(Part 2) Best sports books according to redditors
We found 504 Reddit comments discussing the best sports books. We ranked the 192 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Other firsts/notable features:
Every part except for brakes, transmission shocks,and tyres were custom built, most of them by themselves.
[Edit] I have pictures of the bike being built from the crankshaft to completion. I'll upload and link later.
[Edit2] Here they are. Source
Kroos gets off on saying controversial things, most Bayern fans despise him for what he said about the club after he left for Madrid. As far as I'm concerned he's a snake, and I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him. I never had a Kroos jersey, but if I had I probably would have thrown it away.
While it's true that Klinsmann had a rocky spell at Bayern (edit: a season Kroos was only around for half of, due to a loan at Leverkusen), his contribution to the DFB is pretty much unquestionably large, and was in part the focus of a recent book by journalist Raphael Honigstein, Das Reboot, which is a very interesting read, and includes several interviews and quotes from integral figures (Löw, Mertesacker, Schweinsteiger, Müller), who basically said that Germany would not have won the 2014 World Cup if it had been for Klinsmann and the groundwork he started. I think we all know that Klinsmann isn't the best at tactics, but it's frankly laughable and insulting to claim that he wasn't partially responsible for Germany winning the World Cup, even 8 years later.
You should read Das Reboot by Raphael Honigstein. It actually goes somewhat in depth into Klinsmann coaching philosophy since Klinsmann did help reform German football into the powerhouse it is today.
You are essentially correct, at least according to Honigstein, that Jurgen is not a tactics guy. He is very motivational and believes that players are ultimately responsible for his/her own performance.
Whether you believe that is what the USMNT needs is up to you.
How have you lived here for years, a sports fan, and not heard of KJR? It's been a sports talk station for almost 30 years. They used to broadcast the Sonics, they are the home of the Huskies, and a long time host Mike Gastineau even wrote a book about the Sounders.
Its hard to sum up on what makes it worth watching, the drivers have a lot of personality, the level of competition is very high, and with 43 cars on the track there is always something going on.
The quality of racing is very good if you like a lot of passing (overtaking for the F1 terms). Depending on what track they are at, it can very close quarters racing with very aggressive driving. Lots of strategy involved on any given week.
A couple of books I would recommend are:
http://www.amazon.com/Driving-Devil-Southern-Moonshine-Detroit/dp/1400082269/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309974163&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Cheating-Inside-Things-Winston-Pursuit/dp/1893618226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1309974122&sr=8-1
Why do I love NASCAR?
Again its kinda hard to answer. Like all the things I've mentioned before and also the access viewers can get. A lot of drivers are on Twitter which gives you insight into their day to day lives you don't normally see. You can get complete access to radio feeds of the teams during races.
What caused me to become hooked?
Probably just growing up watching it with my Dad mostly but what really hooked me was going to see a race live and sitting in the stands watching it first hand. Just like with F1, its a life style or its own culture. If you ever get the chance I highly recommend going to a race.
Except that if you actually look at the history of soccer in the United States, it's had precisely the opposite effect. The late, great David Wangerin wrote about it in his two books -- Soccer in a Football World and Distant Corners.
Distant Corners, particularly, is really brutally poignant about the harm that it did to the growth and development of American soccer; it basically put us in about a 70-year hole, from which we're only now emerging.
I don't think -- as I've written before -- that you can draw parallels between what took place in football, basketball, and hockey in the '60s and '70s and soccer today. The context for the rise of the AFL, ABA, and WHA was utterly different. Of those three leagues, only the AFL was truly successful, mostly because it was very well-financed and managed to compete on an equal footing with the NFL by the time of the merger. Neither the ABA nor the WHA were able to do that, with both leagues essentially capitulating to the circuits they were challenging.
So what was that context? In short, the reason you had those three competing leagues was that they were trying to meet perceived demand for those sports. This was especially true in the case of the AFL, much less so in the case of the WHA.
I happen to think that soccer is in a similar boat. Right now, NASL attendance and MLS attendance aren't even in the same ballpark, even if you throw in Chivas USA. For me to think otherwise, I'd have to see NASL teams consistently drawing 10,000+ people to their home games, week in and week out, and we're nowhere near that.
When we get there, then we can talk about MLS not meeting the demand that's out there. But not before.
I'll also suggest Inverting the Pyramid and Soccernomics. Both are good reads.
The Secret Footballer's books are light and fun, if a little repetitive and a bit of a tease. I've found that he's always suggesting that he's going to reveal more than he ends up revealing, especially in the more recent books.
Das Reboot covers the recent history of German football and has some interesting stuff about Klopp in it.
And The Sun Shines Now is an excellent dive into the changes in English football post-Hillsborough, including looks at the media landscape and some investigation of German football as an alternative model for how clubs could be structured and relate to their supporters. It's a bit dry sometimes, but it's very, very good.
Far Foreign Land is about the 2005 Champions League final (and getting there), but it also covers Rome, Heysel, and Hillsborough. I think the long form really suits Tony Evans's writing style.
If you like oral history, check out Simon Hughes's books. I've only read Ring of Fire and Red Machine, but some of the interviews are top notch. Personally, I found the less famous players were usually more interesting than the more famous players.
Red Men is a stellar history of the club, particularly if you want to get familiar with LFC before Shankly.
Finally, if you like Inverting the Pyramid, you might find Talking Tactics interesting, too. I really liked it, but I'm not entirely sure that I got as much out of it as others might — it's kind of dense and dry.
In seriousness, have a look at the Wikipedia article - it's very well written and covers a lot of stuff. If you want to check out some Youtube videos of better times, look up Howay 5-0 (1996), The Entertainers (1995-1997), any of our Champions League exploits between 1998 and 2003, and the 2011/12 season. There're also songs associated with the club, such as the Blaydon Races, Coming Home Newcastle, Local Hero and so on that you can look at.
And of course brace yourself for August and the football starting again, keep an eye on here as we're quite active! Welcome aboard (please bail some of the water out as you leave).
If you want a proper look into north-east football for some summer reading, I'd heavily recommend Up There by Michael Walker, he goes through the entire history of the region's football and why it's so important to us. While I'm at it, Touching Distance is great as well, about the Entertainers period under Keegan from 1992 to 1998.
Assuming that you're American.
Here's what you want to start with:
Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics - You need to read this book if you want to understand soccer tactics. It's a great book, but a bit dry in places. Also keep wikipedia handy you will be looking up a lot of names
How Soccer Explains The World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization Might be a bit dated now (read it about 5 years ago) but its a fun book with introduction to many clubs the world over.
I coach HS men's lacrosse and college men's rowing
My major was sport psych, so I learned a lot of useful tools in the classroom but also found it really helpful to read about other people who actually applied stuff in the real world. Even if our situations aren't the same and it's not 100% applicable, I like to read about successful coaches just to see what I can pick up from them.
Textbook: Foundations of Sport and Exercise Psychology. It's cheap and really useful as just what it sounds like--laying a foundation.
Textbook: Sport Psych Handbook. Also cheap and useful, lot of good information.
Pick up something by John Wooden and read it. You don't have to believe 100% of what he says, but every coach should know some basics of positive coaching and sport psych, plus just having it as a piece of cultural literacy.
When the Game Stands Tall was a great book about a coach who took a program from nothing to The Streak. Haven't seen the movie.
Education of a Coach by David Halberstam, a fantastic sports writer, about Bill Belichick. Biographical and written with a lot of input from Bill himself.
If you have anything you're particularly interested in, let me know and I can maybe provide some more specific recommendations. Regardless of what sport/age you coach, the above are all good and useful books.
I have a few but this one is my favorite. It's a great resource to have on the trail.
http://www.amazon.com/Backpackers-Manual-Revised-Updated-ebook/dp/B004Y89SMU/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1
This book helped me understand our history better. If you get a chance it goes pretty in depth about the leagues and there fall.
"Introduction to Curling Strategy" by Gabrielle Coleman
If you liked the article, I would recommend reading
Corner Kicks and Corner Offices by the esteemed US Soccer Historian, Roger Allaway
Distant Corners: American Soccer’s History of Missed Opportunities and Lost Causes and Soccer in a Football World by the late David Wangerin
This book will probably interest you:
http://smile.amazon.com/Sounders-FC-Authentic-Masterpiece-Franchise-ebook/dp/B00G2GR5IQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1453705212&sr=8-2&keywords=gastineau
That's pretty much it. There's a book on cheating in NASCAR that anyone interested may want to look for.
https://www.amazon.com/Cheating-Inside-Things-Winston-Pursuit/dp/1893618226/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1520370228&sr=1-2&keywords=cheating+nascar
There is a Kindle version that's been updated if you have something against physical media.
Theres a book about North East football I forgot to put in the recommendations, it's a tad bit old (refers to you guys as a 'stable' team under Poyet), but goes into the semi-pro teams like Darlington too, might be up your alley.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Up-There-North-East-Football-Boom/dp/1909245178
We did Lockhart Road north-to-south, which is the more-challenging way to do it. The first mile is the most difficult, and here's my video of that part. I almost had us turn around at the 8:55 point, mainly because it's my jeep and I'm a worry-wart sometimes hehe. This is what can happen if you slip-off right there. My buddy encouraged me on, and we never had an issue. If it weren't for this first mile, I'd say to check it out in the vehicle you mentioned. Going South-to-North, you could have an enjoyable time, just turn around when you start hitting any terrain that appears to be too difficult.
Our particular campsite was right where the road turns from 'difficult' to 'moderate' per Charles Wells' book. We had 2 people drive by each day we were out there. The first day was a guy in a stock CRV going south-to-north, and in the evening was an older couple in a stock grand cherokee going south-to-north. They both asked what we thought of them continuing, and we said it gets more difficult, but take a look for yourself. We didn't want to necessarily tell anybody what to do, but just give them an idea of what we experienced and to check it out themselves. Both ended up turning around.
Mental Prep is a very important part of trail. This book helped me prepare for my through hike
https://www.amazon.com/Appalachian-Trials-Psychological-Successfully-Thru-Hiking-ebook/dp/B0074U5L58
Like others have said, I would start with lessons and find some people at the local yacht club looking for crew. That is a great way to get out on the water and see how it all feels before committing to a boat. Also ‘Start Sailing Right’ is a good book to check out. https://www.amazon.com/dp/1882502485/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_cCpPAbM5WG43M
I'd recommend reading a couple books if you really want the answers you're looking for:
Soccer in a Football World
Distant Corners: American Soccer's History of Missed Opportunities and Lost Causes
I can't say that this is a great book, but it will show you the roots of NASCAR and it goes through all the ways teams have cheated or skirted the rules in NASCAR history. It is really dumbed down so I think even a newcomer can find it interesting.
I really liked this book on the technical side of things
MotoGP Technology: 2nd Edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/1844258343/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OcnMzb383PBW8
I don't have a specific recommendation, but I like to do the same thing and I've been using these two books to find good places to explore:
Both provide routes with descriptions, photos, waypoints and turn by turn callouts. Each trail has difficulty rating and in the case of the second book, there is also a remoteness rating. We typically pick a route, follow the waypoints as described in the book the first time to learn the area, and then when we go back we explore side trails and such.
The first book has a lot of the more well known routes all are day-trip length, the second book has much more routes and much more detail. trips in that book range from a few hours to a few days long. Each trail on those books typically includes one or more pretty interesting things to see or do, we haven't been let down yet.
If you don't have one yet, get a state land trust permit, many of the backroads and trails go on state trust land, so if a ranger finds you out there without your permit, you can get fined. It's only $15/20 per year and you can do it all online (for an extra $1) by going here: https://land.az.gov/recreational-permit-portal
I lied: If you've read down this far, here's a specific location that is pretty neat: There's an old gin house at the end of the trail that leads to Little Fish Canyon. That should be enough to get you to find it on google maps. satellite view might show you the structure a bit. The building is fenced in to keep the animals out, you can undo the fence on the north side to get through, just make sure to connect it back up when you are done. You can open window covers to peek in and get a better look, but make sure you close it all back up when you are done. do NOT enter the building, that might get you in trouble. All around those trails are a number of mines as well. most (all?) are sealed with gates to protect the bats, but still kind cool to look in.
If you are on Facebook, search for "Tucson Jeeps" group and join it. People there are organizing runs all the time. Some of the trails are difficult and/or remote enough that you'll definitely want to go with others just in case.
EDIT: oh, and about the cows, don't worry about driving through the cows, just take it slow and quiet. they WILL move out of the way before you bump them. I never really knew what to do until I ran across a huge herd being walked right down the middle of a highway once. The rancher was like "You don't have to stop, just keep driving, they'll move!"
https://www.amazon.com/Das-Reboot-German-Reinvented-Conquered/dp/1568585306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1510919466&sr=8-1&keywords=das+reboot
recommended reading.
With through hiking, everyone assumes that it'll be cheap. It is relatively, but it isn't as cheap as you'd think. You'll want to have a few thousand stashed away (it varies). Getting income while on the trail might be hard.
Lighter is better. Check out /r/Ultralight to get your "base weight" down.
If you're inexperienced with the outdoors, read "The Backpacker's Field Manual" and understand what "Leave No Trace" means. Use those to learn how to take care of yourself and the outdoors.
You can find used gear online. If you don't have any right now, and are on a budget, it's often the best way to buy it.
TBH, I haven't read may books about bikes. At least non-technical. Come to think of it I only have 4: "John Britten", "Jupiter's Travels", "One Good Run", and "Big Sid's Vincati".
John Britten is a personal hero and the bike he came up with is amazing. "Jupiter's Travel's" is about a journalist who travels around the world on his bike back in the 70s. "One Good Run" is about a crazy man called Burt Munro who had a film based on him called "World's fastest Indian". "Big Sid's Vincati" is a book about a legendary tuner who decides to build a specific bike with his son after almost dying.
Most of my books are service manuals.
Pick up a copy of this book
Nevada Trails Western Region https://www.amazon.com/dp/1930193157/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_IXgECbNE8QA92
Aww schucks! Thanks!
Bodie is also pretty rad, but very commercialized. You have to pay to get in and they do guided tours, and whatnot. I like to just wander around the ruins and explore them for myself.
Tell him to head to Barnes & Noble. Down stairs, in between the escalators, the have a section of books about Nevada. Quite a few of them are maps to ghost towns or neat places across the state. This one in particular is one of my favorites. Then you two will have all kinds of fun things to explore when you get here :D
There's one that's not on your list I can recommend!
http://www.amazon.com/Cheating-Inside-Things-Winston-Pursuit/dp/1893618226
My brother got it for me for christmas a few years ago and I've read it a couple of times since. It's all about the ways NASCAR teams bend the rules. The stories from the old days are hilarious.
My favorite is about when there were limits on the size of the gas tank, but no limits on the size/length of the fuel line. One team figured this out and used a 2" diameter hose that went around the entire inside of the car three times. It let the guy go nearly twice as long before refueling.
During inspection they removed the fuel tank to measure it and after the car passed inspection, the car drove away before they put it back in!
The rule, of course, changed the next race.
It's also in the players guide from around '95
https://www.amazon.com/Magic-Gathering-Pocket-Players-Guide/dp/1880992299
I'm not sure whether this is what you are meaning but this book still gets me excited and wanting to do something batshit mental.
This book is one of my biggest inspirations too!
This is the best printed resource I've found so far:
MotoGP Technology: 2nd Edition
It's a 2010 publication so you won't get the low-down on the more recent bikes. You will, however, get an in-depth view of how and why the bikes evolve. I definitely recommend it if you're interested in getting a clearer understanding of MotoGP tech from a detail oriented POV.
This is the book I'm reading right now and its pretty interesting.
http://www.amazon.com/How-Soccer-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/B004F9OUY4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318354049&sr=8-1
Some titles that come to mind:
by David Wangerin
by David Wangerin
by Roger Allaway, Colin Jose and David Litterer
by Roger Allaway
by Colin Jose
by Andrei S. Markovits and Steven L. Hellerman
by Beau Dure
by Gary Hopkins
by Gavin Newsham
by Sean Reid
I'll add:
/u/stillinlovewitredead, I started when I was over 40.
According to the Magic: The Gathering Pocket Players Guide, Richard Garfield was aware of "rich kid syndrome" from the very beginning. Maybe Jace TMS's large price-tag influenced his decision to design the next set. Personally, I don't play standard right now and won't for the next 6 months.
Adrian Peterson isn't the first guy to make that comparison. William C. Rhoden made the same argument in his book forty million dollar slaves.
http://www.amazon.com/Forty-Million-Dollar-Slaves-Redemption/dp/0609601202
I highly recommend this book. I found the author to be spot-on with his trail ratings and he includes trails that are easy enough for your Acura to handle on street tires. I think Eye Of The Whale trail inside Arches is doable for you, when I have a chance I will look it up in my copy and double check.
Gabrielle Coleman's book is pretty good and gives while end examples.
http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Curling-Strategy-Gabrielle-Coleman-ebook/dp/B00I9BT6S4
The Book Appalachian Trials by Zach Davis is about the AT, but it has some good information about the pros and cons of hiking with a partner, as well as what is necessary to make it work, that are applicable to any long trail. It covers the topic better than any other "how to" book of long distance hiking I've looked at does.
Another set of books that is also AT specific but still probably relevant are the Barefoot Sister's duology of books about yo-yoing the AT together- Southbound and Walking Home. They definitely had some blowups/fights along the way (some of which ended in tears), and the books are surprisingly honest in their descriptions of this psychologically difficult aspect of thru-hiking.
There is no guarantee that you guys are going to be compatible thru-hiking partners. And even if you are, it is still going to take willingness and effort from both of you to make it happen successfully. And even then, you're probably still going to have a couple of (potentially nasty) disagreements along the way. I agree with the others that working up to a thru-hike through some (relatively) shorter hikes that still require you to spend a lot of time with your SO is a good idea.
But don't just discount the idea because it is difficult or because you find major obstacles along the way to making it happen- being able to do something like this with your SO is a great way to become even closer with that person.
Shane murphy sports psych handbook...it reads more like a text book for psychologists but its really good.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0736049045/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484318623&sr=1-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Shane+Murphy&dpPl=1&dpID=51Q1KX22tfL&ref=plSrch
Just posted this in another sub-thread:
http://www.zeepedia.com/read.php?goal_orientation_goal_involvement_motivational_climate_sport_psychology&b=96&c=4
I have a book called "The Sports Psych Handbook", which I picked up at a used bookstore on a whim. Once I paged through it, it made me wish I would have looked into the subject sooner.
http://www.amazon.com/Sport-Psych-Handbook-Shane-Murphy/dp/0736049045/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1371501353&sr=1-10&keywords=sports+psychology
The book is intended for coaches.
There's a book called Forty Million Dollar Slaves just in case you want to feel sorry for these millionaires.
There is plenty to do in Moab with your stock vehicle. Many beautiful, awesome backcountry roads/trails. Pickup this book: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-Backroads-4-Wheel-Drive-Trails/dp/1934838004
You can order it online, or you can find it in many places around Moab. Tourist info center, downtown bookstore, any Jeep renting place.
You can do without doubt any of the easy listed trails in the guide. And with some brains, you can do most of the moderate ones as well. Stay the hell away from the hard ones.
Pick up Rafael Honigstein's Das Reboot. It's a great read!
Here you go buddy. Get that in ya.
This book has gps, maps, trail ratings, detailed descriptions, etc, for southern arizona off-roading: Arizona Trails Southern Region
This one is good, too:
Arizona backroads and 4-wheel drive trails
Both have helpful notes on difficulty/obstacles, as well as notes on whether or not there's a lot of brush to scratch up your paint...
And... Charoleau Gap is pretty exciting, but there's no trouble you can't back straight out of if you don't like it...
For #3, watching games in person or on TV helps, especially if you try to call the shot before they do. That being said, I really enjoyed the Gabrielle Coleman book on intro to curling strategy. Unsure what your curling conditions are like, but it was helpful for me because I curl on arena ice, and it was a good read for me when I skipped my first game at a bonspiel at a dedicated club, since the strategy can be really different with different ice conditions. (The book helping me understand strategy when the ice curls as you expect it to!) It has a lot of scenarios that you can work through too, and discusses why you might want to approach the scenarios in different ways. At the very least, it's helped give me a framework for end strategy, giving me a better sense of how to set up the front end's rocks to try to set up the rest of the end. Reading through general patterns of strategy have also helped me better understand what's going on when watching games on TV/online too!