Showing results by publisher "Recorded Books" in Sports & Outdoors

Faced with the ultimate step into adulthood, Entertainment Weekly scribe Josh Wolk returns to the summer camp of his youth before walking down the aisle. His beloved campgrounds have remained remarkably the same, but Wolk finds that he has grown bafflingly out of touch - and is as intimidated as a shy camper in the face of supermacho co-counselor Mitch.

From her start playing paddle tennis on the streets of Harlem as a young teenager to her eleven Grand Slam tennis wins to her professional golf career, Althea Gibson became the most famous Black sportswoman of the mid-twentieth century. In her unprecedented athletic career, she was the first African American to win titles at the French Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open. In this first full-scale biography, Ashley Brown narrates the public career and private struggles of Althea Gibson (1927–2003).

For a song sparrow that has not migrated south this year, it is a daily challenge to keep warm as its once plentiful food supply dwindles during a harsh December in Ohio.

On the heels of the cult television hit Friday Night Lights, The New York Times best-selling author of The Junction Boys pens the story of Texas high school football integration, and the three men who put together a championship team.

Celebrated for both his novels and memoirs, Don J. Snyder is also the recipient of a James Michener Fellowship. A story of love and dedication, Walking with Jack chronicles Snyder’s dream to caddie for his son Jack's pro golf tour debut. At nearly 60, Snyder left Maine for Scotland - the birthplace of golf - where he learned the game and earned his spot as a full-time caddie. His journey would finally coincide with Jack’s own struggles in one of the PGA’s toughest qualifying events.

An in-depth exploration of the pivotal Cassius Clay transformed into Muhammad Ali, exploring the events, relationship, and experiences that shaped him.

Baseball has been celebrated as "America's National Pastime" for more than one hundred and fifty years, and recalls what seems to be a more innocent age - long summer afternoons and sandlot ball, fresh rural air and brownstone stoops. This course, presented by Kenyon College professor Dr. Timothy B. Shutt, is a celebration of baseball's rich past and of a game stronger than ever.

In this journalistic tour de force, Dallas Morning News contributor W.K. Stratton follows the fates of the Texas Longhorns and the Texas A&M Aggies, two collegiate football programs steeped in tradition, as they prepare for their annual clash in 2001. One of the most storied rivalries in sports, Texas vs. Texas A&M represents a culture war of sorts within the Lone Star State, igniting the passions and prejudices of the players, coaches and fans alike.

The NCAA and the Exploitation of College Profit-Athletes: An Amateurism That Never Was provides a comprehensive historical, sociological, legal, financial, and managerial argument for the reclassification of profit-athletes as employees. Such a reclassification would permit profit-athletes to gain not only fair financial compensation but also equal access to educational benefits that have been promised but systematically denied. The authors trace how Power Five college sports have morphed into a hyper professionalized and commercialized sport-business enterprise.

The unforgettable story, decades before Ted Lasso, of the real-life Watford Football Team, transformed into a powerhouse by coach Graham Taylor and owner Elton John.

Daytona Beach, Florida, 2001. Sportswriter Dave Caldwell watches from the stands as a black Chevrolet pulls ahead in the final laps of the Daytona 500. In an instant, it's over. The car smashes into a wall at 175 miles an hour, killing one of stock car racing's most loved drivers. From its roots during Prohibition to today's die-hard fans, Dave Caldwell weaves together his firsthand observations as a NASCAR reporter with excerpts from The New York Times archives to give listeners an inside look at the spectacle that is America's new favorite pastime.

Basketball legend and New York Times best-selling author Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recounts the birth of Harlem, from the boll weevil to the Great Migration, and discusses how Harlem influenced his life.

Find out about the life of rock climbers in this cool new chapter book, part of an Extreme Adventure strand featuring high-adrenaline stories about real explorers. With gripping - and TRUE - stories of incredible adventures, Rock Stars! takes readers on three amazing journeys of ultimate survival. From New York's Central Park to the towering Himalaya, no peak is too high for these extreme rock climbers! Perfect for all listeners who love exciting, real-life, adrenaline-fueled tales that will have you on the edge of your seat.

Widely praised for novels that celebrate the game of baseball while offering valuable life lessons, John H. Ritter has won such prestigious awards as the Paterson Prize for Children’s Literature. Fenway Fever honors the 100th birthday of Fenway Park, the iconic home of the Boston Red Sox. Nothing makes “Stats” Pagano happier than his beloved Red Sox and his family’s stadium-side hotdog stand. So when the team goes on a losing streak and the stand can no longer support itself, Stats comes up with a plan to turn things around.

A history of the activism and achievement of African American athletes from Jesse Owens to Serena Williams to Colin Kaepernick, who advanced the cause of social justice through their outspokenness, commitment, and integrity. Muhammad Ali refused to fight in a war he believed was immoral. Wilma Rudolph retired from track and field to campaign for civil rights. Taking a Knee, Taking a Stand tells their stories and the stories of other prominent African American male and female athletes who often risked their careers to fight racial discrimination and promote social justice.

In this engaging collection of essays, author and athlete John Jerome celebrates the simplicity and freedom of running. With contagious passion, he strips away fads and myths to offer basic guidelines for participants, from beginning joggers to those preparing for marathons. For years Jerome recorded his thoughts and experiences during his daily training. As he ran, he discovered not only physical benefits, but philosophical ones as well.

Amid strict new rules and coronavirus outbreaks on other teams that wreaked havoc on the schedule, the Dodgers maintained a laser focus as a team and organization, and, ultimately, won the first bubbled playoffs in the history of Major League Baseball. In COVID Curveball, author and Dodgers’ broadcaster Tim Neverett takes us through this unprecedented season, offering exclusive access and firsthand, edge-of-your-seat play-by-play coverage of the surreal days and weeks that led up to the dramatic championship climax.

Best-selling author and NBA all-time leading scorer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar takes listeners on a tour through the segregated days of early basketball. Along the way, hoops icons like Charles Barkley, Julius Erving, and John Wooden share their thoughts, while broadcast legend Bob Costas narrates.

In this gripping first-hand account, four seasoned adventurers navigate a sophisticated, high-tech rowboat across the Northwest Passage. One of the "last firsts" remaining in the adventure world, this journey is only possible because of the dramatic impacts of global warming in the high Arctic, which provide an ironic opportunity to draw attention to the growing urgency of climate change. Along the way, the team repeatedly face life-threatening danger from storms unparalleled in their ferocity and unpredictability and bears witness to unprecedented changes in the Arctic habitat and inhabitants.

In 1969, Natalie Kusz and her family abandoned the city, packed up the car, and headed to Alaska. They ended up a hundred miles from Fairbanks in a dilapidated house surrounded by 258 acres of spruce, birch and willow - and no road. When the first winter came - with Mr. Kusz working in Prudhoe Bay, money running out, and temperatures 60 below - the Kusz family was living so close to disaster that the question was not when it would strike but whom.