The Baltimore Stallions


Book Description

Baltimore is home to some of the greatest football players ever to step onto the gridiron. From the Colts' Johnny Unitas to the Ravens' Ray Lewis, Charm City has been blessed with multiple championship teams and plenty of Hall of Fame players. Between the Colts and Ravens, a brief but significant chapter of Baltimore football history was written--the Stallions. Formed in 1994, they posted the most successful single season in the history of the Canadian Football League, when in 1995 they became the only U.S. team to win the Grey Cup. By 1996 the Stallions were gone, undermined by the arrival of the Ravens and the overall failure of the CFL's U.S. expansion efforts. Drawing on original interviews with players, coaches, journalists and fans, this book recalls how the Stallions both captured the imagination and broke the hearts of Baltimore football fans in just 24 months.




History of the Grey Cup


Book Description

In 1909, the cup was commissioned by Albert Grey, Canada's Governor General, and was awarded for the first time to the Univerisity of Toronto Varsity Blues. The trophy is a silver chalice mounted on a large base, which holds the names of all the players and staff of the winning team. It has survived fire, breaking and being stolen and held for ransom twice in its life so far.




Art Ross


Book Description

The first authorized biography of Art Ross, Hockey Hall of Famer, NHL founding father, and long-time member of the Boston Bruins. Though he last played the game nearly one hundred years ago, Art Ross remains connected with the greatest stars in hockey. Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Sidney Crosby have all won the award that bears his name, the trophy given annually to the NHL’s top scorer. Ross himself managed just one goal during his NHL career; however, in the dozen years leading up to the formation of the NHL in 1917, he was one of the biggest stars in the game. After his playing career ended, Ross became one of the founding fathers of the Boston Bruins, holding the positions of coach, general manager, and vice president. He was one of the men most responsible for making the NHL a success in the United States, and was integral to the modernization of hockey. All these accomplishments led to him being one of the first players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Hockey historian Eric Zweig brings to life the early days of hockey. From the mining towns of Northern Ontario to the hallowed halls of Boston Garden, Art Ross was one of the biggest names in hockey over his six decades in the game.




Blue & Gold


Book Description

From the early days of Fritzie Hanson to the glory days of Bud Grant to the exciting operation of today, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers have been one of Canada's most loved football teams. Well—known sports broadcaster Bob Irving has assembled a Who's Who of Winnipeg journalists to tell the story of this legendary team.




Grey Cup Century


Book Description

In 1909, Earl Grey, the governor general of Canada, donated a trophy to honour the best amateur football team in the country. Since then 99 Grey Cups have been awarded. In November 2012 the 100th Cup will be presented in Toronto.




The Stone Thrower


Book Description

The African-American football player Chuck Ealey grew up in a segregated neighborhood of Portsmouth, Ohio. Against all odds, he became an incredible quarterback. But despite his unbeaten record in high school and university, he would never play professional football in the United States. Chuck Ealey grew up poor in a racially segregated community that was divided from the rest of town by a set of train tracks, but his mother assured him that he wouldn’t stay in Portsmouth forever. Education was the way out, and a football scholarship was the way to pay for that education. So despite the racist taunts he faced at all the games he played in high school, Chuck maintained a remarkable level of dedication and determination. And when discrimination followed him to university and beyond, Chuck Ealey remained undefeated. This inspirational story is told by Chuck Ealey’s daughter, author and educator Jael Richardson, with striking and powerful illustrations by award-winning illustrator Matt James.




Canadian Football: The Grey Cup Years


Book Description

Canadian Football: The Grey Cup Years traces the first sixty years of the Grey Cup and its influence as a catalyst for the growth of football in Canada. Football moved from an occasion for competition among local teams, to inter-city and inter-provincial rivalries and eventually to the national scene. It began as a purely amateur sport and morphed into the Canadian Football League. Key elements in its growth are discussed: the rise of professionalism, rules of the game and the style of play as well as many of the defining moments and personnel of the era. The book stands alone as well as a lead-in to three other books on Canadian football by Cosentino: Closed Doors and Edmonton Crude, Gone South, and Home Again.




Bouncing Back: From National Joke to Grey Cup Champs


Book Description

For three decades the Toronto Argonauts were a national joke: a team that not only lost most of the time, but usually did so in embarrassing fashion. The franchise bottomed out in 1981 with just two wins. But 1981 was not a complete disaster because, even while finding new and more creative ways to lose, the Argos were assembling many of the key components that helped the franchise return to excitement in 1982 and Grey Cup glory in 1983. Thirty years after that long-awaited triumph, Bouncing Back takes readers on a wild ride through the three eventful and mesmerizing years that culminated in the 1983 Grey Cup, from crushing humiliations through sensational resurgence and finally the ultimate triumph.




The Canadian Football League


Book Description

Modern North American football was born in the 1860s at the same time Canada became a nation. However, for decades, the growth of Canadian football was slow and unwilling to change from its rugby traditions. In more recent times, it has also been in the shadow of its largest competitor, the National Football League. Although hockey is professed to be Canada's number one sport, the CFL has held as rich and storied tradition in Canadian sports history. This book is not the usual general history detailing on-field accomplishments, Grey Cup winners and so on. Instead, it combines an historical look through 2003 with various continuous themes which have shaped the League. These topics include the role of the Canadian player, marketing, competition from other pro sports, the media's role in creating an image of the CFL, Canadian attitudes towards professional sports, and how the CFL continually struggles to survive.




End Zones and Border Wars


Book Description

End Zones and Border Wars is the story of the CFL's ill-fated period of expansion into the United States during the early to mid- 1990s. It was a time filled with intriguing characters, from John Candy to Nick Mileti to Pepper Rodgers, the coach who loved everything about the Canadian game except the rules and the teams. With a cast of investors who are hopeful but unfamiliar with the game, bizarre stories emerge, from the Las Vegas Posse practising in the parking lot of the Riviera to the Shreveport Pirates camping out above a barn full of circus animals. The CFL's attempts to push the Canadian game into expanded territory brought both heartbreak and victory, with the 1994 Grey Cup victory of the BC Lions coming alongside the quick decline of every American club under low sales and resistance to new rules. The CFL survived these turbulent times to the harsh realization that it is a game for Canada alone, breaking through to a promising new era for the venerable institution.