Sports Legends

Tom Berthel first met Hall of Fame football coach Hayden Fry when, in the mid-1980s, his investment firm, Berthel Fisher & Co., became a corporate sponsor of the University of Iowa Athletic Department. This business partnership not only helped Berthel Fisher establish a winning public image, but it also gave birth to one of the most important and enduring friendships of Tom Berthel’s life.

Written in collaboration with six-time New York Times bestselling author Armen Keteyian, Legends and Soles provides context and truth to the sensational media stories and headlines. Filled with in-depth stories and photos illuminating some of Sonny’s most treasured career memories, Legends and Soles is the long-awaited memoir of a giant of American sports.

Daniel William Carter is acknowledged as the greatest fly-half to have played international rugby. A veteran of more than 100 Test matches, he is the world record holder for most Test points, has twice been named the IRB's Player of the Year and twice named New Zealand Player of the Year. Legendary unbeaten All Blacks coach Sir Fred Allen, who followed international rugby from the 1920s until after the 2011 Rugby World Cup, had no hesitation in naming Carter as the greatest fly-half he ever saw.

James “Cool Papa” Bell (1903-1991) was a legend in Black baseball, a lightning-fast switch hitter elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974. Bell’s speed was extraordinary; as Satchel Paige famously quipped, he was so fast he could flip a light switch and be in bed before the room got dark. In The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell, experienced baseball writer and historian Lonnie Wheeler recounts the life of this extraordinary player, a key member of some of the greatest Negro League teams in history.

USA Today and Wall Street Journal best-selling author Tracy Lorraine brings you heart-stopping angst, hot bullies, strong heroines, delicious football players, and knee-weakening HEAs. Welcome to Rosewood High. Let the games begin. This boxset includes the following titles: Hunter, Fury, and Legend.

Gazza's tears in the 1990 World Cup semi-final launched the boom of interest in football that continues to this day. Suddenly, Paul Gascoigne found himself the centre of attention in a way that only George Best and David Beckham have ever experienced. So much has been written about Gazza over the years, but he has said little - until now. For the first time, he talks in depth about the key events in his life.

Known to bodybuilders young and old as The Golden Eagle, the man Arnold Schwarzenegger personally passed the "bodybuilding torch" to, and commonly acknowledged as the most intense bodybuilder who ever trained - a living legend who forged the best legs to ever adorn a bodybuilding stage -Tom never wanted a "normal" life. The dedication and devotion to his calling started when he was barely 10 years old, and propelled him on a trajectory that led to bodybuilding's stratosphere, and beyond - to the top of the world of the social and business elite.

From New York Times bestselling author Leigh Montville, this riveting and definitive new biography pulls back the red, white, and blue cape on a cultural icon—and reveals the unknown, complex, and controversial man known to millions around the world as Evel Knievel.

Roberto Duran is a sporting legend. Often called the greatest boxer of all time, he held world titles at four different weights and is the only boxer in history to have fought in five different decades. His bouts with fellow greats like Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler have gone down in fistic folklore. He finally retired in January 2002 at age 52, with a professional record of 104 wins (69 by KO) in 120 fights. They called him Manos de Piedra: "Hands of Stone".

Born and raised in rural Mississippi and the even balmier climes of central Florida, Red Barber, at the age of thirty-two, became one of New York City's most influential citizens as the play-by-play announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. But behind all the base hits, balls, and strikes lies a compelling story that dramatizes the shifting expectations and roles of a public figure—the sports broadcaster—as he adapted to complex cultural changes throughout the course of twentieth-century American life.

Since winning the WBNA Rookie of the Year title in 2004, Taurasi has come a long way. Discover more about Taurasi's highlights on the court in this action-packed biography in the Stars of Sports series.

"Was in Las Vegas passiert, bleibt in Las Vegas", heißt es. Für die, die hier leben, bleibt dieses ungeschriebene Gesetz allerdings nicht selten eine Illusion. Denn Geheimnisse kommen schneller ans Licht der "Sin City", als man denkt. Nach einem heißen One-Night-Stand glaubt Cleo Vanderbroek nicht daran, ihrem leidenschaftlichen Liebhaber jemals wiederzubegegnen. Doch das Schicksal hat andere Pläne. Als sie im Auftrag ihres Vaters die Konditionen des Sponsorenvertrags mit den Las Vegas Legends neu verhandeln soll, steht sie dem attraktiven Fremden unerwartet erneut gegenüber.

The Players' Coach is a player-development masterclass. It is also an inspirational life story, from humble beginnings to becoming the quarterback for the University of Iowa, a college coaching career, and then to assistant-coach and offensive-coordinator roles in six different decades. This book is destined to be a football classic, a coaching Bible, and a must-listen on leadership.

Growing up a 90-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.

The definitive and revealing biography of Chicago Cubs legend Ernie Banks, one of America's most iconic, beloved, and misunderstood baseball players, by acclaimed journalist Ron Rapoport.

From the smallest kid on every team to the game-changing, record-breaking NBA All-Star he is today, Steph Curry’s journey to stardom is a master class in excellence. Bolstered by what he calls his irrational confidence, the “baby-faced assassin” shattered expectations and accrued millions of fans as he led the Golden State Warriors to championship after championship, garnered multiple MVP awards, and emerged as the greatest three-point shooter of all time. Steph Curry: Life Lessons from a Legend gives you courtside seats to the incredible highs and lows of his phenomenal career.

F1 is one of the most watched sports on the planet with some of the highest paid athletes in the world. For over a decade, Lee McKenzie has been at the heart of it all. Thanks to a relaxed but informative interview style, she has become one of the most respected F1 presenters and interviewers in the sport, with drivers requesting her for interviews because of her tough but fair approach.

Over the decades, the reputation of the samurai has grown to mythical proportions, owing to such films as Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, as well as works such as James Clavell's epic Shogun. In Legends of the Samurai, Hiroaki Sato confronts both the history and the legend of the samurai, untangling the two to present an authentic picture of these legendary warriors.

In most sports the pinnacle is Wheaties-box notoriety. But in the world of pool, notoriety is the last thing a hustler desires. Such is the dilemma that faces one Danny Basavich, an affable, generously proportioned Jewish kid from Jersey, who flounders through high school until he discovers the one thing he excels at - the felt - and hits the road.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, Don Shula remains the winningest coach of all time with 347 career victories and the only undefeated season in NFL history. But before he became the architect of the Dolphins dynasty, Shula was a hardworking kid selling fish on the banks of Lake Erie. As acclaimed sports biographer Mark Ribowsky shows, Shula met serious resistance at home when he asked to play high school football, but when his parents finally relented, they discovered that their son had an unmatched mind for the game's strategy and a stomach for its brutality.