Showing titles in Sports History

As Don Shula and Johnny Unitas elevated the brutal game of football, the world around them clashed about Vietnam, civil rights, and sex. Collision of Wills looks at the complicated relationship between Don Shula, the league's winningest coach of all time, and his star player Johnny Unitas, and how their secret animosity fueled the Colts in an era when their losses were as memorable as their victories.

In Mavericks, Money and Men, football historian Charles Ross chronicles the AFL's key events, including Buck Buchanan becoming the first overall draft pick in 1963, and the 1965 boycott led by black players who refused to play in the AFL All Star game after experiencing blatant racism. He also recounts how the success of the AFL forced a merger with the NFL in 1969, which arguably facilitated the evolution of modern professional football.

When most sports fans hear the stat 3,000, they immediately turn to baseball. But for those fans whose breath comes out in frosty puffs, and who bleed ice and snow, 3,000 can only mean one thing - the glory of Montreal Canadiens hockey. The "Original One" of the "Original Six", the Montreal Canadiens hockey team is practically synonymous with superlative: The most Stanley Cup championship victories, with 24? The Montreal Canadiens. The highest number of regular-season wins? The Montreal Canadiens. The oldest active franchise in the NHL? The Montreal Canadiens.

The victory and legend of the Super Bowl XLV-winning Green Bay Packers continues in Chuck Carlson’s Tales from the Green Bay Packers Sideline. In this behind-the-scenes look at the NFL’s second oldest franchise, Carlson captures the determination, aggression, and vision that have constantly spurred the Packers to greatness. Through interviews and extensive research, Carlson brings to life stories from Packers legends such as Curly Lambeau, Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Brett Favre, and the stars of today’s Packers like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews, Jr.

During the height of the Cold War, a group of small-town young men would lead their underdog hockey team from the little country of Czechoslovakia against the Soviet Union, the juggernaut in their sport. As they battled on the ice, the young players would keep their people's quest for freedom alive, and forge a way to fight back against the authoritarian forces that sought to crush them. Freedom to Win tells a story that ranges from iconic moments in history to courageous individual stories.

“An indispensable Olympic resource and a lot of pure fun.”––Jack McCallum, author of the New York Times bestseller Dream Team Faster! Higher! Stronger! Stranger! A glorious tapestry of legendary characters, forgotten records, crazy accomplishments, unbelievable feats, wacky contests, and...

Perfect for fans of Moneyball and The Book of Basketball, this vivid, thoroughly entertaining, and well-researched book explores the NBA’s surge in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s and its transformation into a global cultural institution. Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has...

In this highly original history of the world's most famous bicycle race, Christopher S. Thompson, mining previously neglected sources and writing with infectious enthusiasm for his subject, tells the compelling story of the Tour de France from its creation in 1903 to the present.

One. Two. Three. That’s as long as it took to sear the souls of a dozen young American men, thanks to the craziest, most controversial finish in the history of the Olympics - the 1972 gold-medal basketball contest between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the world’s two superpowers at the time. The U.S. team believed it had won the gold medal that September in Munich - not once, but twice. The American players became the only Olympic athletes in the history of the games to refuse their medals.

John Feinstein's illuminating recollections from two decades of interviews with sports legends. John Feinstein's career is a sports fan's dream-a lifetime of encounters with the great figures in sports, not just on the field, but in the locker room and behind the scenes with legends like Bob...

From Lord’s to the Fjords is the uproarious tale of cricket in Iceland: how the national press believed a stag party from Oxford were the official England team, how Sky Sports accidentally sent a crew to televise an Icelandic Cricket Cup final that didn’t exist, how the lead singer of Iron Maiden flew a passenger jet into a match under the midnight sun, how Henry Blofeld umpired in a blizzard on top of an ice cap, how the Iceland team was sold to the world’s public and became a viral Twitter sensation (incurring the wrath of Jofra Archer)....

Peter Golenbock brings to life baseball greats from the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s through timeless stories told straight from the players themselves. Like the enduring classic The Glory of Their Times, this book features the reminiscences of baseball legends, pulled from hundreds of hours of taped interviews with the author. The players interviewed were All-Stars, Hall of Famers, and heroes to many, and their impact on the national pastime is still seen to this day. Baseball history comes alive, offering a fascinating account of the golden age of baseball.

The glory years for the Toronto Maple Leafs—four Stanley Cups in the 1960s—may be distant memories, but what the team lacks in recent accomplishments is made up for by their history, which is rich in drama, pathos, and, most of all, humor. Figures connected to the Maple Leafs from the 1950s to the present offer their best stories, including some new takes on the team’s legends

Legendary tennis player Billie Jean King details the remarkable history of women’s tennis in this stunning edition of Trailblazers: The Unmatched Story of Women's Tennis. In celebration of the Women’s Tennis Association’s 50th anniversary, this updated and expanded edition—based on the...

In 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills, the diminutive 5-foot-9, 175-pound Steve Tasker was a huge contributor as the Bills strung together an unprecedented four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s. Along the way, Tasker earned seven invitations to the Pro Bowl, and during the National Football League’s 75th anniversary celebration, he was named the greatest special-teams player of all time.

Thirty-nine stories of hockey players who only scored one goal in their entire NHL career. From guys nobody has heard of to star goalies who managed to get one in the net, Ken Reid interviews these NHLers and finds out what that single point meant in the grand scheme of their lives.

In a mere twelve months, between May 2020 and May 2021, horse racing's most recognizable face—Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert—had five horses that failed postrace drug tests. Among those was the 2021 Kentucky Derby winner, Medina Spirit. While the incident was a major scandal in the Thoroughbred racing world, it was only the latest in a series of drug-related infractions among elite athletes. Milton C. Toby addresses the historical and contemporary context of the Thoroughbred industry's most pressing issue.

Game of My Life: Dallas Cowboys takes you inside the most memorable game of 24 players and of head Coach Jimmy Johnson that earned each of them a place in the history and lore of America’s Team. Each chapter provides colorful detail on the player’s favorite game and its significance to the history of one of the world’s most recognized franchises. Learn how these men joined the Cowboys fraternity.

The Year of the Tiger has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher...

Since the creation of the Minnesota Vikings in 1960, this football team has been more than just another franchise. To the fans who love them, and the haters who can’t help but admire them, the Minnesota Vikings are an unstoppable force in the NFL. In this heartwarming and inspirational book, Jim Bruton takes a look beyond the game and examines what the Minnesota Vikings have meant to fans and communities across the country.