Sportsbiografier

Paul Weller was a one-club player. He moved from sunny Brighton aged just 16 to dreary Burnley, with its grey skies, run-down terraced streets and mill chimneys, where riots were among the first things he saw. A more timid person might have caught the first train home. But he went on to play 252 games for the Clarets between 1993 and 2005. He would have played many more but for suffering the debilitating effects of colitis. It took a huge chunk out of his career, forcing him out of the first team. Other players might have capitulated, but he faced the problem head on, battled it and beat it and got back into the first team, with a promotion to the Championship. Remarkably, he was 'player of the season' the very next year. This is a real-life story of how to overcome obstacles and fight illness using courage, grit and determination. But it is also a story of the bullying, pitfalls and perils that await any aspiring footballer, the impact of managers and the inhuman cruelty with which players can be so casually released.

I really do believe I would be way up at the top of everything if I hadn't been injured. When I was healthy, I really believe I was the best of anyone I ever saw play.Mickey Mantle, reflecting on his careerMickey Mantle is one of baseball's all-time greats. Playing for the New York Yankees for his entire professional career, Mantle was named to the All-Star team for 11 consecutive seasons, won three MVP awards, and was a seven-time World Series champion. He quickly became an icon who achieved hero status even while playing through injuries for most of his career.In Mantle: The Best There Ever Was, Tony Castro makes the impassioned argument that Mickey Mantle truly was the greatest ballplayer of all time. Acclaimed by the New York Times as the definitive biographer of baseball's fabled number 7, Castro shares many of his personal conversations with Mantle, demystifying the legend and revealing intimate, never-before-published details from Mantle's personal life. In addition, Castro offers illuminating new insights into Mantle's extraordinary career, including the head-turning conclusion based on the evolution of analytics that the beloved Yankee switch-hitting slugger may ultimately win acclaim as having fulfilled the weighty expectation once placed on him: being even greater than Babe Ruth. Drawing from hundreds of interviews with ex-teammates, friends, and family, Castro masterfully blends Mantle's public and private selves to present a fully rounded portrait of this complex, misunderstood national hero.

Legendary first baseman Keith Hernandez tells all in this gripping literary memoir and New York Times bestseller. Keith Hernandez revolutionized the role of first baseman. During his illustrious career with the World Series-winning St. Louis Cardinals and New York Mets, he was a perennial fan favorite, earning eleven consecutive Gold Gloves, a National League co-MVP Award, and a batting title. But it was his unique blend of intelligence, humor, and talent -- not to mention his unflappable leadership, playful antics, and competitive temperament -- that transcended the sport and propelled him to a level of renown that few other athletes have achieved, including his memorable appearances on the television show Seinfeld. Now, with a striking mix of candor and self-reflection, Hernandez takes us along on his journey to baseball immortality. There are the hellacious bus rides and south-of-the-border escapades of his minor league years. His major league benchings, unending plate adjustments, and role in one of the most exciting batting races in history against Pete Rose. Indeed, from the Little League fields of Northern California to the dusty proving grounds of triple-A ball to the grand stages of Busch Stadium and beyond, I'm Keith Hernandez reveals as much about America's favorite pastime as it does about the man himself. What emerges is an honest and compelling assessment of the game's past, present, and future: a memoir that showcases one of baseball's most unique and experienced minds at his very best.

A new, fully illustrated gift book commemorating the unparalleled rise, fall, and comeback of golf''s greatest champion Tiger Woods turned pro at age 20 in 1996, rapidly ascending to become the No. 1 ranked player in the world at age 21 and the youngest player ever to achieve the career Grand Slam. Woods'' second decade on the tour was one of reinvention, marked by injuries and personal struggles before a comeback that culminated in Woods first major win in 11 years at the 2019 Masters. In celebration of Woods'' first quarter century on the professional circuit, those moments and memories are collected in Tiger Woods: 25 Years on the PGA Tour. Capturing the magic of Woods'' career as only Sports Illustrated can, this new volume includes more than 100 full-color photographs, some of which have become nearly as iconic as the man himself-from Woods'' earliest days on the golf course with his father Earl to his play alongside son Charlie in 2020. This commemorative book also features Sports Illustrated ''s best written coverage of Woods'' career, including pieces by Gary Smith, Frank Deford, Steve Rushin, Alan Shipnuck, and more.

A profound remembrance of a life of greatness cut short In 20 seasons in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform, Kobe Bryant ascended from teenaged rookie to 18-time all-star and five-time NBA champion. The superstar known as The Black Mamba left his mark on basketball and popular culture as a fierce competitor who inspired those around him and never settled for less than the best. These moments and memories are collected in Kobe Bryant: A Tribute to the Basketball Legend , a fully illustrated commemorative book celebrating Bryant''s life and career. Featuring more than 100 photographs and written coverage from the pages of Sports Illustrated , this new volume provides readers a complete portrait of the international basketball superstar who transcended his sport to become a cultural icon. Relive every moment including the 1997 NBA Slam Dunk Contest in 1997, consecutive NBA Finals MVP awards in 2009 and 2010, the unforgettable 60-point farewell game, and the poignant tributes that followed Bryant''s shocking death alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others in a 2020 helicopter crash. This commemorative book features Sports Illustrated ''s best written coverage of Kobe Bryant, including pieces by Phil Taylor, Jack McCallum, Lee Jenkins, and more.

'That's nothing. Pressure is having a Messerschmitt up your arse.' Keith Miller, when asked if he felt under pressure while captaining the NSW cricket team. Numerous heroes of Australian cricket have also proved themselves on the battlefield, from Gallipoli to Vietnam and beyond. Among them are some of Australia's most illustrious cricketing names: Donald Bradman, Keith Miller, Keith Carmody, Jack Fingleton and, in more recent years, Doug Walters. In this sport/history page-turner, veteran sports journalist Greg Growden tells their extraordinary stories of bravery, hardship, courage and human endeavour.

The cricketing life of a very-nearly-ran. Tom Hicks went from village green to first-class captain, rubbing shoulders with cricketing royalty while experiencing highs, lows and hilarity. If you've ever wondered what it's like to face 90mph bowling, to have lunch with Mike Gatting or to infiltrate an England post-match party, Hicks is your man.

Everest the Cruel Way is Tasker's story of an attempt to climb the highest mountain on earth, without supplemental oxygen, and in winter. Tasker's epic account vividly describes experiences that no climber had previously encountered or endured.

Geoff Thomas's heroic battle to overcome leukaemia, and then take on the toughest sporting challenge: to ride the Tour de FranceWhen Geoff Thomas struggled to play a friendly game of tennis while on holiday in Mallorca in May 2003, he thought little of it. Recently retired as a footballer, he believed it was a sign of ageing and perhaps a pulled muscle. But when the pain wouldn't go away, his wife Julie persuaded him to go to a doctor. He was diagnosed as having leukaemia.RIDING THROUGH THE STORM focuses on his journey round the Tour de France in the summer of 2005, riding the 2,240-mile course in the 21 days it takes Lance Armstrong and all the top cyclists, despite never having cycled much before. Despite the odds against him achieving it, he rode the course and raised nearly 200,000 for charity. As he rides, he looks back on his successful career as a footballer, and the bone-marrow transplant that saved his life. This is a powerful, moving and inspirational story of extraordinary achievement.

Mountain tops have long been seen as sacred places, home to gods and dreams. In one climbing year Peter Boardman visited three very different sacred mountains. He began in the New Year, on the South Face of the Carstensz Pyramid in New Guinea. This shark's fin of steep limestone walls and sweeping glaciers is the highest point between the Andes and the Himalaya, and one of the most inaccessible, rising above thick jungle inhabited by warring Stone Age tribes. During the spring Boardman was on more familiar, if hardly more reassuring, ground, making a four-man, oxygen-free attempt on the world's third highest peak, Kangchenjunga. Hurricane-force winds beat back their first two bids on the unclimbed North Ridge, but they eventually stood within feet of the summit - leaving the final few yards untrodden in deference to the inhabiting deity. In October, he was back in the Himalaya and climbing the mountain most sacred to the Sherpas: the twin-summited Gauri Sankar. Renowned for its technical difficulty and spectacular profile, it is aptly dubbed the Eiger of the Himalaya and Boardman's first ascent of the South Summit took a committing and gruelling twenty-three days. Three sacred mountains, three very different expeditions, all superbly captured by Boardman in Sacred Summits, his second book, first published shortly after his death in 1982. Combining the excitement of extreme climbing with acute observation of life in the mountains, this is an amusing, dramatic, poignant and thought-provoking book, amply fulfilling the promise of Boardman's first title, The Shining Mountain, for which he won the John Llewelyn Rhys Prize in 1979. Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker died on Everest in 1982, whilst attempting a new and unclimbed line. Both men were superb mountaineers and talented writers. Their literary legacy lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, established by family and friends in 1983 and presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature. For more information about the Boardman Tasker Prize, visit: www.boardmantasker.com

I could never again maintain that I was caught up in this game unwillingly. I knew now what I wanted to do. Willingly would I accept the hardship and fear, the discipline and the sacrifices, if only I could be given back the chance to climb that mountain.' Joe Tasker lies, struck down by a tooth abscess, in a damp, bug-infested room in the Himalaya, wondering if he will be well enough to climb Dunagiri, his first venture to the 'big' mountains. He is there with Dick Renshaw to attempt to make a two-man ascent of the Peak - one of the first true Alpine-style expeditions to the Greater Ranges; an attempt that forms part of this tale of adventure in the savage vertical arena of hostile mountains. Joe Tasker was one of Britain's foremost mountaineers. A pioneer of lightweight mountaineering and a superbly gifted writer, in Savage Arena he vividly describes his participation in the first British winter ascent of the North Face of the Eiger; his first ascent of the West Wall of Changabang with Peter Boardman - considered to be a preposterous plan by the established climbing world; the first ascent of the North Ridge of Kangchenjunga; and his two unsuccessful attempts to climb K2, the second highest mountain in the world. This is a story of single-minded determination, strength and courage in a pursuit which owes much of its value and compulsion to the risks entailed - risks which often stimulate superlative performances. It is also a story of the stresses, strains and tensions of living in constant anxiety, often with only one other person, for long periods in which one is never far from moments of terror, and of the close and vital human relationships which spring from those circumstances. It is a moving, exciting and inspirational book about the adventuring spirit which seeks endless new climbing challenges to face, alluring problems to solve and difficulties to overcome, for it is not reaching the summit which is important, but the journey to it. Joe Tasker and Peter Boardman died on Everest in 1982, while attempting a new and unclimbed line. Both men were superb mountaineers and talented writers. Tasker's first book, Everest the Cruel Way, was first published in 1981. Savage Arena, his second book, was completed just before he left for Everest. Both books have become mountaineering classi. The literary legacy of Tasker and Boardman lives on through the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature, established by family and friends in 1983 and presented annually to the author or co-authors of an original work which has made an outstanding contribution to mountain literature. For more information about the Boardman Tasker Prize, visit: www.boardmantasker.com 'The most riveting book on climbing that I have ever read.' Chris Bonington 'A gripping story of tremendous courage and unbelievable endurance.' Sir Edmund Hillary

All or Nothing At All is the life story of Billy Bland, fellrunner extrordinaire and holder of many records including that of the Bob Graham Round. Filled with stories of competition and rich in northern humour, All or Nothing At All is testimony to the life spent in the fells by one of their greatest champions, Billy Bland.

Completed before his death in 2020, Kangchenjunga is Doug Scott's final book. Scott explores the mountain and its people before going on to look at Western approaches and climbing attempts, including his own in 1979. Kangchenjunga is Scott's tribute to this sacred mountain, a paean for a Himalayan giant, written by a giant of Himalayan climbing.

The extraordinary inside story of the couple who risked it all to reveal the scale of the doping and corruption in Russia, leading to one of the greatest sporting scandals of all time

I'm with the Cosmos is Steve Hunt's story. After only seven first-team appearances for Aston Villa, he found himself playing with two of the greatest players of all time: Pele and Beckenbauer at New York Cosmos. He returned home to play for Coventry City and West Bromwich Albion and was capped twice by England. This is his story.

Celebrate the 1969 Miracle Mets in this new, updated SABR edition of The Miracle Has Landed. Seven seasons after the Mets debuted with the most losses in modern baseball history, the franchise was still seen as a laughingstock, with 100-to-1 odds to win the World Series when 1969 began. The first year of divisional play started out as the Cubs'' year, while most onlookers figured the Mets would be happy if they could play .500 ball. Tom Seaver''s "Imperfect Game" against Chicago showed that the Mets could play with the big boys, but the Cubs still had a double-digit lead on the Mets in the middle of August. The Cubs stumbled, plagued by worn-out players, black cats, and bad luck, and magnificent Mets pitching turned the tide.The Miracle Has Landed celebrates the lovable Mets like no other book, complete with photos and artifacts of the time. A project of the Society for American Baseball Research, this volume gathers the collective efforts of more than thirty SABR members and features profiles of every player, coach, broadcaster, and significant front-office member connected to that great Mets squad. Included are biographies of the recently departed "Franchise" player, Tom Seaver, and Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, beloved manager Gil Hodges, the talented outfield of Cleon Jones, Tommie Agee, and Ron Swoboda, drill sergeant backstop Jerry Grote, crucial mid-season acquisition Donn Clendenon, scrappy shortstop Bud Harrelson, and a pitching staff that went far deeper than just Seaver and Ryan. More than fifty years later the Miracle Mets are still revered, the first world champion expansion team and the club that stole New York''s heart.

Most people know Brian "Wookie" Fleming as a professional snowboarder and longtime Vail Valley local who created the most notorious invite-only snowboard event in Colorado history. But there is much more to his story. Born in Pennsylvania and raised in San Diego, he picked up skateboarding and surfing as a child, but didn't strap into a snowboard until he was a teenager. His passion for the sport led him to Arizona where he attended college and became a professional snowboarder. In an effort to find more terrain and bigger opportunities in the industry, he relocated to Colorado and became Wookie. Following a career-ending injury, after which he was told he would never walk again, Wookie endured severe physical, mental, and emotional lows that changed the trajectory of his life. Exemplifying his strength and determination, he pushed through to make it back on his feet and back on a board. By illuminating how the life-altering circumstances of one professional athlete were met with heart and humor, this biography provides a comprehensive look into snowboard culture through the eyes of a local legend and his community. It also explores how becoming a father is the ultimate achievement. Filled with four decades of photography, anecdotes, and inspiration, Wookie Is Not His Real Name is an uplifting lesson in life for readers everywhere.

Gentleman Gerry chronicles boxing legend Gerry Cooney's career, his challenges and triumphs as a trauma survivor, and his journey to sustained recovery from alcoholism. It provides a detailed account of the difficulties this Golden Gloves champion faced both as a child and adult, offering a compelling exploration of an inspirational life.

Fresh, vivacious and ridiculously entertaining, this book is destined to unravel as a rip-roaring read not only for those who recall Ted Dexter's sporting legacy, but for anyone who resonates with his fervent enthusiasm for both cricket and life.

This is the story of harness racehorse, Derek Bromac N. After racing in New Zealand as a 2-, 3-, and 4-year-old, Derek was shipped to California to begin his racing career in the United States. He immediately began dominating his competition at remarkable race times. This classy bay gelding found success wherever his travels took him and was often a barn favorite. His crazy antics of always sticking his tongue out while being harnessed, and on the racetrack, made him a horse that wouldn't easily be forgotten. From California to New Jersey, and every racetrack in between, he was driven by some of the most elite and talented in the harness racing business. He was always known as the horse that always "gave his all." Follow Derek's narration, written by his owner Amber Sawyer, and beautifully illustrated by Tami Joe DeLisle.

A lavish photographic celebration of the life of charismatic Seve Ballesteros. Published to coincide with the 10th anniversary of his sad passing.