fitzpatrick] relies on his own tenacity and attention to detail with just the right amount of historical perspective. ” —Pittsburgh Post- Gazette “[Demystifies] the college football coach, moving behind the spectacle of Saturday afternoon to reveal flesh and soul and humanity. ” —Buz Bisinger, The New York Times “You don’t have to be a Penn State fan to appreciate it. ” —ESPN. comMario Yepes (Superstars of Soccer)
By Daniel Grady. 2013
Mario Yepes es un nombre conocido en el fútbol, tanto dentro de Colombia como afuera. El capitán actual de la…
Selección Nacional ha tenido una destacada trayectoria en poderosos equipos latinoamericanos como europeos. Jugó y deslumbró la hinchada del River Plate de Argentina, y escaló hasta ser el jugador mejor pagado de Francia. Es conocido como El Rey por su excepcional habilidad defensiva y dominio del balón en el juego. Tanto carismático como humilde, Yepes ha tenido varias victorias y otras tantas caídas. Ahora juega por Milán, uno de los mejores equipos del mundo.Freddy Rincón (Superstars of Soccer)
By Rodolfo Iguarán Castillo. 2013
Durante más de una década, desde 1990 a 2001, Freddy Rincón fue un sólido jugador de la Selección Nacional de…
Colombia. En 84 partidos con los Cafeteros, incluyendo tres torneos de la Copa del Mundo, el centrocampista marcó 17 goles. Durante su carrera, Rincón también jugó para una variedad de clubes en Colombia, Europa y Brasil. Se retiró en 2004.Fredy Guarín (Superstars of Soccer)
By Silvia Meave. 2013
Fredy Guarín anotó el mejor gol de la temporada de fútbol europeo 2010-2011. De este modo el mediocampista nacido en…
Puerto Boyacá se confirmó como uno de los grandes ídolos del fútbol en Colombia. Fredy, que fue medallista de oro al lado de sus compañeros de la selección colombiana en los XX Juegos Centroamericanos y del Caribe en 2006, es hoy una esperanza para la selección nacional de su país en las próximas eliminatorias hacia la Copa Mundial de Fútbol Brasil 2014. Empezó 2012 como jugador del equipo italiano Inter de Milán por un período de seis meses, que podría extenderse en un contrato millonario definitivo. Actualmente Guarín es uno de los jugadores latinoamericanos más cotizados a nivel mundial.Iván Córdoba (Superstars of Soccer)
By Gustavo Vazquez. 2013
Iván Ramiro Córdoba se elevó desde orígenes humildes. Nacido en una familia pobre, creció jugando al fútbol en las calles…
de Rionegro, Colombia. Después de un par de años con el equipo local de Rionegro, se trasladó al club Atlético Nacional de Medellín. Luego jugó para San Lorenzo, un club basado en Buenos Aires. Su habilidad a desarmar a los ataques de los oponentes más pronto llamó la atención de clubes europeos, y en 1999 fue al Inter de Milán. En una docena de años con el Inter de Milán, Córdoba se ganó una reputación como uno de los mejores defensores del mundo. él ayudó al club a un par de campeonatos de la liga. Para los colombianos, sin embargo, Córdoba siempre será recordado por un gol que marcó el 29 de julio de 2001. Ese gol dio a Colombia el campeonato de la Copa América.