Sports & Stories: Two Worlds Collide

There seems to be a line of thinking in our society that sports and the arts exist on two opposite sides of the spectrum of the human experience. I found it very interesting when I read a quote from a sports photography editor in which he said that “photos of athletes playing sports are a dime a dozen.” The photos that he looks for, and the ones that make him money, are the ones that show a human element that gives insight into the athlete’s life. Here at the Mercer County Library System, we offer a combination of the world of storytelling and the world of sports through our great collection of sports memoirs and biographies. Give them a chance! Great stories are everywhere!

Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe by David Maraniss

ISBN: 9781476748412

Summary:

“Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. He won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics, was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, was in the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for the New York Giants. But despite his colossal skills, Thorpe's life was a struggle against the odds. As a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he encountered duplicitous authorities who turned away from him when their reputations were at risk. At Carlisle, he dealt with the racist assimilationist philosophy Kill the Indian, Save the Man.”

Good for a Girl: A Woman Running in a Man’s World by Lauren Fleshman

ISBN: 9780593296783

Summary:

"Fueled by her years as an elite runner and advocate for women in sports, Lauren Fleshman offers her inspiring personal story and a rallying cry for reform of a sports landscape that is failing young female athletes. Lauren Fleshman has grown up in the world of running: one of the most decorated collegiate athletes of all time and a national champion as a pro, she was a major face of women's running for Nike before leaving to shake up the industry with feminist running brand Oiselle and now coaches elite young female runners.”

The Sweet Science and Other Writings by A.J. Liebling

ISBN: 9781598530407

Summary:

“Named the best sports book of all time by Sports Illustrated in 2002, The Sweet Science (1956) offers a lively and idiosyncratic portrait of boxing in the early 1950s that encompasses boastful managers, veteran trainers, wily cornermen, and the fighters themselves- Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Archie Moore. ‘A virtuoso of anachronistic perfection.’"

The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant

ISBN: 9780374201234

Summary:

“The NBA great nicknamed "The Black Mamba" shares his knowledge and understanding of basketball, outlining his detailed approach to preparing both physically and mentally to succeed at the game and revealing the core of his "Mamba mentality."

Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis

ISBN: 9780393057652

Summary:

“This book explains how Billy Beene, the general manager of the Oakland Athletics, used a new kind of thinking to build a successful and winning baseball team without spending enormous sums of money. The author examines the fallacy behind the major league baseball refrain that the team with the biggest wallet is supposed to win.”

The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team by Wayne R. Coffey

ISBN: 9781400047659

Summary:

“Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, that engineered perhaps the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. Their “Miracle on Ice” has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. It is a legacy of hope, hard work, and homegrown triumph.” 

Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream by Buzz Bissinger

ISBN: 9780306824203

Summary:

“H.G. Bissinger's exquisitely written account brings into sharp focus the bitter struggle between sports and education in Odessa, Texas, as well as in high schools and colleges nationwide.”

Seabiscuit: an American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

ISBN: 9780449005613

Summary:

"Seabiscuit was one of the most electrifying and popular attractions in sports history and the single biggest newsmaker in the world in 1938, receiving more coverage than FDR, Hitler, or Mussolini. But his success was a surprise to the racing establishment, which had written off the crooked-legged racehorse with the sad tail. Author Laura Hillenbrand brilliantly re-creates a universal underdog story, one that proves life is a horse race."

Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi

ISBN: 9780307268198

Summary:

From Andre Agassi, one of the most beloved athletes in history, and one of the most gifted men ever to step onto a tennis court, a beautiful, haunting autobiography.

A Good Walk Spoiled: Days and Nights on the PGA Tour by John Feinstein

ISBN: 9780316277204

Summary:

"In the highly acclaimed bestseller A Good Walk Spoiled, John Feinstein captures the world of professional golf as it has never been captured before. Traveling with the golfers on the PGA Tour, Feinstein gets inside the heads of the game's greatest players as well as its struggling wannabes." "Meet superstars like Nick Price, who nailed a fifty-foot putt at the seventeenth to win the British Open, and Paul Azinger, who marked his return from a bout with cancer with an emotional appearance at the Buick Open.”

You can also borrow movies based on some of these books:

- by Andrew, Lawrence Headquarters Branch

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