Sporting House

The most popular sports columnist in America puts his life (and dignity) on the line in search of the most absurd sporting event on the planet. What is the stupidest sport in the world? Not content to pontificate from the sidelines, Rick Reilly set out on a global journey - with stops in Australia, New Zealand, Finland, Denmark, England, and even a maximum security prison at Angola, Louisiana - to discover the answer to this enduring question.

There was a turning point in Michael Lewis' life, in a baseball game when he was 14 years old. The irascible and often terrifying Coach Fitz put the ball in his hand with the game on the line and managed to convey such confident trust in Lewis's ability that the boy had no choice but to live up to it. "I didn't have words for it then, but I do now: I am about to show the world, and myself, what I can do."

In 1958, while flying from one island to another, Audrey Sutherland sees the remote and roadless northeast side of Molokai, with its spectacular sea cliffs and waterfalls. Always an adventurer, she decides that she must find a way to explore this then inaccessible area. After much study, she determines that the best way for her to navigate these treacherous sea walls is to swim while towing an inflatable kayak. This is the story of fulfilling her dream, of planning then implementing, of launching and advancing, of retreating and reconnoitering, of challenge and success.

Lost in the annals of boxing is the sport's true Cinderella story. James J. Braddock, dubbed "Cinderella Man" by Damon Runyon, was a once promising light heavyweight for whom a string of losses in the ring and a broken right hand happened to coincide with the Great Crash of 1929.

My wrestling coach taught me all there is to know about grappling. About getting another gay—I mean, guy—to submit. It’s why I’m the top wrestler on my college wrestling team. I guess you could say I’m pretty good at pinning guys. Coach Mason and I have gotten close lately. He’s proud of what I can do. Says he likes to pin guys too. I stay behind after practice because Coach says he wants to teach me some moves.Coach takes off his shirt, shorts and whistle, and instructs me to spar with him. I'd like to give it a try. Time to see how much of Coach Mason I can really take.

Ryan Bingham's job as a Career Transition Counselor - he fires people - has kept him airborne for years. Although he has come to despise his line of work, he has come to love the culture of what he calls "Airworld" - finding contentment within pressurized cabins, anonymous hotel rooms, and a wardrobe of wrinkle-free slacks.

Gonzalo Zapata es el más grande de los maratonistas amateur de Chile. Tras un cambio en su vida, pasó de trabajar siete días a la semana a encontrar el equilibrio a través de la práctica del running. Se plateó un desafió singular: correr, durante un año, las seis grandes maratones del mundo. A través del relato de su experiencia en Tokio, Boston, Londres, Berlín, Chicago y New York, nos comparte su testimonio y además, nos entrega las claves para abandonar la vida sedentaria y atreverse a experimentar el placer del running

With his colorful tattoos and booming hip-hop sound track, Mike Iaconelli has turned the world of big-money competitive bass fishing upside down. In Fishing on the Edge, Iaconelli tells his own story, and it's a whopper: a Philly-born, Jersey-bred Yankee who's been stealing the spotlight from bass fishing's traditionally all-Southern anglers, attracting fans and dominating one of the fastest-growing sports in America.

In the 34 years since his retirement, Henry Aaron’s reputation has only grown in magnitude: He broke existing records (rbis, total bases, extra-base hits) and set new ones (hitting at least 30 home runs per season 15 times, becoming the first player in history to hammer 500 home runs and three thousand hits). But his influence extends beyond statistics, and at long last here is the first definitive biography of one of baseball’s immortal figures.

The unlikeliest of champions, the 1949-50 City College Beavers were extraordinary by every measure. During that remarkable season, this unheralded group of city kids would stun the basketball world by becoming the only team in history to win the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year. This team, though, proved to be extraordinary in another way: During the following season, all of the team’s starting five were arrested by New York City detectives. The story centers on Eddie Roman and Floyd Layne, each caught up in the scandal, each searching for a path to personal redemption.

Mark Wolfe, a brilliant if self-thwarting technical writer, lives in Pittsburgh with his wife, Sushila, and their toddler daughter. His half-brother Geoff, born and raised in the United Kingdom, is a desperate young soccer agent. He pulls Mark across the ocean into a scheme to track down an elusive prospect known only as “Godwin”—an African teenager Geoff believes could be the next Lionel Messi.

This Is Your Brain on Sports is the audiobook for sports fans searching for a deeper understanding of the games they watch and the people who play them. Sports Illustrated executive editor and best-selling author L. Jon Wertheim teams up with Tufts psychologist Sam Sommers to take listeners on a wild ride into the inner world of sports.

For 18 years Ed Viesturs pursued climbing's holy grail: to stand atop the world's 14 8,000-meter peaks, without the aid of bottled oxygen. But No Shortcuts to the Top is as much about the man who would become the first American to achieve that goal as it is about his stunning quest. As Viesturs recounts the stories of his most harrowing climbs, he reveals a man torn between the flat, safe world he and his loved ones share and the majestic and deadly places where only he can go.

In this collection of his finest work from such magazines as Outside and Smithsonian, Krakauer explores the subject from the unique and memorable perspective of one who has himself battled peaks like K2, Denali, Everest, and, of course, Eiger.

I had the girl - THE girl. Kay. My Skittles.... MINE. Then a blitz from the past flattened me like a linebacker. Time for a new playbook. Mason Nova is...argh! I told myself to stay away. Warned my heart not to fall for him. Did it listen? NOPE. Now it feels like it’s crushed under a fallen cheer pyramid. Sorry to tell you, but you are NOT a game changer.

Surfers and surfing aficionados worldwide will be enthralled with this fascinating autobiography of Nat Young, arguably one of the world's best surfers and a pioneer of the 'shortboard' style. With short stories, anecdotes and unbelievable adventures with some of surfing's most colourful and well known characters, Nat Young recounts his life from Australia to Hawaii to the Pacific Coast of America and beyond. This audiobook is a must-listen for any surfer!

Use this information to help you and your friends make more money and have a much better time while doing it. This is for beginners who are just starting out as well as those who have been playing for years. We go over the common terminology of blackjack and how the pros play each hand which leads them to be able to count cards. There is also a practice section where we go through the hands together to get a good understanding of counting cards, so you and your friends can take down the house!

Football god. Ladies man. Campus celebrity. Guys want to be me and girls want to bed me. Commitment? What's that? Then I saw her - tiny, gorgeous, and oh so...mine.

In Golden Days, acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum uses these two teams - the Jerry West/Wilt Chamberlain/Elgin Baylor Lakers and the Stephen Curry/Kevin Durant/Draymond Green Warriors - to trace the dynamic history of the National Basketball Association, which for much of the last half century has marched memorably through the state of California. Tying together the two strands of McCallum's story is Hall of Famer West, the ferociously competitive Laker guard who later became one of the key architects of the Warriors.

During one unforgettable season as a Citadel cadet, Pat Conroy becomes part of a basketball team that is ultimately destined to fail. And yet for a military kid who grew up on the move, the Bulldogs provide a sanctuary from the cold, abrasive father who dominates his life- and a crucible for becoming his own man.