Sports Audiobooks | Biography & Memoir

My Olympic Life: A Memoir: The Anita DeFrantz Story

"Growing up in a family active in promoting civil rights, Anita L. DeFrantz knew the importance of letting her voice be heard as an African American and as a woman. Her activism for individual rights and her ascent as a leader began in earnest at Connecticut College, where she was sophomore class president, chairman of the student judiciary committee her junior year, author of a student bill of rights, and a house fellow, supervising student dorm residents her senior year. At commencement in 1974, she was elected a trustee of the college by her class. Eventually, she would serve as a Connecticut College trustee for 24 years. In college, DeFrantz found that she was a natural for the new and exciting sport of rowing, with its focus on teamwork. She continued her rowing training throughout law school and during her early career as an attorney. She competed in the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal, which was the first time women’s rowing was on the program of the Olympic Games, and raced to a bronze medal in the U.S. 8-oared shell with coxswain. In My Olympic Life, readers will journey with an African-American youngster from racially-charged and segregated Indianapolis in the 1950s and ’60s, who went to a high school with no sports for girls, as she grows up to be a member of the first women’s U.S. Olympic rowing team and wins a bronze medal in the 1976 Montréal Olympic Games. They will then see how her Olympic experience galvanized her to become an active member in national and international sport and Olympic organizations, including becoming the first woman vice president of both FISA (the International Rowing Federation) and the International Olympic Committee. Her story is more than a civil rights and sporting victory for one person. It reveals how with grit, determination and passion, one person can change the game positively for all."

Anita L. Defrantz, Josh Young (Author), Anita L. Defrantz (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Complete History of the Rugby World Cup: In Pursuit of Bill

"Immerse yourself in the drama and excitement of the Rugby World Cup – including clips from the iconic 'World in Union' theme song (by Hayley Westenra) and supporting sound effects from rugby’s greatest stage. You can go behind the scenes of “the game they play in heaven”, and find out how it was the forefather to all rugby football codes and also American football. What if you could be in the room where decisions were made that brought to life what is now the third largest sporting event in the world? Lance Peatey is an established media business leader with a career spanning more than 20 years, working for major global media organizations including Disney/ESPN, BBC, IMG Media, and both the Nine Network and Seven Network in Australia. It was while working with Seven during Rugby World Cup 2003 that Lance first decided to write A Complete History of the Rugby World Cup – In Pursuit of Bill. The first edition in 2007 earned impressive reviews, including David Llewellyn from The Independent describing it as “a minor masterpiece.” Lance has also assisted former Australian rugby star flanker David Pocock with two editions of his autobiography “Openside” in 2011 and 2018. This first ever audio book edition comes after the historic and colourful 2019 tournament in Japan. Narrated by Dryw McArthur and with clips from the iconic rugby anthem 'World in Union' sung by Hayley Westenra, plus ambient sounds from rugby’s greatest stage, it will give you: - All the drama and excitement across the nine Rugby World Cup tournaments played from 1987 to 2019. - Fresh highlights from the Japan 2019 tournament, as World Rugby pushed into Asia for the very first time. - The history of rugby union, and the formation of rival codes that pushed its evolution to professionalism. - Rare insights to heated boardroom politics that almost quashed the pinnacle event from ever happening. This is a must read/listen for newly initiated rugby fans right through to the more seasoned devotees"

Lance Peatey (Author), Dryw Mcarthur (Narrator)

Audiobook

My Own Story

"The extraordinary memoir from baseball icon Jackie Robinson—originally published in 1948, just a year after he shattered baseball’s color barrier, and now released as an audiobook for the very first time. “I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me…all I ask is that you respect me as a human being.” So says #42, who comes alive to share his story, up to and through that historic first season, as told to famed sportswriter Wendell Smith, with a foreword by Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey. Travel back in time, as the Dodgers legend guides you through his athletic upbringing, his short stint with the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro Leagues, and his breakthrough to the big leagues, at the age of twenty-eight."

Jackie Robinson (Author), David Sadzin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Dalko: The Untold Story of Baseball's Fastest Pitcher

"Gripping and tragic, Dalko is the definitive story of Steve “White Lightning” Dalkowski, baseball’s fastest pitcher ever. Dalko explores one man’s unmatched talent on the mound and the forces that kept ultimate greatness always just beyond his reach. For the first time, Dalko: The Untold Story of Baseball’s Fastest Pitcher unites all of the eyewitness accounts from the coaches, analysts, teammates, and professionals who witnessed the game’s fastest pitcher in action. In doing so, it puts readers on the fields and at the plate to hear the buzzing fastball of a pitcher fighting to achieve his major league ambitions. Just three days after his high school graduation in 1957, Steve Dalkowski signed into the Baltimore Orioles system. Poised for greatness, he might have risen to be one of the stars in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Instead, he spent his entire career toiling away in the minor leagues. An inspiration for the character Nuke LaLoosh in the classic baseball film Bull Durham, Dalko’s life and story were as fast and wild as the pitches he threw. The late Orioles manager Earl Weaver, who saw baseball greats Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax pitch, said “Dalko threw harder than all of ‘em.” Cal Ripken Sr., Dalkowski’s catcher for several years, said the same. Bull Durham screenwriter Ron Shelton, who played with Dalkowski in the minor leagues, said “They called him “Dalko” and guys liked to hang with him and women wanted to take care of him and if he walked in a room in those days he was probably drunk.” This force on the field that could break chicken wire backstops and wooden fences with his heat but racked up almost as many walks as strikeouts in his career, spent years of drinking all night and showing up on the field the next day, just in time to show his wild heat again."

Alex Thomas, Bill Dembski, Brian Vikander (Author), Michael Beck (Narrator)

Audiobook

[Arabic] - ذا روك (الصخرة): أكثر من المصارعة

"جميعنا نعرف المصارع الأسطورة دوين جونسون والملقب بالصخرة، فبالتنقل بين الرياضة والتمثيل والغناء والإنتاج والطبخ وتصميم الملابس الرياضية، نستطيع أن نرى بالدليل القاطع أنه لا يوجد شيء لا يستطيع (دوين جونسون) فعله! يتحدّث الكتاب الذي بين أيدينا اليوم عن سيرة حياة هذا البطل؛ ميلاده، طفولته وكيف تنقل مع والديه كثيرًا لمشاهدة والده المصارع أصلًا في مبارياته، إذا يبدو بأنَّ المصارعة قدرٌ في هذه العائلة ابتداءً بالجد وانتهاءً بالحفيد. كما يعرض الكتاب بدايات جونسون ولماذا عارض والده ميوله الرياضي إلّا أنّه وافق على تدريبه الشخصي نهاية الأمر، إضافةً إلى أعماله السينمائية و الكثير من الحقائق الغريبة والمضحكة المتعلقة بحياته!"

ديانا فواز دودو (Author), أحمد خيري (Narrator)

Audiobook

[French] - Mon père, Gaëtan Hart : Le Rocky de la boxe québécoise, Mon: Le Rocky de la boxe québécoi

"'Le dernier combat de boxe de Gaëtan Hart, à l’âge de 46 ans, a sonné le réveil de Mélanie, sa fille. À compter de cette journée de tourment, elle a décidé de connaître cet homme qui était davantage en amour avec la boxe qu’avec sa famille. Qui est ce père méconnu d’elle mais héros de plusieurs? Pourquoi Mélanie a-t-elle vécu aussi longtemps sans sa présence ? Ce qu’elle découvre la sidère. Gaëtan Hart est un grand nom de la boxe québécoise. Non seulement a-t-il fait connaître le village de Buckingham, mais il est devenu un héros local pour l’ensemble de l’Outaouais. À l’adolescence, la détermination a permis à Gaëtan de vaincre l’intimidation dont il était victime et de monter un mini gymnase dans le garage familial afin de s’entraîner à son sport de prédilection. Quand il est devenu professionnel, il a souvent affronté, pour une bouchée de pain, des adversaires plus expérimentés. Tout au long de sa carrière, les défis ont été nombreux : soupçon de liens avec la mafia, combats tragiques causant coma et mort, multiples commotions cérébrales, pauvreté, dépression ; tout y passe. Mais ça ne l’a pas empêché de devenir triple champion canadien et, ultime accomplissement, de livrer un combat de championnat du monde, réalisant ainsi le rêve qu’il chérissait depuis l’enfance. Mon père, Gaëtan Hart, est l’histoire touchante d’une fille qui découvre son père, un athlète brisé par le sport qui lui a apporté la gloire et le désespoir. '"

Mélanie Hart, Serge Amyot (Author), Chantal Fontaine (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Hurt: The Sunday Times Sports Book of the Year

"Brought to you by Penguin. Rugby hurts. It demands mental resilience and resistance to pain. It explores character, beyond a capacity to endure punishment. In The Hurt, Dylan Hartley, one of England's most successful captains, tells a story of hard men and harsh truths. This is rugby in the raw, a unique insight into the price of sporting obsession. At the age of 16, Hartley travelled to England, on his own, to build a life and learn the dark arts of front row play. He won 97 international caps before his retirement, due to a persistent knee condition, in November 2019. He formed an unusually close coach-captain relationship with Eddie Jones, winning the Grand Slam in their first season together. Hartley addresses the ever-increasing physical and psychological demands on international players, and the toll it can take on their mental health. He describes with brutal clarity the effects of multiple concussions, and his fear of the potential long-term damage caused by a game he fell in love with as a boy in rural New Zealand. 'Rugby is great for the soul,' he writes, 'but terrible for the body.' Dylan Hartley has survived old-school brawls, and thrived in the high-pressure, high-performance culture created by Eddie Jones before his dream of leading England on the biggest stage in the 2019 World Cup was shattered by untimely injury. Along the way, he learned a lot about leadership and about himself. The Hurt shows us his life and his sport, warts and all. 'Few have had more twists and turns in a pro rugby career than the now-retired Dylan Hartley. Never a one dimensional character on or off the field and led England to some famous wins.' Robert Kitson"

Dylan Hartley (Author), Mike Sengelow (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mind Games: The Ups and Downs of Life and Football

"In this unique book, one of football’s greatest cult players reflects on the travails of the sport and draws upon his own experience to offer an honest assessment on one of its final remaining taboos: mental health. The most difficult position in football? Being a goalkeeper. That’s what they say, right? You must be mad to stand between those posts and bat away shots and crosses all game long. Neville Southall should know. He was the goalkeeper for one of the best teams of the 1980s and became an icon of the game during his 20-year career between the sticks. But what did it take to prepare himself mentally for the difficulties of the position? How did he dig so deep on the biggest occasions and in the highest-pressured moments? What scars were left at the end of his long career – a tenure that saw the highs of winning trophies, but also the lows of losing games, making mistakes and feeling the full weight of club and country on your shoulders. And how has he used his post-playing career to campaign for a better future for the next generation? In this unique book, one of football’s greatest cult players reflects on the travails of the modern game, how some of society’s problems are reflected within it and draws upon his own experience to tackle one of its final remaining taboos: mental health. On fear of failure, confidence, sexuality and homophobia, suicide, social media and many other talking points – Neville doesn’t hold back on the biggest subjects and gets stuck in to some of the most important topics surrounding the beautiful game."

Neville Southall (Author), Anne-Marie Silbiger (Narrator)

Audiobook

Above the Clouds: How I Carved My Own Path to the Top of the World

"The most accomplished mountain runner of all time contemplates his record-breaking climb of Mount Everest in this profound and free-flowing memoir—an intellectual and spiritual journey that moves from the earth’s highest peak to the soul’s deepest reaches. What drives a person to the edge of one of the most difficult and revered mountains in the world? How much is one willing to sacrifice and suffer to pursue an authentic and bold life? The most accomplished mountain runner of all time, Kilian Jornet ponders these questions as he contemplates his record-breaking climb of Mount Everest, exploring the mountain’s changing nature over four seasons and his own existence. As he recounts a life spent studying, tending, and ascending the greatest peaks on earth, Jornet ruminates on what he has found in nature—simplicity, freedom, and spiritual joy—and offers a poetic yet clearheaded assessment of his relationship to the mountain . . . at times his opponent, at others, his greatest muse. In this sweeping, soulful journey—the flip side of stories like Into Thin Air—Jornet illuminates with beauty and brilliance what it means to be an athlete, a competitor, and a human facing the greatest life challenges—for him, the mountain he yearns to climb and honour."

Kilian Jornet (Author), Steven Brand (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Dynasty

"NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Now a 10-part docuseries on Apple TV+ From the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Tiger Woods comes the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots—the greatest sports dynasty of the 21st century. It's easy to forget that the New England Patriots were once the laughingstock of the NFL, a nearly bankrupt team that had never won a championship and was on the brink of moving to St. Louis. Everything changed in 1994, when Robert Kraft acquired the franchise and soon brought on board head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. Since then, the Patriots have become a juggernaut, making ten trips to the Super Bowl, winning six of them, and emerging as one of the most valuable sports franchises in the world. How was the Patriots dynasty built? And how did it last for two decades? In The Dynasty, acclaimed journalist Jeff Benedict provides richly reported answers in a sweeping account based on exclusive interviews with more than two hundred insiders—including team executives, coaches, players, players' wives, team doctors, lawyers, and more—as well as never-before-seen recordings, documents, and electronic communications. Through his exhaustive research, Benedict uncovers surprising new details about the inner workings of a team notorious for its secrecy. He puts us in the room as Robert Kraft outmaneuvers a legion of lawyers and investors to buy the team. We listen in on the phone call when the greatest trade ever made—Bill Belichick for a first-round draft choice—is negotiated. And we look over the shoulder of forty-year-old Tom Brady as a surgeon operates on his throwing hand on the eve of the AFC Championship Game in 2018. But the portrait that emerges in The Dynasty is more rewarding than new details alone. By tracing the team's epic run through the perspectives of Kraft, Belichick, and Brady—each of whom was interviewed for the book—the author provides a wealth of new insight into the complex human beings most responsible for the Patriots' success. The result is an intimate portrait that captures the human drama of the dynasty's three key characters while also revealing the secrets behind their success. "The Dynasty is…[a] masterpiece…It's a relationship book, it's a football book, it's a business book…you'll just eat up these stories" (Colin Cowherd)."

Jeff Benedict (Author), Todd Menesses (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Game at a Time: My Journey from a Small Town to Hockey's Biggest Stage

"INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER From the distinct and vibrant voice behind Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi comes the story of pursuing a dream and defying the odds, reminding us all of hockey's power to unite. BoninoBoninoBonino! Ask a hockey fan if they have heard the wonderfully electric call of Nick Bonino's overtime-winning goal from the 2016 Stanley Cup Final and they will almost surely answer with a resounding yes! That's because video clips of the Hockey Night in Punjabi broadcast immediately went viral, amplifying the profile of Harnarayan Singh, the voice behind the call. Growing up in small-town Alberta, Harnarayan was like many other kids who dreamed about a life within the sanctum of the game they idolized. There was only one small difference--he didn't look like any of the other kids. And when he sat down on Saturday nights to tune in to Hockey Night in Canada with the rest of the nation, he couldn't ignore the fact that the broadcasters or analysts didn't look like him either. Undeterred, Harnarayan worked his way from calling imaginary hockey games with his plastic toy microphone as a child, to funding secret flights from Calgary to Toronto every weekend in the early days of Hockey Night in Punjabi, to making history as the first Sikh to broadcast an NHL game in English. Full of heart, humour, and bursting with personality (and maybe a few family prayers for Wayne Gretzky), One Game at a Time is the incredible and inspiring story of how Harnarayan Singh broke through the longstanding barriers and biases of the sport he loves. But more than that, Harnarayan blends his unabashed love of hockey with a refreshing and necessary positive message about what it means to be a Canadian in the world, making him one of the most influential ambassadors of the game today."

Harnarayan Singh (Author), Harnarayan Singh (Narrator)

Audiobook

Resilient by Nature: Reflections from a Life of Winning On and Off the Football Field

"This amazing memoir follows the story of Reggie Williams—ex-NFL linebacker, former Disney executive, renaissance man, and the epitome of determination in the face of extreme challenges. 'Don't look at their eyes.' That was the advice the great Jim Brown gave to Reggie Williams as they prepared for a meeting with members of rival Los Angeles gang members at an ultra-secret location. Williams needed to strike an accord with the 'Bloods' and the 'Crips' if the youth education center he was establishing in South Central LA would ever stand a chance of succeeding in the aftermath of the Rodney King riots . . . with the NFL on the verge of making it to the Super Bowl. Thanks to an assist from Brown, arguably the greatest player in NFL history, Williams survived the meeting that led to an agreement from the gangs that the community center would be off-limits. In Resilient by Nature, Williams reveals an array of classic episodes from his journey that share a common thread—the ability to adapt to change and extreme challenges . . . including the battle to save his right leg. Look in his eyes and you'll see Williams as a walking inspiration."

Reggie Williams (Author), Mirron Willis (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sports Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir