Download or read book The Unlikeliest Champion written by Aaron Torres and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2011-12-13 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Entering the 2011 college basketball season, the only expectations on the UConn Huskies basketball team were no expectations at all. Just two years after reaching the Final Four, the club was young, mired in an NCAA investigation, and seemingly at the bottom of the college basketball barrel. Not only were they picked to finish tenth in their own conference, UConn didn't receive a single vote in either preseason poll. A once proud program had hit rock-bottom. Fortunately, no one told superstar Kemba Walker or his young teammates. From the beginning, this group of Huskies was different. They were hungry. They played for the name on the front of the jersey, instead of the back. They cared only about wins and losses, not ancillary stats in the box score. And it showed as the Huskies took their fans, and the college basketball world as a whole on a wild six-month ride. It started with an epic win at the prestigious Maui Invitational, through a historic five wins in five days at the Big East Tournament, and eventually culminating with a National Championship to end the year. Join author Aaron Torres as he takes you through the ups and downs of a college basketball season, and team that will resonate among fans forever. The 2011 UConn Huskies may not go down as the greatest team in the history of college basketball. But they just might be the best story ever.
Download or read book The Eighty Dollar Champion written by Elizabeth Letts and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2011-08-23 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The dramatic and inspiring story of a man and his horse, an unlikely duo whose rise to stardom in the sport of show jumping captivated the nation Harry de Leyer first saw the horse he would name Snowman on a truck bound for the slaughterhouse. The recent Dutch immigrant recognized the spark in the eye of the beaten-up nag and bought him for eighty dollars. On Harry’s modest farm on Long Island, he ultimately taught Snowman how to fly. Here is the dramatic and inspiring rise to stardom of an unlikely duo. One show at a time, against extraordinary odds and some of the most expensive thoroughbreds alive, the pair climbed to the very top of the sport of show jumping. Their story captured the heart of Cold War–era America—a story of unstoppable hope, inconceivable dreams, and the chance to have it all. They were the longest of all longshots—and their win was the stuff of legend.
Download or read book Alva Vanderbilt Belmont written by Sylvia D. Hoffert and published by Indiana University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-23 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating biography of the New York socialite who played a surprising role in the fight for suffrage. Born in the middle of the nineteenth century, Alva Vanderbilt Belmont was known to be domineering, temperamental, and opinionated. She married two millionaires, and pressured her daughter to wed an aristocrat. This resolve to get her own way regardless of the consequences stood her in good stead when she joined the American woman suffrage movement in 1909. Thereafter, she used her wealth, her administrative expertise, and her social celebrity to help convince Congress to pass the 19th Amendment and then to persuade the exhausted leaders of the National Woman’s Party to initiate a worldwide equal rights campaign. In this book, Sylvia D. Hoffert argues that Belmont was a feminist visionary and that her financial support was crucial to the success of the suffrage and equal rights movements. She also shows how Belmont’s activism, and the money she used to support it, enriches our understanding of the personal dynamics of the American woman’s rights movement. Drawing upon and analyzing Belmont’s own memoirs, she illustrates how this determined woman went about the complex and collaborative process of creating her public self. “Engaging . . . Highly recommended.” —Choice
Download or read book Unfavorable Odds written by Kim Hamilton Anthony and published by Tate Publishing. This book was released on 2010-02 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Kim Hamilton rose to fame, she was anything but a typical world-class gymnast. She wasn't white, she didn't come from a middle-class family, and she was tall for a gymnast. But facing those obstacles was nothing compared To The challenges she faced at home. There, she tumbled in a secret world filled with drugs, violence, and financial strain. She met Unfavorable Odds but found hope by persevering through the pain. Here, Kim shares the techniques she learned to catapult herself from the past into the purpose God intended for her life.
Download or read book Long Shots written by Dana O'Neil and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2017-04-01 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 31 years after the Perfect Game &– Villanova's shocking national championship upset over Georgetown &– Nova struck again with the Perfect Shot, taking down North Carolina in one of the most thrilling finishes in sports history. The shot and second national title in school history were the culmination of 15 years of Coach Jay Wright painstakingly building the unheralded program, through ups and downs, heartbreak and triumph. In Long Shots: Jay Wright, Villanova, and College Basketball's Most Unlikely Champion, ESPN senior writer Dana O'Neil uses exclusive access to Coach Wright and Nova basketball to delve into the inner-workings of a championship program. In the spirit of A Season on the Brink, O'Neil not only explores behind-the-scenes of the historic 2015-2016 NCAA championship season but also the improbable path that the Nova program took to college basketball immortality. In overcoming a disappointing NCAA Tournament track record, the breakup of the Big East conference as we knew it, and Nova's underdog status among traditional college hoops powerhouses, Jay Wright and his team provided the blueprint for how a “have-not” can prevail over the blue bloods the right way &– the Villanova Basketball Way.
Download or read book The Most Unlikely Champion written by Vera Koo and published by Balboa Press. This book was released on 2017-10-18 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Vera Koo enrolled in a firearm safety course because she was afraid of guns. Goals are important to Vera, so she set hers high, completing the beginner's course, and eventually becoming the best shooter in her advanced class. Her instructor suggested she reach for an even higher goal with competitive shooting. And she did. With unflinching focus and determination, Vera became one of the most accomplished shooters ever. At age 70, she’s an eight-time women’s division winner of the prestigious Bianchi Cup Action Pistol Championship. She’s the first woman to place in the Top 20 in the Bianchi Cup competition. Vera’s story is more than that of a petite Asian woman becoming a top competitor in the male-dominated sport shooting world. It’s the story of a Chinese immigrant, raised in a traditional Chinese culture, where women deferred to their husbands and kept to their socio-economic class, succeeded in America. Vera is a successful businesswoman, accomplished athlete, and a loving wife and mother. It was never an ‘either or’ for Vera, it’s about meeting life’s challenges head-on with dogged persistence, grace, humility—and humor. With faith in herself and God, Vera has survived unexpected tragedies, tremendous hurt, and betrayal. And yet, her story is about hope, love, compassion, and forgiveness. Through all the twists and turns in her life, Vera shows us how the same grit that made her a world class athlete, helped her find joy. “Search for something you’re good at,” Vera says, "and it will take you far.” - Vera
Download or read book Blitz Kids written by Josh Ferrin and published by Gibbs Smith. This book was released on 2012 with total page 187 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1940s, before March Madness, the frenzy of the NBA draft, and multimilliondollar professional contracts, college basketball players played simply because they loved the game. This is the story of a group of kids who loved to play basketball: the underdog 1943-44 University of Utah men's basketball team and their unlikely path to the NCAA championship, who came out of nowhere to upset heavily favored Dartmouth for the title. Josh Ferrin and Tres Ferrin, grandson and son of Arnie Ferrin, both grew up hearing stories of Arnie's illustrious basketball career at the University of Utah. Josh established himself as an award-winning illustrator and author before deciding to research and write the story of Arnie's championship season. He resides in Bountiful, Utah, with his wife and two sons. Tres is a physical therapist who has practiced in the area of sports medicine for thirty-five years, an adjunct faculty member at Weber State University, and an avid cyclist. He and his wife, Sherry, live in Ogden, Utah. The original and unlikeliest of Cinderella stories
Download or read book Unfavorable Odds written by Kim Hamilton Anthony and published by . This book was released on 2013-01-01 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Out of the Clouds written by Linda Carroll and published by Hachette Books. This book was released on 2018-05-29 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the bestselling tradition ofthe The Eighty-Dollar Champion, the propulsive, inspiring Cinderella story of Stymie, an unwanted Thoroughbred, and Hirsch Jacobs, the once dirt-poor trainer who bought the colt on the cheap and molded him into the most popular horse of his time and the richest racehorse the world had ever seen. In the wake of World War II, as turmoil and chaos were giving way to a spirit of optimism, Americans were looking for inspiration and role models showing that it was possible to start from the bottom and work your way up to the top-and they found it in Stymie, the failed racehorse plucked from the discard heap by trainer Hirsch Jacobs. Like Stymie, Jacobs was a commoner in "The Sport of Kings," a dirt-poor Brooklyn city slicker who forged an unlikely career as racing's winningest trainer by buying cheap, unsound nags and magically transforming them into winners. The $1,500 pittance Jacobs paid to claim Stymie became history's biggest bargain as the ultimate iron horse went on to run a whopping 131 races and win 25 stakes, becoming the first Thoroughbred ever to earn more than $900,000. The Cinderella champion nicknamed "The People's Horse" captivated the masses with his rousing charge-from-behind stretch runs, his gritty blue-collar work ethic, and his rags-to-riches success story. In a golden age when horse racing rivaled baseball and boxing as America's most popular pastime, he was every bit as inspiring a sports hero as Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. Taking readers on a crowd-pleasing ride with Stymie and Jacobs, Out of the Clouds -- the winner of the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award -- unwinds a real-life Horatio Alger tale of a dauntless team and its working-class fans who lived vicariously through the stouthearted little colt they embraced as their own.
Download or read book Stef Soto Taco Queen written by Jennifer Torres and published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. This book was released on 2017-01-17 with total page 141 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A deliciously charming and heartwarming novel, all wrapped up in a warm tortilla. Tacos. Burritos. Guacamole. Estefania "Stef" Soto is itching to shake off the onion-and-cilantro embrace of Tia Perla, her family's taco truck. She wants nothing more than for Papi to get a normal job and for the taco truck to be a distant memory. Then maybe everyone at school will stop calling her the Taco Queen. But when her family's livelihood is threatened, and it looks like her wish will finally come true, Stef surprises everyone (including herself) by becoming the truck's unlikely champion. In this fun and heartfelt novel, Stef will discover what matters most and ultimately embrace her identity, even if it includes old Tia Perla.
Download or read book All in written by Jerry Yang and published by Medallion Media Group. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this intimate profile of an unlikely poker champion, the life story of Yang is laid out--from his difficult Hmong childhood to his success as a professional poker player.
Download or read book Shock the World written by Peter F. Burns and published by UPNE. This book was released on 2012 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How Jim Calhoun made the University of Connecticut a basketball powerhouse and became the greatest coach of his generation
Download or read book Alan Kulwicki written by Dale Grubba and published by Badger Books Inc.. This book was released on 2009-02-02 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the true to life story of how Alan Kulwicki, from his start in Go-Kart racing, won the NASCAR championship. His success as owner, manager, and driver in NASCAR racing has never been duplicated, many have tried and failed. The author Fr. Dale Grubba has followed and documented Kulwicki¿s career for three decades. The emotions and feelings of the racing fraternity are revealed and show the great respect and admiration for Alan Kulwicki. The book is complete with black and white photos and drawings and references for each chapter. A chronological listing of all the races in Alan Kulwicki¿s career from Go-Kart racing to NASCAR championship is included.
Download or read book The City Game written by Matthew Goodman and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2021-03-02 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The powerful story of a college basketball team who carried an era’s brightest hopes—racial harmony, social mobility, and the triumph of the underdog—but whose success was soon followed by a shocking downfall “A masterpiece of American storytelling.”—Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove NAMED ONE OF THE BEST SPORTS BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW The unlikeliest of champions, the 1949–50 City College Beavers were extraordinary by every measure. New York’s City College was a tuition-free, merit-based college in Harlem known far more for its intellectual achievements and political radicalism than its athletic prowess. Only two years after Jackie Robinson broke the Major League Baseball color barrier—and at a time when the National Basketball Association was still segregated—every single member of the Beavers was either Jewish or African American. But during that remarkable season, under the guidance of the legendary former player Nat Holman, this unheralded group of city kids would stun the basketball world by becoming the only team in history to win the NIT and NCAA tournaments in the same year. This team, though, proved to be extraordinary in another way: During the following season, all of the team’s starting five were arrested by New York City detectives, charged with conspiring with gamblers to shave points. Almost overnight these beloved heroes turned into fallen idols. The story centers on two teammates and close friends, Eddie Roman and Floyd Layne, one white, one black, each caught up in the scandal, each searching for a path to personal redemption. Though banned from the NBA, Layne continued to devote himself to basketball, teaching the game to young people in his Bronx neighborhood and, ultimately, with Roman’s help, finding another kind of triumph—one that no one could have anticipated. Drawing on interviews with the surviving members of that championship team, Matthew Goodman has created an indelible portrait of an era of smoke-filled arenas and Borscht Belt hotels, when college basketball was far more popular than the professional game. It was a time when gangsters controlled illegal sports betting, the police were on their payroll, and everyone, it seemed, was getting rich—except for the young men who actually played the games. Tautly paced and rich with period detail, The City Game tells a story both dramatic and poignant: of political corruption, duplicity in big-time college sports, and the deeper meaning of athletic success.
Download or read book If They Don t Win It s a Shame written by Dave Rosenbaum and published by McGregor Publishing. This book was released on 1998 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Not since the publication of "Ball Four" has a book captured the reality of baseball like this one. "If They Don't Win It's a Shame" takes readers behind the scenes, into the clubhouse, onto the field, and into the grandstands to explore the attitudes and behaviors, trials and tribulations, of the players, fans, managers, and front office personnel caught in the heat of a pennant race. Photos.
Download or read book Fight for the Forgotten written by Justin Wren and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-07-05 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "From notable mixed martial artist and UFC fighter, Justin Wren, comes a personal account of faith, redemption, empowerment, and overwhelming love as one man sets out on an international mission to fight for those who can't fight for themselves. Justin Wren knows what it's like to feel like the world is against you. Like many kids, Justin was bullied as a child, but had a dream that kept him going. Fueled by the anger he felt toward his tormenters, Justin trained hard and propelled his dream of becoming a UFC fighter into reality. But the pain from his childhood didn't dissipate and Justin fell into a spiral of depression and addiction, leading him on a path toward destruction. After getting kicked out of his training community, his career was in shambles and he had nowhere else to go, so Justin attended a men's retreat, and it was there he found God. As Justin began piecing his life back together, he joined several international mission trips that opened his eyes and his heart to a world filled with suffering deep in the jungle of the Democratic Republic of Congo. There he came across the Mbuti Pygmy tribe, a group of people persecuted by neighboring tribes and forced into slavery. His encounter with the Pygmy tribe left him wondering who was there to help them and in that moment Justin stepped out of the ring and into a fight for the forgotten. From cage fighter to freedom fighter, Justin's story is a deeply personal memoir with a bigger message about a quest, justice, and the amazing things that can happen when we relinquish our lives to God"--
Download or read book I Am Birch written by Scott Kelley and published by . This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rumors of coming Cold and Darkness spread through the woods until a birch tree stump uses wisdom and humor to calm the animals' fears.
