In 2000, Alonzo Mourning was on top of the world: He had a fat new NBA contract, an Olympic gold medal, and a second beautiful child–plus the fame and wealth he had earned playing the game he loved. But in September of that year he was diagnosed with a rare and fatal kidney disease. Over the next couple of years, as his health faltered, he retired, unretired, and retired again–and sought to make sense of what remained of his life. Finally in 2003, after a frantic search for a donor match, Mourning had a new kidney and a new outlook. He vowed to make this second chance count by dedicating his life to others. By sharing his experiences of the chasms and peaks of illness and recovery, Mourning delivers a message of faith and fire, trust and triumph. Resilience is a story of both meaningful everyday lessons and the things, great and small, that truly matter in life.

Resilience

Wetzel, Dan

Mourning, Alonzo

Religion & Spirituality

ESPN

A fascinating biography of a forgotten golf legend, a riveting whodunit of a covered-up killing, a scalding exposé of a closed society—in To Win and Die in Dixie, award-winning writer Steve Eubanks weaves all these elements into a masterly book that resurrects a superb sportsman and reconstructs a startling crime. J. Douglas Edgar was the British-born golfer who broke every record, invented the modern swing, and coached such winners as Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur in history, and Alexa Stirling, the finest female player of her day. But on August 8, 1921, he was a man dead in the middle of the road, the victim, conventional wisdom said, of a hit-and-run. Comer Howell thought otherwise. He was an Atlanta Constitution reporter and heir to the paper’s fortune, a man frustrated by his reputation as the pampered boss’s son. To Howell, the physical evidence didn’t add up to a car accident. As he chronicled Edgar’s life, Howell discovered a working-class striver who had risen in the world through a passion to succeed, a quality the newspaperman admired. And as he investigated Edgar’s death, Howell also found a man whose recklessness may have doomed him to a violent demise. Cutting cinematically between Howell’s present and Edgar’s championship past, To Win and Die in Dixie brilliantly portrays one man’s quest for excellence and another’s search for redemption and the truth. Their stories meet in a Southern society of plush country-club golf courses, vast wealth, and decadent secrets. Filled with the vivid golf writing for which its author is renowned, To Win and Die in Dixie is a real-life story both shocking and inspiring, a book that propels Steve Eubanks to a new level of literary achievement.

To Win and Die in Dixie: The Birth of the Modern Golf Swing and the Mysterious Death of Its Creator

Eubanks, Steve

Biographies & Memoirs

When in 1969 the NBA sought an emblem for the league, one man was chosen above all as the icon of his sport: Jerry West. Silhouetted in white against a red-and-blue backdrop, West’s signature gait and left-handed dribble are still the NBA logo, seen on merchandise around the world. In this marvelous book—the first biography of the basketball legend—award-winning reporter and author Roland Lazenby traces Jerry West’s brilliant career from the coalfields near Cabin Creek, West Virginia, to the bare-knuckled pre-expansion era of the NBA, from the Lakers’ Riley-Magic-Kareem Showtime era to Jackson–Kobe–Shaq teams of the early twenty-first century, and beyond. But fame was not all glory. Called “Mr. Clutch,” West was an incomparable talent—flawless on defense, possessing unmatched court vision, and the perfect jumper, unstoppable when the game was on the line. Beloved and respected by fans and fellow players alike, West was the centerpiece of Lakers teams that starred such players as Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, and he went on to nine NBA Finals. Yet in losing eight of those series, including six in a row to the detested Boston Celtics, West became as famous for his failures as for his triumphs. And that notoriety cast long shadows over West’s life on and off the court. Yet as the author discovered through scores of exclusive interviews with West’s teammates, colleagues, and family members, West channeled the frustration of his darkest moments into a driving force that propelled his years as an executive. And in this capacity, the success that often eluded West on the court has enabled him to reach out to successive generations of players to enrich and shape the sport in immeasurable ways. Though sometimes overshadowed by flashier peers on the court, Jerry West nevertheless stands out as the heart and soul of a league that, in fifty years, has metamorphosed from a regional sideshow into a global phenomenon. And in Jerry West, Roland Lazenby provides the ultimate story of a man who has done more to shape basketball than anyone on the planet.

Jerry West: The Life and Legend of a Basketball Icon

Lazenby, Roland

For more than ten years, the ESPN Sports Almanac has been the go-to reference for answers to nearly every sports question. From all-time record holders to yearly champions, from auto racing to the Iditarod, from the Australian Open to the Super Bowl—the ESPN Sports Almanac 2009 covers all the bases, with hundreds of photographs, thousands of tables, countless facts and figures, plus expert analysis from ESPN’s most respected commentators. Add fan input from ESPN.com’s SportsNation polls, along with ESPN’s unique blend of irreverence, and this new edition remains the reigning champion among sports information resources. New for 2009: • Full recaps of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games and Ryder Cup 2008 • Expanded sections of pro-football records • More in-depth fantasy sports league analysis • Bigger and better coverage of ballparks and arenas, mixed martial arts, and more

ESPN Sports Almanac 2009: Plus Mike & Mike's Year in Review

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

After a tough 2006 season, the New York Giants appeared to be heading for more disappointment–and potential shake-ups–in the coming season. Instead, they fought their way to an unforgettable Super Bowl finish against the previously undefeated New England Patriots. In A Team to Believe In, head coach Tom Coughlin gives the ultimate insider’s account of the Giants’ 2007 campaign and reflects on the resilience and selflessness that allowed the team to succeed. Behind the saga of persistence and on-the-field triumphs, however, is the story of how Coughlin, a proud and intensely private man, often mischaracterized by the press as a strict disciplinarian, has continually made subtle adjustments to his approach to the game and to the new players. Whether giving the right speech for the right occasion, drawing media criticism away from his players, or fostering team unity with offbeat events and smartly timed relaxed curfews, Coughlin approached the season willing to make the necessary changes to his management style–and the team followed. In gripping detail, Coughlin takes us on the Giants improbable 2007 journey: the tough staffing and free-agency decisions; the early-season setbacks that again placed the team in the media’s crosshairs; late-season near misses, comeback victories, and goal-line stands; the play-off march through Tampa Bay and Dallas and the overtime victory against Green Bay in the subzero cold of Lambeau Field; and the amazing two weeks that ended with Super Bowl XLII. Along the way, Coughlin explains what life experiences prepared him for the season’s challenges and what lessons helped his team achieve a string of improbable victories. The 2007 New York Giants are an inspiring example of team and trust, hope and perseverance, and A Team to Believe In is the thrilling story of their astounding underdog season.

A Team to Believe In: Our Journey to the Super Bowl Championship

Curtis, Brian

Coughlin, Tom

Michelle Wie couldn’t miss. No way. Big success? It was only a matter of time. At four she could drive a golf ball a hundred yards. At ten she was outdriving adult male golfers in her Honolulu hometown–from the back tees. At thirteen she won the Women’s Amateur Public Links, becoming the youngest person ever to win a USGA championship. The next year she was playing in LPGA andPGA Tour tournaments. At sixteen she was earning eight figures in endorsements. Yet by the time she turned eighteen, Michelle Wie was already branded a failure, a has-been, a victim of injuries, bad choices, and–worst of all–really terrible putting. How was it possible? How did this happen? How did she go from being the next big thing to the latest big bust? The Sure Thing isa gripping and intimate portrait of the meteoric rise, fall, and uncertain future of the greatest sports phenom of the twenty-first century. Award-winning writer Eric Adelson takes us inside Michelle Wie’s world, showing her to be a bubbly, astonishingly normal girl trapped in a world of outsize expectations. In chronicling Wie’s career, Adelson establishes a new gold standard for reporting on the growing convergence of professional sports, marketing, and mass entertainment in the Internet Age.

The Sure Thing: The Making and Unmaking of Golf Phenom Michelle Wie

Adelson, Eric

Community & Culture

There is only one writer on the planet who possesses enough basketball knowledge and passion to write the definitive book on the NBA.* Bill Simmons, the from-the-womb hoops addict known to millions as ESPN.com’s Sports Guy, is that writer. And The Book of Basketball is that book. Nowhere in the roundball universe will you find another single volume that covers as much in such depth as this wildly opinionated and thoroughly entertaining look at the past, present, and future of pro basketball. From the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time, Simmons opens–and then closes, once and for all–every major pro basketball debate. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind, five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler. * More to the point, he’s the only one crazy enough to try to pull it off.

The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy

Sports & Outdoors

Simmons, Bill

Basketball

In The ESPN Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge, Steve Wulf, acclaimed author and founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, delivers an arena’s worth of sporting wisdom, trivia, best-of lists, curiosities, legendary feats, and sacred objects–from the magic of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech to the lore of hockey’s Stanley Cup to the art of the perfectly thrown Wiffle Ball pitch. Written to remind us all why we love the games, this indispensable reference features contributions from the finest minds at ESPN, as well as guidance from actual professionals. Inside you’ll discover • twenty-five of the greatest sporting nicknames • the keys to being a mascot • what happens during a pit stop • the five best (worst?) on-field temper tantrums • a tour of Donovan McNabb’s locker • how Wayne Gretzky tapes his sticks • the unbeatable secret of rock-paper-scissors • how to tape an ankle, fold a paper football, hit a hole in one, whistle with your fingers, throw a knuckleball, jump rope like a champ, and oil a baseball glove • advice from star athletes–learn to run routes like Jerry Rice, take a penalty kick like Landon Donovan, fake opponents out like Chris Paul, and put on your socks the John Wooden way The ESPN Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge is the perfect antidote to our video-game culture and an essential gift for any fan who ever dreamed of throwing a tight spiral in a Super Bowl, closing out a World Series game, or lining up a putt to win a major. In other words, it’s a book for the young and the young at heart.

ESPN: The Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

THE ESPN SEC FOOTBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA INCLUDES • expanded profiles and histories of all twelve Southeastern Conference football programs, as well as former SEC schools Georgia Tech and Tulane • original essays on what makes each SEC program unique written by such experts as Winston Groom (Alabama), Lou Holtz (South Carolina), and Buster Olney (Vanderbilt) • two-page record books for each school, with all-time and annual leaders • all-time teams, college and pro football hall of fame inductees, first-round draft choices, and retired numbers for every school • a complete bowl history for each team, including box scores • a history of the Southeastern Conference written by Chuck Culpepper, and the all-time SEC team as selected by Ivan Maisel, author of A War in Dixie

ESPN Southeastern Conference Football Encyclopedia: The Complete History

Reference

Encyclopedias & Subject Guides

A comprehensive reference provides historical overviews of all 335 Division 1 teams, season-by-season summaries, and ESPN/Sagarin rankings of top-selected college basketball programs.

ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game

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