Minnesotans are a tough lot, capable of pulling a house six miles by muscle alone or giving birth to a sixteen-pound boy. In 1921, young Phoebe Fairgrave set a parachute world record, stepping off the wing of a biplane 15,200 feet above the Twin Cities. In 1962, the last powerhouse Gophers football team brought home the Rose Bowl trophy. A year later, thirteen-year-old Jean Webb of Minneapolis risked arrest and refused to leave a segregated restaurant. In 1979, Gerry Spiess crossed the Atl...

A fresh, analytical, and entertaining take on hockey’s tough guysIn professional hockey, enforcers are often as popular with fans as the stars who cash the big paycheques. Called upon to duke it out with a fellow troublemaker, or to shadow (and bruise) an opponent’s top scorer, these men get the crowds out of their seats, the sports-radio shows buzzing, and the TV audience spilling their beers in excitement. Don’t Call Me Goon gives the mayhem-makers their...

Get to know the men who fulfilled their childhood dreamFrom the beer league to the minor league, hockey players from coast to coast often say they’d give anything to play just one game in the NHL. One Night Only brings you the stories of 39 men who lived the dream — only to see it fade away almost as quickly as it arrived. Ken Reid talks to players who had one game, and one game only, in the National Hockey League — including the most famous single-gamer o...

An up-close look at the rivalry between the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers, told from the perspective of those that were there. Sports writer and on-air personality Mark Spector pays tribute to the province's hockey heyday with a unique blend of humour and homage."I hated every single guy on the Oilers, 'cause they all hated me." --Tim Hunter, the Calgary FlamesIn the 1980s, the province of Alberta was home to the two best hockey teams in the NHL. A...

Jim Harrison grew up on the prairies, played Junior in Saskatchewan, and pro with the Bruins, Leafs, Hawks, and Oilers. Three years before a former teammate equaled the mark, Harrison set one of the most enduring and seemingly unreachable records in professional hockey with three goals and seven helpers on January 30, 1973. And almost nobody remembers.This is Harrison’s story: the games he played, the agent who stole from him, the woman he mourned, the fights he fought, and the friends he ...

He's the face of the Calgary Flames, but there's much more to Jarome Iginla's story than just being the first black captain of an NHL team. He's also renowned for his social commitment and generosity off the ice.Jarome (nicknamed Iggy) grew up in a single-parent household in St. Albert, Alberta. It was thanks to support of his grandparents that he started to play hockey. His hard work paid off and, in 1996, at the age of 18, Iggy was drafted into the NHL. He went on to become a mult...

A heartfelt addition to McFarlane’s epic canon of hockey writingFrom its moving introductory homage to the late Jean Béliveau, to its subtle, remarkable considerations of how the sport was shaped by legends like Newsy Lalonde, Gordie Howe, Dick Irvin Sr., Ted Kennedy, and Hobey Baker, to its poignant lament for the untimely death of American hockey hero “Badger” Bob Johnson, Golden Oldies is the product of a lifetime love of hockey and a career in the game...

Chris von der Ahe knew next to nothing about baseball when he risked his life's savings to found the franchise that would become the St. Louis Cardinals. Yet the German-born beer garden proprietor would become one of the most important -- and funniest -- figures in the game's history.Von der Ahe picked up the team for one reason -- to sell more beer. Then he helped gather a group of ragtag professional clubs together to create a maverick new league that would fight the haughty Nati...

William Louis "Bill" Veeck, Jr. (1914-1986) is legendary in many ways-baseball impresario and innovator, independent spirit, champion of civil rights in a time of great change. Paul Dickson has written the first full biography of this towering figure, in the process rewriting many aspects of his life and bringing alive the history of America's pastime. In his late 20s, Veeck bought into his first team, the American Association Milwaukee Brewers. After serving and losing a leg in WWII, he b...

In this revealing, in-depth look at the NFL's greatest quarterback controversy, Adam Lazarus takes readers into the locker room and inside the huddle to deliver the real story behind the rivalry—when Joe Montana and Steve Young battled on and off the field and forged one of the finest football dynasties of all time. From 1987 to 1994, the two future Hall of Famers spurred each other on to remarkable heights, including three Super Bowl wins and four MVP awards, and set new standards for qua...

An unorthodox history of baseball told through the enthralling stories of the game's objects, equipment, and characters.One of ESPN's Best in Baseball BooksNo sport embraces its wild history quite like baseball, especially in memorabilia and objects. Sure, there are baseball cards and team pennants. But there are also huge balls, giant bats, peanuts, cracker jacks, eyeblack, and more, each with a backstory you have to read to believe. In

Go on the road with the best hockey players not in the NHLWhat is life really like in North American hockey’s top minor league? As told by dozens of the players, coaches, broadcasters, personnel, and owners who work a grinding schedule every winter, Chasing the Dream goes behind the scenes with seven AHL teams. Find out how players’ dreams of lacing up their skates in the NHL motivate them through long bus rides and games where they’re co...