Sam Balter: His Life and Times PDF Download

Author: Barbara Balter Kahn
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1450204589
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 198

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Book Description
Sam Balter was a pioneer in the field of sports broadcasting. He had the first coast-to-coast radio sportscast and televised the first football game in the Southern California area, as well as baseball and basketball games. He was a newscaster during WWII and was the independent radio pool correspondent for the "birth" of the United Nations in San Francisco in 1945. Along with a nightly sports program, a daily sports newspaper column, he was cast in frequent movies in like roles. But, all these activities took a back seat to his most treasured sobriquet: "Olympian." He was a gold medal winner in basketball in the 1936 "Hitler" Olympics. And, he was a Jew.

Author: Rich Hughes
Publisher: FriesenPress
ISBN: 1770679715
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 397

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Book Description
1936 was the most significant year in basketball’s first half century. For the first time, Olympic basketball ended with a gold medal game. Dr. James Naismith was honored at the Berlin Olympics for his wonderful invention, as basketball achieved widespread international acceptance in a short period of time. 45 years after creating an exciting indoor sport for a physical education class, Naismith watched 23 countries vie for the gold. Boycotts protested Hitler’s policies within the Olympic host country of Germany, and as a result, politics and sports were forever linked. Other meaningful firsts for the 1935-36 playing season included controversy in the US Olympic Tryout system, a problematic lack of funding for US Olympians, and the actualization of new basketball strategies. Fast breaking offenses, dunking the ball, and full court zone pressure were important new techniques that radically changed the game. This book tells the little known story of the 1936 team which transformed basketball. The book documents the McPherson Refiners significant role in developing basketball’s faster, dynamic playing style. The mishaps and fortunes of the Refiners and three other AAU teams who placed men on Berlin’s muddy clay court will be the focus of the book.

Author: Scott Morrow Johnson
Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 1496217055
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 371

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Book Description
Remembered in name but underappreciated in legacy, Forrest “Phog” Allen arguably influenced the game of basketball more than anyone else. In the first half of the twentieth century, Allen took basketball from a gentlemanly, indoor recreational pastime to the competitive game that would become a worldwide sport. Succeeding James Naismith as the University of Kansas’s basketball coach in 1907, Allen led the Jayhawks for thirty-nine seasons and holds the record for most wins at that school, with 590. He also helped create the NCAA tournament and brought basketball to the Olympics. Allen changed the way the game is played, coached, marketed, and presented. Scott Morrow Johnson reveals Allen as a master recruiter, a transformative coach, and a visionary basketball mind. Adolph Rupp, Dean Smith, Wilt Chamberlain, and many others benefited from Allen’s knowledge of and passion for the game. But Johnson also delves into Allen’s occasionally tumultuous relationships with Naismith, the NCAA, and University of Kansas administrators. Phog: The Most Influential Man in Basketball chronicles this complex man’s life, telling for the first time the full story of the man whose name is synonymous with Kansas basketball and with the game itself.

Author: Andrew Maraniss
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0525514651
Category : Young Adult Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
*"Rivaling the nonfiction works of Steve Sheinkin and Daniel James Brown's The Boys in the Boat....Even readers who don't appreciate sports will find this story a page-turner." --School Library Connection, starred review *"A must for all library collections." --Booklist, starred review Winner of the 2020 AJL Sydney Taylor Honor! From the New York Times bestselling author of Strong Inside comes the remarkable true story of the birth of Olympic basketball at the 1936 Summer Games in Hitler's Germany. Perfect for fans of The Boys in the Boat and Unbroken. On a scorching hot day in July 1936, thousands of people cheered as the U.S. Olympic teams boarded the S.S. Manhattan, bound for Berlin. Among the athletes were the 14 players representing the first-ever U.S. Olympic basketball team. As thousands of supporters waved American flags on the docks, it was easy to miss the one courageous man holding a BOYCOTT NAZI GERMANY sign. But it was too late for a boycott now; the ship had already left the harbor. 1936 was a turbulent time in world history. Adolf Hitler had gained power in Germany three years earlier. Jewish people and political opponents of the Nazis were the targets of vicious mistreatment, yet were unaware of the horrors that awaited them in the coming years. But the Olympians on board the S.S. Manhattan and other international visitors wouldn't see any signs of trouble in Berlin. Streets were swept, storefronts were painted, and every German citizen greeted them with a smile. Like a movie set, it was all just a facade, meant to distract from the terrible things happening behind the scenes. This is the incredible true story of basketball, from its invention by James Naismith in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1891, to the sport's Olympic debut in Berlin and the eclectic mix of people, events and propaganda on both sides of the Atlantic that made it all possible. Includes photos throughout, a Who's-Who of the 1936 Olympics, bibliography, and index. Praise for Games of Deception: A 2020 ALA Notable Children's Book! A 2020 CBC Notable Social Studies Book! "Maraniss does a great job of blending basketball action with the horror of Hitler's Berlin to bring this fascinating, frightening, you-can't-make-this-stuff-up moment in history to life." -Steve Sheinkin, New York Times bestselling author of Bomb and Undefeated "I was blown away by Games of Deception....It's a fascinating, fast-paced, well-reasoned, and well-written account of the hidden-in-plain-sight horrors and atrocities that underpinned sports, politics, and propaganda in the United States and Germany. This is an important read." -Susan Campbell Bartoletti, Newbery Honor winning author of Hitler Youth "A richly reported and stylishly told reminder how, when you scratch at a sports story, the real world often lurks just beneath." --Alexander Wolff, New York Times bestselling author of The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama "An insightful, gripping account of basketball and bias." --Kirkus Reviews "An exciting and overlooked slice of history." --School Library Journal

Author: Beth Fortenberry
Publisher: Hybrid Global Publishing
ISBN: 1948181924
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
You’ve got to understand that I receive over 60 scripts a year not to mention books and articles all about basketball. I’ve read almost every basketball story that’s ever been brought to Hollywood’s attention. That’s what I get for producing Hoosiers, the movie that many consider to be the best basketball movie ever made. Most often, when I start reading, I don’t even get past the first page. When SLAM DUNK – The True Story of Basketball’s First Olympic Gold Medal Team came my way, I immediately knew this was something very special. I read it from beginning to end in one sitting. The content, the story, the unknown historical facts, the tragedies, the writing, the interesting characters, the very special young athletes, the unbelievable odds, the writer’s ability to combine the story from 1891 through WW1, the Dust Bowl to the 1936 Hitler Olympics makes this an epic story. I knew this script was very special and I’m lucky to be involved. From the players to the writer, this is the real deal.

Author: William J. Ryczek
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476685533
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
Dick Stuart (1932-2002) began as a minor league first baseman, noted for his outsized ego and terrible fielding. His brash personality and 66 home runs for the Lincoln Chiefs of the Western League made him a national figure in 1956. In 1958, he came up to the majors in Pittsburgh and played some fine seasons with the Pirates, and later the Boston Red Sox. In 1961, he was selected for the National League All-Star team, and he led the American League in RBI in 1963. A wise-cracking bon vivant, his career was not what it might have been. If he had worked harder, he might have been a better player. If Bill Mazeroski hadn't ended the 1960 Series with a home run, Stuart, who was on deck, might have been the hero. Yet his great hitting ability, quick wit and love for the limelight made him one of the most interesting players of his era.

Author: Roger Kahn
Publisher: Diversion Books
ISBN: 1938120450
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
From the author of A Season in the Sun, a memoir from one of America’s foremost sportswriters about his life and influences. After successful seasons as a newspaperman and magazine writer, Roger Kahn burst onto the national scene in 1972 with his memorable bestseller, The Boys of Summer, memorializing the Brooklyn Dodgers. Here he wrote a book for the hearts and minds of his readers. Chronicling his own life, Into My Own is Kahn’s reflection on the eight people who shaped him as a man, a father, and a writer. Into My Own is the touching memoir of an unassuming man, whose great love of baseball and literature led him into extraordinary experiences, opportunities, and friendships. Even amidst great family tragedy and personal difficulty, Kahn prevailed—amongst poets, writers, politicians, and most of all, ballplayers. “In this engaging memoir, Kahn…looks back at baseball and much more as he presents his episodic reminiscences as free-form essays arranged loosely around iconic figures from his past…Kahn has a graceful, personal style, full of deftly evoked color and characters, with a bit of the newspaperman's hard-bitten swagger and a two-fisted liberalism one doesn't see much anymore.”—Publishers Weekly Praise for Roger Kahn “As a kid, I loved sports first and writing second, and loved everything Roger Kahn wrote. As an adult, I love writing first and sports second, and love Roger Kahn even more.”—Pulitzer Prize winner, David Maraniss “A work of high moral purpose and great poetic accomplishment. The finest American book on sports.”—James Michener on The Boys of Summer “Kahn has the almost unfair gift of easy, graceful writing.”—Boston Herald

Author: Brian I. Daly
Publisher: Dundurn
ISBN: 145970634X
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Record numbers of Canadian youths are taking up basketball, but the sport languishes in the shadow of hockey. From the sport's beginning to the era of Steve Nash, this book chronicles basketball's struggle to overcome its history as the poor cousin of Canadian sports.

Author: Seth Davis
Publisher: Times Books
ISBN: 0805099417
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 608

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Book Description
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.

Author: Carson Cunningham
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803226721
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 529

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Book Description
Those who avidly followed the on-court acrobatics and off-court celebrity of the OC Dream TeamOCO in Barcelona in 1992 would hardly recognize what passed as basketball fifty-six years earlier, when the United States first played the game in the 1936 Olympics. In those early days of menOCOs Olympic basketball, many teams lacked basic skills, games were played in the pouring rain, only seven players could suit up, and the rules allowed only two substitutions and no time-outs. How this slow, low-scoring sport became the breakneck game that enraptures millions worldwide is the story of American Hoops.In this fascinating history of Olympic basketball on the world stage and behind the scenes, Carson Cunningham presents a kaleidoscopic picture of the evolution into the twenty-first century of one of AmericaOCOs most popular sports. From clashes between celebrated egos and thrilling action on the court to the intense rivalries of the Cold War and technological advances in everything from television to sports equipment off the court, American Hoops follows the fortunes of Olympic basketball, in the United States and internationally, as it developed and emerged as one of the most challenging and entertaining sports in the world.Cunningham traces how the modifications made by the International Olympic Committee and the International Basketball Federation have transformed the game of basketball over the years, from the Berlin to the Beijing Olympics. His book offers a remarkable view of the changing world through the prism of Olympic sport."