Showing titles in History of Sports

The LA Lakers have long been one of the NBA's most exciting teams. In The Show, critically acclaimed sportswriter Roland Lazenby brings the story of this charismatic team to life in an unprecedented oral history, featuring such legendary players as Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Magic Johnson, along with current stars like Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

With extensive reporting and engrossing storytelling, Jim Baker and Bernard Corbett give us the scenes of one of the NFL's most successful and popular franchises.

Your first kiss. The birth of a child. Your first big job. These indelible memories shape our identity. Great sports moments do that, too. Join one of America’s most prolific sports history writers and relive 15 spectacular sports moments that transfixed and inspired a nation. David L. Hudson, Jr. is the author of more than 40 books, an award-winning professor, and a judge for professional boxing events. In this audio series, he explores unforgettable sports moments spanning football, baseball, golf, basketball, tennis, soccer, and more.

Albert, Colonel Weatherford's assistant, had to guard the stables and the valuable colt Le Grand Chien at the Old Bergen Country Racetrack the night before the North Jersey Stakes Race. Rumor had it that Jake Katz, a notorious bookie, had been trying to fix the race. In addition, the colonel agreed to a bet with Katz at 10-1 odds that Le Grand Chien would win. Of course, that night even with Albert on guard, Katz would make every effort to make sure the horse would lose. The race was held the next day. Would Le Grand Chien even be able to race, let alone win?

Only available in audio! Listen to never-before-told, behind-the-scenes anecdotes as recounted by sports journalism legend John Feinstein. Hear John's once-in-lifetime personal interactions with some of the most monumental figures and moments in sports history: from Bob Knight and “the night...

For a race as long as the mighty Tour (three weeks of testing the limits of human endurance), to have the ultimate victory decided by a margin of just eight seconds almost boggles the mind. But that's exactly what happened between American legend Greg LeMond and Laurent Fignon. After more than 2,000 miles in the saddle, it remains the smallest margin of victory in the Tour's 100-plus-year history.

Following Neville Cardus's assertion that 'there can be no summer in this land without cricket', Hamilton plotted the games he would see in 2019 and wrote down reflectively on some of the cricket that blessed his own sight. It would be captured in the context of the coming season in case subsequent summers and the imminent arrival of the Hundred made that impossible. He would write in the belief that after this season the game might never be quite the same again.

Before agents and TV mega-rights ushered in multi-millionaire players, footballers’ wages were capped, with even the game's biggest names earning barely more than a plumber or electrician. Footballing legends shared a bond of borderline penury with the crowds they entertained on Saturday afternoons, on pitches that were far away from the pristine lawns of the modern era. Instead of the sports cars driven by today's top players, the stars of yesteryear travelled to matches on public transport and returned to homes as modest as those of their supporters.

Val James became the first African-American player in the NHL when he took to the ice with the Buffalo Sabres in 1982, and in 1987 he became the first Black player of any nationality to skate for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Born in central Florida, James grew up on Long Island and received his first pair of skates for his 13th birthday. At 16 James left home to play in Canada, where he was the only Black person in junior and, often, in the whole town.

Boxing is Steve Bunce's game. He has filed thousands and thousands of fight reports from ringside. He has written millions and millions of words for national newspapers previewing boxing, profiling boxers and proselytising on the business. He has been the voice of British boxing on the airwaves, both radio and television, with an army of loyal fans. And now it's time to put those many years of experience into penning his history of the sport of kings on these isles. It's Bunce's Big Fat Short History of British Boxing. 

Bloomsbury presents Who Are Ya? by Kevin Day, read by Kevin Day and Gary Lineker. "Excellent" –The Times "Kevin's immense knowledge shines on every page." – Gary Lineker "A football book by a fan for the fans. A treasure trove." – Alan Davies "An entertaining romp through the back alleys...

Bloomsbury presents The Men Who Raised the Bar by Chris Waters, read by David Thorpe. Few sporting records capture the imagination quite like that of the highest individual score in Test cricket. It is the blue riband record of batting achievement, the ultimate statement of stamina and skill...

In Sit Down and Cheer, Martin Kelner traces the development of this relationship from its humble origins in the 1960 Olympics, by way of the first-ever Match of the Day in 1964, through to the financial impact of Sky, right up to the high-tech gadgetry of our present-day viewing. Insightful and very funny, this is an entertaining exploration of two major national pastimes and not to be missed.

Danny Gallagher leads listeners up to that infamous day in October 1981 when Rick Monday of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a home run off of Montreal Expos pitcher Steve Rogers in the ninth inning, giving the Dodgers a berth in the World Series. Listeners will be taken back to 1976 when a five-year plan for winning the National League championship was set in place by the Expos with the hiring of experienced manager Dick Williams.

Barcelona and Real Madrid: two of the most powerful and popular clubs in world football, and one of the world's most bitter sporting rivalries. Going far beyond the boundaries of just sport alone, this is a rivalry at the heart of Spanish life, taking in politics and culture and splitting a country in two. El Clasico gets to the heart of that rivalry, investigating the intrigue, the larger-than-life characters, the key flashpoints and their consequences.

Bloomsbury presents Black Boots and Football Pinks written and read by Daniel Gray. A collection of lyrical sweet-nothings whispered to old-fashioned wingers, ramshackle dugouts, multiple cup replays and 47 other wonders that made us love football. Goalkeepers in trousers, proper division names...

Bloomsbury presents Saturday, 3pm written and read by Daniel Gray. Overpaid players. Sunday lunchtime kick-offs. Absurd ticket prices. Non-black boots. Football’s menu of ills is long. Where has the joy gone? Why do we bother? Saturday, 3pm offers a glorious antidote. It is here to remind you...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Doug Smith always gets the first question in any Raptors press conference--as the dean of our press corps, he's been in the front row for every development over the past 25 years. There's no one better placed to write a history of our team's first quarter century." --Nick...

Nominated for the 2019 Toronto Heritage Book Award We may never see a playoff series like it again. Before Gary Bettman, and the lockouts. Before all the NHL's old barns were torn down to make way for bigger, glitzier rinks. Before expansion and parity across the league, just about anything...

From the former executive director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame comes a sweeping and lively history of the National Football League, timed to coincide with the NFL’s 100th anniversary season. “I can think of no one better qualified—or more enthusiastic—to chronicle the National...