With traditions, records, and Utes lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Utah fan should know. It contains crucial information such as important dates, player nicknames, memorable moments, and outstanding achievements by singular players. This guide to all things Utes covers the incredible 2009 Sugar Bowl win against Alabama, Utah’s remarkable entry into the Pac-10, and hiking up to Block U.
ORDER ON AMAZON – 100 Things Yellow Jackets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die (100 Things…Fans Should Know)
With pep talks, records, and Yellow Jackets lore, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every Georgia Tech fan should know. It contains crucial information such as important dates, player nicknames, memorable moments, and outstanding achievements by singular players. This guide to all things Yellow Jackets covers the team’s improbable run to the 1990 national championships, the tradition of “stealing the T,” and the famous “Budweiser Bob” between-quarters song and dance.
The storied traditions of the University of Georgia are legendary in college football. Most Bulldogs fans can sing Glory, Glory and know who Uga is. On game days, fans are serenaded at Sanford Stadium by the Georgia Redcoat Marching Band and know the history of the Hedges and the iconic Georgia G. Names like Fran Tarkenton, Herschel Walker, and Eric Zeier are just as familiar as Vince Dooley, Wally Butts, and Mark Richt. But even the most die-hard fans don t know everything they should about their beloved Bulldogs.
In 100 Things Bulldogs Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die, Jon Nelson has assembled the facts, traditions, achievements, and on-campus destinations sure to educate and entertain true fans. Learn about Frank Sinkwich, Charley Trippi, Lindsay Scott, Hines Ward, Larry Munson, and Ray Goff among many other pivotal figures. Who is Big Dawg? When do you ring the Chapel Bell? What is the Stegasorous? Why don t freshmen walk under the Arch? What is the Dog Walk? All of the key events are here: the national championship seasons, the annual Georgia-Florida rivalry, the 1984 Cotton Bowl, the Countdown Game versus Auburn in 1992, and many more. From taking a stroll along College Avenue or in the Ramsey Center to attending the Countdown to Kickoff, avid Georgia Bulldogs fans will discover in these pages the unique history and activities that celebrate their team.
BUY ON AMAZON: Break Point: The Secret Diary of a Pro Tennis Player
Spanning 13 professional seasons, this colorful and personal account of one man’s life on the grueling pro tennis circuit pulls no punches. As one of only two players over the age of 30 ranked in the top 20 players in the world, Vince Spadea offers an inside perspective on his life as a world-class athlete: 11-month seasons, 68 tournaments, five continents, four court surfaces, and countless hits and misses. Starting at age eight under the tutelage of his demanding father, he climbed the rankings, battling injury, coaching decisions, and snubs from both fans and players. His place in the glamorous and gritty world-class tennis scene gives him much dirt to dish, and all the big names are there–Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Martina Navratilova, and Jennifer Capriati. Spadea takes shots with John McEnroe at practice, raps with the Williams sisters over email, and trades barbs with Andre Agassi, who once called Spadea a “journeyman.” Part memoir and part expose, this equally comic and gripping trip through professional tennis reveals that the game may begin on the court, but it continues far outside the white lines.
Vince Spadea is a professional tennis player who, at 31, was ranked at #19 worldwide. He lives in Boca Raton, Florida. Dan Markowitz is a journalist, sports writer, and the author of John Starks, a biography of the former New York Knick. He lives in New York City.
“I believe it’s an honest portrayal of ife on the men’s tour and that’s something the public has never gotten from someone at this level. It’s well written, incisive, and Spadea has done a remarkable job of revealing himself, along with some fellow pros, in what I believe is an important piece of work.” –Charles Bricker of the Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
“I have read it. It’s funny. It’s a different look at the tennis circuit – and worth a read!” –John McEnroe
“I just picked up Vince Spadea’s Break Point and could hardly put it down.” –Jon Wertheim, Sports Illustrated Online (SI.com)
“[I] could hardly put it down.” –Sports Illustrated Online (SI.com)
“I believe it’s an honest portrayal of ife on the men’s tour and that’s something the public has never gotten from someone at this level. It’s well written, incisive, and Spadea has done a remarkable job of revealing himself, along with some fellow pros, in what I believe is an important piece of work.” –Charles Bricker of the Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)
BUY ON AMAZON: One Moment Changes Everything: The All-America Tragedy of Don Rogers
Don Rogers was a three-sport phenomenon who energized a forgotten corner of the world (North Sacramento). He could run, jump and tackle better than anyone in California. A role model to children, he became both an honor student and a consensus All- American football player for UCLA, where he dominated two Rose Bowls and was a favorite of fans and sportswriters alike. Rogers went on to become a first-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns and was voted rookie of the year in 1984. Then it fell apart. Just one week after the overdose death of basketball star Len Bias, and only one day before his marriage to his college sweetheart, while in the upstairs bedroom of his mother’s home Rogers made the incomprehensible decision to use cocaine, and died just hours later. This All-American story is about a good man whose life transcended sports, and whose death continues to spur important debate about burden, love, addiction, responsibility, and what constitutes happiness in the material world.
Sean Harvey is a freelance writer and editor who battled Sacramento legends and future NFL stars Don and Reggie Rogers on the courts and fields of their rival high schools, before going on to coach their sister, Jackie, in summer basketball tournaments around Sacramento. Later, while Don and Reggie became college stars elsewhere on the West Coast, Harvey became a two-year varsity letterman wide receiver at San Jose State University. He spent five years working in New York, primarily as a manager for Authors and Artists Group, a Manhattan-based literary agency. Harvey resides in Berkeley, CA.
On [cocaine s] casualty list you’ll find the poor, the middle class, the rich and famous hundreds, even thousands, per year dead. Who has not felt the heartache of hearing the news of a friend or family member, someone who had so much to live for but is now gone forever? . . . Len Bias and Don Rogers, gifted athletes who had so much more to achieve, [were] only two of the most recent fatalities. . . . All those in the sports world should understand what a real force for good they could be.
Ronald Reagan – 40th President of the United States
If Don Rogers … could die a similar death as Len Bias just eight days later, you have to wonder how many people said, as Bias did, Well, it won t happen to me.
Michael Wilbon – The Washington Post
Don Rogers was the most natural and instinctive player I ve ever had in my 30 years of coaching; and his untimely death had a devastating impact on me. One Moment Changes Everything is an impressive and shocking chronicle of the life of Donnie Rogers.
MARTY SCHOTTENHEIMER – Three-time NFL Head Coach of the Year
One Moment Changes Everything provides an honest peek into the lives of the Rogers family, an unmatched collection of can t-miss talent that seemed to create every possible edge to escape the inner-city traps that claimed their neighbors. Author Sean Harvey digs beyond the headlines and news clips and reveals exactly what went wrong.
CHRIS DE LUCA – Chicago Sun-Times
Displaying a rich knowledge of the California sports scene that launched Don Rogers and an astonishing eye for detail, Sean Harvey tells a story that was begging to be told for nearly two decades. Through every page, I was struck by his insight into how the cocaine 80s fueled the Rogers tragedy. When I learned years ago about his passing so soon after the death of Len Bias, I thought of him as foolish. Harvey explains how the arrogance of the time was epidemic among those with money and how the repercussions of Rogers death went far beyond anything I d imagined.
MIKE DECOURCY – The Sporting News
Don Rogers was as good as it gets. He was physical, explosive, athletic, and could influence a game like few players I have ever seen. His tragic death was a tremendous loss for all of us who admired him for the kind of person and player he was. His death brought home how fragile all of us are as human beings. I miss him, and I think about him everyday.
TERRY DONAHUE – former UCLA football coach and NFL general manager, and current football analyst
One Moment Changes Everything, an amazing debut for writer Sean D. Harvey, is a remarkable story that reassesses the ‘American Dream’ of superstardom and success. Documenting the complexities of one African-American family who produced three star athletes – but with tragic effects – this book reminds us how the forces of race and class are powerfully intertwined and inescapable in America.
DWIGHT A. MCBRIDE – Leon Forrest Professor and Chair of African-American Studies at Northwestern University
One Moment Changes Everything is about more than one family s tragedy. It is a snapshot of time and place during a turning point in American sports and culture. Sean Harvey does an excellent job of chronicling the sad events of the Rogers family, and an even better job of placing them in the proper social context.
TIM KEOWN – Senior Writer, ESPN The Magazine –Quotes and Praise
One Moment Changes Everything offers a compelling microcosm of some of the best and worst aspects of American life: The recognition and rewards of applying natural talent; fidelity to family however flawed; spectator sports both spotlighting human achievement and seeking out weakness; the crucible of race, poverty, fame, drugs and depression; and the perpetual hope for redemption and renewal with each generation. –Ace Davis, The Orange And Brown Report
BUY ON AMAZON: Fourth and New Orleans: How Tulane Football Survived the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
The touching, true story of Tulane Universitys 2005 football seasonplayed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. New Orleans only college football team was forced to spend four months playing home games on the road, all the while uncertain if home would ever feel the same after the storm. Along the way, head coach Chris Scelfos team learned very real lessons about perseverance and survival. Benjamin Hochman, an award-winning reporter for New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper who spent the entire 2005 season with the Tulane football team, partners with Scelfo to give readers a vivid, behind-the-scenes look at a turbulent season salvaged by the determination of one coach and the self-discovery of his players.
BUY ON AMAZON: Kent Hrbek’s Tales from the Minnesota Twins Dugout (Tales)
Big first baseman Kent Hrbek was one of the games true characters, a throwback whose personal tastes were every bit as Ruthian as the monstrous homers for which he is remembered. At a time when professional athletes were discovering the benefits of personal trainers and dieticians, he frequently expressed his preference for a diet of junk food and beer. He and teammates like Gary Gaetti, Tom Brunansky, and late Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett played the game with a passion seldom seen in modern sports, and brought fun and humor into the Twins clubhouse. It was a place where a manager had to ban the cleaning of fish in the trainers room, and where practical jokes were more commonplace than scouting reports. It wasnt all fun and games, however. Hrbek and Gaetti became best friends, but had that friendship strained when Gaetti found religion and tried to push his beliefs including no beer onto Hrbek. Finally, late in his career, Hrbek battled serious shoulder injuries before retiring.
Kent Hrbek played 14 seasons for his hometown Minnesota Twins, helping the franchise to World Series titles in 1987 and 1991. A .282 career hitter with 293 homers, he’s one of five Twins to have his number retired. Since retiring, Hrbek has been active in charity work for Lou Gehrig’s disease, hosts the Kent Hrbek Outdoors TV show and is a special assistant with the Twins.
Dennis Brackin has worked at the Minneapolis Star Tribune since 1981, winning several national APSE (Associated Press Sports Editors) awards for reporting. He covered the Twins throughout Hrbek’s career, and the two are native Minnesotans who share the same birthdate (May 21) and fondness for practical jokes. Brackin is currently an assistant sports editor at the paper who oversees Major League Baseball coverage.
BUY ON AMAZON: The Perfect Yankee: The Incredible Story of the Greatest Miracle in Baseball History
By all accounts, the perfect game pitched by New York Yankees right-hander Don Larsen in the 1956 World Series qualifies as a true miracle. No one knows why it happened, or why an unlikely baseball player such as Larsen was the one who tossed it. In The Perfect Yankee Larsen describes the facts surrounding one of the most famous games in baseball history and details the complete story behind the amazing “Walter Mitty” performance. A former Baltimore Orioles pitcher who lost 21 games in 1954, the free-spirited Larsen reveals how comic book “Ghoulies” told him he should experiment with a no-windup pitching delivery just prior to the ‘56 World Series. Knocked out in Game Two, the man known as Gooney Bird to his teammates regrouped to record a miracle win that propelled the Casey Stengel-led Yankees to the world championship over the defending champion Brooklyn Dodgers.
Don Larsen is an iconic figure from baseball’s golden age. He began his pro baseball career by pitching for the St. Louis Browns in 1953 before joining the Yankees in 1955. On October 8, 1956, he pitched baseball’s first postseason no-hitter during Game 5 of the World Series. His skills earned him the 1956 World Series MVP and Babe Ruth Award. He took home 2 more World Series rings in 1957 and 1958. Larsen retired from baseball in 1967. He lives in Lake Hayden, Idaho.
Mark Shaw has written over twenty books and served as legal correspondent for Good Morning America, ABC, ESPN, and London Channel Four. He lives in Superior, Colorado.
Yogi Berra is one of the greatest and most enduring legends in American sports. He lives in Montclair, New Jersey.
BUY ON AMAZON: Tom Flores’ Tales from the Oakland Raiders (Tales Series)
Tom Flores played for the Raiders for 10 seasons and was their head coach from 1979-87. Over that time, he came into contact with innumerable characters and colorful personalities. Tom Flores’s Tales from the Oakland Raiders provides behind-the-scenes humor from greats such as former coach and owner Al Davis and coach Eddie Erdelatz as well as players such as Billy Cannon, Jim Otto, John Matuzak and Bo Jackson.
Tom Flores is the former head coach of the NFL’s Oakland Raiders and former head coach and general manager of the Seattle Seahawks. As an assistant coach and head coach, he has won three Super Bowl rings. He lives in Indian Wells, California.
Bob O’Connor has coached football for nearly 50 years and is the author of more than 20 books on health and physical education. He currently resides in Oslo, Norway.
Fulks attended Lipscomb University in Nashville, where he served as a play-by-play announcer for baseball and basketball games.
Plunkett is the 1970 Heisman Trophy winner.
BUY ON AMAZON: Game of My Life: Atlanta Braves
Theirs was a prolonged run of excellence like none other in sports history. From 1991 through 2005, the Atlanta Braves won 14 consecutive division championships, a streak no team in professional sports has ever come close to approaching. Not the New York Yankees or the old Boston Celtics. Not Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers or Montreal’s flying French Canadiens. Beginning with the unexpected worst-to-first miracle of 1991, the Braves commenced an era of sustained dominance that Major League Baseball never saw coming.
Which was more out of the blue? The wondrous run to the ’91 pennant, set to the beat of the Tomahawk Chop that become an electrified city’s mantra? Or Francisco Cabrera’s two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the ninth inning in the ’92 NLCS that broke Pittsburgh’s heart and returned the Braves to the World Series? It’s all here, as well as the memorable pennant chase of ’93 and Atlanta’s first world championship in 1995.
Captured within these pages are those memories, retold by the players who delivered the Braves to the pinnacle of pro sports, including David Justice, Terry Pendleton, Ron Gant, Lonnie Smith, Jeff Blauser, Greg Olson, and Tom Glavine. But also chronicled in Game of My Life: Atlanta Braves are the franchise’s many dark years of mediocrity that set up such a magical run. Dating back to the Braves’ move from Milwaukee, this book will catch up with Braves legends like Hank Aaron, Phil Niekro, Bob Horner, and Dale Murphy.
Each player within remembers his Braves career, and, more importantly, that single game that defined greatness for himself and his team. Wrapping things up, we’ll also hear from “the Pope of pitching,” Leo Mazzone, and two broadcasters with enough baseball under their belts to boast of entrance into the Braves Hall of Fame–Pete Van Wieren and Skip Caray. It all makes for a walk down memory lane that no fan of the Braves will want to miss.
Jack Wilkinson has written about sports for more than 30 years, in Miami, Chicago, his native New York, and Atlanta. Named the Georgia Sportswriter of the Year in 2001 and 2004, he’s covered many World Series and Final Fours, and three Olympics and Super Bowls. He currently writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. His previous books include Dodd’s Luck, the autobiography of the late Georgia Tech football coach Bobby Dodd; Focused on the Top, an account of Tech’s 1990 national championship season; and Kim King’s Tales from the Georgia Tech Sideline, with the late Tech quarterback and radio analyst.
Wilkinson and his wife, Janet Ward, live in Atlanta and have two daughters, Katharine and Alison.
BUY ON AMAZON: Game of My Life Dodgers
From Flatbush to Hollywood, no other professional sports franchise has enjoyed such a colorful bicoastal history as the Dodgers. A legendary collection of Brooklyn and Los Angeles greats describe their favorite day in Dodger Blue.
In this photographic journey, official team historian and former baseball reporter Mark Langill details the surprising confluence of circumstances that make the Los Angeles Dodgers so extraordinary. The team’s historic move from the East Coast signaled a major westward expansion of the major leagues. In 1978, the team made history by being the first to draw more than 3 million fans in one season. Thanks to unprecedented community support and the amazing abilities of its players, the Dodgers have remained one of sport’s most storied franchises and an endless source of pride for the city of Los Angeles..
BUY ON AMAZON: Tales from the Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are among baseball’s most celebrated franchises. Four World Championships and five other World Series appearances are the result of someof the game’s greatest players having worn the old English “D.” Names like Cobband Kaline, Greenberg and Gehringer, and Gibson and Trammell starred duringtheir days as Tigers. Readers will delight to these old and new anecdotes aboutDetroit baseball lore, recalling colorful players like pitchers Denny McLain andMickey Lolich; the ’84 Tigers’ brilliant 35-5 start en route to a championship; andthe 1999 finale at venerable Tiger Stadium when nearly 200 of its former starsreturned for one last hurrah.
BUY ON AMAZON: Tom Browning’s Tales from the Reds Dugout
Join 2006 Reds Hall of Famer Tom Browning for legendary tales of festivity (1990 World Series Championship), immortality (a perfect game in 1988), and a bit of eccentricity (life with Marge Schott). What was his reaction to the lifetime suspension of his manager and friend, Pete Rose? How did a ragtag group of Cincinnati ballplayers topple the mighty Oakland A’s in the 1990 Fall Classic? And was that really Browning on a Sheffield Avenue rooftop–in uniform–during a 1993 Reds-Cubs game at Wrigley Field?
After growing up a devoted Reds fan in Casper, Wyoming, Browning was drafted by the team in 1982. Two years later, he was in the majors and sharing a clubhouse with his childhood heroes, including Pete Rose, Davey Concepcion, and Tony Perez. And in no time, he was raising hell with other Reds legends such as Eric Davis, Barry Larkin, Dave Parker, Jose Rijo, Chris Sabo, Ronnie Oester, and Lou Piniella.
He devotes an entire chapter to the crazy events surrounding his 1988 perfect game, considered one of the greatest moments in Reds history. Browning explains how Kirk Gibson stole his celebration move and used it in the 1988 World Series, why Reds broadcaster Joe Nuxhall nearly knocked himself unconscious to get the postgame interview, and how Browning’s kids shocked memorabilia dealers everywhere by eventually losing the ball from the last out of the perfect game.
Browning also recounts why he went AWOL during Game 2 of the 1990 World Series, the reasoning behind Marge slapping him while on their way to the White House, and how breaking his arm–while delivering a pitch–ultimately ended his career.
The former All-Star and newest member of the Reds Hall of Fame shares these gems and many more in the much-anticipated Tom Browning’s Tales from the Reds Dugout.
Tom Browning (born April 28, 1960 in Casper, Wyoming) broke into Major League Baseball with 20 wins for the Reds in 1985, becoming the first rookie to win 20 since the Yankees’ Bob Grim in 1954. He pitched a perfect game on September 16, 1988 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He suffered a career-ending injury in 1994 when he broke his left arm while delivering a pitch. He attempted to return from his injury in 1995 with the Kansas City Royals, but he retired after pitching only two games.
Dann Stupp, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research, is currently consumer marketing manager for the Cincinnati Reds. He graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism with honors, and in 2003, published his first book, Opening Day at Great American Ball Park. He previously covered baseball for the San Francisco Chronicle’s “Giants Today” section and has been providing play-by-play for MLB.com’s Gameday coverage since 2002.
BUY ON AMAZON: Tales from the Buffalo Bills (Tales Series)
In the 1970s, Joe DeLamielleure led a Buffalo Bills offensive line affectionately called the Electric Company, because they turned the Juice loose. The Juice, of course, was running back O.J. Simpson. A starter from the first game of his rookie season in 1973, DeLamielleure led the way for Simpsons 2,000-yard seasonthe first in NFL historythat year. The durable star lineman went on to play 185 consecutive games over 13 seasons for the Bills and Cleveland Browns, earning six Pro Bowl berths. In Joe Delamielleures Tales from the Buffalo Bills, DeLamielleure takes readers behind the scenes and into the locker room with one of the most exciting teams in Bills history. He shares how his Hall of Fame career almost never startedDeLamielleure failed his physical after being drafted out of Michigan State. The star lineman shares memories of Bills owner Ralph Wilson, the experience of being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and more.
Michael Benson is a journalist, filmmaker, and artist. His work has been published in “The New York Times, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone”, and “The Nation”. He lives in New York City. Arthur C. Clarke is the greatest living prophet of the Space Age. He lives in Sri Lanka. Lawrence Weschler is one of the leading writers on art in the United States. He lives in New York City.
BUY ON AMAZON: Glory Days: Catching up with the Legends of Indiana High School Basketball
Basketball talent in Indiana is probably no better than that found in any other state, yet the richness of tradition is unequalled anywhere else in the country. Author Dick Denny explores the Indiana basketball culture through this wonderful presentation of interviews and stories with Indiana’s greatest male high school basketball stars. These legends include Carl Erskine, Monte Towe, and George McGinnis. Each former Indiana basketballer provides warm recounts of his athletic career, his contribution to the history of Indiana basketball, and how his experiences affected him later in life. This book will help you remember your favorite stars from the past, and introduce you to the ones of the present.
Dick Denny, a graduate from Richmond High School (Indiana), was a catcher on Duke University‚’s 1952 Blue Devils’ baseball team that went to the College World Series and earned all-intramural basketball recognition. He earned a degree in journalism, and, after serving in the military, continued his studies in Northwestern’s graduate school. He left after his first semester to pursue his career. His first job in journalism was reporting for the Muncie Star (Indiana) during the 1956 state high school basketball tournament. Following stints at the Star, the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette (Indiana), and the Chicago Tribune; Denny joined the Indianapolis News and wrote about high school sports—particularly basketball—in his Sports Den column. Denny also covered college and professional basketball, as well as hockey, tennis, and bowling in his 33 years with the News. When the News folded, he went to work for the Indianapolis Star. He retired in 1997.
Denny has won four first-place awards in national bowling competitions, and has written a book with Indianapolis’ Mike Aulby, a former professional bowler who won 27 PBA titles. A widower, Denny now spends time with his four children—Chris, Sean, Tim, and Shannon—and eight grandchildren.
