Showing results for "life" in Sports

Once in a great while a writer comes along who can truly capture the drama and passion of the life of a family. David James Duncan, author of the novel The River Why and the collection River Teeth, is just such a writer. And in The Brothers K he tells a story both striking and in its originality and poignant in its universality.

Twelve years ago Matthew "the Rocket" Rising had it all. Married to his high school sweetheart and one of the winningest quarterbacks in the history of college football, he was the number one NFL draft pick. But on the night of the draft, he plummeted from the pinnacle of esteem. Falsely accused of a heinous crime with irrefutable evidence, it seemed in an instant all was lost—his reputation, his career, his freedom, and most devastatingly, the love of his life.

Where is Pradeep S. Mathew - spin bowler extraordinaire and 'the greatest cricketer to walk the earth'? Retired sportswriter W. G. Karunasena is dying, and he wants to know. W. G. will spend his final months drinking arrack, making his wife unhappy, ignoring his son and tracking down the mysterious Pradeep. On his quest he will also uncover a coach with six fingers, a secret bunker below a famous stadium, a Tamil Tiger warlord, and startling truths about Sri Lanka, cricket and himself.

Life changes overnight for coach John Harrison when his high school basketball team and state championship dreams are crushed under the weight of unexpected news. When the largest manufacturing plant shuts down and hundreds of families leave their town, John questions how he and his family will face an uncertain future. After reluctantly agreeing to coach cross-country, John and his wife, Amy, meet an aspiring athlete who’s pushing her limits on a journey toward discovery.

Peter "The Plum" Lum is a 49-year-old ex-star NRL player, living with his son and girlfriend in Cronulla. He's living a pretty cruisey life until one day he suffers an epileptic fit and discovers that he has a brain disorder as a result of the thousand-odd head knocks he took on the footy field in his 20-year career. According to his neurologist, Plum has to make some changes - right now - or it's dementia, or even death.

It’s been six years without a winning season, and Coach Grant Taylor’s job is on the line. Unless the Shiloh Christian Eagles turn things around - and fast - he’s history. Unfortunately, their leading scorer has just left for a rival school and the team has lost its drive. The pressure is on, and the stakes are high. On the home front, things aren’t much better for Grant. His house is falling apart. His old clunker of a car keeps dying, and the coach and his wife have been unsuccessful in their attempts to start a family.

Ted ‘Little Boy Blue' Taylor has replaced his estranged father Ron—a disgraced former heavyweight champion on the cusp of an unexpected comeback—as the darling of Australian boxing. But after two uninspiring losses, he is failing to live up to the expectations that have always weighed so heavily upon him. Ted's battles are not isolated to his sport: a painful history of alcoholism, domestic abuse and ties to the underworld of boxing has a firm hold on the Taylor family. Generational trauma and guilt are not Ted's only inheritance.

Iris Marshall never wanted to be anything more than what she is—an official for the European League of (American) Football. So, why had she said yes to being a courier for the CIA? She’s not sure, especially when it lands her in an international thriller that has her on the run from a killer. And worse, the person she’s on the run with? Arrogant, bossy, playboy Hudson Bly, a football player and the last person on Earth she wants to go into hiding with.

Thirteen-year-old Audrey is a talented young football player. But does she want to play for Australia or does she just want to please her father, Ben, whose own thwarted sporting career looms large in his ambitions for his daughter? Audrey's mother, Jonica, doesn't know whether to be more concerned about her anxious daughter, her overbearing husband, or the only other girl on the team, Katerina, who is causing trouble on and off the field.

I'm nobody's baby daddy. I don't care how many stunning women throw themselves at me, looking to turn one hot night into an 18-year paycheck. I've got way too much on the line to throw it away for one night of pleasure. Ball is life, and basketball is my first priority. I've got a championship to win. But when I see that familiar face shaking her pom-poms on the sidelines, I'm transported back to childhood, back to the days before a fiery plane crash ripped us apart, forcing us to grow up overnight.

This inspirational story from Robert Bailey is heartbreaking and ultimately uplifting, showing us all that it is never too late to live a wonderful life. Four rounds. Four heroes. Four life-changing lessons. When Randy Clark wakes up on the morning of his 40th birthday, he knows exactly what he's going to do that day. He's going to go to work. He's going to eat the steak dinner his wife has prepared him. He'll blow out the candles on his chocolate birthday cake. And then he's going to kill himself.

Förster hat mit Fußball nichts am Hut. Trotzdem willigt er ein, seinem Freund Fränge beim Training einer Bochumer Jugendfußballmannschaft zu helfen. Schließlich geht es darum, Fränges Beziehung zu seinem Sohn Alex zu kitten. Pädagogische Unterstützung erhalten sie von dem Lehrer Brocki. Doch die drei erkennen schnell, dass es beim Fußball manchmal um mehr geht als ums Toreschießen.

Ever wonder what life is like on a touring ice-skating show? How many people travel with the show, how do you pack two fifty-pound suitcases with a year’s worth of clothes, shoes, and supplies? Do you pay your own hotel and transportation? Speaking of pay, what do they pay? How do you cook in a hotel room? And who is hooking up with whom? This semi autobiography is a humorous look into the world of a traveling show about how to live this type of life on the road.

From being Champion of Champions to one of the world's top cricket commentators to Team India's head coach, Ravi Shastri has an incomparable perspective when it comes to the game of cricket. In Stargazing: The Players in My Life, the legendary all-rounder looks back at the extraordinary talent he has encountered over the years.

Rocky N'Guwe thought tennis would be the hardest thing he'd have to learn at Palm Gables Tennis Academy. But the young jackal finds himself navigating a new culture as well as his own sexuality and the volatile relationships of any high school, all while keeping himself focused on the professional career that will allow him to rescue his sister from an undesirable marriage back home. And looming in his future is Palm Gables alum and rising tennis star Braden Longacre, an abrasive cross fox whose path keeps crossing Rocky's no matter how much the jackal tries to avoid him....

'Love me, love my game,' says professional tennis player Willy Novinsky at 23. Tennis has been Willy's one love - until she meets the uncannily confident Eric Oberdorf. Low-ranked but untested, Eric, too, aims to make his mark on the international tennis circuit. They marry. But their life together soon grows poisoned by full-tilt competition over which spouse can rise to the top first. Willy discovers that her perfect partner may also prove her most devastating opponent.

Nineteen battles his way into the pros, becomes the quarterback, becomes the myth. Marries the owner’s daughter, touches greatness few will ever dream of, retires into what he assumes will be the promised afterlife of days on the golf course and celebrity endorsements. But markets tank, family disintegrates, fame fades, and the holes in his mind from a career of punishment on the field become too large and frightening to ignore. When he hears of a miracle brain damage treatment forbidden in the U.S., he travels to Honduras in search of a chance to restore himself to the man he was.

From international best-selling author, Lexy Timms, comes a forbidden romance that'll set your heart racing. She'd given up on love. He didn't have time for it. She thinks he's a stuck up pretty boy who doesn't care about anyone but himself, and he thinks she's a stuck up prude who wouldn't know how to "put out" if she tried.

One Thing About Life tells the story of two childhood friends—Dap and Bo—as they navigate college life in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dap is fatherless and virtually motherless. He’s a hustler though, and his resourcefulness always helps him keep his head above water. However, will Dap’s cleverness save him from the danger that is breathing down his neck this time? And can this young man, who seems to be a thug, let his guard down enough to find love?

First Token is a hybrid novel and true to its title. The story is told in the cadence and pace of the 1950s. As comedic expression is a cardinal position on my compass, Token is infused with thoughtful wit. The novel’s delivery could be construed as a contradiction in terms; a stream of consciousness narrative can be navigable; the tributaries can seamlessly flow back into the river. Enchantment, disguised as fate, elevates the tale. The characters, including an orange tabby are embraceable and endearing.