Kirjahaku

An in-depth portrait of the NCAA Final Four competition is presented from the perspectives of schools, coaches, and players who have made it to college basketball's final weekend, in a collection of dramatic and inspiring stories that also includes accounts by officials, referees, and scouts. Reprint.

After numerous bestselling sports books based on his own deep reporting, John Feinstein crafts a narrative of the most interesting and revealing encounters he's had, with some of the most enduring figures in sports--from hallowed coaches such as Bob Knight, Jim Valvano, Mike Krzyzewski , and Joe Torre to beloved athletes such as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Arnold Palmer, Ivan Lendl, and Mary Carillo. Here we have John Feinstein at his very best-opening up sport's most private, closed-door places.These are the mentors and athletes who know their games the best, and the legends and legendary moments that gave inherent shape to our favorite pastimes.

Brings to life one of college football's oldest and most heated rivalries through the 1994 season, explaining the struggles faced by each team, including player deaths, close games, and coach strategies. Reprint. 18,000 first printing.

Like millions who love college basketball, John Feinstein was first drawn to the game because of its intensity, speed and intelligence. Like many others, he felt that the vast sums of money involved in NCAA basketball had turned the sport into a division of the NBA, rather than the beloved amateur sport it once was. He went in search of college basketball played with the passion and integrity it once inspired, and found the Patriot League. As one of the NCAA's smallest leagues, none of these teams leaves college early to join the NBA and none of these coaches gets national recognition or endorsement contracts. The young men on these teams are playing for the love of the sport, of competition and of their schools. John Feinstein spent a season with these players, uncovering the drama of their daily lives and the passions that drive them to commit hundreds of hours to basketball even when there is no chance of a professional future. He offers a look at American sport at its purest.

When a fight broke out between the Houston Rockets & the LA Lakers in 1977, All-star Rudy Tomjanovitch raced to break it up. He met Kermit Washington's fist, which delivered 1 of the most ferocious punches ever seen in sport. It deslodged his skull & he required years of surgery & therapy to get him back to normal but he was never the same. Washington was an average player, 6' 8 & one of only 6 athletes to be both an Academic all-American & a basketball all-American. By all accounts he was an exemplary man but the split-second in which he threw his fist devastated his reputation. No team in the NBA would employ him in any coaching capacity. Tomjanovitch, on the other hand, is a star: head coach of the 2-time world championship Rockets & coach of the 2000 Glympic Gold winning team.With his unique insight, style & bone-deep knowledge of basketball, John Feinstein finally reveals the truth of that night & how it changed basketball forever. Through this one cataclysmicevent he casts light on the NBA's darkest secrets, exploring race, violence & how 1 mistake has haunted 2 good men for 25 years.