Athletics Books

This book will challenge much of what you might have already learned/experienced as an athlete and/or coach, especially with respect to certain sports, such as football. Although Mr. Thompson's book is centered on his experiences while coaching high school girls basketball for two seasons, his lessons pervade beyond the gym. The chapters pertaining to sharing power with players (or students, or employees) and visualization are particularly strong. He weaves in relevant and occasionally humorous analogies and anecdotes (often in the format of diary entry interludes) in cementing key concepts. Do not bother reading this book if you remain steadfast in your admiration for Bobby Knight's coaching style, as this book's message is more in tune with Phil Jackson's (he even wrote the foreword). Enjoy!

This book is great. I am going to be an athletic trainer. This book has provided me with many answers to symptoms and injuries. If you are going into training or watching from the side-lines, this is a great book to read to become familiar with the symptoms of injuries.

Buy this book and own a timeless portrait of a legend.

There was Lombardi in icy Lambeua Field, Auerbach in the Garden in Boston, Stengel pacing the dugout in pinstripes, the man with the houndstooth hat on the sidelines in Tuscaloosa and other legendary coaches.

None were greater men, greater coaches or better leaders of men than Coach Beryl Shipley at The University of Southwestern Louisiana in Lafayette.

Had Shipley coached in a media center like Boston or New York, or headed a marquee program like Alabama football, he would have come alive in major daily sports pages the way he dominates the pages of this book - - his legend would have been established long ago.

One has the sense the if Beryl Shipley had been in the military, he would have refused any commission that would have taken him from his men on the battlefield.

His greatness looms large in this text, larger than the legends referenced above for his actions in intergrating a college basketball program in the deep south evidenced uncommon courage.

The exhaustively documented text details the pervasive racism that surrounded Shipley both in his own university and in the state athletic commission. Worse yet, were the incompetent, overzealous actions of the NCAA that brought about the death of Shipley's program, his dream, and the dreams of deserving young men, members of his team.

But there were those times . . . all those times when Shipley led his integrated charges onto the hardwood . . . at home in a cow palace packed to the rafters . . . on the road before angry jeering crowds . . . and into the highest echelons of the sport in NCAA playoff games played in far away venues.

Ron Gomez, the author, not only has known Shipley well since the coach's first day on the job, but he was also a close witness to the things he reports in this book. Though he was close, he manages to present an objective view of the debacle and a restrained view of this great man who is his friend.

It is all interesting reading, but the portrait of Coach Beryl Shipley is riveting for he is a man who was right and was punished for being right, yet maintained his personal dignity throughout.

You get the feeling that the Coach might have cussed some in private, but in public he remained composed, kept his head when those all around him were losing theirs.

Every great man deserves to have the record set straight, deserves a monument to himself, and in these pages both of those things are accomplished for Coach Shipley.

At times in reading this, you wish you had been a few inches taller, possessed more athletic skills, and had been fortunate enough to have your life touched by this great man.

Ray Mouton

I was a student at USL during the time the events in this book took place. Beryl Shipley was bigger than life then, and he's even bigger now. He made significant and positive history with respect to integrating sports in Louisiana. This book exposes the sham of back-room Louisiana politics and the pathetic actions of the NCAA and the University at that time in its history. Shipley deserves more recognition than he's received. Maybe this book will begin to show how much the man accomplished and how little the University deserved such a man. The NAACP should take a look at the events of this book and seriously consider honoring Beryl Shipley. We all knew he was a great coach, but few knew the battles he was fighting off the court with the University administration and Louisiana politicians. College sports fans need to read this book.

Impressively enhanced with an accompanying CD-ROM, The Smell Of Sweat: Greek Athletics, Olympics, And Culture is enthusiastically recommended to the attention of students of Hellenic Studies and/or Olympics Sports. This remarkable body of impeccable scholarship survey's Greek athletics from the Homeric era down through the fourth century BCE. There is a wonderful body of sound information on ancient religious and athletic centers, the festivals that were associated with Hellenic games; the unique culture of the "gymnasion"; and more. The CD-ROM provides easy access to literally hundreds of ancient original sources in translation. With its extensive bibliography for further study, The Smell Of Sweat is enthusiastically recommended for personal and academic instructional and reference collections.

This interesting sneaker book showcases some of the most popular brands and designs from the 1940's to the 1980's. The information it gives about the sneakers is almost entirely taken from the marketing advertisements by the sneaker brands, and often it shows the printed advertisements themselves which adds to the value of the book by showing how the marketing of sneakers has evolved during the period it covers.

The design of the book itself is highly unique and makes the book one you'll want to leave on a coffee table or other prominent place due to it's beautiful colors and hot-pink shoelace on the binding which contrasts well with it's bright-green cover.

Not unlike a synopsis of the many recent books on the subject, Sneakers, by Neal Heard, takes some of the best elements from its contemporaries and creates a true accessable place to start in the study sneaker culture. It's visually excellent and a must for the sneaker collector or casual "kicks" fan.

I'm happy to see Amazon.com is carrying this book. It is hard to find, and probably the most useful tool any coach, new or experienced could have at his or her disposal to organize, manage and administrate his or her team.

Good job!!! I highly recommend it!!!

We can't escape stress, but we can keep it from getting us down. This handy book shows how to relax through stretching movements in order to relief stress and gain energy and flexibility.

This book is an Easy to Follow Step-by-step Guide, fill with beautiful drawings and diagrams that describe and illustrate each step. The book includes general stretches as well as stretches to relief pain and for sport and fitness practice. There is even a chapter dedicated to stretches that can be done with a partner.

A must have for anyone and everyone interested in healthy living. Also if you are already training for general fitness or for sports, stretching will help you warn, cool down and keep injury free.

I've owned lifting/bodybuilding book for years, and I always seem to go back to this book for inspiration and information. It's a straight forward no-nonsense aproach to weight training that is a gem among all the glitz and hype of bodybuilding books. Whenever I feel I went astray in my weight lifting, I always go back to this book to set me straight and go back to the basics. The writing is simple and the photographs are large and give a nice and acurate look or demonstration of the exercises. Sure it looks dated, and some of the gym outfits are very 80's but that's what makes it fun also. Very highly recommended if you find a copy.

I use this text in an on-line undergraduate sport psychology course. Cox does a very good job of presenting research and application aspects of sport and exercise psychology. Students enjoy this easy-to-read text.