Sportsbiografier

"Intelligent Influence In Baseball is a novel concept that goes beyond statistics and anecdotes and has something for everyone, from fans just learning about the game to the most diehard among us."-Mike Lynch, Founder and President of Seamheads.comBaseball is a game played by teams, but it is the individual players, managers, and coaches who eventually become the focal point of our attention. While we as fans each have a favorite team-leading some to callously say that we are rooting for laundry and logos-it is the players who provide the human quality with which we can truly identify. If we didn't know about the players, their strengths and weaknesses and their personality traits and quirks, we would likely lose interest rather quickly in watching the games. When all is said and done, it is the players, and our knowledge of them, that truly drive our interest in the sport, says the foreword. This insightful book delivers on that promise. We say, Play ball!

Six Decades of Shelby performance—from the first Shelby AC Cobra to today’s Mustang Shelby GT500! A bad heart forced Carroll Shelby, one of the top racing drivers of all time, to retire in 1960. But that didn’t stop the lanky Texan from continuing to make history. He launched Shelby American in 1962 with the creation of the brilliant Ford-powered AC Cobra, soon to dominate both U.S. and international sports car racing. Shelby’s winning ways soon led to Ford seeking Shelby’s team of “hot rodders” help to make the Ford GT program a success. It worked. Shelby and Ford soon stunned the motorsports world by winning Le Mans and dominating other venues from 1966 to 1969 with the GT40. Fifty-three years later the legendary first Le Mans win of 1966 would form the basis for the acclaimed filmFord Versus Ferrari. As if the Cobra, Daytona Coupe, and GT40 were not enough, this small team of hot rodders, fabricators, and race mechanics also created the Shelby Mustang GT350 in 1965, and the GT500 two years later. Shelby American was nothing short of lightning in a bottle from 1962-1970.Shelby American 60 Years of High Performance covers all of these early triumphs, following the proceedings from a small shop in Venice, California, to sprawling digs at LAX all the while developing new road cars, running a top race team, and giving privateer racers the cars they needed to win. Get to know Shelby, as well as the innovators who surrounded him, including designer Peter Brock, genius engineer Phil Remington, “Mr. GT350” Chuck Cantwell, and a roster of top drivers that included Ken Miles, Bob Bondurant, Dan Gurney, Bruce McLaren, Denny Hulme, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, and more.   Authors Colin Comer and Rick Kopec, leading Shelby historians, follow the Shelby story through Carroll’s post-Ford relationship with Dodge, including his roles in the giant-killing, pocket-rocket Shelby Charger, GLH (“Goes Like Hell”), and GLH-S cars along with a slew of other Shelby-ized machines including his role in the birth and development of the menacing Dodge Viper.   The story of the late Carroll Shelby and the company he founded is a classic tale of ingenuity, grit, and perseverance. Illustrated throughout with rare period imagery and modern color photography, Shelby American 60 Years of High Performance is the ultimate tribute to Shelby American and the team that made it all happen.  

Brought to you by Penguin. A celebration of the extraordinary life of legendary commentator Murray Walker, with tributes from key figures in Formula 1 and motorsport. Murray Walker was the voice of Formula One, matching the thrill of the track with his equally fast-paced and exhilarating commentary, delivering the euphoria of motor racing to millions. Commentating on his first grand prix for the BBC at Silverstone in 1949, Murray's broadcasting career spanned over fifty years. His natural warmth and infectious enthusiasm won great affection with audiences, whilst his passion and knowledge of motorsport allowed him to hone his instinctive presenting style into a craft. When Murray passed away in March 2021, tributes came flooding in from every corner of the sporting world. This book, compiled by Murray's great friend and colleague Maurice Hamilton, celebrates the extraordinary life of this truly legendary man. With contributions from drivers and industry figures, and many friends from the world of motorsport and beyond, Incredible! combines fond memories, never-before-told stories and famous Murrayisms with reflections on the highlights of a life lived at full throttle. (c) Maurice Hamilton 2021 (P) Penguin Audio 2021

On the darkest day, I didn't recognise myself. So I closed my eyes, and I saw the devil. I asked him - "What should I do, when I'm going through hell?" He said, "Keep going." It is 2019 and life is good for Brendan Lee - he spends ten months a year globetrotting as a travel writer, his afternoons are spent writing stories in coffee shops, his evenings are spent wandering new cities, eating street food and mingling in bars until the morning hours. But overnight, everything changes. With the sudden onset of TSW - a debilitating skin condition - he is on a last-minute flight home. Days are now spent lifeless in his old childhood bedroom - the pain is constant, the nights are sleepless, his face is unrecognisable. Even getting up and down the stairs is a struggle. But the doctor's orders are clear: If you want to heal, no matter how much it hurts, you need to move.Despite hating running with a passion, despite not having worn a pair of running shoes in twenty years, he goes for his first run. He barely survives it. He goes for another. Within weeks he's running every day and soon he realises, his old life - the backpacking, the wandering in exotic cities - it's not coming back. Running is all he has now. And even though he hates it - hates it more every time he laces up his shoes - running is what will eventually help him achieve the impossible, and ultimately save his life.

"As my grandmother told me, remember that it''s not about you when you''re trying to open the door for people. In football, he''s opening the door and paving the road that other people had to walk on gravel. Greg did the gravel work and they''re able to walk on a paved road ."-Nolan Richardson, Hall of Fame and National Champion Coachat the University of Arkansas"Growing up in San Angelo, Texas, the son of Allie Thomas, a Hall of Famer and state champion coach, Greg was influenced greatly by his father. The atmosphere helped to shape Greg into an outstanding athlete, quarterback and leader. Along with his very capable writer, Leland Barclay, Greg has painted a picture of what he experienced through this exciting adventure. Greg points out vividly the good, the bad, the high and lows of his fascinating Arkansas journey."-Jimmie Keeling, former Head Coach Hardin SimmonsTexas High School Hall of Farner, Retired Coach"Greg met every challenge that I was aware that he faced. From my perspective; he addressed the question, the interviews, the doubts and the uncertainties, but to be the first Black starting quarterback at Arkansas was so magnified. What I remember is how Greg handled that process with class and with grace."-Bill Rogers, former University Arkansas Assistant Sports Dir."Ken Hatfield showed up at my office wanting to see some game film on Greg. The coaches were unavailable so I took him to the football office and put on the playoff game with Plainview on the projector. Early in the first quarter the safety hit Greg with a vicious hit under the chin. Greg popped up, pitched the ball to the official, patted the safety on the back and jogged to the huddle. Hatfield said, ''turn it off, he can play for me.'' As I think back, I can''t remember a time Greg failed to get up, on the field or in life."-Skip Casey, Former San Angelo Central High Head Principal