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NFL Century
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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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The United States Football League was the last football league to not merely challenge the mighty NFL but also to cause it to collectively shudder. It spanned three seasons, featured as many as 18 teams, secured multiple television deals, drew millions of fans, and launched the careers of legends - but then it died beneath the weight of a particularly egotistical and bombastic owner, a New York businessman named Donald Trump. Jeff Pearlman draws on more than 400 interviews to unearth all the salty, untold stories of one of the craziest sports entities to have ever captivated America.
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Washington, DC, gleams with stately columns and neoclassical temples, a pulsing hub of political power and prowess. But for decades it was one of the worst excuses for a capital city the world had ever seen. Empire of Mud unearths and untangles the roots of our capital’s story and explores how the city was tainted from the outset, nearly stifled from becoming the proud citadel of the republic that George Washington and Pierre L’Enfant envisioned more than two centuries ago.
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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As Don Shula and Johnny Unitas elevated the brutal game of football, the world around them clashed about Vietnam, civil rights, and sex. Collision of Wills looks at the complicated relationship between Don Shula, the league's winningest coach of all time, and his star player Johnny Unitas, and how their secret animosity fueled the Colts in an era when their losses were as memorable as their victories.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story5 out of 5 stars 58
Bill Walsh, Joe Gibbs, and Bill Parcells dominated what may go down as the greatest decade in pro football history, leading their teams to a combined eight championships and developing some of the most gifted players of all time in the process. In interviews with more than 150 players, coaches, family members and friends, Guts and Genius digs into the careers of three men who overcame their own insecurities and doubts to build Hall of Fame legacies that transformed their generation and continue to impact today's NFL.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Didn't Hook Me
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 67
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
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A major new audiobook from number-one New York Times best-seller and sportswriting legend John Feinstein, Quarterback dives deep into the most coveted and hallowed position in the NFL - exploring the stories of five top quarterbacks and taking listeners inside their unique experiences of playing the position and holding the keys to their multibillion-dollar teams.
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2 out of 5 stars
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The Title makes no sense, it is not about QB's
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The New York Yankees of the 1950s: Mantle, Stengel, Berra, and a Decade of Dominance
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- Unabridged
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Overall2 out of 5 stars 1
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Performance0 out of 5 stars 0
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Story2 out of 5 stars 1
The 1950s marked a transformative period in postwar American history. In baseball, one dynasty was the story during the decade. The New York Yankees played in eight World Series from 1950 to 1959, winning six of them. Yankees icon Joe DiMaggio retired following the 1951 season, but a new superstar, Mickey Mantle, took over in Yankee Stadium’s center field in 1952. Mantle, the powerful switch-hitter who blasted tape-measure home runs, often tortured by leg ailments, was the number one box office draw in baseball.
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When Pride Still Mattered
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- Abridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 156
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 105
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 105
When Pride Still Mattered is the quintessential story of the American family: how Vince Lombardi, the son of an immigrant Italian butcher, rose to the top, and how his character and will to prevail transformed him, his wife, his children, his players, his sport, and ultimately the entire country.
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4 out of 5 stars
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pretty intersting
- By David on 06-01-17
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Basketball
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- By: Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew, Dan Klores
- Narrated by: Various
- Length: 16 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 166
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 150
A sweeping and revelatory history of basketball, drawing upon hundreds of hours of interviews with the greatest players, coaches, executives, and journalists in the history of the game. In an effort to tell the complete story of basketball in all its fascinating dimensions, acclaimed authors Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew, and Dan Klores have compiled nearly a thousand hours' worth of interviews with a staggering number of basketball greats. The audiobook that grew out of those interviews is an extraordinary project and quite possibly the most ambitious basketball work ever made.
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5 out of 5 stars
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American basketball oral story
- By AndrzejKotarski on 12-16-18
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Then One Day...
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- Length: 7 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 10
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 10
Chris Andrews was destined to be a bookmaker. Growing up under the watchful eye and influence of his Uncle Jack Franzi, legendary Pittsburgh wiseguy and Las Vegas sportsbook pioneer, Chris started booking sports bets in the fifth grade...Then One Day... delves deeply into the consciousness of a legitimate bookmaker and sports bettor. By the time you finish this memoir, you’ll be an expert in the language and customs of legalized gambling on sporting events, which, now that the Supreme Court has opened the door, is finally set to explode throughout the nation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book for sports lovers and gamblers
- By Charles Williamson on 10-10-19
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The Big Fella
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- By: Jane Leavy
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- Length: 22 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 97
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Story4 out of 5 stars 96
After hitting his 60th home run in September 1927, Ruth embarked on the mother of all barnstorming tours, a three-week victory lap across America, accompanied by Yankee teammate Lou Gehrig. In The Big Fella, acclaimed biographer Jane Leavy recreates that 21-day circus and in so doing captures the romp and the pathos that defined Ruth’s life and times. Drawing from more than 250 interviews, a trove of previously untapped documents, and Ruth family records, Leavy breaks through the mythology that has obscured the legend and delivers the man.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Babe Ruth and American History
- By A. L. Katz on 10-21-18
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That First Season
- How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory
- By: John Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Pat Young
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 58
John Eisenberg's That First Season is the seldom-studied prequel to a phenomenal football career for Vince Lombardi and the Packers, drawing on exhaustive new research and interviews to tell an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader. The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Did the author listen to the performance?
- By Brian W. Barton on 08-20-18
Publisher's Summary
From the former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame comes a sweeping and lively history of the National Football League, timed to coincide with the NFL's 100th-anniversary season.
"I can think of no one better qualified - or more enthusiastic - to chronicle the National Football League’s century-long history than Joe Horrigan." (Marv Levy, Hall of Fame NFL coach)
The NFL has come a long way from its founding in Canton, Ohio, in 1920. In the 100 years since that fateful day, football has become America’s most popular and lucrative professional sport. The former scrappy upstart league that struggled to stay afloat has survived a host of challenges - the Great Depression and World War II, controversies and scandals, battles over labor rights, and competition from rival leagues - to produce American icons like Vince Lombardi, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady. It is an extraordinary and entertaining history that could be told only by Joe Horrigan, former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame and perhaps the greatest living historian of the NFL, by drawing upon decades of NFL archives. Compelling, eye-opening, and authoritative, NFL Century is a must-hear for NFL fans and anyone who loves the game of football.
Advance praise for NFL Century
"Joe Horrigan takes the reader on a delightful tour of the seminal moments of the NFL in the past one hundred years - the players, owners, coaches, executives, and historical events that made the game of football the most popular in America. It’s a wonderful walk down memory lane for any football fan, young or old." (Michael Lombardi, author of Gridiron Genius)
“There is no one - and I mean no one - who knows more about the history of the NFL than Joe Horrigan, the heart and soul of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. As the gold standard of sports leagues celebrates its 100th season, it’s appropriate that the gold standard of sports historians has written NFL Century, an entertaining and educational journey.” (Gary Myers, New York Times best-selling author)
Critic Reviews
"Believe me, it is a daunting challenge to weave a narrative from the years of Jim Thorpe and Fritz Pollard to the years of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Joe Horrigan pulls it off elegantly in NFL Century. His choice of subjects to highlight is spot-on. His reporting sheds new light on decades-old events. A century of rollicking pro football history flies by." (John Eisenberg, author of The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire)
"Joe Horrigan may not have witnessed all one hundred seasons of the NFL in person, but it seems that way. The legends and lore of professional football come to life in NFL Century just as if we were back in the years and decades in which they lived. Some of the story lines we know; others are a revelation. I’ve known and worked with Joe since the eighties, and every time he talks about the history of the NFL you can see the twinkle in his eyes. That very same twinkle appears throughout these pages." (Chris Berman, ESPN sportscaster)
"An entertaining, passionate, and educational rags-to-riches story of the NFL’s greatest names, games, and events of the past one hundred seasons of America’s most popular sport. NFL Century should be on the shelf of every football fan’s library." (Chris Willis, head of the Research Library at NFL Films, author of Red Grange)
"[Horrigan] delivers an expansive and celebratory history of the NFL.... Sports fans will find plenty to sink their teeth into, as Horrigan provides detailed and lively depictions of stars and coaches from various teams, including Joe Namath and the Jets’ legendary Super Bowl III triumph, the successes of the 1972 undefeated Dolphins, and the recent Patriots dynasty. This fast-paced history will thrill football fans of all allegiances." (Publishers Weekly)
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- Humf
- 10-11-19
Fascinating history of the sport
As a UK fan a lot of this was new to me and I thoroughly enjoyed the history lesson in particular how big a part of it George Halas played.
An avid fan since 1985 (Ditka and da Bears) I was particularly fascinated and how the sport progressed to that point. The role that the NFL commissioner played in various aspects was very interesting. Loved the chapter on Jerry Jones and the advertising strategies. Well read too.