October 10, 2017. The U.S. men’s soccer team loses in Trinidad and Tobago, and fails to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Winning soccer’s greatest prize never seemed more distant. Immediate fixes—a new coach, a revamped professional league, a commitment to coaching education—won’t put the USA in the global elite. The nation is too fractious, too litigious, too wrapped up in other sports, and too late to the game.In Why the U.S. Men Will Never Win the World Cup: A Historical and Cult...

All sports require resilience and perseverance. Women's soccer requires more than most. Two U.S. leagues have disappeared in the past decade. Players have put in countless hours of work for limited opportunities.For this book, veteran women's soccer writer Beau Dure tracked the Washington Spirit through its debut season, from the first league draft to chilly early-season practices and the frustrations of a long winless streak. He watched a young team react to a coaching change, inj...

Soccer is a fun, healthy activity for children. It's also a battleground for adults who want to take the sport several different directions.Is youth soccer a breeding ground to grow the USA's talent pool for future World Cup wins? If so, should we be herding talented players into elite groups away from their friends at early ages? And can soccer clubs meet the "elite" needs while also serving the community?Beau Dure, author of Long Range Goals: The Success Story of Majo...

All over the world, soccer is known as “the Beautiful Game” and is the most popular sport. But in the United States, professional soccer still has a hard time catching on.It has had some successes here. The American Soccer League of the 1920s, Pélé and other international stars in the North American Soccer League's glamorous 1970s, the indoor soccer phenomenon of the 1980s, and the U.S. women's win in the Women's World Cup of 1999 all hinted that the American public is ready to em...

*** Premium Ebook ***Veblen was a sociologist as much as he was an economist. "The Theory of the Leisure Class: An Economic Study of Institutions" is a treatise on economics and a social critique of conspicuous consumption, as a function of social class and of consumerism. Published in 1899, it presents the evolutionary development of human institutions (social and economic) that shape society.

An English professor begins training in the sport of mixed martial arts and explores the science and history behind the violence of menWhen a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym moves in across the street from his office, Jonathan Gottschall sees a challenge, and an opportunity. Pushing forty, out of shape, and disenchanted with his job as an adjunct English professor, part of him yearns to cross the street and join up. The other part is terrified. Gottschall eventually w...

A New York Times bestselling author takes readers inside the Ironman triathlon.As he did so masterfully in his New York Times bestseller, The Gatekeepers, Jacques Steinberg creates a compelling portrait of people obsessed with reaching a life-defining goal. In this instance, the target is an Ironman triathlon-a 2.4-mile open-water swim followed by a 112-mile bike ride, then finally a 26-mile marathon run, all of which must be completed in...

An up-close look at the rivalry between the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, told from the perspective of those that were there. Sports writer and on-air personality Mark Spector pays tribute to the province's hockey heyday with a unique blend of humour and homage."I hated every single guy on the Oilers, 'cause they all hated me." --Tim Hunter, the Calgary FlamesIn the 1980s, the province of Alberta was home to the two best hockey teams in the NHL. A...

The New York Times bestselling author of Sweetness delivers the first all-encompassing account of the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, one of professional sports’ most-revered—and dominant—dynasties.The Los Angeles Lakers of the 1980s personified the flamboyance and excess of the decade over which they reigned. Beginning with the arrival of Earvin “Magic” Johnson as the number-one overall pick of the 1979 draft, the Lake...

English Football has over 92 fully professional clubs. Players in the Premier League teams now earn an average salary of £2.3 million per annum. Meanwhile, on the bottom rung, entire squads make less in a year than Wayne Rooney takes home in a month. An army of young players sacrifice their education and prospects outside of sport for the dream of football success, despite that fact that 85% will be released from their contracts within five years. Simon Akam's book shows what the beautiful...

The incredible inside story of power, money, and some of the most important moments in the history of baseball.In the fall of 1992, America's National Pastime is in crisis and already on the path to the unthinkable: cancelling a World Series for the first time in history. The owners are at war with each other, their decades-long battle with the players has turned America against both sides, and the players' growing addiction to steroids will threaten the game's ver...

The autobiography of Dutch soccer legend Johan Cruyff, whose remarkable life and impeccable style have influenced star players and clubs for decadesJohan Cruyff embodied a footballing philosophy that now dominates coaching and playing styles in all the leading club sides around the world. You can dispute whether Cruyff was the greatest player ever -- he was certainly one of the top three -- but he is undoubtedly the player who single-handedly changed the nature of ...