Sports Essays

There is only one Wright Thompson. He is, as they say, famous if you know who he is: his work includes the most-read articles in the history of ESPN (and it's not even close) and has been anthologized in the Best American Sports Writing series ten times, and he counts John Grisham and Richard Ford among his ardent admirers. But to say his pieces are about sports, while true as far as it goes, is like saying Larry McMurtry's Lonesome Dove is a book about a cattle drive.

All anglers want to catch record-size gamefish - author Robert Cunningham figured out how to do it. When the author hooks and fights a record-size tarpon in the Gulf of Mexico for more than eight hours, only to lose it at boat side, he is already many years into his 20-year effort to break as many IGFA rod and reel and fly rod records as he can. Follow him as his fishing quest takes him to the Chandeleur Islands off the Louisiana coast, the Bahamas, Florida, the backwaters of the Mobile Delta, and way offshore. His enthusiasm is catching and his angling ability well-honed - as proven by his setting 11 world records in one year!

Since 1929, the Yankees have issued 73 different numbers to more than 1,500 players. Yankees by the Numbers tells those stories for every Yankee since ’29, providing insightful and humorous commentary about the more memorable players from a fan’s perspective.

The Neversink River in New York’s Catskill Mountains, with its plunges and gorges, is one of the world’s great trout streams. This treasury from the finest fly-fishing writers takes a revelatory look at the river from its earliest days right up to the present, and from its origins high on Slide Mountain to the wild and deep ledge pools where the biggest fish live.

From junior high football games to the Sugar Bowl with a national championship up for grabs, Mike Liner has seen it all in football. President and CEO of a bank by day, Liner has been a Texas football official on Fridays and Saturdays for the past 35 years. It’s Not All Black and White offers a view of college football seen through a different set of eyes, the eyes of an official. Liner takes listeners through the story of his ascension up the officiating hierarchy and describes the bumps in the road he encountered along the way.

A treasury of thrilling memories for fans of baseball's most storied franchise. When it comes to baseball glory, no other team comes close to the New York Yankees, winners of forty American League pennants and 27 World Series championships. Amazing Tales from the Yankee Dugout is a compilation of the funniest, strangest, and most unique stories, anecdotes, and tall tales that have been attributed to baseball’s legendary New York Yankees through the years.

Step up to the plate with the greatest legends of Padres baseball - newly updated! Since they burst onto the scene in 1968, the San Diego Padres have taken fans on a roller coaster ride of ups, downs, and unforgettable moments. In Tales from the San Diego Padres Dugout, longtime Padres announcer Bob Chandler shares his memories of the team with Bill Swank in an easy-to-read recap of the team’s colorful past.

The best stories about one of baseball's most colorful teams - updated to include their recent glory years. Since 1883, the Philadelphia Phillies have been up, down, and all around. Most recently, thanks to Charlie Manuel, the Phillies have become a National League powerhouse, with four NL East titles, two pennants and the 2008 World Series championship to show for it. In Tales from the Philadelphia Phillies Dugout Rich Westcott takes listeners behind the scenes into the glorious, quirky, and victorious stories that make this team the legend it is.

Are you tired of eating the same old fruits and vegetables from the supermarket? Do you crave a deeper connection with nature and the bounty it provides? If so, Wild Edible Plants of the Mid-Atlantic is the book for you.

The former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer dramatically recreates an action-packed 2017 game between the Oakland A’s and eventual World Series champion Houston Astros to reveal the myriad ways in which Major League Baseball has changed over the last few decades.

The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL.

Traveling to 20 towns in 20 weeks, author Theron Hopkins examines the magic of high school football in America. He finds that, in a world of spectacle and drama, the Friday night lights are not the most important part of what makes high school football so loved by those who play it, coach it, and watch it.

Miss Val has shaped her UCLA gymnastics program as a life-skills class, and now she's sharing those lessons with you, whether you're an athlete, business leader, or simply someone who wants to own his or her destiny. Miss Val's philosophies are timeless. Her coaching style is unorthodox. Life Is Short, Don't Wait to Dance is a thought-provoking, fun journey through the personal stories and anecdotes of the 35-year career of a dancer/choreographer turned athletic coach.

An inside look at the Seattle Seahawks—newly updated! From the hilarious to the surreal, from inside the huddle to inside the broadcast booth, twenty-eight-year Seattle Seahawks veteran Steve Raible takes fans to places they never knew existed. In this newly revised edition of Tales from the Seattle Seahawks Sideline, fans are offered an inside look at life in the locker room and on the sidelines of one of the NFL’s most beloved franchises.

All of us have seen fish. Fishing looks easy, to the outside observer. But any serious fisherman knows that there is an art to fishing. You have to know when to go, what kind of lure to use, and what to do while you wait for them to bite your hook. Anyone who fishes uses special methods for success. Passionate anglers are constantly seeking to add new tips to their toolbox. In this audiobook, you'll find suggestions that will make you a better fisherman and allow you to catch the fish of your dreams. This audiobook describes what the fishing tips and tricks is all about.

Broadcaster, journalist, and entertainer Roy Firestone offers original observations, essays, profiles, storytelling, and revealing interviews in a fast-paced, bite-sized, breezy style. Firestone tells stories with some amazing surprise endings, reflecting on his life, his 40-year career in broadcasting, and the people he's most admired along the way.

Stan Fischler, the dean of American hockey journalists and best-selling author of more than 60 books on hockey, profiles the heroes of Hockeytown in Detroit Red Wings: Greatest Moments and Players. One of the National Hockey League's "Original Six", few teams in professional hockey have enjoyed more success than the franchise in Detroit. Among the players Fischler glorifies are the immortal Gordie Howe, Terry Sawchuk, Ted Lindsay, Alex Delvecchio, and Sid Abel, all players whose numbers reside on banners in the rafters of Joe Louis Arena.

ESPN's star comedic duo, Mike Golic and Mike Greenberg, bring their radio and TV sports shtick to the listener in this hilarious audiobook, which includes their definitive list of rules to live by. This is for all ESPN devotees, all Mike and Mike fans, and fans of audiobooks like Dennis Miller's Rants and Tony Kornheiser's As Bald as I Want to Be.

John Gierach demonstrates once again that fishing, when done right, is as much a philosophical pursuit as a sport. Gierach travels to Wyoming and Maine and points in between, searching out new fly-fishing adventures and savoring familiar waters with old friends. Along the way he meditates on the importance of good guides, the challenge of salmon fishing, and the zen of fishing alone. On a more serious note, he ponders the damaging effects of disasters both natural and man-made.

In this age of billion dollar athletic marketing campaigns, “feel good” philosophy with no connection to reality, and a Sports Media echo chamber that’s all too eager swallow whatever idiotic notion happens to be in vogue at the moment, it’s tough to find people who aren’t afraid to say what they’re really thinking.