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| Sports Spotlight True Stories about the Thrill of Victory and the Agony of Defeat |
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796 QUE
True Believers: The Tragic Inner Life of Sports Fans by Joe Queenan
Joe Queenan understands the life-draining force that is sports fandom. In laugh-out-loud style, he outlines his code of behavior for true sports fans, not to be confused with those who think they are true fans. With humorous stories from his life as well as from the lives of fans he has known, this book is fun for all sports fans everywhere.
796.323 FEI
The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever by John Feinstein
In 1977 during a Houston Rockets– LA Lakers game, one angry punch forever changed the lives of players Rudy Tomjanovich and Kermit Washington on and off the court. The story of this fight, and of how this single punch altered the course of basketball, is given a full examination in this book by one of sports’ best writers.
796.323 GRU
Shattering the Glass: The Remarkable History of Women’s Basketball by Pamela Grundy
This sweeping chronicle of a century of women on the court brings to life legendary women players and teams, and includes interviews with current players and coaches. The authors explore the continuing struggle for athletic recognition begun long before Title IX, and they predict the future for the sport that girls and women love to play.
796.332 FEI
Next Man Up: A Year Behind the Lines in Today’s NFL by John Feinstein
Feinstein’s highly readable book chronicles the 2004 season of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, a team with a Super Bowl victory under its belt and scratching to get back. Here, players become real people as all the details of the season—victories and losses, injuries on and off the field, even board room meetings about team cuts—take readers into the heart of the sport.
796.332 ZIE
When Football Was Football by Joe Ziemba
The Cardinals football team (now based in Arizona) is the NFL’s oldest continuous professional franchise. Here is the story, from its founding as a scrappy Chicago club in 1899 to its championship in 1947 as Chicago’s “other” football team. Intertwined with the story of the tough young NFL, this book is full of fascinating facts about football’s history.
796.334 MAC
The Miracle of Castel di Sangro by Joe McGinniss
In this story full of humor and emotion, McGinniss follows a ragtag soccer team from a tiny Italian town whose improbable success rockets it into a championship bid. The team members, their mafia-like coach, and the idiosyncrasies of Italian culture play center stage in this true tale of inspiration, tragedy, passion, and sports politics.
796.342 SCH
The Match: Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton: How Two Outsiders—One Black, the Other Jewish—Forged a Friendship and Made Sports History by Bruce Schoenfeld
Two powerful women—Gibson and Buxton—were marginalized by the sport at which they excelled until they joined forces to overcome all critics. They became doubles partners at Wimbledon in 1956 where both were shunned because of racial and religious prejudice, and they took on the world. Here, their individual lives and their combined successes are insightfully detailed.
796.352 FRO
The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf by Mark Frost
In 1913 the young amateur Francis Ouimet stunned the golf world when he defeated the famous British Open champion Harry Vardon. This Cinderella story is vividly portrayed, with both Vardon and Ouimet brought to life against the backdrop of their lives and golf’s early culture.
796.352 MAC
Us Against Them: An Oral History of the Ryder Cup by Robin McMillan
The Ryder Cup pits the best U.S. golfers against the best European players in a team competition. This first-person history of the Cup spans the time from its earliest days to some of the most recent matches. Told by those who made it happen, it is full of great golf moments and wonderfully told anecdotes.
796.357 ASI
Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series by Eliot Asinof
Asinof breathes new life into the story of history’s most scandalous World Series. Gritty back-room conniving, tragic players who went along with their teammates and got nothing for their solidarity but the nation’s anger, and the far-reaching effects of the fix all combine to make this a compelling must-read history for fans.
796.357 HAL
The Teammates: A Portrait of a Friendship by David Halberstam
Told in reminiscences of great and small moments, this is a story of the friendship between Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr, and Ted Williams, four players from the legendary Boston Red Sox teams of the 1940s. Their lives before and during their careers, and their 1946 World Series, are replayed in stories told while driving together for a final farewell to their friend Ted Williams.
796.357 SCH
The Numbers Game: Baseball’s Lifelong Fascination with Statistics by Alan Schwarz
Baseball fans can keep astounding amounts of statistics in their heads, and this engaging story of baseball statistics will be enjoyed by any stats-savvy fan. Here are the people who created the numbers that moved the game forward, from the inventor of the box score grid to modern statistical analysis of team strategies. This is a fascinating glimpse behind the baseball numbers.
796.42 BAS
The Perfect Mile: Three Athletes, One Goal, and Less Than Four Minutes to Achieve It by Neal Bascomb
In 1954 three men raced to be the historic first to break the four-minute mile. Roger Bannister from Britain, Australia’s John Landy, and Wes Santee from the U.S. were considered the fastest men in the world. This page-turning account of these men and their run for history is gripping, even if you’ve never wanted to jog around the block.
796.44 RYA
Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters by Joan Ryan
Ryan’s seminal exposé of the physical and psychological damage to young female Olympic hopefuls is both disturbing and compelling. Her research of gymnastics and skating training spans two decades and includes tales of bulimia, depression, and death. This is a provocative cautionary tale of young lives sacrificed to the altar of athletic perfection.
796.83 MAR
Beyond Glory: Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink by David Margolick
The 1939 fight between African American Joe Louis and German Max Schmeling was the biggest sports event going. Peek into this volatile time across the world and take a ringside seat for the fight of fights. These two boxers did not aim to be controversial, but got caught up in the greatest political conflict of the century as America headed for World War II.
796.962 COF
The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team by Wayne R. Coffey
In this riveting and thoughtful story of the U.S.’s 1980 Olympic hockey victory over the Soviet Union, Coffey blends all the excitement of action on the ice with the tension of America amid the Iranian hostage crisis. This story of Herb Brooks, the quiet man who helped a group of boys make Olympic history, will give readers a better picture of this amazing ride and will leave fans cheering again through this moment in hockey history.
797.124 LUN
Godforsaken Sea: Racing the World’s Most Dangerous Waters by Derek Lundy
The Vendee Globe race is a round-the-world race that pits sailors against the most grueling and deadly waters on earth. Individuals, without a crew, fight 13,000 miles through the ocean circling Antarctica. In 1996 sixteen men and women set sail to compete against each other and themselves. Only six racers officially finished; one died. This gripping story weaves the science, history and psychology of competitive sailing into an action-packed narrative of an unforgettable race.
Prepared by Gloria Walsh-Rock, March 2006
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