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The Most Expensive Game in Town
- The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 4 hrs and 58 mins
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The Most Expensive Game in Town
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Publisher's summary
A look at how commercialization has transformed youth sports from fun into a heavily commercialized and profitable venture.
Examining the youth sports economy from many sides - the major corporations, the small entrepreneurs, the coaches, the parents, and, of course, the kids - Hyman probes the reasons for rapid changes in what gets bought and sold in this lucrative marketplace. He reveals the effects on kids and profiles the individuals and communities bucking this destructive trend of commercialization.
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When Kevin Garnett shocked the world by announcing that he would not be attending college - as young basketball prodigies were expected to do - but instead would enter the 1995 NBA draft directly from high school, he blazed a trail for a generation of teenage basketball players to head straight for the pros. That trend would continue until the NBA instituted an age limit in 2005, requiring all players to attend college or another developmental program for at least one year.
-
3 out of 5 stars
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Bad pronunciation
- By K. Spearman on 07-03-16
By: Jonathan Abrams
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You Herd Me!
- I'll Say It If Nobody Else Will
- By: Colin Cowherd
- Narrated by: Colin Cowherd
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 506
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 459
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 457
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.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book, Repeats majority of themes from radio
- By Troy on 01-20-14
By: Colin Cowherd
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Endzone
- The Rise, Fall, and Return of Michigan Football
- By: John U. Bacon
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 186
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Story5 out of 5 stars 184
Endzone tells the story of how college football's most successful and respected program nearly lost it all in less than a decade and entirely of its own doing. It is a story of hubris, greed, and betrayal, a tale more suited to Wall Street than the world's top public university.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Outstanding!
- By Justin on 12-21-15
By: John U. Bacon
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The QB
- The Making of Modern Quarterbacks
- By: Bruce Feldman
- Narrated by: Corey M. Snow
- Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 104
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4 out of 5 stars 91
The QB tells the story of the interlocking paths of the most fascinating characters involved in this secretive world, examining how advanced analysis has taken root in football. Manziel's portrait is the most intimate look at him yet, detailing all his talents and antics. In The QB, the stories of these men illustrate how high the stakes of the quarterback's game really are, taking readers on a compelling journey into the heart of America's beloved game.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Interesting and entertaining
- By R. Koehler on 02-25-15
By: Bruce Feldman
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The End of Work
- Why Your Passion Can Become Your Job
- By: John Tamny
- Narrated by: Tom Parks
- Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
From the author of Popular Economics comes a surprisingly sunny projection of America's future job market. Forget the doomsday predictions of sour-faced nostalgists who say automation and globalization will take away your dream job. The job market is only going to get better and better, according to economist John Tamny, who argues in The End of Work that the greatest gift of prosperity, beyond freedom from painful want, is the existence of work that is interesting.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Positive... fun all the way... no boring parts
- By Robert J. Marks on 02-20-19
By: John Tamny
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The Baseball Whisperer
- A Small-Town Coach Who Shaped Big League Dreams
- By: Michael Tackett
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Clarinda, Iowa, population 5,000, sits two hours from anything. There, between the cornfields and hog yards, is a ball field with a bronze bust of a man named Merl Eberly, a baseball whisperer who specialized in second chances and lost causes. The statue was a gift from one of Merl's original long-shot projects, a skinny kid from the ghetto in Los Angeles who would one day become a beloved Hall of Fame shortstop: Ozzie Smith.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book!
- By zane Butler on 08-13-21
By: Michael Tackett
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Got to Give the People What They Want
- True Stories and Flagrant Opinions from Center Court
- By: Jalen Rose
- Narrated by: Jalen Rose
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 566
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 505
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 504
Jalen Rose has never been quiet. Not as a kid growing up in Detroit in the '70s and '80s. Not as the brash, trash-talking leader of the legendary "Fab Five" at the University of Michigan. Not as the player under the stewardship of Hall of Famers Larry Bird, Isiah Thomas, and others throughout his 13-year NBA career. And certainly not as a commentator and analyst on ABC/ESPN and Grantland.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Amazing book - a MUST download / read
- By Terry on 10-08-15
By: Jalen Rose
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Saban
- The Making of a Coach
- By: Monte Burke
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 12 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 388
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 387
As the head coach of the University of Alabama's football team, Nick Saban is perhaps the most influential - and controversial - man in the sport. Unpredictable in his professional loyalties, uncompromising in his vision, and unyielding in his pursuit of perfection, the highest-paid coach in college football has changed the face of the game. His program-building vision has delivered packed stadiums, rabid fans, legions of detractors, countless NFL draft picks, and a total of four championships.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator is awful.
- By kenneth on 08-12-15
By: Monte Burke
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Illegal Procedure
- A Sports Agent Comes Clean on the Dirty Business of College Football
- By: Josh Luchs, James Dale
- Narrated by: David Ledoux
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4 out of 5 stars 59
For 15 years, sports agent Josh Luchs made illegal deals with numerous college athletes, from top-tier, nationally recognized phenoms to late-round draft picks. Then, in October 2010, Luchs wrote a confessional article in Sports Illustrated, telling the truth about what he did and didn't do. Since then, he has taken on a new role: whistle-blowing, truth-telling reformer. In telling his own story, Luchs here pulls back the curtain on the real economy - and the broken system - of college football.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very cool!
- By Phil on 01-24-13
By: Josh Luchs, and others
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The System
- The Glory and Scandal of Big-Time College Football
- By: Jeff Benedict, Armen Keteyian
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 17 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 503
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 437
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 439
College football has never been more popular - or more chaotic. Millions fill 100,000-seat stadiums every Saturday; tens of millions more watch on television every weekend. The 2013 Discover BCS National Championship game between Notre Dame and Alabama had a viewership of 26.4 million people, second only to the Super Bowl. Billions of dollars from television deals now flow into the game; the average budget for a top-ten team is $80 million; top coaches make more than $3 million a year; the highest paid, more than $5 million.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gripping Inside Look at an Industry to Itself
- By W Perry Hall on 01-23-14
By: Jeff Benedict, and others
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The Club
- How the English Premier League Became the Wildest, Richest, Most Disruptive Force in Sports
- By: Joshua Robinson, Jonathan Clegg
- Narrated by: Shaun Grindell
- Length: 13 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 502
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 444
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 440
No one knew it when their experiment began, but without any particular genius or acumen, the motley cast of billionaires and hucksters behind the modern Premier League struck gold. Pretty soon, everyone wanted to try their luck, from Russian oligarchs to Emirati sheikhs, American tycoons, and Asian Tiger titans. Some succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. Some lost everything. Today, players are sold for tens of millions, clubs are valued in the billions, and games are beamed out to nearly 200 countries, all while the league struggles to preserve its English soul.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Read don't listen
- By JR3 on 01-23-19
By: Joshua Robinson, and others
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The League
- How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire
- By: John Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Daniel Thomas May
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 277
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 252
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 252
The National Football League's current dominance has obscured how professional football got its start. In The League, John Eisenberg reveals that Art Rooney, George Halas, Tim Mara, George Preston Marshall, and Bert Bell took an immense risk by investing in the professional game. At that time, the sport barely registered on the national scene. The five owners succeeded only because at critical junctures in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s, each sacrificed the short-term success of his team for the longer-term good of the League.
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5 out of 5 stars
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what a great book. loved it completely.
- By Daniel Mosca on 11-08-18
By: John Eisenberg
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Indentured
- The Inside Story of the Rebellion Against the NCAA
- By: Joe Nocera, Ben Strauss
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
The National Collegiate Athletic Association has come under fire. Fans have begun to realize that the athletes involved in the two biggest college sports, men's basketball and football, are little more than indentured servants. Millions of teenagers accept scholarships to chase their dreams of fame and fortune - at the price of absolute submission to the whims of an organization that puts their interests dead last.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Armament agnst NCAA: Enlightening, Infuriating
- By W Perry Hall on 03-15-16
By: Joe Nocera, and others
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War Room
- The Legacy of Bill Belichick and the Art of Building the Perfect Team
- By: Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Bill Belichick is one of the titans of today's game of football. Now, sports commentator and best-selling author Michael Holley follows three NFL teams - the New England Patriots, Kansas City Chiefs, and Atlanta Falcons - from training camp 2010 through the Super Bowl and into the April draft, opening a new window into Belichick's influence on the game. This one-of-a-kind exploration takes football fans behind the scenes of the most popular sport in America, with unprecedented insider access to the head coaches, scouts, trainers, and players.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator choice - HUH?
- By Ryan Mullaney on 03-25-18
By: Michael Holley
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The Extra 2%
- How Wall Street Strategies Took a Major League Baseball Team from Worst to First
- By: Jonah Keri
- Narrated by: Lloyd James
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 217
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 181
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Story4 out of 5 stars 182
In The Extra 2%, financial journalist and sportswriter Jonah Keri chronicles the remarkable story of one team's Cinderella journey from divisional doormat to World Series contender. By quantifying the game's intangibles, they were able to deliver to Tampa Bay an American League pennant. This is an informative and entertaining case study for any organization that wants to go from worst to first.
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2 out of 5 stars
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No Strategies or Insight
- By Victor Luera on 10-11-12
By: Jonah Keri
What listeners say about The Most Expensive Game in Town
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Susie
- 01-04-13
The True Cost of Youth Sports
Mark Hyman tallys the price of youth sports in the USA in dollars and lives. From equipment to private lessons, from tournament trips to MRIs, parents are bleeding themselves dry for their children’s activities.
Some parents try to live their dreams through their children. They believe they're investing in their children’s future, led astray by the many corporate youth programs who tell them their kids are the next Venus & Serena Williams— they just need more lessons, more workshops, more camps.
This fine investigative journalism might make you think twice before you send your kid across the country to Lacrosse summer camp.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Nicholas
- 06-12-13
Enjoyed, but wanted more statistics or takeaways
What did you love best about The Most Expensive Game in Town?
Good information. Great to get some insight into some of the specifics that are happening.
Have you listened to any of Mike Chamberlain’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Reader was good. I've heard him to other books, and he's got a perfect voice for statistical based non fiction.
If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
You're ruining your kids lives.
Any additional comments?
Overall I liked the book. However, I wish there was more statistical analysis on what happens to kids who's parent actually spend all the money on sports. I also wish there was more info on how valuable (or lack of value) there is in spending money on kids before a certain age - meaning how much does it actually help to spend 1k on training for an 8 year old.
The author provides a lot of good information, but makes very few statements like - based on this information you should do (or at least consider) XXXXXX.
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