Sports Heroes

On the court and on the field they are the world?s winners, exhibiting a natural grace and prowess their adoring fans can only dream about. Yet so often, off the field our sports heroes lose their perspective, their balance, and ultimately their place. In a work as timely as the latest fracas on the basketball court or the most recent drug-induced scandal in the dugout, Stanley H. Teitelbaum looks into the circumstances behind many star athletes? precipitous fall from grace. ø In his psychotherapy practice, Teitelbaum has worked extensively with professional athletes and sports agents?work he draws on here for insight into the psyche of sports figures and the off-the-field challenges they face. Considering both historical and current cases, he shows how, in many instances, the very factors that elevate athletes to superstardom contribute to their downfall. An evenhanded and honest look at athletes who have faltered, Teitelbaum?s work helps us see past our sports stars? exalted images into what those images?and their frailty?say about our society and ourselves.

This book isn't about the most amazing sports victories; it is about how important it is not give up and about learning to overcome life's many challenges and fighting for what you believe in. It delves into examples of some sportspersons who have been able to innovate or fight against prejudice. Athletes featured: Muhammad Ali (USA), Dick Fosbury (USA), Gerry López (USA), Edurne Pasaban (Spain), Gertrude Ederle (USA), Jackie Robinson (USA), André Agassi (France), Sonja Henie (Norway), Pelé (Brazil), Gino Bartali & Fausto Coppi (Italy), Nadia Comâneci (Romania), Katherine Switzer (Germany), Harry Vardon (UK), Chester Williams (South Africa), Ma Long (China), Patty McGee (USA).

100 sports figures who truly represent the greates heroes of sports.

Focuses on the accomplishments of some great athletes from around the world.

Meet 55 of Wisconsin's famous athletes, either born or raised in the state of Wisconsin. Designed for the 3rd and 4th grade reading levels.

The stories of Canadian athletes and how they changed the sports of basketball, hockey, track and field, rowing, and skiing.

At the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, Jesse Owens won gold medals in the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter dash, and the 400-meter relay—and Adolph Hitler scrambled from his private box to avoid honoring the black athlete. During World War II, Joe Louis, heavyweight champion of the world, paid surprise visits to military hospitals. Though he later lost his title belt to the German Max Schmeling (which greatly pleased Hitler), when Louis died, broke, Schmeling used his wealth to pay for Louis’s funeral. In the 1971 World Series, Roberto Clemete posted the greatest single performance by any player ever, making two impossible catches in the outfield, batting .414, and hitting seven singles, two doubles, one triple, and two homeruns. Clemente died the next year in a plane crash while flying relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Stories like these are testaments to the power of athletics to influence and inspire people, nations, and cultures. In Black Sports Heroes: Past and Present, author and cartoonist Morrie Turner skillfully presents cartoons and stories, known and unknown, about black athletes of all nations and the impact they had upon their sport and their world. Through his impressive combination of humor and fact, Turner brings “kid power” and “rainbow power” to life, showing us a world where all people, regardless of racial, religious, sexual, or physical differences, can live, learn, work, and play together.

Don Cherry has become a broadcasting legend, garnering millions of fans around the world with his "Coach's Corner" segment on Hockey Night in Canada. For over a decade, Cherry also hosted the TV show Grapevine, which brought viewers up close and personal with the biggest names in sports. Don was the interviewer and his son, Tim, produced the show. And no one in the sports world, from hockey players to boxers to curlers to umpires, turned down an invitation to appear on it. It was on that show that Don has some of his fondest memories from his many years in the biz, and, at last, in Don Cherry's Sports Heroes, he gives us behind-the-scenes access to some of his most fascinating and revealing interviews with the all-time greats. Don has his signature candidness and sizzling humour in these interviews and stories. In these pages you'll find epic stories about hockey greats Maurice "Rocket" Richard, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe, to name a few, and since Grapevine TV was the place to be in the sports world, you can revel in some unforgettable stories on players in other fields, too. Don Cherry shares with the world tales that only a true insider could know. You won't be disappointed.