When March Went Mad

When March Went Mad tells the dramatic story of how two legendary players--Magic Johnson and Larry Bird--burst on the scene in an NCAA championship that gave birth to modern basketball. "A must-read for anybody who considers themselves a basketball fan."—Michael Wilbon Thirty years ago, college basketball was not the sport we know today. Few games were televised nationally and the NCAA tournament had just expanded from thirty-two to forty teams. Into this world came two exceptional players: Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird. Though they played each other only once, in the 1979 NCAA finals, that meeting launched an epic rivalry, transformed the NCAA tournament into the multibillion-dollar event it is today, and laid the groundwork for the resurgence of the NBA. In When March Went Mad, Seth Davis recounts the dramatic story of the season leading up to that game, as Johnson's Michigan State Spartans and Bird's Indiana State Sycamores overcame long odds and great doubts that their unheralded teams could compete at the highest level. Davis also tells the stories of their remarkable coaches, Jud Heathcote and Bill Hodges—who were new to their schools but who set their own paths to build great teams—and he shows how tensions over race and class heightened the drama of the competition. When Magic and Bird squared off in Salt Lake City on March 26, 1979, the world took notice—to this day it remains the most watched basketball game in the history of television—and the sport we now know was born.

"As soon as Lorenzo Charles' dunk ended the 1983 championship game with a 54-52 NC State victory, [Valvano] began a sprint across the floor of The Pit that has become immortalized as the pinnacle of joy in college basketball for the last quarter century. The coach was hoping to jump into the arms of Whittenburg, as he did after nearly all of the Wolfpack's come-from-behind, postseason victories. But on the greatest night of his life, Valvano found his star player already in Lowe's arms. Valvano had no one to hug.

An NPR Best Book of the Year * A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice * An Electric Literature Best Short Story Collection of the Year * Finalist for the Chautauqua Prize The "often hilarious and always compassionate" (New York Times Book Review) collected stories of a critically acclaimed, award-winning “American literary treasure” (Boston Globe), now in paperback-with a foreword by Elizabeth Strout. From her many well-loved novels, Hilma Wolitzer-now ninety-one years old and at the top of her game-has gained a reputation as one of our best fiction writers, who “raises ordinary people and everyday occurrences to a new height.” (Washington Post) These collected short stories-most of them originally published in magazines including Esquire and the Saturday Evening Post, in the 1960s and 1970s, along with a new story that brings her early characters into the present-are evocative of an era that still resonates deeply today. In the title story, a bystander tries to soothe a woman who seems to have cracked under the pressures of her life. And in several linked stories throughout, the relationship between the narrator and her husband unfolds in telling and often hilarious vignettes. Of their time and yet timeless, Wolitzer's stories zero in on the domestic sphere with wit, candor, grace, and an acutely observant eye. Brilliantly capturing the tensions and contradictions of daily life, Today a Woman Went Mad in the Supermarket is full of heart and insight, providing a lens into a world that was often unseen at the time, and often overlooked now-reintroducing a beloved writer to be embraced by a whole new generation of readers.

A provocative and revelatory new biography of the legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, by one of America's top college basketball writers No college basketball coach has ever dominated the sport like John Wooden. His UCLA teams reached unprecedented heights in the 1960s and '70s capped by a run of ten NCAA championships in twelve seasons and an eighty-eight-game winning streak, records that stand to this day. Wooden also became a renowned motivational speaker and writer, revered for his "Pyramid of Success." Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports has written the definitive biography of Wooden, an unflinching portrait that draws on archival research and more than two hundred interviews with players, opponents, coaches, and even Wooden himself. Davis shows how hard Wooden strove for success, from his All-American playing days at Purdue through his early years as a high school and college coach to the glory days at UCLA, only to discover that reaching new heights brought new burdens and frustrations. Davis also reveals how at the pinnacle of his career Wooden found himself on questionable ground with alumni, referees, assistants, and even some of his players. His was a life not only of lessons taught, but also of lessons learned. Woven into the story as well are the players who powered Wooden's championship teams – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Bill Walton, Walt Hazzard, and others – many of whom speak frankly about their coach. The portrait that emerges from Davis's remarkable biography is of a man in full, whose life story still resonates today.

From the celebrated author of A Beautiful Poison comes a new collection of poetry focused on pain, loneliness, depression, suicide, loss, and healing. the flower that went mad is filled with heartaches as well as joy and takes the readers through a journey of the up and the down moments in life. It expresses all the things that many are too afraid to open up about; it is painted with a thousand unsaid emotions at the turn of each page. But it is also about healing and finding one's voice. All this suffering that you go through will not go unnoticed because there is meaning too in chaos. This collection will nurture, allow & gently restore your healing abilities through the emotions that connect with subtle, yet infallible energy within you.

This “disturbing yet fascinating” exploration of mass mania through the ages explains the biological and psychological roots of irrationality (Kirkus Reviews). From time immemorial, contagious narratives have spread through susceptible groups—with enormous, often disastrous, consequences. Inspired by Charles Mackay’s nineteenth-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, neurologist and author William Bernstein examines mass delusion through the lens of current scientific research in The Delusions of Crowds. Bernstein tells the stories of dramatic religious and financial mania in western society over the last five hundred years—from the Anabaptist Madness of the 1530s to the dangerous End-Times beliefs that pervade today’s polarized America; and from the South Sea Bubble to the Enron scandal and dot com bubbles. Through Bernstein’s supple prose, the participants are as colorful as their “desire to improve one’s well-being in this life or the next.” Bernstein’s chronicles reveal the huge cost and alarming implications of mass mania. He observes that if we can absorb the history and biology of this all-too-human phenomenon, we can recognize it more readily in our own time, and avoid its frequently dire impact.

The New York Times bestseller from Hall of Fame basketball legends Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson. From the moment these two players took the court on opposing sides, they engaged in a fierce physical and psychological battle. Their uncommonly competitive relationship came to symbolize the most compelling rivalry in the NBA. In Celtic green was Larry Bird, the hick from French Lick, with laser-beam focus, relentless determination, and a deadly jump shot, a player who demanded excellence from everyone and whose caustic wit left opponents quaking in their high-tops. Magic Johnson was Mr. Showtime, a magnetic personality with all the right moves. Young, indomitable, he was a pied piper in purple and gold. And he burned with an inextinguishable desire to win. These were the basketball epics of the 1980s — Celtics vs Lakers, East vs West, physical vs finesse, Old School vs Showtime, even white vs black. Each pushed the other to greatness — together Bird and Johnson collected eight NBA Championships, six MVP awards and helped save the floundering NBA at its most critical time. When it started they were bitter rivals, but along the way they became lifelong friends. With intimate, fly-on-the-wall detail, When the Game Was Ours transports readers to this electric era of basketball and reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players dead set on besting one another. From the heady days of trading championships to the darker days of injury and illness, we come to understand Larry’s obsessive devotion to winning and how his demons drove him on the court. We hear him talk with candor about playing through chronic pain and its truly exacting toll. In Magic we see a young, invincible star struggle with the sting of defeat, not just as a player but as a team leader. We are there the moment he learns he’s contracted HIV and hear in his own words how that devastating news impacted his relationships in basketball and beyond. But always, in both cases, we see them prevail. A compelling, up-close-and-personal portrait of basketball’s most inimitable duo, When the Game Was Ours is a reevaluation of three decades in counterpoint. It is also a rollicking ride through professional basketball’s best times.

"If you knock on Wakil's door, he's going to kill you." That's what Tareq Azim's guide told him, as they stood at the foot of the local Taliban warlord's home. Most people would let fear get the better of them. However, Tareq had already conquered fear. He walked up to the door by himself, and gave three loud knocks. Azim's family descended from Afghan royalty, but were forced to flee in 1979, after the Soviet Union invasion. They eventually settled as refugees in San Francisco. In the span of weeks, Azim's family went from living a life of privilege to Section 8 housing in the East Bay. Tareq assimilated into American life through sports, excelling in wrestling, boxing, and football. After graduating and playing football at Fresno State, Tareq's unease with how his family was forced from their ancestral land still bothered him. He decided to travel home and reclaim his ancestral land. Upon arriving in Afghanistan, Tareq quickly discovered there was no land to "reclaim." His childhood home had been blown to high hell over the course of 20 years of fighting. What Tareq did discover were dozens of children wandering aimlessly, waiting for inevitable recruitment into the Taliban or to be trafficked into a world of darkness. Tareq had found salvation in sports; these kids could, too. Specifically, Tareq thought the young women he met could benefit from boxing. Getting permission to train them meant a conversation with the local warlord. And that meant walking up to his home, and knocking on that door. Azim would get that approval. He would go on to train the first and only Afghani female boxer in Olympic history. He was 24 years old. Tareq returned to San Francisco and opened up a number of gyms to help others. Coming up with a name was easy: Empower. EMPOWER: Conquering the Disease of Fear is part memoir, part game plan. Reader's will draw strength from Azim's personal journey (a reflection of so many immigrants), and from the actionable ways in which he mentally and emotionally overcame fear, and not just quelling it-rather, harnessing its power to his advantage. Balancing Azim's narrative are a vibrant cast of characters and of case studies, each highlighting one of Azim's seven principles. They include Governor Gavin Newsome, former NFL star running back Marshawn Lynch, Representative Tulsi Gabbard, MMA star Jake Shields, and the owner of the San Francisco 49ers, Jed York, among others. Whether it's beating addiction, getting out of toxic relationships, or the pursuit of mental, spiritual, and physical strength, Azim can help readers identify their fears, and how to conquer them"--