Spygate

The first book to fully explore the extraordinary covert actions NFL teams are willing to take in order to win. Spies disguised as priests. Secret surveillance of targets’ movements. Radio frequency jamming. Tapped telephones. These might sound like acts of espionage right out of the Cold War or a spy movie—but in fact came straight from the National Football League. In Spies on the Sidelines: The High-Stakes World of NFL Espionage, Kevin Bryant provides the first in-depth investigation of spying in professional football, as well as the countermeasures utilized to defend against these threats. Spanning across all teams and eras, Bryant shines a light on the shady world of NFL reconnaissance—from clandestine photography and hidden draft prospects to listening devices and stolen documents—along with the permissible, if sometimes questionable, spy techniques teams utilize day in and day out to gain an advantage over their opponents. Written by a former Special Agent with decades of experience collecting and safeguarding information for the Department of Defense, Spies on the Sidelines reveals that, behind the game-day action, professional football can be as cloak-and-dagger as American intelligence agencies. This fascinating and expansive compilation of NFL spy anecdotes exposes the extraordinary measures teams are willing to take in order to win.

Everyone has an opinion about whether or not Donald Trump colluded with the Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton in 2016. The number of actors involved is staggering, the events are complicated, and it’s hard to know who or what to believe. Spygate bypasses opinion and brings facts together to expose the greatest political scandal in American history. Former Secret Service agent and NYPD police officer Dan Bongino joins forces with journalist D.C. McAllister to clear away fake news and show you how Trump’s political opponents, both foreign and domestic, tried to sabotage his campaign and delegitimize his presidency. By following the names and connections of significant actors, the authors reveal: • Why the Obama administration sent a spy connected to the Deep State into the Trump campaign • How Russians were connected to the opposition research firm hired by the Clinton campaign to find dirt on Trump • How the FBI failed to examine DNC computers after they were hacked, relying instead on the findings of a private company connected to the DNC and the Obama administraton • Why British intelligence played a role in building the collusion narrative • What role Ukrainians played in legitimizing the perception that Trump was conspiring with the Russians • How foreign players in the two events that kickstarted the Trump-Russia collusion investigation were connected to the Clinton Foundation, and • What motivated the major actors who sought to frame the Trump campaign and secure a win for Hillary Clinton

Scandals about cheating and corruption have dogged amateur and professional sports in the United States since the nation's earliest days. This work examines the most infamous and consequential of these controversies and scandals both on and off the field. Authoritative Individual essays tackle notorious events in popular American sports ranging from the 1919 Black Sox scandal to revelations of sign stealing by the Houston Astros throughout their 2020 championship season, with stops in between to survey horrific sex abuse scandals at Penn State, Baylor, and Michigan State; steroid and drug scandals that brought down once-admired athletes like Mark McGwire and Lance Armstrong; and cheating/betting controversies that tainted individual players (Pete Rose), teams (Boston College, New England Patriots), and entire leagues (including the Little League World Series in 2001). But this work does more than just recount these events; it will also examine the cultural and economic pressures and forces that contributed to these events, as well as the lessons learned and steps taken (if any) to enact reform and help the sport recover.

Imagine that you are an average American man. You work hard and love football. Your present is a highway of unbounded opportunity, your future a far horizon unclouded by doubt. Then comes middle age. Who can you look to when the highway begins to crack, when opportunity shrinks to the size of a cubicle, and the horizon looms close? For Richard J. King, the answer is clear: Tom Brady. The legendary quarterback of the New England Patriots is not just a four-time Super Bowl champion, three-time MVP, and certain Hall of Famer. He is a male epitome. Gifted but humble. Driven but balanced. Aging but youthful. Devoted to both career and family. At the pinnacle of success but somehow still one of us. If anyone can point the way to living a worthy life, Tom Brady can. And so, at the start of the 2013 football season, King sets off in an '88 Volkswagen minibus in a time-honored quest to answer life's pressing questions-and to meet his hero. From training camp to the playoffs, from Spy-gate to Deflate-gate, King takes us on a tour of stadiums and bars across the country. Along the way he talks with players, sportswriters, and Patriots management, and poses the existential question, "What would you ask Tom Brady?" Meeting Tom Brady is funny and wise, a memoir of an eventful season in both King's life and Brady's-a determined pursuit, with uncertain results.

Far beyond detailing NFL star Michael Vick's conviction for dog fighting, his prison sentence, and comeback, Kenneth N. Robinson raises important issues concerning the way race and deviance are treated in America. His book offers a critical analysis of the broader sports culture of the NFL and its dominant alliance, including the media, corporate sponsors, and the politics of the state. The book examines differential treatment by race and how this pertains to Vick, when compared to high-profile whites in the NFL (i.e., Ben Roethlisberger and Bill Belichick). In addition, the harmful impacts of negative labeling show the detrimental effects of Vick being typecast as the face of animal cruelty. Not only did the strong social reaction have a deleterious effect on Vick's criminal case, but following the police raid of his home in Smithfield, Virginia, on April 25, 2007, the number of African-Americans arrested for dog fighting increased disproportionately by race from the five years prior. This makes them the only group to see a percent increase in their arrests and convictions in the five years that preceded and followed the April 25th raid of Vick's property. This data raises serious questions of selective enforcement by race. "Overall, the strength of this work lies in Robinson's unique analysis of Michael Vick's fall and rise. I don't think I have ever described an academic work as creative, but each section of this book is just that - innovative, original, and inspired. I say this because of the specific comparisons that Robinson utilizes (i.e., dog fighting to bestiality; Vick's treatment to Roethlisberger's; the NFL to China), which have never previously been discussed so thoroughly and sophisticatedly, but are undeniable in proving the point that racial discrimination is alive and well in America." - Adrienne N. Milner, Ph.D., University of Alabama at Birmingham (About the Author) Kenneth N. Robinson, M.S., is an adjunct professor of sociology at his alma mater, Buffalo State, in Buffalo, New York. Publisher's website: http: //sbprabooks.com/KennethNRobinson

How politicians’ digital strategies appeal to the same fantasies of digital connection, access, and participation peddled by Silicon Valley. Smartphones and other digital devices seem to give us a direct line to politicians. But is interacting with presidential tweets really a manifestation of digital democracy? In Selfie Democracy, Elizabeth Losh examines the unintended consequences of politicians’ digital strategies, from the Obama campaign’s pioneering construction of an online community to Trump’s Twitter dominance. She finds that politicians who use digital media appeal to the same fantasies of digital connection, access, and participation peddled by Silicon Valley. Meanwhile, smartphones and social media don’t enable participatory democracy so much as they incentivize citizens to perform attention-getting acts of political expression. Losh explores presidential rhetoric casting digital media as tools of democracy, describes the conflation of gender and technology that contributed to Hillary Clinton’s defeat in 2016, chronicles the Biden campaign’s early digital stumbles in 2020, and recounts the TikTok campaign that may have spoiled a Trump rally. She shows that although Obama and Trump may seem diametrically opposed in both style and substance, they both used mobile digital media in ways that reshaped the presidency and promised a new kind of digital democracy. Obama used data and digital media to connect to citizens without intermediaries; Trump followed this strategy to its most extreme conclusion. What were the January 6 insurrectionists doing, as they livestreamed themselves and their cohorts attacking the Capitol, but practicing their own brand of selfie democracy?

UPDATED TO INCLUDE THE 2021/22 SEASON THE INSTANT SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER The behind-the-scenes story of the Marcelo Bielsa revolution at Leeds United and their first season back in the Premier League after sixteen years of hurt. FEATURING FRESH PERSONAL INSIGHT FROM MARCELO BIELSA On 27th February 2022, after 170 matches in charge, promotion to the Premier League and some of the most exhilarating football the English game has ever seen, Leeds United parted company with their most beloved and successful manager in a generation: Marcelo Bielsa. His parting gift was to embrace the crowds of adoring fans who turned up to say thank you as he left the club's training ground for the final time. In And it was Beautiful, The Athletic's Phil Hay chronicles Leeds United's glorious first season back in the top flight - which saw them finish ninth - after a chaotic sixteen-year absence. Phil pulls back the curtain on the hallmarks that now define the Marcelo Bielsa era, from his gruelling training schedule - including his infamous 'murderball' sessions - to innovative tactical methods that elevated Championship regulars into Premier League stars. Bielsa performed miracles, turning football into high art and making an extraordinary cultural impact on the city of Leeds. The result is a unique and fitting tribute to a Leeds United icon.

The moment I walked out of that tunnel that first time I was in the NFL and saw that 70,000 people, I said, "This is me, this is mine, this is what I was meant to do." Some people get scared that first time. Me? Scared my ass. I was loving it. NFL superstar Chad Ochocinco is one of the most feared weapons in football, having amassed six consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and made it to five straight Pro Bowls. And he does things his way–always big, always fun, always outrageous. Take Ochocinco’s extravagant touchdown celebrations: performing the Riverdance jig, mock-proposing to a cheerleader, tossing presents into the crowd on Christmas Eve, performing CPR on the football, putting on a gold sport coat that says "Future Hall of Famer." Or his sense of style: the blond Mohawk, the gold teeth, the nude photo shoot for a sports magazine. Or his trash-talking: People tell me I have to tone it down. Man, do you know what I’ve been through to get here? You’re going to tell me to stop having fun? Sorry, it’s not happening. Or his unabashed self-confidence: I got six paintings of myself in the living room of my town house in Cincinnati. Why? Because I love me. I’m great and I know it. In Ocho Cinco, Chad offers his blunt take on his life and career and on the bizarre game–and business–of football. He takes us back to his days growing up in a poor, dangerous section of Miami, where he was raised by his stern grandmother: You want to know how I turned out like this? Don’t talk to me, talk to my grandmom. A high school quarterback, he went to two junior colleges before landing for a single year at Oregon State. From there he was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, a team he eventually helped lead to the playoffs for the first time in fifteen years. Ochocinco reveals what really goes on in the locker room, on the field, and in the clubs where so many of his fellow athletes get in trouble. He talks about fights with teammates, coaches, and owners. He offers his honest observations on drugs, cheating, and women: You get all this money and you get all these women at your disposal. . . . You’re going to do your thing, trust me. You’re going to do it. And he deals frankly with his reputation as a malcontent and drama king: People want to be entertained, but the minute you open up about it and have some fun, they bash you for it. They want you to play inside this little box, and if you ever dare step outside this little box you’re in trouble. Well, there is no box for me. I am completely out of the box. Ocho Cinco gives fans a rare inside look at pro football, presented by a singular athlete who’s not afraid to speak his mind: What I do may be funny, but nothing I do is a joke.