In the half-century since its birth, as Sports Illustrated grew from a struggling start-up to America's preeminent sports magazine, one thing has remained constant: the commitment to great storytelling. That part of the magazine's mission has always been easy to define: Identify the most compelling sports stories of our time and get the best writers in the business to tell them. This book brings together a lineup of writing talent worthy of the Hall of Fame and the classic stories they produced for Sports Illustrated over the past 50 years. Many of the writers whose work is collected here are longtime favorites of SI readers (Frank Deford, Rick Reilly, Steve Rushin, Gary Smith). Others are former SI staffers or contributors who left the fold, but not before making an indelible mark on SI's history (Dan Jenkins, Rick Telander, Mark Kram, Roy Blount Jr., William Nack). There are celebrated journalists (A.J. Liebling, Jimmy Breslin, George Plimpton), screenwriters (Budd Schulberg and Kenny Moore), renowned novelists (Thomas McGuane, Pete Dexter, Wallace Stegner, Don DeLillo) and even a couple of Nobel Prize winners in literature (William Faulkner and John Steinbeck). The stories themselves are a mirror of our times. Included in this volume are accounts of some of the most memorable athletic feats of our era (Secretariat's Belmont victory, the Thrilla in Manila, and Bobby Thomson's shot heard round the world). Profiles of the towering athletic figures of our time (Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain, Ted Williams and Johnny Unitas). Good guys (Yogi Berra and Harry Caray) and bad guys (Sonny Liston and Mike Tyson). The fast (Roger Bannister) and the furious (Dick Butkus). The ridiculous (Howard Cosell) and the sublime (Josh Gibson). And the stories that simply touch our hearts and inspire us (Frank Deford's masterpiece on light heavyweight champ Billy Conn). This is the very best of the world's best sports magazine ¾ and it just doesn't get any better than that.

In his very first trip to the ballpark, Joe Falls watched Lou Gehrig slam two home runs against the Philadelphia As. He's been in love with professional sports ever since. In this humerous and intellegent memoir, Falls reflects on over sixty years of writing with stories about all the greats from Jack Nicklaus and Michael Jordan, to Joe DiMaggio and more. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Presents a brief history of fifty Super Bowl games, profiling the key players and coaches, setting, and events affiliated with each.

50 Years of Boss Fights celebrates a fading art in modern games. Author Daryl Baxter has written about 51 bosses that have made the greatest impact, ever since the first boss debuted in 1974. Full of interviews and insights from the developers who helped made the bosses as memorable as they are, includes those who have worked on Mario 64, DOOM, Bioshock, Star Wars, Half Life and many more. Some explained how they came to be, what was scrapped, and, ultimately, if they were happy with them, looking back. The book goes into detail about the first ever boss from the start, called the Golden Dragon in dnd, which first debuted in 1974. Heralded as the first ever boss in a video game, Daryl spoke to its creators about how it came to be, and how they feel about creating a standard in games. The book sheds light on what was scrapped in other bosses, and how some bosses were so illegal, they had to be updated in rapid fashion to avoid a potential lawsuit. Full of photos that showcase how the bosses work and how to beat them, it’s a 50-year record of the best, the most challenging, and the most memorable that you may or may not have beaten so far. It’s 70,000 words that celebrate the past 50 years of bosses, while giving insight by the developers who helped make them possible.

This book is about every young man that dreams of becoming a big league baseball player. i was one such young man who grew up with that dream. Even though I never played one inning in the big leagues, I spent over twenty yeaes in a big league uniform and an over 50 years playing, managing and coaching in the minor and major leagues. i never dreamed that this would happen but I am truly grateful for the experience and memories. this book is my biography and records my eperiences with the icons of baseball it is a story come true

EBONY is the flagship magazine of Johnson Publishing. Founded in 1945 by John H. Johnson, it still maintains the highest global circulation of any African American-focused magazine.

For the past 49 years Sports Illustrated magazine has been putting fans on the sidelines of the greatest, flashiest spectacle in sports - The Super Bowl. Now, as the game approaches its 50th anniversary, and what promises to be its biggest and most-marketed ever, Sports Illustrated celebrates the grandeur and spirit of the Big Game in a way only they can - in a deluxe edition featuring the magazine's iconic photography, summaries from each game, never-before-told anecdotes from players and coaches, and classic stories from the magazine's legendary writers: Super Bowl Gold. Along with overviews of each championship, this deluxe gift book includes a ranking of every Super Bowl from worst to best, based on SI's unique insight, weighing the quality of the game, context surrounding the matchup, closeness of the score, upset factor, stirring performances, and overall excitement. Also included will be year-by-year game summaries, commentary from players on every winning and losing team, reviews of every halftime show, with special attention paid to what we all really love the most - the commercials, and pictures of every ticket stub and champion ring. This will be the ultimate examination of the ultimate sports event. Bringing every Super Bowl back to life by diving into the legendary SI archives, Super Bowl Gold is essential for every football fan, no matter what team.

Fans of the Southern League have seen it all since the circuit was founded over 50 years ago: colorful characters, charming ballparks, and some of the best baseball players showing their potential. From Chipper Jones and Cal Ripken, Jr. to Michael Jordan and Jose Canseco, Mark McCarter has seen them all-and tells their stories with grace, humor, and style in Never a Bad Game: Fifty-Plus Years of the Southern League.The updated edition from McCarter, a four-time Alabama Sportswriter of the Year and four times the Southern League Writer of the Year, features his tales of the Southern League. From can't-miss prospects like Cal Ripken, Jr. and Jose Canseco to some of the most colorful players in the minors, like Joe Charboneau, Bo Jackson, Chipper Jones, and Derrek Lee, Never a Bad Game: Fifty-Plus Years of the Southern League is a fascinating account of the people who make baseball what it is. In Never a Bad Game: Fifty-Plus Years of the Southern League, you'll find entertaining tales about the likes of Jose Canseco, Charlie O. Finley, Jim Bouton, Michael Jordan, Cal Ripken, Jr., and the legendary Joe Charboneau. Mark McCarter is a former sports reporter and columnist who began covering the Southern League in 1976 for the Chattanooga News-Free Press. He is the author of Pandamonium: Engineering Pro Baseball's Return to the Rocket City, the story of the Rocket City Trash Pandas' arrival in north Alabama, to be published in the fall of 2020 by August Publications. A four-time Alabama Sportswriter of the Year and four times the Southern League Writer of the Year, he lives in Huntsville with his wife Patricia. He has been inducted into the Huntsville-Madison County Athletic Hall of Fame and the Greater Chattanooga Sports Hall of Fame, a bittersweet honor when he learned it was for his writing-not for having led the Brainerd Dixie Youth League in home runs in 1966.