Athletics Books

Author John Feinstein's college basketball narratives are interesting, exciting, and informative. He covers the game with a broad approach, letting readers see many personalities, the pressures, and the often intense practices in this ultra-competitive sport. This book does not focus on any one conference or team, but presents a very interesting and broad national view of college hoops in the late 1980's. Yes, many of us fans realize that this multi-billion dollar industry unfairly gives players scholarships while coaches (and others) get rich, but hey, this is still a very entertaining sport. This is a very readable and entertaining look at the college game.

An exremely entertaining book which takes you on a trip across the United States to examine the great venues and stories of college basketball. From the awesome early-season tournaments in Hawaii to the meccas of college basketball like the Palestra and Madison Square Garden to March Madness, from the Lute Olsen-Steve Kerr Arizona Wildcats to the Admiral to Danny Manning, Feinstein's book is a must for any fan of college basketball.

What Feinstein did for Knight in his Season On The Brink, he now does for one entire season in the world of college hoops. This book is an inside look at everything from the grueling (and often gruesome) practice sessions that go on behind closed doors to the intimate personal lives of some of college basketballs biggest stars, from the tough lives of teams and players going nowhere to an astonishingly close up view of the winners who go all the way to ultimate glory. A Season Inside goes from coast to coast, from top to bottom, from glory to defeat.

I liked it, but it was a bit repetitive (each season was documented in the same style which made them blur into each other at times).

It read much more like historical documentation than a novel. The 20% or so that did read like a novel - I really enjoyed.

The author's point of view was a little defensive - especially when it came to Ross Perot. She definetely didn't hide what side she was on, though. Nothing was said negative about the team or city. But, its not like Friday Night Lights didn't make you wonder about objectivity - so I enjoyed both - they were just really different.

Finally, this one stops in the mid 80s - not long before Friday Night Lights picks up.

This is a great book for anyone who likes high school football. This would be a great book to read before anyone reads "Friday Night Lights". This book looks at High School Football in Texas from the 1960's to the 1980's right before "Friday Night Lights"
This is an indepth look at High School Football from all the angles and all the perspectives. A must ready for any football fan out there.

I bought "Friday Night Lights", a good book on Odessa Permian football. It only temporarily whetted my appetite."Mojo" is the real deal on Odessa Permian, a top ranked Texas team for years. It has the stats, the players, the pictures, the beginning, the middle and the end. It's the ultimate HS football fan's book. My copy from Amazon even came signed by the author. Read "Friday Night Lights", to get you started. Then get "Mojo" for the real deal.

Very detailed, I found "serious cycling" easy and enjoyable to read. Ideal for the self - coached athlete, it helps personalize your cycling program depending on your present abilities. While reading you find that there is much more to training and becoming a better rider then you first thought, but it puts the "why" into training in addition to the "how" giving a better understanding and appreciation with what changes your body must undergo to be a better cyclist.

Periodization, training modes, keeping diaries and more... The nutrition section I found to be a little "old school" but, nevertheless, interesting and backed by studies. This information is aimed at the "serious cyclist" and may be too much for someone not willing to put forth the 15+ hours a week.

Burke, a well known name among cyclists, gives very detailed and sometimes complicated advice about how to train, how to create a training schedule for various goals, how and why to make a training diary, etc. Readers should be aware that his advice is aimed at the very serious cyclist, and his training schedules range from those for serious collegiate cyclists (~15hrs/week) to professionals (~25+ hrs/week). His advice is sound, but it may be more than most people really need. His peak mileage (feb) is 2000miles--that's 500 miles per week!

A big question for me when buying my first book on training for racing, was "Who provides the most reliable and important information?" I have seen Dr. Burke quoted in a variety of sources including Bicycling magazine, Velo magazine, and Chris Carmichael's web site. So I had the impression he is respected in the sport. Further, when reading his writings in other sources, he has gone into the underlying physiological processes that contribute to one's performance on a bike. As such, I decided to purchase his book based on his apparent credibility and the depth of information he provides. Strengths of his book include its excellent coverage of what goes into training for competitive cycling. From beginning "base training" to sprint training, periodization, and planning one's training for the entire year. He also speaks at length on nutrition, equipment/rider aerodynamics, body positioning on the bike, and adjunct training methods. Again, there is an emphasis on underlying physiological processes including some discussion of relevant research. I would say the book's weaknesses lie with it's failure to address racing tactics. Certainly, you learn about what is happening with the body at race pace, but this book will not tell you about positioning for a sprint or pacing one's self for a time trial.
In short, buy this book if you are serious about racing and want to enhance your knowledge of what goes into training for competition. Don't buy this book if you want to learn about tactics.

Chris Dortch is a terrific basketball writer who regularly covers the SEC and helps put together the Blue Ribbon Basketball guide each year. He has written an excellent book that covers all 12 SEC programs, discusses their histories, and focuses on a 10 year period during the early 1990's until the early 2000's, a period when the SEC was at the top of the college basketball world.

The book features detailed accounts of each program's successes, terrific recruiting stories, insights into the various coaching personalities, and helps put a lot of the wins and losses into context. A terrific read for any SEC basketball fan.

This is the book for the hard-to-buy-for-Dad- an easy to read, interesting look at SEC basketball- I will make two Dads happy with this one!

While the writing tends to be more of a reporter's style and doesn't deviate much from a recitation of the facts and events, it is still a very interesting read about the development and trials of the basketball programs around the SEC. Dortch knows this topic as well as anyone and does great job of covering the league.

Highly recommend this book for any fan of the SEC

This appears to be the only publication, apart from Mike Plant's wonderful book Iron Will, that records the early years and development of triathlon. Both the text and the multitude of pictures (with very amusing captions) bring to life the events and colorful characters that shaped the sport. There are many personal (often very entertaining) anecdotes, some scraps of personal philosophy, and references to athletes and others whose names will likely be known to few people outside the sport. There is no attempt at a careful chronology, or thorough analysis of the development of the sport over time, and there is an inevitable emphasis on the Hawaii Ironman race. There is also little narrative thread; instead it is the kind of book one can haphazardly dip into for inspiration and entertainment. This book provides a highly idiosyncatic historical perspective on triathlon, which will certainly be enjoyed by experienced triathletes who have done or are contemplating doing an Ironman race. A thorough history of triathlon remains to be written, but it will likely be a lot less entertaining than this book is.

I picked this book up this weekend at the Columbia triathlon. Tinley was there, and was signing the book. I haven't read the whole thing yet, but so far it looks like a great history of this somewhat unusual passtime.

Tinley has been there pretty much from the start, and his collection of anecdotes and photographs from many sources (Mike Plant especially) tells the story very well. Tinley's writing has improved since his early days (some of the articles in "Finding the Wheel's Hub" are pretty tough to read), and, hey, he's Scott Tinley! If you're a triathlete, you should have this book on your shelf next to your training log.

This is an excellent book with one really annoying problem. The proofreading is some of the worst I have ever seen. Lots of misspellings and typos as well as poor grammar. I would love to give this book five stars but it is so difficult to read that I cannot. Great pictures and Tinley is simply an awesome guy. If you are at all into triathlon you must have this book. Just be prepared for major typos.

This product arrived in a very quickly after ordering. It was well packaged and in perfect condition. I was very happy with the quality of the fabric and stitching and it was well-worth the price! It was a gift for a relative who lives in Utah and he was delighted with it.

This transaction was satisfactory in every way. The hoodie is wonderful!! My son is delighting in it!!

Prompt delivery. Plan to order another at a later time.
very please with product

Great book! This book really illustrates how heavy handed the NCAA is. The book also shows what a horrible person UT coach Bruce Pearl is. Illinois and LSU really were treated unfairly by the NCAA.

While some of the information in the text is outdated and other information is dubious, the thesis is still solid. As we gather to witness future pro sports stars in action, we should as a society reflect on the price paid for our entertainment. Yaeger asks: is it worth it? Are we in fact supporting the win at all cost attitude while looking the other way at possible injustices in our institutes of higher learning? Is this really what we want to teach our children? If these questions provoke you, perhaps you should read this book.

This book skewers they NCAA in as ruthless a manner as the NCAA treated student athletes and coaches. From swimmers banned from competeing simply because they took of time from school to compete in the Olympics to kangaroo courts where the rules of evidence do not apply, the NCAA meted out out their own particular brand of injustice.

An excellent introductory study of the issues which affect the ADHD athlete. Very readable. Interesting discussion of interplay between styles of concentration and different sports: eg. in which sports is ADHD an asset or a liability? Emphasizes the important role of the coach in giving consistent positive feedback. Gives suggestions re. ways to talk with coaches about ADHD and child's needs. Intriguing discussion of effects of medication on level of play. Summary of ways in which techniques aimed at improving the mental game (such as anxiety management or improved focus) can improve performance and enjoyment of their sport for ADHD kids.

This book is an easy and enjoyable read; at times you even find yourself smiling at the examples Michael Stabeno uses to illustrate his points. The book is comprehensive as it discusses what ADHD is, common misconceptions of ADHD, communication and coaching strategies, the implications of medication, and parenting tips for the athlete. I appreciated the discussion on perceiving common behavior traits of ADDers as assets rather than liabilities for the athlete. The strategies and tactics he provides are common sense and easily applied. As a parent of a child with a head injury who presents with ADHD-like symptoms, I have found the communication and coaching tips very applicable to life skills...getting ready for school, completing homework or chores. The information is straightforward, thought provoking and useable! I recommend it to all parents and coaches who interact with ADDers of any age.

This text was essential in helping me teach our student athletic trainers. It was very well written and should be a model text for every sports medicine/athletic training program. The authors did an uot standing job. By far, the best athletic training text I have ever used.

This text provides a good review of sports medicine and rehabilitation of common injuries for the medical professional. Very readable--a good start for those interested in musculoskeletal medicine and athletics. The chapters are well organized and well-referenced. I think this is one of the better sports medicine books available.

When I bought this book I thought it would be a book like better runs but with completely new essays. When I got the book, I noticed that it wasn't really much more than a revised version of Better runs. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the content of this book -- it gives you great running advice. But if you've read Better runs, there's not much new to learn from this book. It does contain some new insights, so it still might be worth the purchase if you enjoy reading Henderson's work.

This book not only offers training tips, but racing strategies and most important- inspiration. I found the look at the mental side of running to be incredibly motivating, and i couldn't wait to get on my shoes and run out the front door. I re-read parts of it before races, just to keep up my mental fitness as well as my physical. I recommend this to ANY runner.