Hoosiers have always loved basketball!Long before Larry Bird carried Indiana State University to the 1979 NCAA National Championship or Bobby Knight walked the sidelines at Indiana University, basketball fostered community identity across the Hoosier state. From Indiana's tiniest towns to its biggest cities, high school basketball is a source of pride, unifying communities with different races, religions, and social and economic status.First drawn simply to documenting the ...

In The ESPN Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge, Steve Wulf, acclaimed author and founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, delivers an arena’s worth of sporting wisdom, trivia, best-of lists, curiosities, legendary feats, and sacred objects–from the magic of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech to the lore of hockey’s Stanley Cup to the art of the perfectly thrown Wiffle Ball pitch. Written to remind us all why we love the games, this indispensable reference features contributio...

A century before Lance Armstrong captured headlines around the world by winning a record seventh consecutive Tour de France, another American dominated the world of competitive cycling. His name was Bobby Walthour, and in the early 1900s he was one of the world's most famous and highly paid athletes.Life in the Slipstream chronicles Walthour's rise from a lowly bicycle messenger in Georgia to a two-time national and international cycling champion who was nearly as popular i...

In this history of the stock car racing circuit known as NASCAR, Daniel S. Pierce offers a revealing new look at the sport from its postwar beginnings on Daytona Beach and Piedmont dirt tracks through the early 1970s, when the sport spread beyond its southern roots and gained national recognition. Real NASCAR not only confirms the popular notion of NASCAR’s origins in bootlegging, but also establishes beyond a doubt the close ties between organized racing and the illegal liquor in...

"One of the best books ever written about the Cubs, their home and the fans who flock there to watch them, win or lose."— Rolling StoneIn spring 1914, a new ballpark opened in Chicago. Hastily constructed after epic political maneuvering around the city's and organized baseball's hierarchies, the new Weeghman Park (named after its builder, fast-food magnate Charley Weeghman) was home to the Federal Leagues Chicago Whales. The park would soon be known as Wr...

The 68 year existence of Indianapolis Washington High School is described in a decade-by-decade history with an emphasis on people and athletics as well as focusing on individuals from the World War II and Vietnam eras. The varied lists of both a factual and subjective nature will be of interest to many in central Indiana.

Raucous, raw, and reliably remarkable, the century–old football riavlry between the state universities of Texas and Oklahoma stands as testimony that hate–based relationships are the most enduring. Texas and Oklahoma have been top–level programs for a long time, but in the last few years the rivalry has garnered ever more national attention. Mike Shropshire, an observer of this football war for more than 40 years, chronicles the long and colorful history of this fierce rivalry that has end...

Attucks! is true story of the all-black high school basketball team that broke the color barrier in segregated 1950s Indiana, masterfully told by National Book Award winner Phil Hoose.By winning the state high school basketball championship in 1955, ten teens from an Indianapolis school meant to be the centerpiece of racially segregated education in the state shattered the myth of their inferiority. Their brilliant coach had fashioned an unbeatable team fr...

A "compelling narrative" about three Chicago Cubs legends, the rise of baseball fever, and the emergence of a new America as the twentieth century began ( Booklist, starred review).Their names were chanted, crowed, and cursed. Alone they were a shortstop, a second baseman, and a first baseman. But together they were an unstoppable force. Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance came together in rough-and-tumble early twentieth-century Chicago and soon for...

The story of Tulsa's transformation from a nineteenth-century cow town into the "Oil Capital of the World" has been above ground for years, but a great reservoir of Tulsey Town's heritage has remained beneath the surface. These neglected tales include the dirigible flyover of 1929, the Hominy Indians' victory over the New York Giants and the legendary final performance of Spade Cooley, convicted killer and the self-proclaimed "King of Western Swing." From the horrors of the city's early ra...

The extraordinary social history of Rickwood Field becomes the story of baseball itself, gloriously evoked for the centennial of America’s oldest ballpark.While America has changed dramatically over the last hundred years, Rickwood Field, the pride of Birmingham, Alabama, has remained fixed in time. Best-selling baseball writer Allen Barra journeyed to his native Alabama to capture the glories of a century of baseball lore. In chronicling the history of Rickwood Fi...

 From political pandering and clunky criminals to historical hiccups, the jokes, wacky anecdotes, and inane quotes in Leland Gregory’s Stupid-themed anthologies showcase the best of human nature at its worst. In Stupid Sports, Leland now presents more than 200 sports-related idiotic moments featuring stupid sports laws and regulations, quotes, and athlete interactions with the law, fellow teammates, celebrities, and more, such as: “This could ruin my career.” —Da...