L. Jon Wertheim
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"A rollicking guided tour of one extraordinary summer, when some of the most pivotal and freakishly coincidental stories all collided and changed the way we think about modern sports"--
Summer, 1984. The nation watched Michael Jordan grow from college basketball player to professional athlete and star. ESPN rose to media dominance as the country's premier sports network. The first modern, commercialized, profitable Olympics took place in Los Angeles....
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In this irresistible narrative romp, Wertheim and Sommers usher us from professional football to the NBA to Grand Slam tennis, from the psychology of athletes self-handicapping their performance in the boxing ring or the World Series, to an explanation of why even the glimpse of a finish line can lift us beyond ordinary physical limits. They explore why Tom Brady and other starting NFL quarterbacks all seem to look like fashion models; why fans of...
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Based on unique access to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and its rival organizations, Blood in the Cage peers through the chain-link Octagon into the frighteningly seductive world of mixed martial arts, which has exploded in popularity despite resistance. Wertheim focuses on Pat Miletich, who runs the most famous MMA training school in the world. Single-handedly Miletich has transformed a gritty town on the Mississippi into an unlikely hotbed...
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Formats
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The executive editor of Sports Illustrated offers an in-depth analysis and behind-the-scenes look at the historic 2008 match between tennis titans.
In the 2008 Wimbledon men's final, Center Court was a stage set worthy of Shakespearean drama. Five-time champion Roger Federer was on track to take his rightful place as the most dominant player in the history of the game. He just needed to cling to his trajectory. So, in the last few moments of daylight,...
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For fans of Bringing Down the House and Positively Fifth-a Sports Illustrated writer shares the story of a heavyset, bipolar, and charming pool hustler.
In most sports the pinnacle is Wheaties-box notoriety. But in the world of pool, notoriety is the last thing a hustler desires. Such is the dilemma that faces one Danny Basavich, an affable, generously proportioned Jewish kid from Jersey, who flounders through high school until he discovers the...
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A behind-the-scenes look at the hugely popular and often controversial world of women's tennis featuring such household names as Venus and Serena Williams and Anna Kournikova. At a time when attendance and TV ratings for women's tennis are at an all-time high, Sports Illustrated writer L.Jon Wertheim, draws on his investigative talents and knowledge of the game to infiltrate the heretofore closed locker rooms of the women's tour and chronicle this...
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An eight-time Emmy Award-winning broadcaster interweaves the story of his life and career with lively tales of major events and engaging figures in modern sports, from the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" finals to the 1989 World Series earthquake. Michaels, one of television's most respected broadcasters, interweaves the story of his life and career with lively firsthand tales of some of the most thrilling events and fascinating figures in modern sports. Over...