This historic collection explores the origins of mixed martial arts and professional wrestling in the United States and features profiles of more than 30 mat stars of the era, wrestling in art, over 100 antique photos and more.There is perhaps no sport more primitive or more widely dispersed than wrestling. In its early days, many of the pros were Civil War soldiers who wrestled in camps, while others were lumberjacks, miners, and railroad men.In Pioneers of Professional Wr...

Dan Russell's Sportstalk was appointment-listening for tens of thousands of B.C. sports fans over its three-decade run. What began in 1984 as a simple 50-minute filler would grow into the longest-running and most-listened to show of its kind in Canada.Russell created and solo-hosted the weekday-evening shows as Sportstalk became the gathering spot for Vancouver Canucks fans, highlighted by memorable marathon coverage of the 1994 and 2011 Stanley Cup finals.Bobby Orr, Michae...

The legendary good guys worthy of a spot in the pro wrestling hall of fameAt its core, professional wrestling has always been about the forces of evil trying to undermine everything good — and a red hot heel needs a valiant hero to battle against, someone fans can root for, identify with, and look up to.Wrestling heroes like Hulk Hogan, Dusty Rhodes, The Rock, and Andre the Giant are celebrated worldwide. In Heroes & Icons, Oliver and Johnson inclu...

From award-winning Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, an “entertaining” (The Wall Street Journal) and nostalgia-filled retelling of the 1980s Boston Celtics’ glory years, which featured the sublime play of NBA legend Larry Bird.Today the NBA is a vast global franchise—a billion-dollar industry seen by millions of fans in the United States and abroad. But it wasn’t always this successful. Before primetime ESPN coverage, lucrative branding deal...

**#1 New York Times bestselling author John Feinstein returns to his first love--college basketball--with a fascinating and compelling journey through a landscape of unsung, unpublicized and often unknown heroes of Division-1 college hoops."Uplifting...[A] heartfelt missive to college basketball." —The Wall Street Journal**John Feinstein pulls back the curtain on college basketball's lesser-known Cinderella stories--the smaller programs who no one expects ...

This is the BUMPER edition, One Hit Wonders of the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's together in one volume.Over 1600 one hit Wonders of those choice decades brought direct to you in eBook format.YES! We said SIXTEEN HUNDRED!Facts, chart positions, and crazy trivia of the songs we love and hate.Every one holds its own unique story, and some have as much drama as a Hollywood adventure movie.The complete stats/trivia for the One Hit Wonders will make you listen to ...

Canada couldn’t guarantee them greatness but offered the freedom and opportunity they needed to achieve it.In 1951, Bernie Custis, a standout quarterback at Syracuse, had his invitation to the national East-West All-Star game rescinded when the organizers discovered he was black. In 1978, Warren Moon — the only player to be inducted into both the Canadian and American football halls of fame — went unselected as a quarterback in the NFL draft.With the NFL in...

The Rider e-Book of Lists: iPad & e-Reader Edition is the first ever ‘e-book’ on the Saskatchewan Roughriders Canadian Football League (CFL) team. This e-book expands on The Rider Book of Lists published in print form in 2010 by the same authors: Sheldon Green and Rod Nasewich.  It provides a different and sometimes off-beat look at Rider players and coaches and at the Riders as a team, organization, a pop...

Wrestling is as much a part of winter in Iowa as is snow and cold. Dreams of state championships begin in elementary school and, since 1972, come to fruition - or heart-breakingly fall short - at an arena in Des Moines in February or March. In 2011, the tournament finals sold out for the 24th consecutive year. Individuals and teams carve their names on the sports history tree each year. Some champions were blind, some were deaf, some were amputees but all earn the respect of thousands for ...

What do Tom Jones, Nick Cave, Joan Baez, John Denver, Ray Charles, Del Shannon, Keith Richards, B.B. King, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Carol Channing, Manowar and Linda Ronstadt... have in common?Mickey Newbury.They recorded his songs. Matter of fact, Newbury's material has been covered by over 1,230 artists. That is just about everybody.His inspirational ballad "An American Trilogy" has been recorded by more than 550 artists. It was Elvis' showstopper.His "Ju...

In 1959 Berry Gordy Jr., a high school dropout, former boxer and record store owner, founded the Motown record label in Detroit. The company name, which played on the city's proud tradition of car manufacture, was to become synonymous with great music as Gordy took the sound of black America to the world. Starting with Barrett Strong's Money (That's What I Want), Motown racked up hit after hit, becoming familiar to UK audiences under the name of Tamla Motown and launching the careers of me...

Famous female athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias had one driving goal: to become the greatest athlete who ever lived. But there was more to Babe than just sports.Babe had a meteoric rise -- to famed basketball player, Olympic medalist, and top female golfer. But her life included many controversies surrounding her upbringing, personality, marriage, and even her early death. This action-packed true story of a woman ESPN ranks as #10 of the top North American athletes o...