Touchdown for Tommy


Book Description

TOUCHDOWN FOR TOMMY Is football Tommy's key to a new home? Football isn't just Tommy's favorite sport-he also thinks that it's the key to a good home. The recently orphaned Tommy is delighted to discover that his foster father, Mr. Powell, coaches Midget League football. By playing well, Tommy hopes that he will make Mr. Powell want to adopt him, and then he will have a real family again. But will things work out the way he plans!




From Saturday Night to Sunday Night


Book Description

A memoir by the legendary television executive detailing his pioneering work on Saturday Night Live, Sunday Night Football, the Olympics, the NBA, music videos, late night, and more. Think of an important moment in live TV over the last half-century. Dick Ebersol was likely involved. Dropping out of college to join the crew of ABC’s Wide World of Sports, Ebersol worked the Mexico City Olympics during the famous protest by John Carlos and Tommie Smith as well as the Munich Olympics during the tragic hostage standoff. He went on to cocreate Saturday Night Live with Lorne Michaels and later produced the show for four seasons, helping launch Eddie Murphy to stardom. After creating Friday Night Videos and partnering with Vince McMahon to bring professional wrestling to network TV, he next took over NBC Sports, which helped turn basketball into a global phenomenon and made history as the first broadcaster to host the World Series, the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, and the Summer Olympics in the same year; it was Ebersol who was responsible for Muhammad Ali lighting the Olympic flame in Atlanta. Then, following a plane crash that took the life of his fourteen-year-old son Teddy and nearly killed him, he determinedly undertook perhaps his greatest career achievement: creating NBC’s Sunday Night Football, still the #1 primetime show in America. The Today show’s headline-making hosting changes, the so-called “Late-Night Wars,” O.J. Simpson’s Bronco chase—Ebersol had a front-row seat to it all. From Saturday Night to Sunday Night is filled with entertaining and illuminating stories featuring such boldface names as Billy Crystal, Michael Jordan, Bill Clinton, Jay Leno, Peyton Manning, Michael Phelps, and Larry David. (Ebersol even inspired the famous Seinfeld episode in which George Costanza pretends he didn’t quit his job.) More than that, the book offers an insightful history and analysis of TV’s evolution from broadcast to cable and beyond—a must-read for casual binge-watchers and small-screen aficionados alike.




Touchdown!


Book Description

This is the story of football as told by Amos Alonzo Stagg, one of the innovators in the development of college football. Stagg served as head football coach at University of Chicago from 1892 to 1932. During his tenure, he compiled a record of 242-112-27 and led the Maroons to seven Big Ten Conference championships. Among the innovations credited to Stagg are the tackling dummy, the huddle, the reverse and man in motion plays, the lateral pass, uniform numbers, and awarding varsity letters.




Leaders of the Pack


Book Description

The story behind one team's unprecedented dominance at the quarterback position By developing a trio of Hall of Fame-bound passers, the Green Bay Packers have enjoyed success at the quarterback position that surpasses that of any other team in the National Football League. In "Leaders of the Pack," veteran Packers writer Rob Reischel explores the organization's history of successful signal-callers, highlighting Bart Starr's Super Bowl victories, Brett Favre's collection of NFL records, and Aaron Rodgers' ascent into becoming one of the best players in today's NFL. Reischel traces the history of all three players, highlighting what it means to be a Packers quarterback both on and off the field, and then expands his insight to the rest of the league. He examines other team's dynamic trios--such as the Dallas Cowboys' Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman, and Tony Romo or the San Francisco 49ers' Y. A. Tittle, Joe Montana, and Steve Young--but demonstrates why the Packers have the most successful players at the position in NFL history. Featuring Favre's thoughts about his place in the Packers' quarterback legacy in his own words, "Leaders of the Pack" is required reading for Packers fans young and old.




Slow Getting Up


Book Description

One man's odyssey into the brutal hive of the National Football League As an unsigned free agent who rose through the practice squad to the starting lineup of the Denver Broncos, Nate Jackson took the path of thousands of unknowns before him to carve out a professional football career twice as long as the average player. Through his story recounted here—from scouting combines to preseason cuts to byzantine film studies to glorious touchdown catches—even knowledgeable football fans will glean a new, starkly humanized understanding of the NFL's workweek. Fast-paced, lyrical, dirty, and hilariously unvarnished, Slow Getting Up is an unforgettable look at the real lives of America's best athletes putting their bodies and minds through hell.




Blue Ribbon Football Yearbook


Book Description




Touchdown Kid


Book Description

From New York Times bestselling author and former NFL defensive end Tim Green comes a football story about a boy who is given a chance to prove that wealth and privilege don’t matter on the football field, as long as he has the skills to compete. Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica! Cory has always been passionate about football. But life for him and his single mom has been hard, making it difficult for Cory to play. And though Cory is a good kid, he’s constantly surrounded by negative influences. But when the coach from an elite private school with one of the best football programs in the country recognizes his talents on the field, Cory is presented with an unbelievable opportunity. Cory knows that football could be his ticket out. But leaving to attend private school also means struggling to fit into a world where most people look at him and just see a scholarship kid from the wrong side of town. Cory knows that if he can fight hard enough—both on and off the field—he may be able to secure a bright future that looks different from his unpromising past.







All Things Being Equal


Book Description

In his complete autobiography, All Things Being Equal, Hall of Fame running back Lenny Moore shares his entire story. Moore recounts many fascinating life experiences, beginning with his upbringing in a blue-collar family of ten in Reading, Pennsylvania. He explores his standout, yet challenging time in Happy Valley playing for an already legendary coach in Penn State's Rip Engle, and one in training-Joe Paterno. He also delves into his professional football career with the Baltimore Colts that saw him reach new heights as the MVP of the NFL in 1964. Throughout his amateur and professional career, Moore's toughest competitor was often racism, which battled Moore tooth for tooth. But, as Moore would learn, life would pose other significant battles once his spikes were hung up.Other immortals who played with him-like Johnny Unitas, Gino Marchetti, and Raymond Berry-would easily transition into life after football. Some became businessmen; others carved a new career path as coaches or general managers-but not Moore. In great detail, he describes his difficulties in shifting from having fame and notoriety to not being able to find employment in the town in which he was once celebrated.But Moore eventually found his calling, working with troubled Maryland juveniles, and establishing the Leslie Moore Scholarship Foundation benefiting underprivileged youths. Today, he also works toward finding a cure for scleroderma, after his son passed away from the disease in 2001.Ultimately, All Things Being Equal is the touching journey of one man's self-discovery that, unfortunately, all things are seldom equal.