(Part 3) Best sports books according to redditors

The second oldest continuously running Cup tournament in the world is the US Open Cup. The 101st US Open Cup Final will be held this coming Tuesday (Sept 16), between Philadelphia Union and Seattle Sounders.

For most of its history, the US Open Cup has been an amateur tournament. During the 1920s, professional teams competed, but disagreements between the league and the then-USFA over Cup participation, combined with the stock market crash and great depression, led to a collapse of professional soccer in the US in the early '30s.

MLS teams have competed in the US Open Cup since the league's first season in 1996. Teams in the old NASL never participated.

The most successful teams in the competition have been Bethlehem Steel FC, a professional team in the 1920s, and Maccabi Los Angeles, an amateur team that dominated the 1970s.

Bethlehem Steel was a strong enough team in their heyday to ignite a diplomatic row over their "poaching" of players from Manchester United and other English teams.

In the MLS era, an MLS team has won the Cup every year except 1999, when the semi-pro Rochester Rhinos won, upsetting four MLS teams in the process. The most successful MLS team in the tournament are the Chicago Fire with four Cups, though Seattle has the chance to win their fourth Cup this year.

It's an absolutely bizarre tournament, but its history is more or less the history of the sport in the US. This year I saw AC Schwaben, an amateur club in the Chicago suburbs that has been around since 1926, take on Dayton Dutch Lions, a semi-pro club from Ohio that featured the grandson of Cruyff (who, other than a nifty touch or two, was not that good).

For more information, see this.

Also, come back on Tuesday night. A Cup final is always an entertaining match.

No, they won in 54/55, then in 04/05; they weren't ever the top team in London in the 80s. (Info from Turf Wars: A History of London Football)

Soccer is a British word that British people now hate because of petty hate of Americans.

The term "soccer" is a shortened version of "association football" that was used by rich British kids at prep schools who liked being trendy and using shortened versions of things. They also called Rugby Football "rugger"

Soccer especially gained popularity in places where there was already a local version of football, like the US and Australia.

When famous Europeans started playing in the US in like the 70s, Europeans found out the yanks called it soccer, they started not using the term as as much.

https://www.amazon.com/Its-Football-Soccer-Vice-Versa-ebook/dp/B07C9DJFKD

And if you want any further insight after that, this is a must read. The author is featured in the documentary.

https://www.amazon.com/Choque-Untold-Jiu-Jitsu-Brazil-1856-1949/dp/1491226366

I have so much to say, but very little patience.

Buy/Download/Obtain this book "Choque - The Untold Story of Jiu-Jitsu in Brazil" It has multiple volumes, I think the most important is 1856-1949

Available here: https://www.amazon.com/Choque-Untold-Jiu-Jitsu-Brazil-1856-1949/dp/1491226366

Expensive, yes, worth it, IMO, yes.

Just my 2C, but unless you learn race craft and theory, simply using a “line” drawn by someone else will do nothing for you. Once you learn the theory you then can start applying it to each corner based on your driving style, etc. There’s no magic bullet outside of outright knowledge and practice.

My suggestions beyond practice and seat time:

Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving https://www.amazon.com/dp/0837602262/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_UC.GDbR6JKTR3

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1785211749/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_QE.GDbWKAQZPM

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1540628590/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_t1_.F.GDbC7VC4TN

No, not bullshit. In Argentina it's especially true. In the Balkans, it's gone past paying Ultras, to the point that politicians recognized their ability to organize and empowered them to be political and violent forces, such as in the Balkan war with Arkan and Red Star Belgrade. There's a great book that came out in 2005 written by Franklin Foer that goes into detail about how football has crossed the boundaries of sport into culture, economics, politics and more. It's called "How Soccer Explains The World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization.".

Hah it depends on the rental. And as you probably know already, nothing beats seat time. But what I️ do with any new guy that I’m trying to coach I️ jump straight to video. You’ll learn more from watching your video than just about anything. You’ll notice mistakes you made that you didn’t catch while driving. Take notes while watching the videos and use them to correct the mistakes you made. Also, pick a guy at your local track that’s fast in a kart similar to yours. Watch them and take notes of their line, brake point, release/turn in point, throttle point, exit point. I️ tell people to take two track maps and mark all of those points for that guy for as many laps as you can. You’ll start to see clusters of points to get an average for all of them. Then watch your video and mark all of the same points for you. If there’s big differences between yours and his it gives you something to work on the next time you run.

But in the time being, watch as many videos of fast guys on YouTube as you can. Kart360, Skusa, eKartingNews, all have on board footage of guys who know what they’re doing. If you can find footage of your local track that could help. But it could also teach you bad habits of someone who doesn’t drive very well. There’s also books you can buy. I’ll try to find the title of a specific one that we have at the shop.

This book

This question has been asked a bunch of times, but the one post I've found the most helpful was /u/that_video_art_guy's response in this post. For quick reference, here's the copy/paste:



I've read many of these books, I'm partial to the mechanics and team member books but find all of them to be very enjoyable.


The Super Collective Super list of Super Good F1 Books:

Mechanics/Team Members


[Life in the Pit Lane: Mechanic's Story of the Benetton Grand Prix Year](
http://www.amazon.com/Life-Pit-Lane-Mechanics-Benetton/dp/0760300267/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356716346&sr=1-5&keywords=steve+matchett) - Steve Matchett

[The Mechanic's Tale: Life in the Pit-Lanes of Formula One](
http://www.amazon.com/Mechanics-Tale-Life-Pit-Lanes-Formula/dp/0752827839/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356716346&sr=1-1&keywords=steve+matchett) - Steve Matchett

The Chariot Makers: Assembling the Perfect Formula 1 Car - Steve Matchett

Team Lotus: My View From the Pitwall - Peter Warr

Jo Ramirez: Memoirs of a Racing Man - Jo Ramirez

Art of War - Five Years in Formula One - Max Mosley, Adam Parr, Paul Tinker

Tales from the Toolbox: A Collection of Behind-the-Scenes Tales from Grand Prix Mechanics - Michael Oliver, Jackie Stewart


Technical Books

Red Bull Racing F1 Car: Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual

McLaren M23: 1973 Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual

Lotus 72: 1970 Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual

Tune to Win: The art and science of race car development and tuning - Carroll Smith

Engineer to Win - Carroll Smith

Nuts, Bolts, Fasteners and Plumbing Handbook AKA: Screw to Win - Carroll Smith

Race Car Vehicle Dynamics: Problems, Answers and Experiments - Doug Milliken

Chassis Design: Principles and Analysis - William F. Milliken, Douglas L. Milliken, Maurice Olley

The Racing & High-Performance Tire: Using Tires to Tune for Grip & Balance - Paul Haney


Technical Driving

Ultimate Speed Secrets: The Complete Guide to High-Performance and Race Driving - Ross Bentley

Going Faster! Mastering the Art of Race Driving - Carl Lopez

Working the Wheel - Martin Brundle


Drivers and Rivalry's

Senna Versus Prost: The Story of the Most Deadly Rivalry in Formula One - Malcolm Folley

The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit - Michael Cannell

Winning Is Not Enough: The Autobiography - Sir Jackie Stewart

Shunt: The Story of James Hunt - Tom Rubython

Alex Zanardi: My Sweetest Victory: A Memoir of Racing Success, Adversity, and Courage - Alex Zanardi, Gianluca Gasparini, Mario Andretti.

It Is What It Is: The Autobiography - David Coulthard

Flat Out, Flat Broke: Formula 1 the Hard Way! - Perry McCarthy The Black Stig, Damon Hill

F1 Through the Eyes of Damon Hill: Inside the World of Formula 1 - Damon Hill, Photography: Sutton Images


People Of F1

Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One - Professor Sid Watkins

Beyond the Limit - Professor Sid Watkins

I Just Made The Tea: Tales from 30 years inside Formula 1 - Di Spires

Bernie: The Biography of Bernie Ecclestone - Susan Watkins


Picture Books

McLaren The Cars: Updated 2011 Edition

Art of the Formula 1 Race Car - Stuart Codling, James Mann, Peter Windsor, Gordon Murray

I would recommend Stone Crusade by John Sherman. It is a good history of Bouldering, a fun road trip story, and a reasonable guidebook all wrapped into a well written package.

Get formal training. It has improved my coaching tremendously and I would not be able the think of any other way to achieve my current level.

Good books for a starting fencing coach are Szabo L. Fencing and the Master, Czajkowski Z. Understanding Fencing and Kogler A. One Touch at a Time.

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

Soccer Men by Simon Kuper (of Soccernomics fame). Wonder beyond-the-field look into the lives of players and managers. Lets you know where the genius/crazy comes from.

Anything by Ted Leeson, especially The Habit of Rivers and Inventing Montana. For my money, the best writer of the bunch.

There's a great book by David Walsh, the Sunday Times sports writer who hounded Lance all along and was shouted down and marginalised for daring to criticise and remain skeptical of him, called 'Seven Deadly Sins'. Good reading for anyone interested.

Anything by Ted Leeson, but especially The Habit of Rivers. Anything by David James Duncan, but especially The River Why.

Amazon link to the book covered in the pod

A few things, good choice on the bike! Love the SV650. Get it setup for your weight, it will handle better. We just did this to my son's SV650, he's 130lbs and we resprung it and did the racetech gold valves, and we set proper sag on it. You should be able to set sag, at least on the S model it has preload on the forks, they all have the preload on the rear shock. Also get the svracingparts.com moto frame sliders, they're the best available for this bike and will protect it when you drop it.


Secondly, pick up Lee Parks book, and read it. https://www.amazon.com/Total-Control-Lee-Parks-ebook/dp/B00R31222SConsider taking the intermediate rider course, or the advanced rider course since you've been riding for awhile. I assume you are in the states since you mentioned MSF. Here's the website to find courses in your area.


Thirdly, and this is huge to improving your riding skills, just practice. Find a local big parking lot and just do drills, slow speed u-turns, offset weaves, Emergency BRAKING (huge). Subscribe to Motojitsu channel on youtube. He's probably got the best practice videos out there, I found him when trying to explain countersteering to my son.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0FFFneMi9GwRHUsuBjM0jA


He's also got a couple books on amazon. He's a certified Total Control instructor, and knows his stuff. https://www.amazon.com/MotoJitsu-Master-Riding-Program-Widmar-ebook/dp/B07P8J6Q89


So, Bike setup, Book, courses, videos, practice. Repeat the last one as necessary. I am taking the ARC1 course December 8th (San Diego). Should be fun, I've been off the bike for 15 years, need to blow off the rust.

[A MUST GET] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1412712009?pc_redir=1413691686&robot_redir=1) I sadly lost my copy of this book...I don't know if it has been updated recently, but you've probably seen most of the races it doesn't get to. Super interesting and comprehensive, but still interesting and a quick read if you want to make it one. It greatly enhanced my childhood.

Lol imagine drawing Trump being able to jump let alone dunk on anyone with enough athleticism to play horseshoes

There is also the fencing based "One Touch at a time" for sports psychology based on fencing. It's quite good.

"Epee 2.5" also contains some sports-psychology, tactics and strategy from a fencing perspective.

These things were a great buy, it’s also a fold out ruler which is equally as useful as the knot guide

Fisherman's Ultimate Knot Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/0922273030/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_f97ZCbXRDWKYG

I was considering buying this other one which is 12 knots vs 10 and intended for saltwater specifically, but it doesn’t have the ruler

Saltwater Fishing Knot Cards https://www.amazon.com/dp/0922273235/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_m-7ZCbZA8YFF9

We actually sell this in the bookstore where I work.

Winning at All Costs by John Foot. Probably the best book on the history of Calcio.

It's fitting that "Republicans Buy Sneakers Too" comes out Tuesday: https://www.amazon.com/Republicans-Buy-Sneakers-Too-Politics/dp/0062878530

With all the interest in this topic, you guys should read "How Soccer Explains the World". It is a really good read if this kind of thing "floats your boat". Link for the lazy: http://www.amazon.com/How-Soccer-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/0066212340

I don't know which book is better

Great book to read by Hugh Herr, who it turns out is now doing really cool stuff with prosthetics at MIT I believe.

Second Ascent: The Story of Hugh Herr https://www.amazon.com/dp/0811717941/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_HOdvCbY6TB2NS

"Winning at All Costs: A Scandalous History of Italian Soccer" by John Foot.

http://www.amazon.com/Winning-All-Costs-Scandalous-History/dp/1568583680

The book is really long but it is very well written and goes into incredible depth about the history of Italian football. It is one of my favorite books ever. Your coach will love it

Link to book on Amazon

I Just Made the Tea is a good non-technical book with many great behind-the-scenes anecdotes.

Pro-Knot cards - inexpensive and useful

Fisherman version

Under $5 each and free shipping with Prime

Also check this one out....Stone Crusade

Though it's not really a reading book, I suggest you take a look at this.

I guess its Man U haters but these were skills he learned while playing for Ajax early in his career, winning the UEFA CL in 1995. His coach, Louis Van Gaal, was experimenting with the ability of a GK playing not only in net but could become an eleventh field player helping retain possession. As the OP said the backpass rule changed the way the game was played and Van der Sar was the pioneer of the modern day goalkeeper. The days of GKs like David Seaman (big men without fundamentally sound footskills) were over. For more read Soccer Men- Simon Kuper

Have you read How Soccer Explains the World? It does a great job talking about hooligans, ultras, and basically how politics and soccer are so intermingled in some countries. Anyway, are you a season ticket holder? And what was the biggest hooligan brawl you've been in?

Are you fucking retarded? There are Hundreds of gangs centralized around the local Professional club. Go read a book. Heres one to start with numb nuts. http://www.amazon.com/How-Soccer-Explains-World-Globalization/dp/0066212340