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Sporting Blood
- Tales from the Dark Side of Boxing
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
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Sporting Blood
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Publisher's summary
"This book may cement [Acevedo's] status as one of today's best boxing journalists."—Kirkus Reviews
Boxing has one of the richest literary traditions in sports. From A. J. Liebling to Donald McRae, the sweet science has consistently inspired great writing. The work of Carlos Acevedo stands firmly in that distinguished tradition.
In this expanded edition of Sporting Blood, Acevedo adds two new masterful essays—one about the murder of Stanley Ketchel, the other about the gangland slaying of Battling Siki—to those that made his debut collection an instant classic. Other highlights include a moving meditation on Muhammad Ali; a penetrating look at the enigmatic Charles "Sonny" Liston; and a vivid profile of Mike Tyson, which brilliantly conjures the Boy King's late 1980s reign of terror. Acevedo also offers many other unforgettable tales from boxing's dark side, featuring Jack Johnson, Joe Frazier, Roberto Duran, Aaron Pryor, Jake LaMotta, and more.
Sporting Blood is a poetic throwback, a singular book that evokes journalism's golden age and places Acevedo among the best sportswriters of his generation.
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- By: Bill Hanstock
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 145
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 131
In We Promised You a Great Main Event, longtime sports journalist Bill Hanstock pulls back the curtain to give a smart fan’s account of WWE and Vince McMahon’s journey to the top. Untangling the truth behind the official WWE storyline, Hanstock does a deep dive into key moments of the company’s history, from the behind-the-scenes drama at the Montreal Screwjob, to the company’s handling of the Jimmy Snuka scandal, to the real story of the Monday Night Wars.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Pronounce names correctly!
- By JLA4 on 12-29-20
By: Bill Hanstock
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Blood in the Cage
- Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC
- By: L. Jon Wertheim
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 153
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 113
Based on unlimited access to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its rival leagues, Blood in the Cage peers through the chain-link Octagon into the frighteningly seductive world of mixed martial arts, which is exploding in popularity despite resistance from every corner. Wertheim focuses on Pat Miletich, a mixed-martial-arts pioneer and six-time UFC champion, who currently runs the most famous MMA training school in the world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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MMA Bible
- By Bret on 01-27-09
By: L. Jon Wertheim
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Cinderella Man
- James J. Braddock, Max Baer and the Greatest Upset in Boxing History
- By: Jeremy Schaap
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 285
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 158
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 159
Lost in the annals of boxing is the sport's true Cinderella story. James J. Braddock, dubbed "Cinderella Man" by Damon Runyon, was a once promising light heavyweight for whom a string of losses in the ring and a broken right hand happened to coincide with the Great Crash of 1929.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By MA on 06-05-05
By: Jeremy Schaap
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One Day
- The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America
- By: Gene Weingarten
- Narrated by: Johnathan McClain
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 153
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 137
On New Year’s Day 2013, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Gene Weingarten asked three strangers to, literally, pluck a day, month, and year from a hat. That day - chosen completely at random - was Sunday, December 28, 1986, by any conventional measure a most ordinary day. Weingarten spent the next six years proving that there is no such thing. That Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s turned out to be filled with comedy, tragedy, implausible irony, cosmic comeuppances, kindness, cruelty, heroism, cowardice, genius, idiocy, and much more....
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3 out of 5 stars
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I'm giving this book more credit for its concept
- By J. F. Boyd on 12-24-19
By: Gene Weingarten
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The King of New Orleans
- How the Junkyard Dog Became Professional Wrestling's First Black Superhero
- By: Greg Klein
- Narrated by: J D Jackson
- Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4 out of 5 stars 65
Telling the remarkable tale of a man who is still remembered on the streets of New Orleans and in the hearts of professional-wrestling fans, this book aims to restore the overlooked Junkyard Dog to his proper place in the history books. In 1979, Sylvester Ritter, also known as the Junkyard Dog, managed to break one of the final color barriers in the sport by becoming the first Black wrestler named undisputed top star of his promotion, and this biography reveals all the famous feuds and business back stories that made him a wrestling legend.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining & Insightful
- By Michael Cavacini on 10-22-20
By: Greg Klein
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Sound and Fury
- Two Powerful Lives, One Fateful Friendship
- By: Dave Kindred
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 249
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 192
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 192
Muhammed Ali and Howard Cosell, a legendary athlete and a television icon, were individually interesting, but together they were mesmerizing. They were profoundly different, young and old, black and white, a Muslim and a Jew, Ali barely literate, Cosell an editor of his university's law review. Yet they had in common forces that made them unforgettable: both were unprecedented performers who covered enormous insecurities by demanding, loudly and often, public acclaim.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great insight into Ali & Cosell
- By Steve on 05-04-06
By: Dave Kindred
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Too Sweet
- Inside the Indie Wrestling Revolution
- By: Keith Elliot Greenberg
- Narrated by: Danny Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 36
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 36
In 2017, after being told that no independent wrestling group could draw a crowd of more than 10,000, a group of wrestlers took up the challenge. For several years, these gladiators had been performing in front of rabid crowds and understood the hunger for wrestling that was different from the TV-slick product. In September 2018, they had the numbers to prove it: 11,263 fans filled the Sears Center Arena for the All In pay-per-view event, ushering in a new era. A year later, WWE had its first major head-to-head competitor in nearly two decades when All Elite Wrestling debuted on TNT.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Super Book, Annoying Narration
- By Richard on 04-10-21
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A Flame of Pure Fire
- Jack Dempsey and the Roaring '20s
- By: Roger Kahn
- Narrated by: Kevin Yon
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 54
Through most of the Roaring '20s, Jack Dempsey was the heavyweight champion of the world. With his fierce good looks and matchless dedication to the kill, he was a fighter perfectly suited to his time. In A Flame of Pure Fire, renowned sports writer Roger Kahn not only chronicles the thrilling, brutal bouts of the Manassa Mauler, but also illustrates how the tumultuous 1920s shaped Dempsey - and how the champ, in turn, left an indelible mark on sports and American history.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ambitious but poorly executed
- By Keith on 10-02-19
By: Roger Kahn
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Hey Rube
- Blood Sport, the Bush Doctrine, and the Downward Spiral of Dumbness
- By: Hunter S. Thompson
- Narrated by: Scott Sowers
- Length: 8 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 132
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 115
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 115
New York Times best-selling author and acclaimed Gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson is known for such groundbreaking works as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. A provocative collection of rants and reflections from Thompson’s columns at ESPN.com, Hey Rube offers outrageously brilliant insight on topics ranging from the 2000 election to his unconventional take on professional sports (“eliminate the pitcher” to improve Major League Baseball).
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3 out of 5 stars
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A bit of the best, a bit of the... not best.
- By m.w. on 08-03-12
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Paddy Whacked
- The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 577
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 510
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 509
In Paddy Whacked, best-selling author and organized crime expert T. J. English brings to life nearly two centuries of Irish American gangsterism, which spawned such unforgettable characters as Mike "King Mike" McDonald, Chicago's subterranean godfather; Big Bill Dwyer, New York's most notorious rumrunner during Prohibition; Mickey Featherstone, troubled Vietnam vet turned Westies gang leader; and James "Whitey" Bulger, the ruthless and seemingly untouchable Southie legend.
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4 out of 5 stars
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First Half - 4 Stars - Second Half - 2 Stars
- By Lulu on 08-29-16
By: T. J. English
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Quitters Never Win
- My Life in UFC
- By: Michael Bisping
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cowley
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 499
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 437
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Story5 out of 5 stars 438
Featuring an entirely new chapter for US readers, the story of his induction into the UFC Hall of Fame, fresh insights about his fighting career, never-before-told stories about his film and TV career, and a harrowing account of his fighting off attempted kidnappers while filming in South Africa, Quitters Never Win tells the incredible story of how he went from rough and humble beginnings and then on to a legendary mixed martial arts career capped by winning the Middleweight Championship in one of the greatest upsets in UFC history.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Book
- By Tullio708 on 04-22-20
By: Michael Bisping
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Hardcore History
- The Extremely Unauthorized Story of the ECW
- By: Scott E. Williams
- Narrated by: Karl Miller
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 400
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 359
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 361
ECW was one extreme contradiction piled on top of another. It was an incredibly influential company in the world of professional wrestling during the 1990s, yet it was never profitable. It portrayed itself as the ultimate in anti-authority rebellion, but its leadership was, at various points, working covertly with the two wrestling giants, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling. Most of all, it blurred the line between real life and the fantasy world of professional wrestling like no other company before it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Get a narrator with product knowledge
- By Dr Feelgood on 11-29-16
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Unbeaten
- By: Mike Stanton
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 12 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 143
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Story5 out of 5 stars 142
From the best-selling author of The Prince of Providence comes a revelatory biography of Rocky Marciano, the greatest heavyweight champion of all time.The son of poor Italian immigrants, with short arms and stubby legs, Rocky Marciano accomplished a feat that eluded legendary heavyweight champions like Joe Louis, Jack Dempsey, Muhammad Ali, and Mike Tyson: He never lost a professional fight. His record was a perfect 49-0.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb book: the full story in great detain
- By John Wood on 08-16-20
By: Mike Stanton
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The Murder of Sonny Liston
- Las Vegas, Heroin, and Heavyweights
- By: Shaun Assael
- Narrated by: R.C. Bray
- Length: 6 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 90
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
On January 5, 1971, Sonny Liston was found dead in his home - of an apparent heroin overdose. But no one close to Liston believed that his death was accidental. Digging deep into a life that Liston tried hard to hide, Shaun Assael treats the boxer's death as a cold case. The result is a riveting whodunit that evokes a glorious and grimy era of Las Vegas.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great read
- By Diane Dodge on 09-14-19
By: Shaun Assael
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Strokes of Genius
- Federer, Nadal, and the Greatest Match Ever Played
- By: L. Jon Wertheim
- Narrated by: Edward Bauer
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
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Story5 out of 5 stars 35
In the 2008 Wimbledon men's final, Center Court was a stage set worthy of Shakespearean drama. Five-time champion Roger Federer was on track to take his rightful place as the most dominant player in the history of the game. He just needed to cling to his trajectory. So in the last few moments of daylight, Center Court witnessed a coronation. Only it wasn't a crowning for the Swiss heir apparent but for a swashbuckling Spaniard.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Nostalgia at its best
- By komenak on 03-03-24
By: L. Jon Wertheim
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Playing Through the Whistle
- Steel, Football, and an American Town
- By: S. L. Price
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 65
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
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Story4 out of 5 stars 63
Aliquippa, Pennsylvania is famous for two things: the Jones and Laughlin Steel mill, an industrial behemoth that helped win World War II; and football, with a high school team that has produced numerous NFL stars, including Mike Ditka and Darrelle Revis. But the mill, once the fourth largest producer in America, closed for good in 2000. What happens to a town when a dream dies? Does it just disappear?
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5 out of 5 stars
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This is not a football book
- By radchick on 04-19-17
By: S. L. Price
What listeners say about Sporting Blood
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- The Senate
- 01-16-24
Audiobook error ruins story
There's some loop on the Jack Johnson chapter, around the halfway point the chaper begins again. i don't know if there's more to the chapter that is left out or if it's just lazy editing but it's annoying
The Narrator kind of sucks too. putting accents on Hispanic names but can't get Ali or Holyfield right, calls them Alli and Hollyfield.
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