Showing results by publisher "Random House Audio" in Sports & Outdoors

Clarkston, Georgia, was a typical Southern town until it was designated a refugee settlement center in the 1990s, becoming the first American home for scores of families in flight from the world's war zones; from Liberia and Sudan to Iraq and Afghanistan. Suddenly Clarkston's streets were filled with women wearing the hijab, the smells of cumin and curry, and kids of all colors playing soccer in any open space they could find.

In his own words, Kermit Alexander finally shares the full story of what happened to his loved ones and the aftermath of that tragic day. He recounts the hours leading up to the massacre and how afterward he lost himself in the LA underworld, pleading, bribing, and threatening in a search for answers. He describes his journey through the "wilderness" of despair - the years of isolation living out of his car, broke, depressed, and sick.

Trotter has been dangling from astonishingly high places for over 25 years, more than half his life. He’s been at the forefront of the sport for most of that time, specializing in first ascents on rock faces most people cannot imagine scaling. In Uplifted, Sonnie recounts the most memorable moments of his career but also the rich relationships, including with epic climbers such as Tommy Caldwell ("Dawn Wall") and Alex Honnold ("Free Solo"), that are the spine of the sport, as well as the psyche that draws one to and evolves as one grows into and through this unique and challenging endeavor.

In most sports the pinnacle is Wheaties-box notoriety. But in the world of pool, notoriety is the last thing a hustler desires. Such is the dilemma that faces one Danny Basavich, an affable, generously proportioned Jewish kid from Jersey, who flounders through high school until he discovers the one thing he excels at - the felt - and hits the road.

Pete Sampras is arguably the greatest tennis player ever, a man whose hard-nosed work ethic led to an unprecedented number one world ranking for 286 weeks, and whose prodigious talent made possible a record-setting 14 Grand Slam titles. While his more vocal rivals sometimes grabbed the headlines, Pete always preferred to let his racket do the talking. Until now.

Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand America's pastime from their unique insider perspective.

At the age of 22, Ben Davis weighed over 360 pounds. Depressed, addicted to food, and morbidly obese, he thought he’d lost all hope. But after a Christmas Eve conversation with his grandmother, Ben promised himself that he would finally take control of his life.

There are fans, and then there are fanatics. In this wondrously immersive look at American sports fandom, George Dohrmann travels the country to find out what distinguishes an ordinary, everyday enthusiast from that special breed of supporter known as the superfan. In Minnesota, Dohrmann meets newly minted generals of the Viking World Order, Minnesota Vikings fans organized along military lines. In Oregon, he shares a few beers with a determined soccer fan who amassed a 4,000-strong cheering section for the fledgling Portland Timbers.

This audiobook is the window into the underground world of cheating at the highest levels, which set off a frenzy of activity and hand-wringing in the offices of Major League Baseball and Congress. Through the authors' pursuit of sources and documents, they were able to open for public view a world in which elite athletes trade money and risk their health for the edge that will allow them to run faster, hit harder, and compete longer, and then cash in on the fame and wealth.

Before a surfing accident caused 33-year-old Devon Raney to lose all but 15 percent of his vision, he had already lived an extraordinary life. Time and again, he'd gone against the grain to maximize time for his passions - surfing, skateboarding, and snowboarding - bringing him into the direct path of colorful characters, unexpected adventures, and even the occasional brush with death. Through it all, Devon's commitment to outdoor adventure never wavered.

AthleanX puts the science into strength training. This unique strength training and conditioning program - including plans for nutrition and supplementation as well as step-by-step guides to the exercises - gives users the lean, muscular, functional bodies of professional athletes. Other fitness books and programs are based on a bodybuilding model, which can make you look stronger, but Jeff Cavaliere shows you how to hit the gym without falling into the common "bro" traps: poor posture and flexibility, muscle imbalances, joint stiffness, pain, and injury.

Muhammad Ali, in the late 1960s, was young, successful, brash, and hugely admired - but with some reservations. He was bombastic and cocky in a way that captured the imagination of America but also drew its detractors. He was a bold young African American in an era when few people were as outspoken. He renounced his name - Cassius Clay - as being his 'slave name' and joined the Nation of Islam, renaming himself Muhammad Ali. And finally, in 1966, after being drafted, he refused to join the military for religious and conscientious reasons.

This classic essay from Jon Krakauer is now available as an unabridged audiobook download. This essay is also included in the Classic Krakauer collection. From the best-selling author of Missoula and Into the Wild: a selection of the singular investigative journalism that made Krakauer famous, covering topics from avalanches on Mt. Everest to a volcano in Washington state; from a wilderness therapy program for teens to an extraordinary cave in New Mexico so unearthly that is used by NASA to better understand Mars.

From the revered Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and writer, comes his national best seller on one of the world’s oldest and most popular activities, fishing. Presented in narrative form as a conversation between a fisherman and the stranger, Hersey draws upon his own experiences and passion as the fisherman reflects on the age-old sport, offering his own insights and thoughts. From the depths of the ocean to the creatures near the shore, Hersey perfectly answers why fishing has been such an integral part of humanity.

Reggie Jackson and Bob Gibson offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to understand America's pastime from their unique insider perspective. Legendary. Insightful. Uncompromising. Candid. Uncensored. Mr. October and Hoot Gibson unfortunately never faced each other on the field. But now, in Sixty Feet, Six Inches, these two legends open up in fascinating detail about the game they love and how it was, is, and should be played. Their one-of-a-kind insider stories recall a who's who of baseball nobility.

When we first meet the young man at the center of this extraordinary and moving story, he is one of 13 children by a mother addicted to crack; he does not know his real name, his father, his birthday, or any of the things a child might learn in school. And he has no serious experience playing organized football.

No football fan will want to be without the book that delivers pure, unfiltered Rex Ryan - head coach of the New York Jets and one of the most popular, outspoken, well-liked, and widely respected personalities in the National Football League.

Literate, honest, and deeply observant, Faithful Travelers is a beautiful meditation on the bond between parent and child and the nature of love and loss. Dodson proves that sometimes life isn't what happens while you're waiting to go fishing; sometimes it happens while you're there.

When Laura Vikmanis, a single mom in Ohio, told friends that she wanted to be an NFL cheerleader, they said it would never happen. But she proved them all wrong. When she finally got the courage to leave her husband and to ask herself something she had never asked before: What do I want to do? When the woman in her dance classsuggested that Laura audition to be a "Ben-Gal", Laura laughed her off but soon realized that the audition process could be a way of healing herself - and regaining her confidence.

Welcome to Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School, in a working-class corner of the Bronx, where a driven coach inspires his teams to win games and championships - and learn Russian history and graduate and go on to college.