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Breaking Through
- John B. McLendon, Basketball Legend and Civil Rights Pioneer
- Narrated by: Marlin May
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
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Breaking Through
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Publisher's summary
John B. McLendon was the last living protégé of basketball’s inventor Dr. James Naismith and one of the “top ten basketball coaches of the century” in Billy Packer’s opinion. McLendon’s amazing records in college and pro basketball earned him a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame (the first Black coach to be inducted), and his coaching philosophy has had a huge influence on basketball coaches. Breaking Through is also a powerful and inspirational story about segregation and a champion’s struggle for equality in 1940s and 50s America.
Black Magic, ESPN’s Peabody Award-winning documentary about players and coaches who attended historically Black colleges and universities, covers many of the events in McLendon’s life that Katz writes about in his book. John McLendon was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
The book is published by University of Arkansas.
"The Father of Black Basketball, [McLendon] was the godfather to the young Black athlete. I saw him as a true caretaker of the sport." (Julius Irving, NBA Hall of Famer)
"Will teach readers something about adversity and how to prevail, about what it means to earn respect at the highest level." (Earl Lloyd, NBA Hall of Famer and the first African American to play in the NBA)
"The research Katz has done for Breaking Through is outstanding...dramatic and exciting." (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
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- Narrated by: Jamie Renell
- Length: 6 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 40
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Story5 out of 5 stars 41
Sound interesting? The author thinks so too! Listen to Dabo's World and learn about how Dabo Swinney used his energy, faith, and determination to turn the Clemson Tigers into a football powerhouse.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Very Basic Retelling
- By Colonel on 12-31-22
By: Lars Anderson
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Overtime
- Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football
- By: John U. Bacon
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
For the past year, John U. Bacon has received unprecedented access to Jim Harbaugh’s University of Michigan football team: coaches, players, and staffers, in closed-door meetings, locker rooms, meals, and classes. Overtime captures this storied program at the crossroads, as the sport’s winningest team battles to reclaim its former glory. But what if the price of success today comes at the cost of your soul? Do you pay it, or compete without compromising?
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3 out of 5 stars
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Good story.... but
- By Amazon Customer on 10-07-19
By: John U. Bacon
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Attitude
- Develop a Winning Mindset on and off the Court
- By: Jay Wright, Michael Sheridan, Mark Dagostino, and others
- Narrated by: Michael Sheridan
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 201
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 172
In this behind-the-scenes look at the making of a champion, the coach of the Villanova University men's basketball team shares his competitive and cooperative philosophy along with lessons from his coaching career and the story of his personal road to success.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Nova Nation !
- By Anonymous on 11-16-17
By: Jay Wright, and others
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Tanking to the Top
- The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports
- By: Yaron Weitzman
- Narrated by: Yaron Weitzman
- Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 154
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
When a group of private equity bigwigs purchased the Philadelphia 76ers in 2011, the team was both bad and boring. Attendance was down. So were ratings. The Sixers had an aging coach, an antiquated front office, and a group of players that could best be described as mediocre. Enter Sam Hinkie - a man with a plan straight out of the PE playbook, one that violated professional sports' Golden Rule: You play to win the game.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great history of tanking by Sixers
- By Alan Bernstein on 03-11-23
By: Yaron Weitzman
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The Gipper
- George Gipp, Knute Rockne, and the Dramatic Rise of Notre Dame Football
- By: Jack Cavanaugh
- Narrated by: Nancy Linari
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 47
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
Win one for The Gipper. Has there ever been a better-known and widely-used exhortative phrase in sports? Not likely. But who was the "Gipper", this mythical-like sports figure whose nickname has aroused, in turn, awe, wonderment, curiosity, and amusement since the second decade of the 20th century, and why is his story important? Answering those questions is the formidable task taken on here by veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Not sure why my grade 1 teacher was reading this
- By Thomas on 07-23-13
By: Jack Cavanaugh
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Forty Million Dollar Slaves
- The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Black Athlete
- By: William C. Rhoden
- Narrated by: William C. Rhoden
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 358
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 306
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
From Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali and Arthur Ashe, African American athletes have been at the center of modern culture, their on-the-field heroics admired and stratospheric earnings envied. But for all their money, fame, and achievement, says former New York Times columnist William C. Rhoden, Black athletes still find themselves on the periphery of true power in the multibillion-dollar industry their talent built. Provocative and controversial, Rhoden's Forty Million Dollar Slaves weaves a compelling narrative of Black athletes in the United States.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Book and Narrator Review
- By Leonor on 12-26-17
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Scribe
- My Life in Sports
- By: Bob Ryan
- Narrated by: Bob Ryan
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 82
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 72
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Story4 out of 5 stars 74
Ever since he joined the sports department of the Boston Globe in 1968, sports enthusiasts have been blessed with the writing and reporting of Bob Ryan. Tony Kornheiser calls him the "quintessential American sportswriter". For the past 25 years, he has also been a regular on various ESPN shows, especially The Sports Reporters, spreading his knowledge and enthusiasm for sports of all kinds.
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2 out of 5 stars
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No my idea of a memoir
- By Michael Friedman on 12-19-14
By: Bob Ryan
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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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Barkley
- A Biography
- By: Timothy Bella
- Narrated by: Korey Jackson
- Length: 16 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 73
He's one of the most interesting American athletes in the past fifty years. Passionate, candid, iconoclastic, and gifted both on and off the court, Charles Barkley has made a lasting impact on not only the world of basketball but pop culture at large. Yet few people know the real Charles. Informed by over 370 original interviews and painstaking research, Timothy Bella's Barkley is the most comprehensive biography to date of one of the most talked about icons in the world of sports.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great insight to the big man’s life.
- By marci rodee on 07-03-23
By: Timothy Bella
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King of the Court
- Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution
- By: Aram Goudsouzian
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 17 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Bill Russell was not the first African American to play professional basketball, but he was its first Black superstar. From the moment he stepped onto the court of the Boston Garden in 1956, Russell began to transform the sport in a fundamental way, making him, more than any of his contemporaries, the Jackie Robinson of basketball. In King of the Court, Aram Goudsouzian provides a vivid and engrossing chronicle of the life and career of this brilliant champion and courageous racial pioneer. Russell's leaping, wide-ranging defense altered the game's texture.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Portrait of a Basketball Revolutionary
- By Susie on 01-28-13
By: Aram Goudsouzian
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The Missing Ring
- How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football's Most Elusive Prize
- By: Keith Dunnavant
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story5 out of 5 stars 31
Very few institutions in American sports can match the enduring excellence of the University of Alabama football program. Across a wide swath of the last century, the tradition-rich Crimson Tide has claimed twelve national championships, captured 25 conference titles, finished 34 times among the country's top ten, and played in 53 bowl games.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic
- By John Rogers on 03-29-18
By: Keith Dunnavant
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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 278
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 253
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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Wins, Losses, and Lessons
- An Autobiography
- By: Lou Holtz
- Narrated by: Lou Holtz
- Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins
- Abridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 696
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 580
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Story5 out of 5 stars 577
Few people in the history of college sports have been more influential or had a bigger impact than Lou Holtz. Winner of the three national Coach of the Year honors, the only coach ever to lead six different schools to season-ending bowl games, and the ninth-winningest coach in college football history, Holtz is still teaching and coaching, although he is no longer on the gridiron.
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4 out of 5 stars
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great story about an incredibly successful coach
- By James on 04-30-12
By: Lou Holtz
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Boys Among Men
- How the Prep-to-Pro Generation Redefined the NBA and Sparked a Basketball Revolution
- By: Jonathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 81
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
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.
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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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It's Better to Be Feared
- The New England Patriots Dynasty and the Pursuit of Greatness
- By: Seth Wickersham
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 19 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 596
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 502
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 499
Over two unbelievable decades, the New England Patriots were not only the NFL's most dominant team, but also - and by far - the most secretive. How did they achieve and sustain greatness - and what were the costs? In It's Better to Be Feared, Seth Wickersham, one of the country's finest long form and investigative sportswriters, tells the full, behind-the-scenes story of the Patriots, capturing the brilliance, ambition, and vanity that powered and ultimately unraveled them.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Don’t bother if you’ve read other patriots books
- By Brandon O. on 10-14-21
By: Seth Wickersham
What listeners say about Breaking Through
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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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- J Parker Adair
- 02-18-21
Fantastic story; amazing human
Coach McLendon is one of my favorite humans of all time. This tells so much of his story, even more than I already knew. The narrator was okay; he didn’t ruin it for me, but he committed one of the worst errors a narrator can do: he mispronounced the name of someone famous in the field. I hear this happen a lot, and it always takes me out of the story. Other than that, he’s just fairly bland. But the story is so much more important than the narrator. Even a poor narration (which this is not) is worth it in this case.
If you find yourself wanting more after this book, go watch the Dan Klores documentary “Black Magic” about the rise of basketball through the lens of historically black colleges and universities. It should be on ESPN. Coach Mac’s story features heavily in it.
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