Fighting The Odds

I'd prepared myself for a life without love. Lost my parents and anyone else I got close to. Nothing good ever stays for long. I'm a statistic after all. Former foster kid. Former drug addict, alcoholic. Always thought I was destined to be alone. Always felt like I wasn't worth a damn. Then Carla Evans walked into my life. One look at her in that uptight, buttoned-up outfit and I knew I had to have her. For a night, I'd indulge myself in the fantasy of a girl like her actually wanting a guy like me. Then she moved here with no job and that ridiculous bucket list. I knew she needed my help. I just didn't expect to need hers. I spent a long time letting myself believe I didn't deserve happiness. It took me a while (and a whole lot of therapy) to realize I'd had it all wrong. Now I know. And now I have to tell her. *Fighting the Odds deals with sensitive topics like drug addiction, death, foster care, homelessness, and miscarriage. But it is also an inspirational story of love, friendship, hope, and finding your inner warrior.

Finding ways to coping with everyday stressors.

This memoir is the culmination of Fiaz Rafiq's two decades of work behind the scenes as a sports journalist, gaining the trust and confidence of the best fighters in boxing and MMA. The result is a fascinating odyssey, a coming-of-age story populated by some of the most colorful characters in the world of sports and entertainment.

Eddie Olczyk had built a life and career most people could only dream of. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, he fell in love with the game of hockey during an era when most kids preferred balls to pucks. Against all odds, he played on the 1984 U.S. Olympic hockey team as a 17-year-old, and four months later he was drafted in the first round by his hometown Chicago Blackhawks. During an illustrious 16-year career, he played for and alongside some of the greatest franchises and players in history, winning a Stanley Cup with the unforgettable 1994 New York Rangers. Years later, he coached former teammate Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby on the Pittsburgh Penguins before transitioning into the broadcast booth, where he has become one of the most recognizable voices of the sport. He then combined his skills as an analyst with his second passion— horse racing—and became an integral part of NBC's coverage of thoroughbreds. Away from the spotlight, Olczyk and his wife of three decades raised four adoring children. He was respected and admired by fans, friends, and peers. Life was sweet. Then, at 7:07 pm on August 4, 2017, his entire world turned upside down. In Eddie Olczyk: Beating the Odds in Hockey and in Life, one of the biggest names in American hockey has written an inspiring and entertaining memoir of his life both on and off the ice. From shooting hundreds of tennis balls at a goal in his childhood living room to the ups and downs of his improbable hockey career to rollicking stories from the booth and the backstretch, Olczyk guides readers on his journey toward his ultimate test: a battle against Stage 3 colon cancer. For years, Olczyk's goal was to be the best husband, father, broadcaster, and handicapper he could be. Today he has a new one: to bring as much awareness and support to those fighting cancer as he possibly can. In this emotional but often hilarious autobiography, you'll learn why the people who know Eddie Olczyk best might describe him as "tremendously tremendous."

Interspersed is the gripping tale of the 1976 presidential campaign when Church, the "late, late candidate," upset frontrunner Jimmy Carter in several key primaries.

Based on the author's 30 years of experience, this humorous book outlines the serious challenges facing women in in Australian universities. The book is a call to arms to women to take matters into their own hands. The first chapter, The Odds are Against You, paints a depressing picture. The numerical odds of women making it to the professoriate, university executive and board positions are outlined. Spoiler alert: they're not good and aren't improving. When almost one-third of Australian vice-chancellors left their posts in 2020, men mostly replaced men.Chapter Two, You're Expected to Be a Good Girl, outlines the gendered expectations, implicit assumptions, unconscious biases and sexism that university women face. Anecdotes of female professors being asked about cakes, carpets, curtains and colours help the reader confront shocking facts about their likely trajectory. The matters of invisibility; man-terruptions; bro-propriation; having the 'wrong' style; and being successful and liked at the same time are explored.In Chapter Three, Get An Attitude, the practical advice begins. The power of working within gendered expectations and avoiding 'unladylike' attitudes is examined. Examples of being a bad girl abound, including when it comes to so-called women's work. This chapter asks readers to start thinking about saying no and being bad at housework - at home and work. Emphasising the need to keep your ambition quiet if you are female, the fourth chapter, Prepare a Secret Strategy, focuses on defining success on your own terms, setting priorities and goals, and taking action. It ups the ante on saying no more often and being very bad at housework and sets some challenges for people-pleasing women.The title of Chapter Five, Do More of What Counts and Less of What Doesn't, gives away its focus. The summary is: do more self-promotion and less housework, but there's a bit of nuance for academic women seeking promotion.The advice to Form a Support Squad in Chapter Six draws on women's talents in building relationships and suggests an unusual approach to this endeavour. Chapter Seven, Beating the Odds, brings it all home with some humour and a shampoo ad.

In Larry Holmes, the reader will experience the uplifting odyssey that took Larry Holmes from a boxing nobody to a world champion. Holmes is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight champions of our time and held the title for more than seven years. But his rise to the top was hardly an easy one. He began his life as one of twelve children raised by a single mother in Cuthbert, Georgia, and had to struggle in poverty for the first sixteen years of his life. His road to champion-from which he would net $40 million-was one requiring doggedness and extreme courage, qualities that led people to dub Holmes "The People's Champion." Also featured in the book is an insider's look at Holmes relationship with Muhammad Ali, his views on the state of boxing in the 1990s-including the Mike Tyson situation, his fights with Don King, and his ratings of the top boxers today. Larry Holmes is a champion in every sense of the word. He has risen to every challenge he faced-from poverty to ridicule to naysayers-and his life story is both inspiring and moving.

The football star made famous in the hit film (and book) The Blind Side reflects on how far he has come from the circumstances of his youth. Michael Oher shares his personal account of his story, in this inspirational New York Times bestseller. Looking back on how he went from being a homeless child in Memphis to playing in the NFL, Michael talks about the goals he had to break out of the cycle of poverty, addiction, and hopelessness that trapped his family. Eventually he grasped onto football as his ticket out and worked hard to make his dream into a reality. With his adoptive family, the Touhys, and other influential people in mind, he describes the absolute necessity of seeking out positive role models and good friends who share the same values to achieve one's dreams. Sharing untold stories of heartache, determination, courage, and love, I Beat the Odds is an incredibly rousing tale of one young man's quest to achieve the American dream.