Sports Audiobooks | Biography & Memoir

Shula: The Coach of the NFL's Greatest Generation

"Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997, Don Shula remains the winningest coach of all time with 347 career victories and the only undefeated season in NFL history. But before he became the architect of the Dolphins dynasty, Shula was a hardworking kid selling fish on the banks of Lake Erie. As acclaimed sports biographer Mark Ribowsky shows, Shula met serious resistance at home when he asked to play high school football, but when his parents finally relented, they discovered that their son had an unmatched mind for the game's strategy and a stomach for its brutality. With rugged determination, the jut-jawed Shula started as a defensive back in the 1950s, later beginning his thirty-two-year coaching career as the then-youngest coach ever with the Baltimore Colts. The Colts had several successful years, but Shula never quite recovered from the historic loss to the upstart New York Jets in Super Bowl III, and when a lucrative job opened in Miami, he took his talents to South Beach, where he led the Dolphins to the first perfect season in NFL history. Tracing Shula's singular rise from his blue-collar origins to his glory days in the Miami heat, Ribowsky reveals a man of grit and charisma who never lost sight of a simple creed: 'All I've ever done is roll up my sleeves, figure out what to do, and start doing it.'"

Mark Ribowsky (Author), L.J. Ganser (Narrator)

Audiobook

[Spanish] - 50 años del Vicente Calderón

"El Vicente Calderón cumple 50 años, pero el Atlético de Madrid tiene más de 113 años de historia en los que fue acomodándose en distintas casas que ayudaron a su evolución. 50 años del Vicente Calderón nos sitúa en los campos en los que jugó antes de llegar a la ribera del Manzanares. Conoceremos los proyectos, sueños e ilusiones de los directivos que hicieron grande al Atlético, descubriremos la intrahistoria de la salida del Metropolitano y los obstáculos que hubo para culminar la obra del nuevo estadio. Un trabajo periodístico, riguroso y documentado que contextualiza el porqué de algunas decisiones que, en su momento, no fueron entendidas por los aficionados y desgastaron a personajes importantes en la historia, como Javier Barroso. Descubriremos a Vicente Calderón. Sabremos quién era y cómo llegó a manejar la nave rojiblanca; profundizaremos en su figura, en su personalidad, en su amor por el Atlético de Madrid. Sabremos más del estadio, de sus trasformaciones, de sus instalaciones, de su evolución en el mundo del fútbol, su aportación y todos sus rincones. También hablaremos de pasión y de los momentos históricos vividos en el césped. Recordaremos a los grandes jugadores, los grandes partidos, las grandes victorias y alguna que otra decepción. En definitiva, la vida de un campo contada por los que sudaron allí la camiseta.Pero el Calderón es mucho más que fútbol. Es también un templo de la música. Nos vamos a sumergir en la intrahistoria de los grandes eventos realizados en estos 50 años. Si el Calderón está en el centro del mundo futbolístico, también es un referente musical a nivel mundial. Por él han pasado los más grandes y muchas generaciones de fans han vibrado allí con sus ídolos.El Calderón cumple 50 años. Pasa sin miedo. Todo el que entra sale enamorado. Grabado en español ibérico (España)."

Cristina Mosquera, Miguel ángel Guijarro, Nacho Montero (Author), Fernando Madina (Narrator)

Audiobook

For the Good of the Game: The Inside Story of the Surprising and Dramatic Transformation of Major Le

"A New York Times bestseller. Foreword by Doris Kearns Goodwin The longtime Commissioner of Major League Baseball provides an unprecedented look inside professional baseball today, focusing on how he helped bring the game into the modern age and revealing his interactions with players, managers, fellow owners, and fans nationwide. More than a century old, the game of baseball is resistant to change—owners, managers, players, and fans all hate it. Yet, now more than ever, baseball needs to evolve—to compete with other professional sports, stay relevant, and remain America’s Pastime it must adapt. Perhaps no one knows this better than Bud Selig who, as the head of MLB for more than twenty years, ushered in some of the most important, and controversial, changes in the game’s history—modernizing a sport that had remained unchanged since the 1960s. In this enlightening and surprising book, Selig goes inside the most difficult decisions and moments of his career, looking at how he worked to balance baseball’s storied history with the pressures of the twenty-first century to ensure its future. Part baseball story, part business saga, and part memoir, For the Good of the Game chronicles Selig’s career, takes fans inside locker rooms and board rooms, and offers an intimate, fascinating account of the frequently messy process involved in transforming an American institution. Featuring an all-star lineup of the biggest names from the last forty years of baseball, Selig recalls the vital games, private moments, and tense conversations he’s shared with Hall of Fame players and managers and the contentious calls he’s made. He also speaks candidly about hot-button issues the steroid scandal that threatened to destroy the game, telling his side of the story in full and for the first time. As he looks back and forward, Selig outlines the stakes for baseball’s continued transformation—and why the changes he helped usher in must only be the beginning. Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs."

Bud Selig (Author), Arthur Morey (Narrator)

Audiobook

Arnold Palmer's Success Lessons: Wisdom on Golf, Business, and Life from the King of Golf

"Arnold Palmer taught world-class pro golf instructor Brad Brewer how to play golf. But that was just the beginning. For more than 30 years, Palmer taught Brad how to live. As a businessman, a father, a celebrity, a philanthropist, and a friend, Palmer showed those around him that true success has nothing to do with the final score - and everything to do with how you play the game. In Arnold Palmer's Success Lessons, Brad shares the life-changing truths he learned from the King of Golf throughout three decades of knowing Palmer as a business partner, employer, and mentor. In short but powerful chapters, Brad passes on Palmer's secrets such as: - Why you always need to play for the love of the game - What your starting point tells you about your destination - How to capitalize on past success - The attitude of a true champion - Why golf is like all the best things in life - it's more complicated than it looks Taking us from Palmer's childhood to his last years back in his own hometown, Brad introduces us to the Arnold Palmer behind the trophies, the celebrity, and the fame. This was the man who changed lives simply by living well, a man loved and respected not only for what he did but for who he was."

Brad Brewer (Author), Fred Sanders (Narrator)

Audiobook

Jürgen Klopp

"Brought to you by Penguin. Updated to include the Champions League Victory 2019 “It is the intensity of the football, of how the people live football in Liverpool, all the Liverpool fans around the world. It is not a normal club, it is a special club.” Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Klopp is the charismatic German manager who single-handedly overthrew the accepted order in German football, taking Borussia Dortmund from nowhere to back-to-back Bundesliga titles and the Champions League final. He had long been admired in the Premiership and was finally wooed by Liverpool in the belief he could bring back the glory days to the Kop. Klopp is revered as a master tactician with his own unique playing philosophies. He is loved by his players for his passion and man-management skills, and adored by fans for his charm, wit and exciting football on the pitch. In 2019, Klopp cemented his name in the history books by returning Liverpool to Champions League glory. Here is the definitive story of Jürgen Klopp - the normal one - and his footballing genius. (c) 2016, Elmar Neveling (P) 2016 Penguin Audio"

Elmar Neveling (Author), Saul Reichlin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Michael Jordan: A Unique Insight into the Career and Mindset of Michael Jordan (What it Takes to Be

"Do your hoop dreams seem out of reach? Discover insider secrets from a legendary NBA pro to take your game to new heights.Are you tired of warming the bench? Do daily drills and practice make no difference in your game? Does a career in basketball seem impossible? Steve James has made a lifetime study of Michael Jordan’s rise from repeated failure to NBA legend. And now he’s here to share the secrets behind Michael Jordan’s winning record so you can follow in his footsteps. Michael Jordan: A Unique Insight into the Career and Mindset of Michael Jordan is an incredible account of the many trials and tribulations the legendary baller overcame so he could dominate the courts. Through Steve James’ step-by-step instructions, you’ll learn to apply the same unique techniques and training systems that made Michael Jordan a household name. Whether you’re a newbie or semi-pro, you’ll discover the secrets to awaken your inner Air Jordan. In Michael Jordan, you'll discover: - Detailed daily workouts and training regimes to bring your game into the next league - Daily inspiration from His Highness’ one-of-a-kind rituals and superstitions - The steps MJ used to overcome his greatest failures and how you can leap your own hurdles - Little-known facts about the NBA superstar to inspire your own personal journey - The motivational lesson behind the number 23 and much, much more! Michael Jordan is a practical handbook and inspirational biography that’s perfect for any fan of the game. If you like expert advice, easy-to-follow illustrated techniques, and practical success principles, then you'll love Steve James’ buzzer-beating biography. Buy Michael Jordan for a nothing-but-net guide to dominating the scoreboard today!"

Steve James (Author), Sherry Granader (Narrator)

Audiobook

Moses Fleetwood Walker: The Life and Legacy of the Last Black Man to Play Major League Baseball Befo

"Given his legacy, many Americans today believe Jackie Robinson was the first black man to play in Major League Baseball, but that answer is wrong. As far back as the late 19th century, there had been professional baseball leagues that were every bit as segregated as any other aspect of society, but before that, there were, for a brief shining moment, there were teams of black and white men playing with and against each other. One of the first black men to play on such a team was Moses Fleetwood Walker, and he was the first who openly identified as black. In an essay entitled “African-Americans in Toledo Sports,” one author observed, “Moses Fleetwood Walker's promising but all too short professional baseball career mirrors the experience of most of the great African American ballplayers before the Negro Leagues began play in the early twentieth century. Walker was a gifted defensive catcher and adequate offensive player, but his career would be cut short by racism…Walker, well educated for a man of any race in the late 19th century, respond to this racism first with ambivalence, later with anger, and finally with prose. Walker's seminal work, Our Home Colony put him directly in line with the thoughts and words of future leader Marcus Garvey in his call for a separation of the races and a return of African Americans to Africa.” As racism and segregation successfully pushed black players out of professional baseball, it was all but forgotten that professional baseball had once been integrated before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, ensuring that the contributions of Walker and other early black athletes would be obscured and then eclipsed."

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Hare (Narrator)

Audiobook

Jackie Robinson and Moses Fleetwood Walker: The Lives and Careers of the Players Who Integrated Majo

"In his introduction to The Jackie Robinson Reader, sports historian Jules Tygiel succinctly observed, “Extraordinary lives often reveal ordinary truths. Jackie Robinson was born in 1919 and died in 1972. He crammed into these brief ﬁfty-three years a legacy of accomplishment, acclaim, controversy, and inﬂuence matched by few Americans. He was, even before his historic baseball breakthrough, an athlete of legendary proportions. He won fame and adulation as the ﬁrst African-American to play in the major leagues in the twentieth century, launching an athletic revolution that transformed American sports. He garnered baseball's highest honors: Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and ﬁrst-ballot election to the Hall of Fame. More signiﬁcantly, Robinson became a symbol of racial integration and a prominent leader in the civil rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. Yet Jackie Robinson's half century among us illuminates not just the contours of an exceptional life, but much about the broader African-American experience of those years.” Given his legacy, many Americans today believe Jackie Robinson was the first black man to play in Major League Baseball, but that answer is wrong. As far back as the late 19th century, there had been professional baseball leagues that were every bit as segregated as any other aspect of society, but before that, there were, for a brief shining moment, there were teams of black and white men playing with and against each other. One of the first black men to play on such a team was Moses Fleetwood Walker, and he was the first who openly identified as black. As racism and segregation successfully pushed black players out of professional baseball, it was all but forgotten that professional baseball had once been integrated before Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier, ensuring that the contributions of Walker and other early black athletes would be obscured and then eclipsed. "

Charles River Editors (Author), Bill Hare (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Running to the Edge: A Band of Misfits and the Guru Who Unlocked the Secrets of Speed

"'Gripping . . . the narrative is smooth and immediate, almost effortless in its detail, if occasionally breathless, like a good fast run . . .' --The New York Times Book Review Visionary American running coach Bob Larsen assembled a mismatched team of elite California runners . . . the start of his decades-long quest for championships, Olympic glory, and pursuit of 'the epic run.' In the dusty hills above San Diego, Bob Larsen became America's greatest running coach. Starting with a ragtag group of high school cross country and track runners, Larsen set out on a decades-long quest to find the secret of running impossibly fast, for longer distances than anyone thought possible. Himself a former farm boy who fell into his track career by accident, Larsen worked through coaching high school, junior college, and college, coaxing talented runners away from more traditional sports as the running craze was in its infancy in the 60's and 70's. On the arid trails and windy roads of California, Larsen relentlessly sought the 'secret sauce' of speed and endurance that would catapult American running onto the national stage. Running to the Edge is a riveting account of Larsen's journey, and his quest to discover the unorthodox training secrets that would lead American runners (elite and recreational) to breakthroughs never imagined. New York Times Deputy Sports Editor Matthew Futterman interweaves the dramatic stories of Larsen's runners with a fascinating discourse of the science behind human running, as well as a personal running narrative that follows Futterman's own checkered love-affair with the sport. The result is a narrative that will speak to every runner, a story of Larsen's triumphs--from high school cross-country meets to the founding of the cult-favorite 70's running group, the Jamul Toads, from national championships to his long tenure as head coach at UCLA, and from the secret training regimen of world champion athletes like Larsen's protégé, American Meb Keflezighi, to victories at the New York and Boston Marathons as well as the Olympics. Running to the Edge is a page-turner . . . a relentless crusade to run faster, farther."

Matthew Futterman (Author), René Ruiz (Narrator)

Audiobook

Smokin' Joe: The Life of Joe Frazier

"A gripping, all-access biography of Joe Frazier, whose rivalry with Muhammad Ali riveted boxing fans and whose legacy as a figure in American sports and society endures. History will remember the rivalry of Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali as one for the ages, a trilogy of extraordinary fights that transcended the world of sports and crossed into a sociocultural drama that divided the country. Joe Frazier was a much more complex figure than just his rivalry with Ali would suggest. In this riveting and nuanced portrayal, acclaimed sports writer Mark Kram, Jr. unlinks Frazier from Ali and for the first time gives a full-bodied accounting of Frazier’s life, a journey that began as the youngest of thirteen children packed in small farm house, encountering the bigotry and oppression of the Jim Crow South, and continued with his voyage north at age fifteen to develop as a fighter in Philadelphia. Tracing Frazier’s life through his momentous bouts with the likes of Ali and George Foreman and the developing perception of him as the anti-Ali in the eyes of blue-collar America, Kram follows the boxer through his retirement in 1981, exploring his relationship with his son, the would-be heavyweight Marvis, and his fragmented home life as well as the uneasy place that Ali continued to occupy in his thoughts. A propulsive and richly textured narrative that is also a powerful story about race and class in America, Smokin' Joe is unparalleled in its scope, depth, and access and promises to be the definitive biography of a towering American figure whose life was galvanized by conflict and whose mark has proven lasting."

Mark Kram (Author), James Fouhey (Narrator)

Audiobook

Northern Lights: One Woman, Two Teams, and the Football Field That Changed Their Lives

"Life is hard in Barrow, Alaska. Football mom Cathy Parker first caught a glimpse of this far-away reality from the comfort of her Jacksonville, Florida, living room while watching a 2006 ESPN report on the Barrow Whalers, a high school football team consisting mostly of Alaskan Inupiat Eskimo natives playing in the most difficult of conditions and trying to overcome the most unlikely of odds. These players-raised in the northernmost town in the United States, where drug abuse is rampant and the high school dropout rate is high-found themselves playing on a gravel field, using flour to draw the lines. And while the community of Barrow felt a strong pride for their boys, many felt football was not worth the investment. That is, until Cathy Parker became involved. Overcome by a surprising stirring in her soul to reach out and help, Cathy was determined to build a suitable field for the Barrow Whalers. Not fully understanding the many obstacles, both financially and logistically, that would line the path ahead, Cathy charged forward with a determined spirit and a heart for both the football team and the greater community of Barrow. She spearheaded a campaign that raised more than half-a-million dollars through people all around the country rallying around one common goal: changing the lives of young men through football. This is not just the story of how the Barrow Whalers became the first high school above the Arctic Circle to have a football program. This is the story of how we are sometimes called to the most unlikely of causes and to believe in something a little bit bigger, changing our own lives and the lives of others for the better in the most unexpected of ways. Follow along on the journey with photos available in the audiobook companion PDF download."

Cathy Parker (Author), Nan Gurley (Narrator)

Audiobook

Darkness to Light: A Memoir

"New York Times Bestseller Fame. Sex. Pain. Drugs. Death. Booze. Money. Addiction. Redemption. Dizzying heights. Rock-bottom depths. Desperation and elation—sometimes in the same hour. Not to mention power . . . and the struggle for it. The world knows Lamar Odom as a two-time NBA world champion who rocketed to uncharted heights of fame thanks to being a member of both the storied Los Angeles Lakers and the ubiquitous Kardashian empire. But who is Lamar, really? Fans have long praised his accessibility and genuine everyman quality—he is a blinding talent who has suffered a series of heartaches, setback, and loss. But until now, his most candid moments have remained behind closed doors . . . sometimes face-down on the floor. In Darkness to Light, Lamar gives readers an intimate look into his life like never before. His exclusive and revealing memoir recounts the highs and lows of fame and his struggle with his demons along the way to self-discovery and redemption. From the pain of his unraveled marriage to Khloé Kardashian to the harmful vices he used to cope—and the near-death experience that made him rethink everything about his life—this is Lamar as you have never before seen him. Lamar brings basketball fans directly into the action of a game during the Lakers championship years. He shares his personal account of the lifelong passion that started as one shining light in a childhood marked by loss and led to his international fame as one of the most extraordinary athletes of all time. In this profoundly honest book, Lamar invites you to walk with him through the good times and bad, while looking ahead to a brighter future."

Lamar Odom (Author), Chris Palmer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Sports Audiobooks in Biography & Memoir