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Sports & Recreation December 2018
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Blue Blood II : Duke-Carolina: The Latest on the Never-Ending and Greatest Rivalry in College Hoops
by Art Chansky
A follow-up to Blue Blood that tells the recent history of the Duke-Carolina college basketball rivalry. When Art Chansky's Blue Blood was published in 2005, ESPN’s Dick Vitale said it was about “the greatest rivalry, not just in college basketball, but in all of sports” and the book was hailed by The East Carolinan as the “holy text for both sides of the rivalry.” Now, 13 years later, Chansky revisits the fiercest college basketball rivalry. Since 2005, Duke-Carolina has been a study of rival recruiting philosophies, disparate playing styles, classic game encounters, coaching milestones, All-American and NBA draft draft picks galore, plus off -the-court drama, and most recently, the ultimate question of who will be the next caretakers to this national treasure. Winning more Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA championships than the rest of the ACC combined made Duke and UNC the true blue bloods of basketball. When the prequel to this book was published in 2005, few fans thought the passionate backyard battle could get any better, but the last 13 years have added new colors and different fabrics to the mosaic that is the remaining virtue of the college game’s regular season, which for everyone else is now a qualifying run to the NCAA tournament and March Madness. Chansky brings all of these details to light, making Blue Blood II a must-have follow-up for Duke and UNC fans, and college basketball fans in general.
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Pitino : My Story
by Rick Pitino
On September 26, 2017, the biggest recruiting scandal in college basketball history sent shock waves through the world of sports. Caught up in a massive FBI and NCAA investigation—and the intense media spotlight—was Rick Pitino, the Louisville Cardinals’ Hall of Fame coach. Here, from Pitino himself, comes the real story of the ongoing case and the hard truth about how college hoops has been pushed to the brink of disaster by greed, bad actors, and shoe company money. Rick Pitino has spent a lifetime in basketball. He is the recruiting and coaching maestro behind Final Four appearances with three different teams, and National Championships at two of them. He worked the early days of the legendary Five-Star camp and scouted players without the influence of agents, runners, or shoe companies. And he has run today’s recruiting gauntlet of sports apparel marketing, corrupted assistant coaches, unethical youth coaches, and powerful organizations hellbent against him. Rick Pitino has seen it all, dealt with it all, and now tells it all while offering his take on what needs to be done to save the game he loves. Pitino is the story of an epic coaching career and the evolution of NCAA basketball to the multi-billion-dollar enterprise it is today. It is also a master’s course on the arts of coaching and recruiting. And in the telling, the one and only Rick Pitino lays all his cards on the table in addressing scandals of his past and the current headline-grabbing investigation that led a packed Board of Directors at Louisville to derail his career.
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The Mamba Mentality : How I Play
by Kobe Bryant
In the wake of his retirement from professional basketball, an NBA great nicknamed "The Black Mamba” has decided to share his vast knowledge and understanding of the game to take readers on an unprecedented journey to the core of his legendary “Mamba mentality.” Illustrations.
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Quarterback : Inside the Most Important Position in the National Football League
by John Feinstein
In the NFL--America's most popular sports league--quarterbacks are kings. The right QB becomes the face of a franchise and marches his team--and millions of fans--on a glorious winning odyssey that can last for a decade or longer. The wrong QB leads his team to losses, infighting, second-guessing, and fan misery. Quarterbacks are drafted straight out of college with indescribable expectations and tantalizing dreams of stardom resting on their shoulders from Day One. They play in front of 75,000 fans, with millions more watching at home. The intense media glare follows their every move. Many QBs wash out of the league ... and a few become legends. John Feinstein takes us inside that rarified world with five men who have achieved the highest levels in the NFL. Andrew Luck and Alex Smith--both #1 overall selections in their respective drafts; Joe Flacco--Super Bowl MVP; Doug Williams--the first African American quarterback to win the biggest game in sports and to be named Super Bowl MVP; and Ryan Fitzpatrick--experienced veteran and starting quarterback of seven NFL teams ... among them, they have lived every aspect of playing the position. Feinstein describes the pressures, politics, business, and physical toll. He maps out a QB's journey, from incredible athleticism and college stardom to the NFL draft, from taking command of the huddle to marching a team down the field with a nation of fans cheering. With the cooperation of these five quarterbacks and dozens of other players, coaches, and GMs, Feinstein assembles an unprecedented glimpse into the routine of a star quarterback--in the locker room and in the huddle--and outlines what happens on the field in the heat of battle, whether leading to spectacular moments or embarrassing defeats ... as well as the demands of the press conferences afterward. Feinstein also explores the controversies of a powerful league embroiled in questions of player health, substance abuse, racism, TV revenue, corporate greed, draft decisions, free-agency strategies, and management decisions that are sometimes brilliant and sometimes questionable. In the end, [this book] is John Feinstein's most fascinating--and insightful--book yet.
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The big fella : Babe Ruth and the world he created
by Jane Leavy
A portrait of Babe Ruth and his partnership with business manager Christy Walsh traces how their strategies, achievements and notoriety established a blueprint for modern athletic stardom. By the New York Times best-selling author of The Last Boy.
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Racing to the Finish : My Story
by Jr. Earnhardt, Dale
In this gripping narrative from one of professional sports' most beloved figures, Earnhardt shares stories from his journey: how his career and his injury have transformed him, how he made the decision to retire at the end of the 2017 season after eighteen years behind the wheel, and what lies ahead for him in the next chapter of his life. There is no second-guessing and no regrets from Driver #88. He simply wants to go out on his own terms and make the rest of his life off the racetrack count.
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