Runner's World Complete Book of Women's Running: The Best Advice to Get Started, Stay Motivated, Lose Weight, Run Injury-Free, Be Safe, and Train for Any Distance (Runner's World Complete Books)
Lewis (Liar's Poker; The New New Thing) examines how in 2002 the Oakland Athletics achieved a spectacular winning record while having the smallest player payroll of any major league baseball team. Given the heavily publicized salaries of players for teams like the Boston Red Sox or New York Yankees, baseball insiders and fans assume that the biggest talents deserve and get the biggest salaries. However, argues Lewis, little-known numbers and statistics matter more. Lewis discusses Bill James and his annual stats newsletter, Baseball Abstract, along with other mathematical analysis of the game. Surprisingly, though, most managers have not paid attention to this research, except for Billy Beane, general manager of the A's and a former player; according to Lewis, "[B]y the beginning of the 2002 season, the Oakland A's, by winning so much with so little, had become something of an embarrassment to Bud Selig and, by extension, Major League Baseball." The team's success is actually a shrewd combination of luck, careful player choices and Beane's first-rate negotiating skills. Beane knows which players are likely to be traded by other teams, and he manages to involve himself even when the trade is unconnected to the A's. " `Trawling' is what he called this activity," writes Lewis. "His constant chatter was a way of keeping tabs on the body of information critical to his trading success." Lewis chronicles Beane's life, focusing on his uncanny ability to find and sign the right players. His descriptive writing allows Beane and the others in the lively cast of baseball characters to come alive.
Josh Hamilton was the first player chosen in the first round of the 1999 baseball draft. He was destined to be one of those rare "high-character " superstars. But in 2001, working his way from the minors to the majors, all of the plans for Josh went off the rails in a moment of weakness. What followed was a 4-year nightmare of drugs and alcohol, estrangement from friends and family, and his eventual suspension from baseball.
BEYOND BELIEF details the events that led up to the derailment. Josh explains how a young man destined for fame and wealth could allow his life to be taken over by drugs and alcohol. But it is also the memoir of a spiritual journey that breaks through pain and heartbreak and leads to the rebirth of his major-league career.
Josh Hamilton makes no excuses and places no blame on anyone other than himself. He takes responsibility for his poor decisions and believes his story can help millions who battle the same demons. "I have been given a platform to tell my story" he says. "I pray every night I am a good messenger."
ESPN began as an outrageous gamble with a lineup that included Australian Rules Football, rodeo, and a rinky-dinky clip show called Sports Center. Today the empire stretches far beyond television into radio, magazines, mobile phones, restaurants, video games and more, while ESPN's personalities have become global superstars to rival the sports icons they cover.
Chris Berman, Robin Roberts, Keith Olbermann, Hannah Storm, Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Stuart Scott, Erin Andrews, Mike Ditka, Bob Knight, and scores of others speak openly about the games, shows, scandals, gambling addictions, bitter rivalries, and sudden suspensions that make up the network's soaring and stormy history. The result is a wild, smart, effervescent story of triumph, genius, ego, and the rise of an empire unlike any television had ever seen.
In The 30 Greatest Sports Conspiracy Theories of All Time, long-time TV sports statistician and self-professed skeptic Elliott Kalb examines the most notable conspiracies in sports history, from Major League baseball, the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, Olympics, NASCAR, the horse track and the prize ring.Separating fact from myth, Kalb attempts to determine which of these long-held conspiracy theories hold water, and which ones fall flat under scrutiny. Ranking the conspiracies from 1 to 30 and the likelihood of each conspiracy from 1 to 5, Kalb boldly asks:
by Kevin Runolfson
This upbeat nitty-gritty memoir, based on the author's 2001 trail journal, chronicles one man's hike the whole length of the Appalachian Trail, beginning just north of Atlanta and finishing six months later in Maine. The journey included adventures with a faithful and eccentric dog, a new romance, and the challenges and triumphs of walking 2167 miles in all kinds of weather.
Over 35 and want to win your age group and run injury-free for the next 50 years? Run for Life lays out a plan for remarkably fit athletic aging that can increase strength and speed on less workout time and leave you in a position to, as author Roy M. Wallack says, "Run to 100. Not just live to 100 and shuffle along when you get there, but do what few, if any, have ever done: Actually run a 5k, 10k, or even a marathon on your 100th birthday." Traveling the running world from Kenya to Tahiti and Boston to Badwater in search of the keys to super-fit running longevity, Wallack tests new running methods, products, and fitness regimens, and talks to the world's top coaches, athletes, and researchers as he develops a science-backed, time-efficient strategy he summarizes as * Run Soft * Run Less * Run Stronger * Run Flexible * Run Straighter * Run Faster. The result is a one-two punch that works by delaying and even reversing the two factors that cripple all runners: the natural muscle and VO2 Max deterioration that starts at age 35, and the specific joint deterioration caused by running. Featuring 10 extensive oral-history interviews with super-fit, all-time greats, including Frank Shorter, Bill Rodgers, Helen Klein, Bobbi Gibb, and Dr. Kenneth Cooper, Run for Life brims with innovations, including:
·Soft Running form: The proven way to cut knee-shock -- and injuries --by 50%
·Barefoot Running: Why it strengthens feet and lessens impact.
·Vertical Arm Swing: Why replacing cross-chest swings with a perfect pendulum adds instant speed, cuts injuries;
·HGH Strength Training: High-intensity exercises that fight aging and injury by raising growth hormone release;
·Ultra Intervals: Short, hard sprint workouts that cue rapid speed gains;
·High-tech Water Running: New joint-safe pool tools used to set the half-marathon world record;
·Runner-specific Yoga: Exclusive from famed multisport yogi Steve Ilg;
·Bionic Hips and Knees: New operations restoring broken-down Baby Boomer marathoners to their 30-year-old selves;
·Perfect running posture: a renowned postural therapist straightens you out for speed and safety;
·Runaway Weight Loss: How slight changes in diet timing can cut fat and race times.
