29 Best Sports, Sports & Recreation Books
Sports, Sports & Recreation is a popular category for many book lovers. Our team at Speechify has curated a list of the top Sports, Sports & Recreation audiobooks everyone must read.
See the top 29 Sports, Sports & Recreation audiobooks below.
-
The Baseball 100
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrator: Cary Hite
- Length: 30 hours 48 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
-
4.75(1407 ratings)
4.75(1407 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0039.99 USDNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year “An instant sports classic.” —New York Post * “Stellar.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A true masterwork…880 pagesNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Winner of the CASEY Award for Best Baseball Book of the Year
... Read more
“An instant sports classic.” —New York Post * “Stellar.” —The Wall Street Journal * “A true masterwork…880 pages of sheer baseball bliss.” —BookPage (starred review) * “This is a remarkable achievement.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
A magnum opus from acclaimed baseball writer Joe Posnanski, The Baseball 100 is an audacious, singular, and masterly book that took a lifetime to write. The entire story of baseball rings through a countdown of the 100 greatest players in history, with a foreword by George Will.
Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious, The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
Baseball’s legends come alive in these pages, which are not merely rankings but vibrant profiles of the game’s all-time greats. Posnanski dives into the biographies of iconic Hall of Famers, unfairly forgotten All-Stars, talents of today, and more. He doesn’t rely just on records and statistics–he lovingly retraces players’ origins, illuminates their characters, and places their accomplishments in the context of baseball’s past and present. Just how good a pitcher is Clayton Kershaw in the twenty-first- century game compared to Greg Maddux dueling with the juiced hitters of the nineties? How do the career and influence of Hank Aaron compare to Babe Ruth’s? Which player in the top ten most deserves to be resurrected from history?
No compendium of baseball’s legendary geniuses could be complete without the players of the segregated Negro Leagues, men whose extraordinary careers were largely overlooked by sportswriters at the time and unjustly lost to history. Posnanski writes about the efforts of former Negro Leaguers to restore sidelined Black athletes to their due honor, and draws upon the deep troves of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum and extensive interviews with the likes of Buck O’Neil to illuminate the accomplishments of players such as pitchers Satchel Paige and Smokey Joe Williams; outfielders Oscar Charleston, Monte Irvin, and Cool Papa Bell; first baseman Buck Leonard; shortstop Pop Lloyd; catcher Josh Gibson; and many, many more.
The Baseball 100 treats readers to the whole rich pageant of baseball history in a single volume. Chapter by chapter, Posnanski invites readers to examine common lore with brand-new eyes and learn stories that have long gone unheard. The epic and often emotional reading experience mirrors Posnanski’s personal odyssey to capture the history and glory of baseball like no one else, fueled by his boundless love for the sport.
Engrossing, surprising, and heartfelt, The Baseball 100 is a magisterial tribute to the game of baseball and the stars who have played it. -
Across the River
- By: Kent Babb
- Narrator: Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 11 hours 39 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: August 10, 2021
- Language: English
-
4.48(391 ratings)
4.48(391 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.005.99 USDOn the west bank of the Mississippi lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Short on hope but big on dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. ForOn the west bank of the Mississippi lies the New Orleans neighborhood of Algiers. Short on hope but big on dreams, its mostly poor and marginalized residents find joy on Friday nights when the Cougars of Edna Karr High School take the field. For years, this football program has brought glory to Algiers, winning three consecutive state championships and sending dozens of young men to college on football scholarships.
Although he is preparing for a fourth title, head coach Brice Brown is focused on something else: keeping his players alive. An epidemic of gun violence plagues New Orleans and its surrounding communities and has claimed many innocent lives, including Brown’s former star quarterback, Tollette “Tonka” George, shot near a local gas station.
In Across the River, award-winning sports journalist Kent Babb follows the Karr football team through its 2019 season as Brown and his team–perhaps the scrappiest and most rebellious group in the program’s history–vie to again succeed on and off the field. What is sure to be a classic work of sports journalism, Across the River is a necessary investigation into the serious realities of young athletes in struggling neighborhoods: gentrification, eviction, mental health issues, the drug trade, and gun violence. It offers a rich and unflinching portrait of a coach, his players, and the West Bank, a community where it’s difficult–but not impossible–to rise above the chaos, discover purpose, and find a way out.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
... Read more -
The Greatest Game Ever Played
- By: Mark Frost
- Narrator: Robertson Dean
- Length: 17 hours 7 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2015
- Language: English
-
4.47(2000 ratings)
4.47(2000 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0024.95 USDFrancis Ouimet and Harry Vardon came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the greatest match their sport had ever known. A young Massachusetts native, FrancisFrancis Ouimet and Harry Vardon came from different worlds and different generations, but their passion for golf set them on parallel paths that would collide in the greatest match their sport had ever known. A young Massachusetts native, Francis was only three years removed from his youthful career as a lowly caddie. Harry was twice his age, the greatest British champion in history, and innovator of the modern grip and swing. Through exacting hard work, perseverance, and determination, Harry Vardon had escaped a hopeless life of poverty; the unknown Ouimet dared to dream of following in his hero’s footsteps. When the two men finally came together in their legendary battle at the 1913 US Open, its heart-stopping climax gave rise to the sport of golf as we know it today.
Weaving the stories of Ouimet and Vardon as his narrative, Mark Frost creates a uniquely involving, intimate epic that is equal parts sports biography, sweeping social history, and emotional human drama. The Greatest Game Ever Played is a must-listen for millions of sports and history fans–and all who have ever dared to reach for their dreams.
... Read more -
The Dynasty
- By: Jeff Benedict
- Narrator: Todd Menesses
- Length: 24 hours 59 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2020
- Language: English
-
4.46(1788 ratings)
4.46(1788 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0034.99 USD*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots–the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century. It’s easy to forget that the New*NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER*
... Read more
From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots–the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century.
It’s easy to forget that the New England Patriots were once the laughingstock of the NFL, a nearly bankrupt team that had never won a championship and was on the brink of moving to St. Louis. Everything changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft acquired the franchise and soon brought on board head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Since then, the Patriots have become a juggernaut, making ten trips to the Super Bowl, winning six of them, and emerging as one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world.
How was the Patriots dynasty built? And how did it last for two decades? In The Dynasty, acclaimed journalist Jeff Benedict provides richly reported answers in a sweeping account based on exclusive interviews with more than two hundred insiders–including team executives, coaches, players, players’ wives, team doctors, lawyers, and more–as well as never-before-seen recordings, documents, and electronic communications.
Through his exhaustive research, Benedict uncovers surprising new details about the inner workings of a team notorious for its secrecy. He puts us in the room as Robert Kraft outmaneuvers a legion of lawyers and investors to buy the team. We listen in on the phone call when the greatest trade ever made–Bill Belichick for a first-round draft choice–is negotiated. And we look over the shoulder of forty-year-old Tom Brady as a surgeon operates on his throwing hand on the eve of the AFC Championship Game in 2018.
But the portrait that emerges in The Dynasty is more rewarding than new details alone. By tracing the team’s epic run through the perspectives of Kraft, Belichick, and Brady–each of whom was interviewed for the book–the author provides a wealth of new insight into the complex human beings most responsible for the Patriots’ success.
The result is an intimate portrait that captures the human drama of the dynasty’s three key characters while also revealing the secrets behind their success. “The Dynasty is…[a] masterpiece…It’s a relationship book, it’s a football book, it’s a business book…you’ll just eat up these stories” (Colin Cowherd). -
Miracle in Shreveport
- By: David Benham
- Length: 4 hours 1 minutes
- Publisher: Thomas Nelson
- Publish date: October 23, 2018
- Language: English
-
4.44(49 ratings)
4.44(49 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0018.99 USDTwin brothers David and Jason Benham grew up with big dreams of baseball and an even bigger trust in God. Though they attended a small high school with no baseball field, turned down a professional offer so they could attend college together, andTwin brothers David and Jason Benham grew up with big dreams of baseball and an even bigger trust in God. Though they attended a small high school with no baseball field, turned down a professional offer so they could attend college together, and faced more than one missed pitch and injuries, they kept dreaming, praying together on the field, and believing in God’s provision for their lives.
David and Jason’s journey, from Little League to college to professional baseball and beyond, reminds us that even when we don’t know what God is up to, He’s putting together the pieces of our life’s puzzle and executing the plans He has for each of us.
Miracle in Shreveport tells the story of a family’s love, the power of prayer, and a game that is truly all-American. It is also the story of brotherhood staying strong, despite the threat of comparison in a profession committed to competition. Most of all, it is the story of being faithful in small steps, honoring God in the process, and trusting His hand in our lives. In this audio book, the Benhams call us to remember that when we follow God’s dream for us, we find it is better than we could have ever dreamed for ourselves.
... Read more -
Straight Shooter
- By: Stephen A. Smith
- Narrator: Stephen A. Smith
- Length: 7 hours 55 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2023
- Language: English
-
4.4(81 ratings)
- NYT Best Sellers
4.4(81 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USDNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER America’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this surprisingly personal book, not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood asNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
America’s most popular sports media figure tells it like it is in this surprisingly personal book, not only dishing out his signature, uninhibited opinions but also revealing the challenges he overcame in childhood as well as at ESPN, and who he really is when the cameras are off.
Stephen A. Smith has never been handed anything, nor was he an overnight success. Growing up poor in Queens, the son of Caribbean immigrants and the youngest of six children, he was a sports-obsessed kid who faced a number of struggles, from undiagnosed dyslexia to getting enough cereal to fill his bowl. As a basketball player at Winston-Salem State University, he got a glimmer of his true calling when he wrote a newspaper column arguing for the retirement of his own Hall of Fame coach, Clarence Gaines.
Smith hustled and rose up from a high school reporter at Daily News (New York) to a general sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer in the 1990s, before getting his own show at ESPN in 2005. After he was unceremoniously fired from the network in 2009, he became even more determined to fight for success. He got himself rehired two years later and, with his razor-sharp intelligence and fearless debate style, found his role on the show he was destined to star in: First Take, the network’s flagship morning program.
In Straight Shooter, Smith writes about the greatest highs and deepest lows of his life and career. He gives his thoughts on Skip Bayless, Ray Rice, Colin Kaepernick, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Cowboys, and former President Donald Trump. But he also pulls back the curtain and talks about life beyond the set, sharing authentic stories about his negligent father, his loving mother, being a father himself, his battle with life-threatening COVID-19, and what he really thinks about politics and social issues. He does it all with the same intelligence, humor, and charm that has made him a household name.
Provocative, moving, and eye-opening, this book is the perfect gift for lovers of sports, television, and anyone who likes their stories delivered straight to the heart.
... Read more -
Buzz Saw
- By: Jesse Dougherty
- Narrator: Angelo Di Loreto
- Length: 9 hours 41 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2020
- Language: English
-
4.4(478 ratings)
4.4(478 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDThe remarkable story of the 2019 World Series champion Washington Nationals told by the Washington Post writer who followed the team most closely.By May 2019, the Washington Nationals–owners of baseball’s oldest roster–had one ofThe remarkable story of the 2019 World Series champion Washington Nationals told by the Washington Post writer who followed the team most closely.
... Read more
By May 2019, the Washington Nationals–owners of baseball’s oldest roster–had one of the worst records in the majors and just a 1.5 percent chance of winning the World Series. Yet by blending an old-school brand of baseball with modern analytics, they managed to sneak into the playoffs and put together the most unlikely postseason run in baseball history. Not only did they beat the Houston Astros, the team with the best regular-season record, to claim the franchise’s first championship–they won all four games in Houston, making them the first club to ever win four road games in a World Series.
“You have a great year, and you can run into a buzz saw,” Nationals pitcher Stephen Strasburg told Washington Post beat writer Jesse Dougherty after the team advanced to the World Series. “Maybe this year we’re the buzz saw.” Dougherty followed the Nationals more closely than any other writer in America, and in Buzz Saw he recounts the dramatic year in vivid detail, taking readers inside the dugout, the clubhouse, the front office, and ultimately the championship parade.
Yet he does something more than provide a riveting retelling of the season: he makes the case that while there is indisputable value to Moneyball-style metrics, baseball isn’t just a numbers game. Intangibles like team chemistry, veteran experience, and childlike joy are equally essential to winning. Certainly, no team seemed to have more fun than the Nationals, who adopted the kids’ song “Baby Shark” as their anthem and regularly broke into dugout dance parties. Buzz Saw is just as lively and rollicking–a fitting tribute to one of the most exciting, inspiring teams to ever take the field. -
The Making of a Miracle
- By: Mike Eruzione
- Narrator: George Newbern
- Length: 7 hours 8 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: January 28, 2020
- Language: English
-
4.39(477 ratings)
4.39(477 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.005.99 USDOn the fortieth anniversary of the historic “Miracle on Ice,” Mike Eruzione–the captain of the 1980 U.S Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, who scored the winning goal–recounts his amazing career on ice, the legendary upsetOn the fortieth anniversary of the historic “Miracle on Ice,” Mike Eruzione–the captain of the 1980 U.S Men’s Olympic Hockey Team, who scored the winning goal–recounts his amazing career on ice, the legendary upset against the Soviets, and winning the gold medal.
It is the greatest American underdog sports story ever told: how a team of college kids and unsigned amateurs, under the tutelage of legendary coach–and legendary taskmaster–Herb Brooks, beat the elite Soviet hockey team on their way to winning the gold medal at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. No one believed the scrappy Americans had a real shot at winning. Despite being undefeated, the U.S.–the youngest team in the competition–were facing off against the four-time defending gold medalist Russians. But the Americans’ irrepressible optimism, skill, and fearless attitude helped them outplay the seasoned Soviet team and deliver their iconic win.
As captain, Mike Eruzione led his team on the ice on that Friday, February 22, 1980. But beating the U.S.S.R was only one of the numerous challenges Mike has faced in his life. In this inspiring memoir, he recounts the obstacles he has overcome, from his blue-collar upbringing in Winthrop, Massachusetts, to his battle to make the Boston University squad; his challenges in the minor leagues and international tournaments to his selection to the U.S. team and their run for gold. He also talks about the aftermath of that stupendous win that inspired and united the nation at a time of crisis in its history.
Eruzione has lived a hockey life full of unexpected twists and surprising turns. Al Michaels’ famous call in 1980–“do you believe in miracles? YES!”–could have been about Mike himself. Filled with vivid portraits–from his hard-working, irrepressible father to the irascible Herb Brooks to the Russian hall of famers Tretiak, Kharlamov, Makarov, and Fetisov–this lively, fascinating look back is destined to become a sports classic and is a must for hockey fans, especially those who witnessed that miraculous day.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
... Read more -
Heart and Steel
- By: Bill Cowher
- Narrator: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hours 6 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
-
4.38(324 ratings)
4.38(324 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDA poignant, inspirational story about football, family, and love from Bill Cowher, the Super Bowl-winning, Hall-of-Fame Pittsburgh Steelers coach, and cohost of CBS’s The NFL Today. Long before the Lombardi Trophy, the Golden Hall of FameA poignant, inspirational story about football, family, and love from Bill Cowher, the Super Bowl-winning, Hall-of-Fame Pittsburgh Steelers coach, and cohost of CBS’s The NFL Today.
... Read more
Long before the Lombardi Trophy, the Golden Hall of Fame jacket, and successful TV career, legendary head coach Bill Cowher was simply “Billy from Crafton.
Born and raised just fifteen minutes from old Three Rivers Stadium, it was in Crafton where the foundation of Cowher’s irrepressible work ethic, passion for teaching, and love of football and the Pittsburgh Steelers were built. Now, for the first time, Cowher will shine a light on a life filled with success, achieved through will and resilience in situations which, often times, appeared to be hopeless.
In Heart and Steel, Cowher will take you on his journey from childhood to the undersized, mohawked, disco-dancing North Carolina State linebacker, to fighting for a spot as a “bubble player” with the Browns and Eagles, before injuries ended his playing career. Bill will discuss how that same drive led to his big coaching break, running Special Teams for Marty Schottenheimer and the Cleveland Browns at just twenty-seven-years-old, before taking over the Pittsburgh Steelers just seven years later. Cowher will reveal exclusive, never-before-told anecdotes and candid thoughts on the biggest games, players, and moments that defined his fifteen-year Steelers tenure.
But this is more than a “football story.”
In 2010, Bill lost his beloved wife, Kaye, and father, Laird, within three months of one another. It forced him, yet again, to summon that resiliency to unearth a stronger version of himself–not only so he could march on, but to add a deeper level to the loving, supportive father his three daughters had always known.
Cowher’s learned many lessons in his life; as a father, grandfather, husband, coach, and broadcaster. He will show you how you can continue to grow by embracing transition, personally and professionally, through renewed perspective and social consciousness.
“Billy from Crafton” has come a long way. Through love and conviction, Cowher’s achieved more than he ever could have dreamed of. You can, too, with the same heart and steel. -
Tiger Woods
- By: Jeff Benedict
- Narrator: Roger Casey
- Length: 15 hours 23 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2018
- Language: English
-
4.35(5646 ratings)
4.35(5646 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USD#1 New York Times Bestseller * “A whirlwind of a biography that reads honest and true.” —The Wall Street Journal * “There is beauty and awe in this perfectly pitched biography.” —The New York Times *#1 New York Times Bestseller * “A whirlwind of a biography that reads honest and true.” —The Wall Street Journal * “There is beauty and awe in this perfectly pitched biography.” —The New York Times * “Comprehensive, propulsive…and unsparing.” —The New Yorker
... Read more
Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews with people from every corner of Tiger Woods’s life this is “a searing biography of golf’s most blazing talent” (GOLF Magazine)–who has made one of the most remarkable comebacks of all time.
In 2009, Tiger Woods was the most famous athlete on the planet, a transcendent star of almost unfathomable fame and fortune living what appeared to be the perfect life. But it turned out he had been living a double life for years–one that exploded in the aftermath of a Thanksgiving night crash that exposed his serial infidelity and sent his personal and professional lives over a cliff. In this “searing biography of golf’s most blazing talent” (GOLF magazine), Jeff Benedict and Armen Keteyian dig deep behind the headlines to produce a richly reported answer to the question that has mystified millions of sports fans for nearly a decade: who is Tiger Woods, really?
Drawing on more than four hundred interviews with people from every corner of Woods’s life–many of whom have never spoken about him on the record before–Benedict and Keteyian construct a captivating psychological profile of a mixed race child programmed by an attention-grabbing father and the original Tiger Mom to be the “chosen one,” to change not just the game of golf, but the world as well. But at what cost? Benedict and Keteyian provide the starling answers in this definitive biography that is destined to linger in the minds of readers for years to come.
“Irresistible…Immensely readable…Benedict and Keteyian bring us along for the ride in a whirlwind of a biography that reads honest and true” (The Wall Street Journal). Ultimately, Tiger Woods is “a big American story…exhilarating, depressing, tawdry, and moving in almost equal measure” (The New York Times). -
Muhammad Ali
- By: Thomas Hauser
- Narrator: Joe Barrett
- Length: 7 hours 54 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2016
- Language: English
-
4.34(1218 ratings)
4.34(1218 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.95 USDStripping away the revisionism to reveal the true nature of the man himself, this new book recounts the life journey of a fighter universally recognized as a unique and treasured world icon. Few global personalities have commanded anStripping away the revisionism to reveal the true nature of the man himself, this new book recounts the life journey of a fighter universally recognized as a unique and treasured world icon.
Few global personalities have commanded an all-encompassing sporting and cultural audience like Muhammad Ali. Now, Muhammad Ali: A Tribute to the Greatest allows us to more fully appreciate the truth–and understand both the man and the ways in which he helped recalibrate how the world perceives its transcendent figures.
In this celebratory volume, New York Times bestselling author Thomas Hauser provides a compelling retrospective of Ali’s life. Relying on personal insights, interviews with close associates and other contemporaries, and memories gathered over the course of decades on the cutting edge of boxing journalism, Hauser explores Ali in colorful detail inside and outside the ring.
Muhammad Ali has attained mythical status. But in recent years, he has been subjected to an image makeover by corporate America as it seeks to homogenize the electrifying nature of his persona. Hauser argues that there has been a deliberate distortion of what Ali believed, said, and stood for, and that making Ali more presentable for advertising purposes by sanitizing his legacy is a disservice to history as well as to Ali himself.
... Read more -
Catching the Sky
- By: Colten Moore
- Narrator: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hours 33 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2016
- Language: English
-
4.32(106 ratings)
4.32(106 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDDiscover the true “uplifting, exhilarating, tragic and triumphant” (The Dallas Morning News) story of the Moore brothers’ heartbreaking experience at the Aspen Winter X Games from the man who lived it as he struggled to move onDiscover the true “uplifting, exhilarating, tragic and triumphant” (The Dallas Morning News) story of the Moore brothers’ heartbreaking experience at the Aspen Winter X Games from the man who lived it as he struggled to move on from tragedy, defeat the odds, honor his family, and win gold.
... Read more
Colten and Caleb Moore were two brothers who heeded the call of extreme sports. Their dreams, paired with hard work and family sacrifice, eventually became reality. With their striking athleticism, innovation, and appetite for risk, the Moore brothers became stars on the burgeoning freestyle ATV and snowmobile circuits. If it had wheels or treads, they could flip it–often higher and better than anyone else–joining a band of pioneers intent on breaking new ground and in a new sport before multitudes of fans at the X Games and beyond.
In this vivid, page-turning adventure narrative, Colten Moore offers a profound and deeply moving perspective on his life and that of his older brother, who tragically lost his life while competing in Aspen in 2013. Catching the Sky is a clear-eyed look at extreme sports, what drives people to take wild chances, and how one man, Colten, couldn’t stop even after the worst possible outcome. His story reminds us that we can dream and sometimes achieve the impossible, that we can follow our own path, that we can lose everything, only to find it again–often in the most unlikely place. -
Out of the Pocket
- By: Kirk Herbstreit
- Narrator: Kirk Herbstreit
- Length: 12 hours 21 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
-
4.31(804 ratings)
4.31(804 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USDThis powerfully intimate, plain-spoken memoir about fathers and sons, fortitude, and football from the face and voice of college football–Kirk Herbstreit–is not just “a window into the game, but also a peek into what makes himThis powerfully intimate, plain-spoken memoir about fathers and sons, fortitude, and football from the face and voice of college football–Kirk Herbstreit–is not just “a window into the game, but also a peek into what makes him special: his heart” (David Shaw, head coach, Stanford University).
... Read more
Kirk Herbstreit is a reflection of the sport he loves, a reflection of his football-crazed home state of Ohio, where he was a high school star and Ohio State captain, and a reflection of another Ohio State football captain thirty-two years earlier: his dad Jim, who battled Alzheimer’s disease until his death in 2016.
In Out of the Pocket, Herbstreit does what his father did for him: takes you inside the locker rooms, to the practice fields, to the meeting rooms, to the stadiums. Herbstreit describes how a combination of hard work, perseverance, and a little luck landed him on the set of ESPN’s iconic College GameDay show, surrounded by tens of thousands of fans who treat their Saturdays like a football Mardi Gras.
He takes you into the television production meetings, on to the GameDay set, and into the broadcast booth. You’ll live his life during a football season, see the things he sees, experience every chaotic twist and turn as the year unfolds. Not to mention the relationships he’s established and the insights he’s learned from the likes of coaches and players such as Nick Saban, Tim Tebow, Dabo Swinney, and Peyton Manning, as well as his colleagues, including Chris Fowler, Rece Davis, and his “second dad,” the beloved Coach Lee Corso.
Yes, Kirk Herbstreit is the undeniable face and voice of college football–but he’s also a survivor. He’s the quiet kid who withstood the collapse of his parents’ marriage. The boy who endured too many overbearing stepdads and stepmoms. The painfully shy student who always chose the last desk in the last row of the classroom. The young man who persevered through a frustrating Ohio State playing career. The new college graduate who turned down a lucrative sales job after college to pursue a “no way you’ll make it” dream career in broadcasting.
Inspiring and powerful, Out of the Pocket “proves the importance of perseverance and family” (Peyton Manning). -
Overtime
- By: John U. Bacon
- Narrator: Johnny Heller
- Length: 11 hours 17 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: September 03, 2019
- Language: English
-
4.29(290 ratings)
4.29(290 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0026.99 USDFor the past year, John U. Bacon has received unprecedented access to Jim Harbaugh’s University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes. Overtime captures thisFor the past year, John U. Bacon has received unprecedented access to Jim Harbaugh’s University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes. Overtime captures this storied program at the crossroads, as the sport’s winningest team battles to reclaim its former glory. But what if the price of success today comes at the cost of your soul? Do you pay it, or compete without compromising?
Overtime delivers a riveting and revealing insider’s account of the Harbaugh era, a deeply reported human portrait of a big-time college football program.
In the spirit of HBO’s Hardknocks, Overtime follows the Wolverine coaches, players, and staffers through the 2018 season, including Harbaugh, offensive stars Shea Patterson and Karan Higdon, NFL-ready defensive standouts Rashan Gary, Devin Bush Jr., and Chase Winovich, second-stringers striving to find their place on the team, and their parents’ reactions to it all. Bacon met with them every week during a season that saw the Wolverines ride a ten-game winning streak to #4 in the nation, then take a beating at the hands of arch-rival Ohio State, led by controversial coach Urban Meyer, Harbaugh’s foil. Overtime also previews the crucial 2019 campaign ahead.
Above all, this is a human story. In Overtime we not only discover what these public figures are like behind the scenes, we learn what the experience means to them as they go through it – the trials, the triumphs, and the unexpected answers to a central question: Is it worth it?
From the “poet laureate of Michigan football” (according to New York Times‘s Joe Drape), and one of the keenest observers of college football, Overtime offers a window into a legendary program and the sport itself that only John U. Bacon could deliver.
... Read more -
The Secret of Golf
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrator: George Newbern
- Length: 5 hours 43 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2015
- Language: English
-
4.28(347 ratings)
4.28(347 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDFrom “one of the best sportswriters in America” (The Washington Times)–the New York Times bestselling story of the friendship and rivalry between golf legends Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, whose sparring matches defined the sportFrom “one of the best sportswriters in America” (The Washington Times)–the New York Times bestselling story of the friendship and rivalry between golf legends Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus, whose sparring matches defined the sport for more than a decade.
... Read more
The first time they met, at an exhibition match in 1967, Tom Watson was a seventeen-year-old high school student and Jack Nicklaus, at twenty-seven, was already the greatest golfer in the world. Though they shared some similarities–they were both Midwestern boys who had learned how to play golf at their fathers’ country clubs–they differed in many ways. Nicklaus played a game of consummate control and precision. Watson hit the ball all over the place. Nicklaus lacked charm and theatrics, and he was thoroughly despised by most golf fans because he had displaced Arnold Palmer as king of the golf world. Watson was one of those Arnold Palmer fans. Yet over the next twenty years their seemingly divergent paths collided as they battled against each other again and again for a place at the top of the sport and drove each other to ever-soaring heights of accomplishment.
Spanning from that first match through the “Duel in the Sun” at Turnberry in 1977 to Watson’s miraculous near-victory at Turnberry as he approached sixty, and informed by interviews with both players over many years, The Secret of Golf is Joe Posnanski’s intimate account of the most remarkable rivalry and (eventual) friendship in modern golf. -
Belief
- By: Marlion Pickett
- Narrator: Meyne Wyatt
- Length: 6 hours 15 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia
- Publish date: January 01, 2020
- Language: English
-
4.26(73 ratings)
4.26(73 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0023.99 USDFrom prison to premiership glory; this is Marlion Pickett’s extraordinary story. It’s the third quarter in the biggest game of the season. A young man lines up for goal. The 100,000 strong crowd leaps to its feet and roars as MarlionFrom prison to premiership glory; this is Marlion Pickett’s extraordinary story.
... Read more
It’s the third quarter in the biggest game of the season. A young man lines up for goal. The 100,000 strong crowd leaps to its feet and roars as Marlion Pickett sends the ball soaring through the goalposts for his first ever major, celebrated by every teammate, a tradition upheld even on Grand Final day.
It was the 2019 AFL Grand Final, and Richmond’s Marlion Pickett was making history as the first player in over 50 years to debut on that ‘one day in September’.
Marlion helped the Tigers thrash the Greater Western Sydney Giants in their debut grand final appearance and was judged third best on ground, only six days after steering Richmond’s VFL team with his best on ground performance to their nail biting Grand Final victory.
Marlion Pickett’s extraordinary story of redemption is a true fairy tale. The tale of a man who came back from the brink to triumph on Australian sport’s biggest stage, a long-held dream come true.
What’s even more remarkable about Marlion’s journey is how this young, troubled Aboriginal kid from Western Australia ever got his chance in the first place. A story all too sadly familiar – about drugs, crime, violence and time spent in jail – but also about a life picked up piece by piece through his own belief in himself and those around him who believed in him too.
Belief also takes us inside the South Fremantle and Richmond Football clubs – clubs that have made stars and cult heroes out of other Indigenous players; clubs willing to overlook a talented kid’s troubled past to give him a chance. We meet the fellow players and support network who stood by Marlion’s side as he fought back against injury and the doubters and proudly ran onto the field at the MCG.
Marlion’s resilience and strength is inspirational. His is an unforgettable Australian story of triumph over adversity.
Foreword by Brendan Gale, CEO Richmond Football Club and Damien Hardwick, Senior Coach Richmond Football Club
‘[Belief reads] like a Steinbeck novel cum Tarantino film due to the vividly unfolding drama on almost every page.’ Dr Sean Gorman, AFL.com.au
‘The story of Marlion Pickett is one of tumult and pain and uplift – yet also endurance, and stoicism. And that makes Belief not merely inspiring but instructive, too. With colour and heart, Dave Warner expertly sketches his softly spoken subject, and tells one of those rare athletic tales from which we can all learn, and through which footy – sport in general, for that matter – can transcend itself.’ Konrad Marshall
”Inspirational’ is an over-used word, but it should be kept in reserve for a story like Marlion Pickett’s. Here is someone who didn’t rise above disadvantage so much as discover his true self and remain true to it through trials and obstacles that are foreign to most Australians. Reading Marlion’s story, it is comforting to know that there is a happy football ending – the 2019 grand final which concludes the book, then more premiership glory and an authentic career as an AFL star. But even without that knowledge, Marlion has set an example for anyone who loses hope in a better future. Yes – inspirational.’ Malcolm Knox -
Messi vs. Ronaldo
- By: Jonathan Clegg
- Narrator: Charles Constant
- Length: 10 hours 29 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: November 01, 2022
- Language: English
-
4.25(143 ratings)
4.25(143 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0027.99 USDWall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg offer a deeply reported account of the intertwined sagas and legacies of two of the greatest soccer players of all time–Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo–examining howWall Street Journal reporters Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg offer a deeply reported account of the intertwined sagas and legacies of two of the greatest soccer players of all time–Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo–examining how their rivalry has grown from a personal competition to a multi-billion-dollar industry, paralleling the stunning rise, overwhelming excesses, and uncertain future of modern international soccer.
For over fifteen years, almost any conversation about international soccer has always come back to two players–Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo–undoubtedly the greatest of their generation but with styles, attitudes, and fanbases that couldn’t be more different. For millions of people around the world “Messi or Ronaldo?” isn’t simply a barroom argument, or an affirmation of fandom, so much as a statement of philosophy, of values, of what global soccer is today and of what it will be tomorrow.
Now Wall Street Journal reporters and co-authors of The Club, Joshua Robinson and Jonathan Clegg, unite the stories of Messi and Ronaldo into a single modern epic of global sports, detailing how one rivalry changed both the game and the business of international soccer–forever. Based on dozens of firsthand accounts and years of original reporting, Messi vs. Ronaldo weaves together the stakes, color, and characters at the heart of each man’s story, going inside the locker rooms and boardrooms where their legends were forged and revealing off-field drama as gripping as anything that happened on it. From their contrasting origin stories to their divergent career arcs and their conflicting reputations, these players have built their successes on opposite paths, yet each, in his own way, offers a riveting tale of triumph and excess. Taken together, their story embodies the astronomical growth of international soccer, how social media has revolutionized the power of sports celebrity, and how the desire to capitalize on the billions of dollars these players represent electrified some of the most storied clubs in Europe–Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Manchester United among them–and cost them almost everything.
With the 2022 World Cup almost certain to be the last for both of these figures, Messi vs. Ronaldo offers a deeply researched look at their legacy and grapples with the impact that their talents have had on the game for better and for worse. Much more than a retelling of the dual accomplishments of these great players, this is truly a biography of a rivalry, one that has become a crucial lens for understanding the past, present, and future of global soccer.
Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.
... Read more -
Wish It Lasted Forever
- By: Dan Shaughnessy
- Narrator: Dan Shaughnessy
- Length: 6 hours 51 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2021
- Language: English
-
4.24(488 ratings)
4.24(488 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDFrom award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend LarryFrom award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird.
... Read more
Today the NBA is a vast global franchise–a billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn’t always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deals like Air Jordans, and $40 million annual player salaries, there was the NBA of the 1970s and 1980s–when basketball was still an up-and-coming sport featuring old school beat reporters and players who wore Converse All-Stars.
Enter Dan Shaughnessy, then the beat reporter for The Boston Globe who covered the Boston Celtics every day from 1982 to 1986. It was a time when reporters travelled with professional teams–flying the same commercial airlines, riding the same buses, and staying in the same hotels. Shaughnessy knew the athletes as real people, losing free throw bets to Larry Bird, being gifted cheap cigars by the iconic coach Red Auerbach, and having his one-year-old daughter Sarah passed from player to player on a flight from Logan to Detroit Metro.
Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they dominated the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All-Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric “Cornbread” Maxwell, and M.L. Carr.
For any fan who longs to return–for just a few hours–to those magical years when the Boston Garden rocked and the winner’s circle was mostly colored Boston Green, Wish It Lasted Forever is a masterful tribute to “the Celtics from 1982-1986 [that] is so good even fervent Celtics haters will have trouble putting it down” (New York Post). -
At Home with Muhammad Ali
- By: Hana Ali
- Narrator: Kim Staunton
- Length: 15 hours 9 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: May 07, 2019
- Language: English
-
4.24(71 ratings)
4.24(71 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0029.99 USDMuhammad Ali’s daughter captures the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, Olympic Gold medalist, activist, and philanthropist as never before in this candid and intimate family memoir, based on personal recordings he kept throughout hisMuhammad Ali’s daughter captures the legendary heavyweight boxing champion, Olympic Gold medalist, activist, and philanthropist as never before in this candid and intimate family memoir, based on personal recordings he kept throughout his adult life.
Athlete. Activist. Champion. Ambassador. Icon. Father. The greatest, Muhammad Ali, is all of these things. In this candid family memoir, Hana Ali illuminates this momentous figure as only a daughter can. As Ali approached the end of his astonishing boxing career, he embraced a new purpose and role, turning his focus to his family and friends. In that role, he took center stage as an ambassador for peace and friendship.
Dedicated to preserving his family’s unique history, Ali began recording a series of audio diaries in the 1970s, which his daughter later inherited. Through these private tapes, as well as personal journals, love letters, cherished memories, and many never-before-seen photographs, she reveals a complex man devoted to keeping all nine of his children united, and to helping others. Hana gives us a privileged glimpse inside the Ali home, sharing the everyday adventures her family experienced–all so “normal,” with visitors such as Clint Eastwood and John Travolta dropping by. She shares the joy and laughter, the hardship and pain, and, most importantly, the dedication and love that has bonded them.
“It’s been said that my father is one of the most written-about people in the world,” Hana writes. “As the chronicles continue to grow, the deepest and most essential essence of his spirit is still largely unknown.” A moving and poignant love letter from a daughter to a father, At Home with Muhammad Ali is the untold story of Ali’s family legacy–a gift both eternal and priceless.
... Read more -
Luckiest Man
- By: Jonathan Eig
- Narrator: Edward Herrmann
- Length: 5 hours 47 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2005
- Language: English
-
4.23(4788 ratings)
4.23(4788 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0015.95 USDThe definitive account of the life and tragic death of baseball legend Lou Gehrig.Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend—the Iron Horse, the stoic New York Yankee who was the greatest first baseman in history, a man whose consecutive-games streakThe definitive account of the life and tragic death of baseball legend Lou Gehrig.
... Read more
Lou Gehrig was a baseball legend—the Iron Horse, the stoic New York Yankee who was the greatest first baseman in history, a man whose consecutive-games streak was ended by a horrible disease that now bears his name. But as this definitive new biography makes clear, Gehrig’s life was more complicated—and, perhaps, even more heroic—than anyone really knew.
Drawing on new interviews and more than two hundred pages of previously unpublished letters to and from Gehrig, Luckiest Man gives us an intimate portrait of the man who became an American hero: his life as a shy and awkward youth growing up in New York City, his unlikely friendship with Babe Ruth (a friendship that allegedly ended over rumors that Ruth had had an affair with Gehrig’s wife), and his stellar career with the Yankees, where his consecutive-games streak stood for more than half a century. What was not previously known, however, is that symptoms of Gehrig’s affliction began appearing in 1938, earlier than is commonly acknowledged. Later, aware that he was dying, Gehrig exhibited a perseverance that was truly inspiring; he lived the last two years of his short life with the same grace and dignity with which he gave his now-famous “luckiest man” speech.
Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Jonathan Eig’s Luckiest Man shows us one of the greatest baseball players of all time as we’ve never seen him before. -
Zero Regrets
- By: Apolo Ohno
- Narrator: Apolo Ohno
- Length: 8 hours 31 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2010
- Language: English
-
4.21(527 ratings)
4.21(527 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.95 USDGold medal-winning Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno shares the inspiring personal story behind his enduring success as an elite athlete and reveals the universal life lessons he has learned through his training and competition.“Zero regrets.Gold medal-winning Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno shares the inspiring personal story behind his enduring success as an elite athlete and reveals the universal life lessons he has learned through his training and competition.
... Read more
“Zero regrets. It’s a philosophy not just about sport but about life. School, business, academics, love–anything and everything. It’s complicated and yet not. You have to figure out who it is you want to be. Not what you want to be–who. There has to be a vision, a dream, a plan. Then you chase that with everything you’ve got.”
Over three consecutive Olympic games, Apolo Ohno has come to symbolize the very best of the competitive spirit–remaining equally gracious in victory and defeat, always striving to improve his performance, and appreciating the value of the hard work of training as much as any reward it might bring. In Zero Regrets, Apolo shares the inspiring personal story behind his remarkable success, as well as the hard-won truths and strategies he has discovered in good times and bad.
Raised by his single father, an immigrant from Japan who often worked twelve-hour days, the young Apolo found it difficult to balance his enormous natural gifts as an athlete with an admittedly wild, rebellious streak. After making a name for himself as a promising young speed skater, his career was almost over before it began when his lack of preparation caused him to finish last at the U.S. Olympic trials in 1998. A life-changing week of solitary soul-searching at the age of fifteen led him to recommit himself to his training, and at the 1999 world junior championships he won first place overall–one of the most remarkable turnarounds in sports history. From that moment on, the world of speed skating had a new champion and Apolo was on his way to legendary status.
Much more than an account of races won and lost, Zero Regrets is a compelling portrait of a father-and-son relationship that deepened over time and was based on respect, love, and unshakable faith in each other. For the first time, Apolo reveals what he knows about his long-absent mother; he makes us feel what it is like to face the best competitors on the planet with the eyes of millions of fans upon you; and he shares his secrets for achieving total focus and mental toughness, secrets that can be applied in situations well beyond sports. We learn the details of the unbelievably intense workout and diet that he endured while training for the 2010 Winter Olympics, a regime that literally reshaped his body and led to some of his most thrilling victories.
In this deeply personal and entertaining book, Apolo shows how we can all come closer to living with zero regrets. While Apolo’s own journey may be unique, the insights he has gleaned along the way have the power to help us all feel like champions every day. -
When Pride Still Mattered
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrator: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 28 hours 7 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2011
- Language: English
-
4.21(7909 ratings)
4.21(7909 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0049.95 USDIn this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the AmericanIn this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.
... Read more
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. -
When Pride Still Mattered
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrator: David Maraniss
- Length: 6 hours 10 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 1999
- Language: English
-
4.21(7909 ratings)
4.21(7909 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.95 USDIn this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the AmericanIn this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.
... Read more
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. -
Tom Seaver
- By: Bill Madden
- Narrator: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hours 15 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2020
- Language: English
-
4.21(271 ratings)
4.21(271 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0019.99 USDAn authoritative, “must-read” (Keith Hernandez) biography of Hall of Fame pitching legend Tom Seaver, still the greatest player ever to wear a Mets jersey, by a journalist who knew him well.He was called Tom Terrific for a reason. TomAn authoritative, “must-read” (Keith Hernandez) biography of Hall of Fame pitching legend Tom Seaver, still the greatest player ever to wear a Mets jersey, by a journalist who knew him well.
... Read more
He was called Tom Terrific for a reason. Tom Seaver is “among the greatest pitchers of all time” (Bob Costas). He is one of only two pitchers with 300 wins, 3,000 strikeouts, and an ERA under 3.00. He was a three-time Cy Young award winner, twelve-time All Star, and was elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame with the highest percentage ever at the time. Popular among players and fans, Seaver was fiercely competitive but always put team success ahead of personal glory.
Born in Fresno, California, Seaver signed with the New York Mets in 1967, leading them to their stunning 1969 World Series victory. After a legendarily lopsided trade, he joined the Cincinnati Reds, then later played for the White Sox and the Red Sox before ending his career following the 1986 season. After his playing days, Seaver retired back to California to establish a successful vineyard. The in 2013, a recurrence of Lyme disease severely affected his memory, which Madden was the first to report. In 2019, Seaver’s family announced that he had been diagnosed with dementia and was withdrawing from public life. Tom Seaver died on August 31, 2021.
Madden began following Seaver’s career in the 1980s. Seaver came to trust Madden so completely that, eager to return to New York from Chicago, he asked Madden to explore a possible trade to the Yankees which never materialized. Drawing in part on their long relationship, Madden “has crafted a biography as terrific as the subject” (Jane Leavy, New York Times bestselling author of Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy). -
Arnie
- By: Tom Callahan
- Narrator: Danny Campbell
- Length: 8 hours 39 minutes
- Publisher: HarperAudio
- Publish date: April 04, 2017
- Language: English
-
4.19(227 ratings)
4.19(227 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0024.99 USDAt last, a major biography of one of golf’s greatest legends. Arnold Palmer changed golf–and sports–forever. The winner of more than 90 tournaments, including four Masters, the numbers on his resume don’t do justice to theAt last, a major biography of one of golf’s greatest legends.
Arnold Palmer changed golf–and sports–forever. The winner of more than 90 tournaments, including four Masters, the numbers on his resume don’t do justice to the greatness of his achievements. Because Palmer wasn’t just a golfer in the golden age of the sport, knocking heads with other greats like Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player–he also was one of the first sportsmen to understand the marketing possibilities of his, and all, sports. Forging an alliance with sports agent Mark McCormick, Palmer parlayed his brilliance on the course into deals and paydays previously unheard of, and paved the way for the multi-million dollar deals that are standard across all sports.
But no one ever ended up hating Palmer for being a businessman as much as a golfer–instead, he was beloved for his powerful hitting, his nerve on the greens, and his great relationships with fans, whose nickname for him (“the King”) was heartfelt.
When Palmer died, in 2016, it was front-page news across the country. Tom Callahan knew Palmer well for many years, and has assembled, here, a trove of anecdotes and great stories from all the key people in Palmer’s life. Put together, the stories tell an extraordinary sports and human story, the definitive oral biography of one of the greatest golfers ever to play the game.
... Read more -
Walter Johnson
- By: Henry W. Thomas
- Narrator: Ian Esmo
- Length: 17 hours 20 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2007
- Language: English
-
4.17(224 ratings)
4.17(224 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0027.95 USDTo many, Walter Johnson is the greatest pitcher of all time. He was a star second to none throughout the golden age of sports, which spanned the era of such greats as Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Lou Gehrig, and Al Simmons. But it wasn’tTo many, Walter Johnson is the greatest pitcher of all time. He was a star second to none throughout the golden age of sports, which spanned the era of such greats as Cy Young, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Lou Gehrig, and Al Simmons. But it wasn’t Walter Johnson’s blazing fastball alone that placed him on a pedestal. It was Johnson, above all others, who came to personify “gentlemanly conduct in the heat of battle,” as Shirley Povich put it. One of a small number of stars tempering the game’s roughneck reputation in the early years of the century, he was still around to help shepherd it through its darkest hour of the Black Sox scandal. His presence as a role model in the big leagues consoled parents all over the country. Throughout a career as dazzling as any in sports history, Johnson remained unspoiled. This is the grand story of one of the good guys.
... Read more -
The League
- By: John Eisenberg
- Length: 11 hours 50 minutes
- Publisher: Hachette Audio
- Publish date: October 09, 2018
- Language: English
-
4.17(510 ratings)
4.17(510 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0025.98 USDThe epic tale of the five owners who shepherded the NFL through its tumultuous early decades and built the most popular sport in America The National Football League is a towering, distinctly American colossus spewing out $14 billion in annualThe epic tale of the five owners who shepherded the NFL through its tumultuous early decades and built the most popular sport in AmericaThe National Football League is a towering, distinctly American colossus spewing out $14 billion in annual revenue. But it was not always a success. In The League, John Eisenberg focuses on the pioneering sportsmen who kept the league alive in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, when its challenges were many and its survival was not guaranteed. At the time, college football, baseball, boxing, and horseracing dominated America’s sports scene. Art Rooney, George Halas, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Bert Bell believed in pro football when few others did and ultimately succeeded only because at critical junctures each sacrificed the short-term success of his team for the longer-term good of the league.At once a history of a sport and a remarkable story of business ingenuity, The League is an essential read for any fan of our true national pastime.
-
Most Likely to Succeed
- By: Tony Wagner
- Narrator: Holter Graham
- Length: 9 hours 57 minutes
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
- Publish date: January 01, 2015
- Language: English
-
4.17(983 ratings)
4.17(983 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0017.99 USDThe basis for a major documentary, two leading experts sound an urgent call for the radical reimagining of American education so we can equip students for the realities of the twenty-first-century economy. “If you read one book about educationThe basis for a major documentary, two leading experts sound an urgent call for the radical reimagining of American education so we can equip students for the realities of the twenty-first-century economy. “If you read one book about education this decade, make it this one” (Adam Braun, bestselling author and founder of Pencils of Promise).
... Read more
Today more than ever, we prize academic achievement, pressuring our children to get into the “right” colleges, have the highest GPAs, and pursue advanced degrees. But while students may graduate with credentials, by and large they lack the competencies needed to be thoughtful, engaged citizens and to get good jobs in our rapidly evolving economy. Our school system was engineered a century ago to produce a workforce for a world that no longer exists. Alarmingly, our methods of schooling crush the creativity and initiative young people really need to thrive in the twenty-first century.
Now bestselling author and education expert Tony Wagner and venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith call for a complete overhaul of the function and focus of American schools, sharing insights and stories from the front lines, including profiles of successful students, teachers, parents, and business leaders. Their powerful, urgent message identifies the growing gap between credentials and competence–and offers a framework for change.
Most Likely to Succeed presents a new vision of American education, one that puts wonder, creativity, and initiative at the very heart of the learning process and prepares students for today’s economy. “In this excellent book…Wagner and Dintersmith argue…that success and happiness will depend increasingly on having the ability to innovate” (Chicago Tribune), and this crucial guide offers policymakers and opinion leaders a roadmap for getting the best for our future entrepreneurs. -
Strong Boy
- By: Christopher Klein
- Narrator: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hours 54 minutes
- Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
- Publish date: January 01, 2015
- Language: English
-
4.16(106 ratings)
4.16(106 ratings)Regular Price:Try for $0.0022.95 USD“I can lick any son-of-a-bitch in the world.” So boasted John L. Sullivan, the first modern heavyweight boxing champion of the world, a man who was the gold standard of American sports for more than a decade and the first athlete to earn“I can lick any son-of-a-bitch in the world.”
So boasted John L. Sullivan, the first modern heavyweight boxing champion of the world, a man who was the gold standard of American sports for more than a decade and the first athlete to earn more than a million dollars. He had a big ego, a big mouth, and even bigger appetites. His womanizing, drunken escapades, and chronic police-blotter presence were godsends to a burgeoning newspaper industry. The larger-than-life boxer embodied the American dream for late nineteenth-century immigrants as he rose from Boston’s Irish working class to become the most recognizable man in the nation. In the process, the “Boston Strong Boy” transformed boxing from outlawed bare-knuckle fighting into the gloved spectacle we know today.
Strong Boy tells the story of America’s first sports superstar, a self-made man who personified the power and excesses of the Gilded Age. Everywhere John L. Sullivan went, his fists backed up his bravado. Sullivan’s epic brawls, such as his seventy-five-round bout against Jake Kilrain, and his cross-country barnstorming tour in which he literally challenged all of America to a fight are recounted in vivid detail, as are his battles outside the ring with a troubled marriage, wild weight and fitness fluctuations, and raging alcoholism. Strong Boy gives readers ringside seats to the colorful tale of one of the country’s first Irish American heroes and the birth of the American sports media and the country’s celebrity obsession with athletes.
... Read more
Cliff Weitzman
Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.
Recent Blogs
-
July 06, 2023
Which books are available on Spotify?
-
July 06, 2023
Are audiobooks free on Spotify with membership?
-
June 25, 2023
Top Destinations for Free eBooks and Audiobooks Online
-
June 25, 2023
Best Alternative to Barnes & Noble Online
-
June 25, 2023
The Best Places to Buy eBooks: Beyond the Kindle Ecosystem
-
June 25, 2023
What are the best places to find free ebooks?
-
June 25, 2023
Best Independent Companies to Buy eBooks from
-
April 19, 2023
How many Game of Thrones books are there?
-
April 19, 2023
Where to buy cheap books: A comprehensive guide
-
April 19, 2023
How many Jack Reacher books are there?
-
April 19, 2023
How many FNAF books are there?
-
April 19, 2023
How many Warrior Cats books are there?
-
April 19, 2023
How many Wheel of Time books are there?
-
April 19, 2023
The best Vampire Survivors powerups in order
-
April 19, 2023
How to read the Robert Galbraith books in order
-
April 19, 2023
How to read the Artemis Fowl books in order
-
April 19, 2023
How to read Craig Johnson’s books in order
-
April 19, 2023
How to read Cassandra Clare’s books in order
-
April 19, 2023
How to read Lee Child’s books in order
-
April 18, 2023
How to read the In Death book series in order
-
April 18, 2023
Best book quotes
-
April 18, 2023
A tale of two cities reviewed
-
April 18, 2023
All the President’s Men reviewed
-
April 18, 2023
Tintin reviewed
-
April 18, 2023
What are adult coloring books?
-
April 18, 2023
How to read the Percy Jackson books in order
-
April 11, 2023
How to find charities for the blind
-
April 11, 2023
What is the best Bible app
-
April 11, 2023
Where to find free audio Bible downloads
-
April 11, 2023
What is the best free Bible app
More in this series
- 11 Best Occultism, Body, Mind & Spirit Books
- 17 Best Executive Branch, Biography & Autobiography Books
- 29 Best Inspirational, Biography & Autobiography Books
- 29 Best Radio Books
- 27 Best Space Science Books
- 20 Best Customer Relations, Business & Economics Books
- 29 Best Personal Growth Books
- 17 Best Law & Crime Books
- 29 Best Ancient & Classical Books
- 29 Best Marriage Books
- 19 Best Shakespeare Books
- 18 Best Entertaining Books
- 29 Best Literary, Biography & Autobiography Books
- 29 Best Values & Virtues Books
- 16 Best Interpersonal Relations, SELF-HELP Books
- 13 Best Cleaning & Caretaking Books
- 29 Best Historical, Juvenile Nonfiction Books
- 11 Best Fatherhood, Family & Relationships Books
- 10 Best Mexico Books
- 20 Best Depression Books
- 29 Best Amish & Mennonite Books
- 10 Best Essays & Narratives, Biography & Autobiography Books
- 29 Best American Books
- 10 Best Immune System, Health & Fitness Books
- 17 Best Asian Books
- 22 Best Consumer Behavior, Business & Economics Books
- 29 Best Survival Stories, Juvenile Fiction Books
- 29 Best Medieval Books
- 12 Best Philosophers Books
- 29 Best Bible Study Guides, Religion Books