Pigskin

If the National Football League is now a mammoth billion-dollar enterprise, it was certainly born into more humble circumstances. Indeed, it began in 1920 in an automobile showroom in Canton, Ohio, when a car dealer called together some owners of teams, mostly in the Midwest, to form a league. Unlike the lavish boardrooms in which NFL owners meet today, on this occasion the owners sat on the running boards of cars in the showroom and drank beer from buckets. A membership fee of $100 was set, but no one came up with any money. (As one of those present, George Halas, the legendary owner of the Chicago Bears, said, "I doubt that there was a hundred bucks in the room.") From such modest beginnings, pro football became far and away the most popular spectator sport in America. In Pigskin, Robert W. Peterson presents a lively and informative overview of the early years of pro football--from the late 1880s to the beginning of the television era. Peterson describes the colorful beginnings of the pro game and its outstanding teams (the Green Bay Packers, the New York Giants, the Chicago Bears, the Baltimore Colts), and the great games they played. Profiles of the most famous players of the era--including Pudge Heffelfinger (the first certifiable professional), Jim Thorpe, Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, and Fritz Pollard (the NFL's first black star)--bring the history of the game to life. Peterson also takes us back to the roots of the pro game, showing how professionalism began when some stars for Yale, Harvard, and Princeton took money--under the table, of course--for their services to alma mater. By 1895, the money makers--still unacknowledged--had moved to amateur athletic associations in western Pennsylvania and subsequently into Ohio. After the NFL formed in 1920, pro football's popularity grew gradually but steadily. It burst into national prominence with the Bears-Redskins championship game of 1940. As one sportswriter put it: "The weather was perfect. So were the Bears." The final score was 73-0. Peterson shows how, after World War II, the newly-created All America Football Conference challenged the NFL. Though dominated by a gritty Cleveland team, the AAFC was never viewed by NFL teams as much of a threat. That is, not until 1950 when the two leagues merged, bringing about the Cleveland Browns-Philadelphia Eagles game in which the Browns buried the Eagles 35-10. An elegy to a time when, for many players, the game was at least as important as the money it brought them (which wasn't much), Pigskin takes readers up to the 1958 championship game when the Baltimore Colts beat the New York Giants in overtime. By that time, the great popularity of the game had moved from newspapers and radio to television, and pro football had finally arrived as a major sport.

Paperback release of the hilarious, outrageous novel about a young rabbi who becomes an NFL superstar.

Sport Law: A Managerial Approach, third edition, merges law and sport management in a way that is accessible and straightforward. Its organization continues to revolve around management functions rather than legal theory. Concise explanations, coupled with relevant industry examples and cases, give readers just enough legal doctrine to understand the important concepts that apply to each area. This book will help prepare students as they get ready to assume a broad range of responsibilities in sport, education, or recreation. Whether readers work as coaches or teachers; administer professional programs; manage fitness/health clubs; or assume roles in a high school, college, Olympic, or professional sport organization, legal concerns will inevitably be woven into their managerial concerns. This book provides knowledge of the law that helps create a competitive advantage and build a more efficient and successful operation that better serves the needs of its constituents. Special Features of the Book Managerial context tables. Chapter-opening exhibits act as organizational and study tools identifying managerial contexts in relation to major legal issues, relevant law, and illustrative cases for the chapter. Case opinions, focus cases, and hypothetical cases. Legal opinions--both excerpted (case opinions) and summarized (focus cases)--illustrate relevant legal points and help readers understand the interplay between fact and legal theory. The cases include questions for discussion, and the instructor’s manual provides guidance for the discussion. Hypothetical cases further highlight topics of interest and include discussion questions to facilitate understanding of the material; analysis and possible responses appear at the end of the chapter. Competitive advantage strategies. Highlighted, focused strategies based on discussions in the text help readers understand how to use the law to make sound operational decisions and will assist them in working effectively with legal counsel. Discussion questions, learning activities, and case studies. Thoughtful and thought-provoking questions and activities emphasize important concepts;they help instructors teach and readers review the material. Creative case studies stimulate readers, as future sport or recreation managers, to analyze situations involving a legal issue presented in the chapter. Annotated websites. Each chapter includes a collection of web resources to help readers explore topics further. Accompanying the web addresses are brief descriptions pointing out key links and the sites' benefits. Bookmarking these sites will help readers in future research or throughout their careers.

A collection of stories written by 22 pro-football hall of famers -- including Mike Ditka, Johnny Uni-tas, Howie Long, and Steve Young—that reveal the people, places, and events that made them great. Features: Instant appeal for football players, coaches, parents, and fans. Coaches, teachers, and parents will find this book a refreshing reminder of the true role models in professional sports; aspiring players will find invaluable advice on what it takes to be a pro, in the words of the pros themselves; An illustration of how good parenting and coaching can build character. Through these personal accounts of what drove them to their achievements both on and off the field, these NFL pros show parents and coaches the importance of strong character in sports, and in life; Some of the biggest names in professional football. The twenty-two contributors to Pigskin Dreams are some of the most recognisable figures in the history of football, and fans will appreciate this chance to get a glimpse inside their lives. Each section begins with a brief biographical introduction and wrap-up written by authors Below and Kalis.