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$3 Million Turnover
by Richard CurtisOfficially, I'm an agent. I represent professional athletes in basketball, football, tennis, golf--you name it. If money is paid for any athletic performance short of copulation, I take a commission on it. I say "officially." Unofficially, I have backed into another job: troubleshooting for the management of professional sports leagues--a kind of undercover operator. And it was this Richie Sadler case that got me into it. Aside from a hairline fracture of my cheekbone, temporary blindness, a scrotumful of somebody's knee, and the loss of the most promising marital prospect since my divorce, I did not get anything out of this case but the right to keep a staggering commission that really belonged to me. But now, when people in the sports world need someone to help unglue the fixes and wrestle with the drug problems, the gangsterism, and the sex scandals, they call on Dave Bolt.
Ace of Diamonds (Gents #3)
by Bruce H. ThorstadThe fourth installment of Bruce H. Thorstad's boisterous "Gents" series finds incorrigible scoundrels Cass McCasland and Riley Stokes in another lawless town and another heady situation. This time it's the mining village of Buckshot, Colorado, where the boys hope to find fortune in the underground caves belonging to Riley's Uncle Rufus. But once they arrive, they realize that their get-rich-quick scheme has turned into a get-suited-up challenge for their wits and their baseball skills. When Uncle Rufus' mine floods, the only way to save it--and their hides--is to win the big game against the Jersey Invincibles--a ball team in from the East with their throwing arms ready and their noses in the air. The Invincibles are serious challengers and the game is looking like a lose-lose situation, unless the Gents can pull off one of their signature miracle plays!
Ace of Diamonds (Gents #3)
by Bruce H. ThorstadThe fourth installment of Bruce H. Thorstad's boisterous "Gents" series finds incorrigible scoundrels Cass McCasland and Riley Stokes in another lawless town and another heady situation. This time it's the mining village of Buckshot, Colorado, where the boys hope to find fortune in the underground caves belonging to Riley's Uncle Rufus. But once they arrive, they realize that their get-rich-quick scheme has turned into a get-suited-up challenge for their wits and their baseball skills. When Uncle Rufus' mine floods, the only way to save it--and their hides--is to win the big game against the Jersey Invincibles--a ball team in from the East with their throwing arms ready and their noses in the air. The Invincibles are serious challengers and the game is looking like a lose-lose situation, unless the Gents can pull off one of their signature miracle plays!
Babe Ruth: His Life and Legend
by Kal WagenheimThe most famous baseball player in history, and the most enduring legend, Babe Ruth is remembered for his dramatic heroism not only on the baseball diamond but also in his life. Kal Wagenheim illustrates this larger than life athlete in his book Babe Ruth: His Life and Legends, and describes him as both a product of his childhood in Baltimore and of his formative years as a New York Yankee. Ruth struggled desperately with the dramatic contrast between the poverty of his youth and the glamour and stardom that his famed career brought him, and although his name became synonymous with wooing women and abusing alcohol, nothing could prevent him from becoming one of history&’s greatest athletes.
Being Extreme: Thrills and Dangers in the World of High-Risk Sports
by Bill GutmanAs fast-paced as a freefall from a roaring airplane, as thrilling as a towering jump off a ski slope, Being Extreme is a fascinating examination of the adrenaline rush of extreme sports. Here is a world where living life on the edge is the only option, where you are only as good as your last jump . . . and where one false move can take you out of the game permanently.From mountain climbing and freestyle motocross to skydiving and snowboarding and beyond, in the past decade, the world of extreme sports has exploded onto the scene, with daredevils attempting acts of athleticism that leave spectators awed . . . and fearful. Being Extreme explores the motivations and societal impulses behind these high-risk lifestyles through interviews with professional athletes and recreational enthusiasts, as well as with psychiatrists who seek to understand the motivation behind these &“Big T&” personalities. Authors Gutman and Frederick also explore what heart-stopping sports are around the next curve, because in a world where the &“rush&” is everything, everyone is always upping their game.
Death In the Crease
by Richard CurtisAthletic agent Dave Bolt, former star for the Dallas Cowboys, is a hardened sports insider, familiar with the dirty underside of American professional sports. He witnesses the kickbacks, the bribes and the blackmail that keep the high-powered industry spinning. In DEATH IN THE CREASE Bolt has to deal with is an explosive ice hockey scandal that threatens to expose the sport's biggest game as a sham. Former Black Hawk goalie Guy LeClede writes an expose of the corruption that "would blow hockey off the ice" if published. But before the book is seen by anyone else, LeClede suddenly drives his car off a cliff and the manuscript disappears. NHL brass have asked Bolt: to investigate the possibility of murder and unravel the intricacies of one of the priciest gambling deals of the decade.
Lessons in Life I Learned from My Baseball Cards
by Patrick J. CaraherRemember when the most exciting moment of your childhood was opening a fresh pack of baseball cards? How you gazed lovingly at the pictures of your heroes, pored over their statistics, thrilled to their exploits and identified with their lives? We all know someone whose baseball card collection was the most significant touchstone of his childhood. Baseball card collector Patrick Caraher has turned his lifelong passion into a spiritual odyssey in Lessons in Life I Learned from Baseball Cards. Selecting some prize items from his collection, Caraher has reflected on their larger resonance and produced this little gem of a book, the sports equivalent of Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. With deft cameos of stars whose admirable lives and careers characterized such virtues as fortitude, humility, determination, honesty, and decency, Caraher has breathed life into the statistics behind baseball's role models and produced a collection of miniature portraits that illuminates the national pastime as few other books have.
Strike Zone
by Richard CurtisWhen baseball's biggest rising star, Willie Hesketh, declares he is going to cross the picket line to play the game he loves, someone doesn't agree. Before Willie even has a chance to arrive at the battle, four thugs with bats waylay him. Now Willie is laid up in the hospital with a slim chance of walking again. All he knows is that he believes he put out the eye of one of the goons and he begs Bolt to get revenge. It is a twisty road through the maze of managers, union leaders and players, but sports agent Bolt has a map...one that leads straight to a one-eyed man.
Clemente!
by Kal WagenheimRoberto Clemente, one of history's greatest and most memorable Hispanic baseball stars, led a remarkable professional and personal life, until he met an untimely death in 1972 in a plane crash while on a mission of mercy to the site of a disastrous earthquake in Nicaragua. The first Latin American player to be recognized by the Baseball Hall of Fame, Clemente is honored once again in this book that illustrates his dramatic life from his childhood in Puerto Rico to his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Mind Over Golf: A Beginner's Guide to the Mental Game
by Don Sauers Tom NieporteThere&’s an interesting point at which the psychological and technical sides of golf meet--and Tom Nieporte and Don Sauers discover this by talking with America&’s leading golf professionals. The tips provided in this book will help golfers of any level discover or regain confidence that will drop strokes off of every golfer&’s score. Any golfer must know how to master the eight major golfing skills, and from this book golfers will learn how easy it is to turn handicapping weaknesses into winning strengths. The most valuable advice here is sure to cultivate winners on the green!
The Suicide Squad
by Richard CurtisDave Bolt doesn't know what the Racers' star quarterback has to do with the game no gambler would touch, but it smells like a mighty fishy fix. When Jimmy Quinn doesn't show for a meeting and has disappeared, Bolt suspects more than a thrown game. Quinn's books show a few shady deals, but nothing too suspicious. Now Bolt has a dead gambler on his hands, and what he wants to know is...is Quinn next on the list or a cold-blooded killer? No one ever said the sports business was a cup of tea and Dave Bolt takes his coffee strong, bitter and black.
Star Gazer
by Chris PlattWill a city girl's horse dreams ever come true?For Jordan McKenzie, moving from Los Angeles to rural Michigan was a big change. In LA, she was used to giant shopping malls and classmates who came to school in makeup and heels. In North Adams, Michigan, the nearest Walmart is thirty miles away. Since Jordan is a jeans-and-sneakers kind of girl, she hoped she'd fit in better here--plus, there are horses in Michigan! She has wanted one forever, but in LA they were too expensive. Draft horses--gentle giants--are her favorites, with their dependable demeanors, huge size, and muscle power. Even though all the North Adams kids have horses, Jordan's busy mother barely agrees to let her coop a couple of chickens on their newly rented farm. Jordan's wish may never come true.Then she meets Star Gazer, a Percheron mare, at a farm auction and makes a desperate bid to save the aging horse from the slaughterhouse. Jordan is thrilled to bring her home, but Star Gazer is lame and skittish. Can Jordan's loving care nurse her back to health? And can she make Star Gazer a part of the family before her mother decides to find her a new home?
Astra
by Chris PlattRiding Astra makes Lily feel closer to her mom—even if Lily&’s dad blames horses for her mother&’s deathAt thirteen, Lily O&’Neil dreams of riding Arabian endurance horses in the Sierra Nevada foothills like her mom once did—before her fatal accident. Now, Lily&’s father has forbidden her from going near horses ever again—he&’s even sold her beloved pony, Domino. But Grams understands that horses are Lily&’s life, just like they were for her mom.Astra Atomica is Lily&’s favorite, a graceful gray Arabian mare with the potential to become a great champion. Lily&’s mom saw it too—she rode the spirited animal to several victories—and Lily knows that the freak accident wasn&’t Astra&’s fault any more than it was her mother&’s. Lily&’s secret dream is to ride Astra all the way to the Tevin Cup, like her mother had planned to do. If only she can make her father see how much her bond with Astra means to her, and how much riding meant to her mother.
Storm Chaser
by Chris PlattThe moment Jessica lays eyes on the wild black-and-white paint filly, she knows it was meant to beJessica&’s life at Wild Hawk Ranch is happy, if a bit quiet. But everything changes when her father and brother drive the latest herd of wild young quarter horses into the pen at the family ranch. There, she spots the most beautiful black-and-while paint filly she&’s ever seen. She just knows . . . this is the year, and that is the horse. Her moment has come—she&’ll finally get to join her father and brother in the family business of breaking wild horses, if only she can convince her father she is old enough.But after a difficult turn, the family has no option but to keep the ranch afloat by turning it into a dude ranch for vacationing city folk. At first, Jess is thrilled by the idea. It will be fun to have new people around—and maybe the extra work will convince her father to give her Storm Chaser, the beautiful paint. But things get complicated when the guests begin arriving. Will Jess be able to salvage her old, happy life and save Storm Chaser from an uncertain future?
Willow King
by Chris PlattKatie makes a sacrifice to save the life of a disabled racing colt--but will it all be in vain?At Willow Run Thoroughbred Farm, horses are born and bred for racing. When a much-anticipated bay colt endowed with the farm's finest racing blood is born with terribly twisted legs, the obvious choice is to put him down. He'd be lucky if he could stand and nurse, let alone race. But thirteen-year-old Katie can't stand the idea. Born with one of her legs almost an inch shorter than the other, she wonders what would have happened if her parents had felt the same way about her. What if they had given up on her entirely when they realized she couldn't be a prima ballerina?Desperate to save the colt's life, Katie works out a deal with the farm's owner and becomes the proud owner of Willow King. Can she help him overcome the odds and claim his place as the racehorse royalty he was born to be?
Soccer in Sun and Shadow
by Eduardo GaleanoOne of Sports Illustrated&’s Top 100 Sports Books of All Time—a history of soccer that &“stands out like Pelé on a field of second-stringers&” (The New Yorker). The beautiful game deserves a beautiful book, and Eduardo Galeano—one of Latin America&’s most acclaimed authors—has written it. From Aztec champions sacrificed to appease the gods, to the goals that were literally scored into wooden posts in Victorian England, to Spain&’s victory in the 2010 World Cup, Soccer in Sun and Shadow is a history of the sport unlike any other. Galeano portrays the irruption of South American soccer that made the game sublime: the elegant, mischievous, joyful style based on deft dribbling, close passes, and quick changes in rhythm, perfected by poor black children who had no toy but a rag ball. He describes the superstitions that vex players, the martyrdom of referees, the exquisite misery of fans, the sad denouement of stars past their prime. Striding across the pages are players born with the ball—and entire nations—at their feet: Arthur Friedenreich, the son of a German immigrant and a black washerwoman, who first brought Brazilian style from the slums into the stadiums; Brazil&’s Garrincha, whose body, warped by polio, could make the ball dance; and the Dutch great Ruud Gullit, who campaigned against apartheid on and off the pitch. And, of course, Beckenbauer, Pelé, Cruyff, and Maradona, a man blessed with &“the hand of God&” and a left foot equally as divine.Soccer in Sun and Shadow traces the rise of the soccer industry and the concurrent voyage &“from beauty to duty&”: attempts to impose a soccer of lightning speed and brute force, one that disdains fantasy and forfeits play for results. Eduardo Galeano, who describes himself as &“a beggar for good soccer,&” gives the world&’s most popular sport all the poetry, passion, and politics it deserves.
Pony Crazy (Pony Tails #1)
by Bonnie BryantFrom the author of the bestselling Saddle Club books comes a series about three pony-crazy girls May, Jasmine, and Joey are best friends and neighbors—and they&’re totally horse-crazy. When they aren&’t taking care of their ponies at home, they&’re riding them at Pony Club meetings at Pine Hollow Stables.But the trio is torn apart when Joey&’s family moves away and a new neighbor moves in. Odd things start happening at Joey&’s old house—lights flicker from inside, and strange noises come from the barn. Who is this new neighbor, and what&’s going on inside their friend&’s old house? It&’s up to these two best friends to find out!
May's Riding Lesson (Pony Tails #2)
by Bonnie BryantThere&’s more than one way to stop a bullyWil never misses a chance to pick on best friends Jasmine, May, and Corey about playing with their toy horses. Not only do the girls love their real ponies, they love to play with their toy ones, too.May decides it&’s time to teach Wil a lesson. But even though Jasmine&’s feelings are hurt, she wants May to leave Wil alone. When she begins helping Corey train her pony, Samurai, for the scavenger hunt at Pine Hollow Stables, she realizes there might be a better way to stop a bully.
Corey's Pony Is Missing (Pony Tails #3)
by Bonnie BryantCorey&’s pony has run away, and it&’s up to the Pony Tails to rescue himCorey&’s newly divorced parents are still working out which days Corey stays with each of them. Most weekends, Corey can be with her beloved pony, Samurai, and hang out with her best friends and neighbors, May and Jasmine. But this weekend, she is going to her dad&’s, so she has asked her fellow Pony Tails to keep an eye on Samurai. Corey hates to leave, but she knows that no one could take better care of him than her two best friends.Soon after Corey leaves, however, Sam disappears from his stall. May and Jasmine are desperate to find him. How could they have let Sam get away? The Pony Tails must solve the mystery of Samurai&’s disappearance and get him back before something terrible happens.
Jasmine's Christmas Ride (Pony Tails #4)
by Bonnie BryantThe Pony Tails get in the holiday spirit for two Christmas horse shows at Pine Hollow StablesAs Christmas draws near, the Pony Tails get excited about two Pony Club holiday events at Pine Hollow Stables: the annual Starlight Ride on Christmas Eve and a special horse show to raise money for the local animal shelter.Both Corey and Jasmine have been practicing hard in hopes of being chosen to perform in a special presentation at the show. But when only Corey is selected to ride in the show, the girls&’ holiday cheer disappears. Jasmine feels left out, and Corey is embarrassed that she was chosen. Poor May is stuck in the middle. Will the three best friends be able to work things out before the night of the Starlight Ride? It may take a Christmas miracle!
May Takes the Lead (Pony Tails #5)
by Bonnie BryantMay decides to prove to her big sisters that having a pony is not just for kidsHorses have always been the biggest part of May&’s life. Her father was a horse trainer and her mom rode too. Even May&’s best friends, Jasmine and Corey, share her passion for ponies. But ever since May&’s big sisters moved on to soccer and boys, they think her love of ponies is childish.Can she ever get her sisters to understand? Sometimes she wishes she were an only child like Jasmine and Corey. But when May is chosen to lead the Pony Parade at Pine Hollow Stables, she sees it as a chance to prove that she&’s not a little kid anymore.
Corey in the Saddle (Pony Tails #6)
by Bonnie BryantCorey can&’t seem to control her pony—is she as good a rider as she thought?Corey, May, and Jasmine are all nervous about performing at the County Animal Rescue League fundraiser—it&’s for an important cause, and the audience will be huge. Corey has worked hard to get her pony, Samurai, ready for the demonstration—but when it&’s showtime, Samurai just won&’t seem to cooperate.Suddenly, Corey feels she may not actually be that good a rider. What other reason could there be for her frisky pony&’s refusal to obey her? The other Pony Tails know it can&’t be Corey&’s fault, and it&’s up to them to figure out what to do.
Jasmine Trots Ahead (Pony Tails #7)
by Bonnie BryantJasmine gets to train with the best rider at Pine Hollow Stables—but there&’s one member of the club who is not happy about itThe Pony Tails&’ riding teacher, Max, has assigned each of the girls a &“big sister&” from the Pony Club to help them improve their skills. When Jasmine is assigned to Carole Hansen, the best rider at Pine Hollow Stables, the other girls are jealous—especially Erin Mosley. Erin doesn&’t think it&’s fair, and says she&’s going to make Jasmine sorry. Will her nasty schemes ruin Jasmine&’s chances of winning a blue ribbon? Not if the Pony Tails can help it!
May Rides a New Pony (Pony Tails #8)
by Bonnie BryantWhen May&’s pony needs to recover from an injury, she helps her father train a new horseMay&’s pony, Macaroni, has a sore foot, and she can&’t ride him for a week or two. But May can&’t stay away from the stables—she&’s too pony crazy for that! She decides to help her father train his smart new pony, Zeus, and is so busy that she hardly misses riding Macaroni.But Macaroni is jealous, and May starts to feel left out herself when her best friends in the Pony Tails seem to forget about her. How can the girls get back into their old groove?
Corey's Pony Is Missing (Pony Tails #3)
by Bonnie BryantCorey&’s pony has run away, and it&’s up to the Pony Tails to rescue himCorey&’s newly divorced parents are still working out which days Corey stays with each of them. Most weekends, Corey can be with her beloved pony, Samurai, and hang out with her best friends and neighbors, May and Jasmine. But this weekend, she is going to her dad&’s, so she has asked her fellow Pony Tails to keep an eye on Samurai. Corey hates to leave, but she knows that no one could take better care of him than her two best friends.Soon after Corey leaves, however, Sam disappears from his stall. May and Jasmine are desperate to find him. How could they have let Sam get away? The Pony Tails must solve the mystery of Samurai&’s disappearance and get him back before something terrible happens.