4th and Goal


Book Description

In this "powerful and inspiring" true story, follow Joe Moglia's legendary career transition from head football coach at Coastal Carolina University to the CEO of TD Ameritrade, one of the country's most successful financial firms: "If you're a football fan, this is a book you must read" (Bill Cowher, former coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers). As a kid growing up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood in New York City, Joe Moglia dreamed of someday becoming the head coach of a college football team-not of becoming a corporate titan. But sometimes, life gets in the way of our dreams. By the time Joe was in his early 30s, he had risen through the high school and college football ranks to become the defensive coordinator at Dartmouth. His dream was very much within reach. Problem was, Joe wasn't making enough money to support his growing family. Faced with the hard choice between chasing his lifelong dream and supporting his wife and four young kids, Joe did the honorable thing: He walked away from football and went to Wall Street to try to find a job that would foot the bills at home. Joe had no training in finance. He had no MBA. His resume reflected his coaching accomplishments and his teaching jobs. And yet, somehow, through grit and determination, he was able to land an entry-level position at Merrill Lynch. Fast forward 25 years later. Joe had reached the business world's mountaintop. He was the CEO of TD Ameritrade, one of the country's most successful financial firms. He was recognized as one of the most respected corporate chiefs in America. But over all those years, Joe never shook his passion for coaching football. In 2008, he made a fateful and stunning decision: He voluntarily walked away from his high-paying corporate job to do the one thing he'd left undone in his life. He decided to pursue his original passion for becoming a college football head coach. Getting hired as a college coach proved incredibly difficult. College athletic directors told him it was an impossible feat. He'd been out of football for nearly three decades. Undaunted, and at age 60, Joe became an unpaid intern with the University of Nebraska's football team in 2009 and 2010. In 2011, he was named the head coach of the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League, a professional league teetering on the brink of financial collapse. It was a risky proposition, but one he felt he needed to take to prove to his naysayers that he could coach a college team. Failure would mean the death of a dream that refused to die. As told by Forbes writer, Monte Burke, 4th And Goal is a detailed account of Joe Moglia's amazing and uplifting life story, his quest for his ultimate dream and its stunning conclusion. It's a tale of overcoming adversity...of never giving up...of never losing sight of one's true goals in life. It is a story, quite literally, of a dream deferred, but never forgotten.




The Spiritual Quest and the Way of Yoga


Book Description

The yoga way maintains that spiritual quest is not a matter of choice but a vital necessity for total well-being. This comprehensive guide for spiritual seekers of all faiths and backgrounds presents a roadmap to Self-knowledge, the goal of spiritual quest, and shows that reconnecting with the center of your being, your true Self, is real, tangible and attainable.




The Quest


Book Description

“A sprawling story richly textured with original material, quirky details and amusing anecdotes . . .” —Wall Street Journal “It is a cause for celebration that Yergin has returned with his perspective on a very different landscape . . . [I]t is impossible to think of a better introduction to the essentials of energy in the 21st century. The Quest is . . . the definitive guide to how we got here.” —The Financial Times This long-awaited successor to Daniel Yergin’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Prize provides an essential, overarching narrative of global energy, the principal engine of geopolitical and economic change A master storyteller as well as a leading energy expert, Daniel Yergin continues the riveting story begun in his Pulitzer Prize–winning book, The Prize. In The Quest, Yergin shows us how energy is an engine of global political and economic change and conflict, in a story that spans the energies on which our civilization has been built and the new energies that are competing to replace them. The Quest tells the inside stories, tackles the tough questions, and reveals surprising insights about coal, electricity, and natural gas. He explains how climate change became a great issue and leads readers through the rebirth of renewable energies, energy independence, and the return of the electric car. Epic in scope and never more timely, The Quest vividly reveals the decisions, technologies, and individuals that are shaping our future.




The Goal


Book Description

Alex Rogo is a harried plant manager working ever more desperately to try and improve performance. His factory is rapidly heading for disaster. So is his marriage. He has ninety days to save his plant - or it will be closed by corporate HQ, with hundreds of job losses. It takes a chance meeting with a colleague from student days - Jonah - to help him break out of conventional ways of thinking to see what needs to be done. Described by Fortune as a 'guru to industry' and by Businessweek as a 'genius', Eliyahu M. Goldratt was an internationally recognized leader in the development of new business management concepts and systems. This 20th anniversary edition includes a series of detailed case study interviews by David Whitford, Editor at Large, Fortune Small Business, which explore how organizations around the world have been transformed by Eli Goldratt's ideas. The story of Alex's fight to save his plant contains a serious message for all managers in industry and explains the ideas which underline the Theory of Constraints (TOC) developed by Eli Goldratt. Written in a fast-paced thriller style, The Goal is the gripping novel which is transforming management thinking throughout the Western world. It is a book to recommend to your friends in industry - even to your bosses - but not to your competitors!




The Unrules


Book Description

Learn from a master of quantitative finance the rules that made him a success. The UnRules presents the dynamic rules for success in the age of exponential information. Written by Igor Tulchinsky, the trader behind global quantitative investment management firm WorldQuant, this book is more than just another Big Data guide for financial wonks — it’s a prescriptive, inspirational book for everyone navigating the tidal waves of the information age. Data is everywhere, coming at us in a never-ceasing, ever-rising river that threatens to overwhelm us. Tulchinsky shows us, however, how natural patterns underlie that data — patterns that may dictate life or death, success or failure. The marriage of man and machines has allowed scientists to explore increasingly complex worlds, to predict outcomes and eventualities. This book demonstrates how to exercise real intelligence by discerning the patterns that surround us every day and how to leverage this information into success in the workplace and beyond. Igor Tulchinsky has spent his career discerning meaningful patterns in information. For decades, Tulchinsky has been at the forefront of developing predictive trading algorithms known as alphas — a quest that has led Tulchinsky to explore the nature of markets, the fundamentals of risk and reward, and the science behind complex nonlinear systems. Tulchinsky explains what we know of these systems, both natural and man-made, in accessible and personal terms, and he shares how alphas have driven his success as an investor and shaped his central “UnRule,” which is that no rule applies in every case. As markets evolve, even the most effective trading algorithms weaken over time. Decades of creating successful alphas — and learning how to effectively transform them into strategies — have taught Tulchinsky about the need to combine flexibility and focus, discipline and creativity when building complex models. At a time when data and computing power are exploding exponentially, The UnRules provides an expert introduction to our increasingly quantitative world.







Seekers #1: The Quest Begins


Book Description

The first book in a thrilling animal fantasy series following the epic journey of three bears, from the #1 nationally bestselling author of Warriors. When three young bears from different species—black, polar, and grizzly—are separated from their families, fate brings them together on a path that will change their lives forever. Along the way, they will face great danger, terrible tragedies, new landscapes, and situations that require all their ingenuity to survive. For fans of Warriors, Survivors, and animal fantasy series like Wings of Fire and Foxcraft, Seekers is a sweeping and incredible journey through the beautiful, dangerous world of wild bears.




No Quitters Here


Book Description

An inspiring account of high school football and the power of a dream. Players would not compromise their goal to play in the Pontiac Silverdome; a place where dreams come true and state championships are won. Their quest created a ten-year winning streak (1988-1998). Faithful fans watched them play on Friday nights, unaware of their serious challenges. You'll laugh with them, cry with them, and come to understand how their high school football experience impacted their lives, as well as their futures.




Tip of the Spear


Book Description

The inspiring true story of a US Special Forces soldier who was medically retired after stepping on an IED, and his incredible return to active duty. Sergeant First Class (SFC) Ryan Hendrickson is a brave, determined, and courageous soldier -- a Green Beret clearing the way for his twelve-man team while conducting combat operations against the Taliban. As the "tip of the spear," his role is to ensure the route taken by U.S. and Afghan troops are free of IEDs -- improvised explosive devices. Many soldiers do not survive their last step; those who do often lose at least one limb. While rescuing an Afghan soldier outside a mud-hut compound in 2010 -- knowing that he was in "uncleared" territory -- Ryan stepped on an IED with his right foot. The device exploded, leaving his foot dangling at the end of his leg. American soldiers losing a limb is an all-too-common occurrence. But what makes Ryan's story different is that after undergoing two dozen surgeries and a tortuous rehabilitation, he was medically retired but fought to return to active duty. Multiple skin grafts to his leg and right foot successfully reattached his lower leg, and he was aided in his recovery by wearing a new prosthetic device known as an IDEO (Intrepid Dynamic Exoskeletal Orthosis). Once he passed a series of crucial physical tests, Ryan was able to rejoin the Green Berets within a year and physically perform his duties, redeploying to Afghanistan in March 2012. In 2016, he volunteered to return to Afghanistan with Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group. During a firefight with the Taliban, he risked his life under heavy enemy fire to rescue three Afghan soldiers cut off from friendly forces and return the bodies of two dead Afghan soldiers under the ethos that "no one gets left behind." For his heroic efforts on the battlefield, SFC Ryan Hendrickson was awarded a Silver Star, the nation's third-highest award for valor. An engaging and harrowing account, Tip of the Spear tells the amazing story of one Green Beret's indomitable spirit.




Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem


Book Description

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AFTER HE SET SAIL, the dominant understanding of Christopher Columbus holds him responsible for almost everything that went wrong in the New World. Here, finally, is a book that will radically change our interpretation of the man and his mission. Scholar Carol Delaney claims that the true motivation for Columbus’s voyages is very different from what is commonly accepted. She argues that he was inspired to find a western route to the Orient not only to obtain vast sums of gold for the Spanish Crown but primarily to help fund a new crusade to take Jerusalem from the Muslims—a goal that sustained him until the day he died. Rather than an avaricious glory hunter, Delaney reveals Columbus as a man of deep passion, patience, and religious conviction. Delaney sets the stage by describing the tumultuous events that had beset Europe in the years leading up to Columbus’s birth—the failure of multiple crusades to keep Jerusalem in Christian hands; the devastation of the Black Plague; and the schisms in the Church. Then, just two years after his birth, the sacking of Constantinople by the Ottomans barred Christians from the trade route to the East and the pilgrimage route to Jerusalem. Columbus’s belief that he was destined to play a decisive role in the retaking of Jerusalem was the force that drove him to petition the Spanish monarchy to fund his journey, even in the face of ridicule about his idea of sailing west to reach the East. Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem is based on extensive archival research, trips to Spain and Italy to visit important sites in Columbus’s life story, and a close reading of writings from his day. It recounts the drama of the four voyages, bringing the trials of ocean navigation vividly to life and showing Columbus for the master navigator that he was. Delaney offers not an apologist’s take, but a clear-eyed, thought-provoking, and timely reappraisal of the man and his legacy. She depicts him as a thoughtful interpreter of the native cultures that he and his men encountered, and unfolds the tragic story of how his initial attempts to establish good relations with the natives turned badly sour, culminating in his being brought back to Spain as a prisoner in chains. Putting Columbus back into the context of his times, rather than viewing him through the prism of present-day perspectives on colonial conquests, Delaney shows him to have been neither a greedy imperialist nor a quixotic adventurer, as he has lately been depicted, but a man driven by an abiding religious passion.