God, If You Are Real... . PDF Download

Author: Spud Alford
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781494210199
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
By the time Spud Alford was twenty-one, he had strengthened his athletic skills enough to become a serious contender for the American team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Fate, however, had a different idea of how the young track and field star should outpace his competition. Four years later, it looked like Alford might finally get his shot. Again, fate intervened, and this time, young Alford confronted a cancer diagnosis. God, If You Are Real…. An Olympic Dream, Cancer Nightmare, and the creation of Finger Football is the heartbreaking, hilarious account of one man who time and again passes the wrong end of the torch, only to rally and rise above his seemingly limitless lot of bad luck. With hope, heart, and humor, this frank and funny account of one man's journey from Olympic hopeful to company leader is certain to inspire readers seeking a refreshing perspective. Anyone who is ready to blaze a trail as an athlete, a businessperson, or as an individual seeking deeper meaning in their days will find plenty to laugh about—and think about—in this rollicking, fast-paced memoir of one life on the skids, with only the help of one lost soul.

Author: Jonathan a Fink
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In this book, The Football Gods are Real - Vol. 1: The Religion of Football, I pay homage to the Football Gods and set out to praise all things related to football and spirituality. The book focuses on the religiosity of football, celebrates football's cathedrals, applauds football's saints, and calls out its sinners. The book also acknowledges the football fanatics, whom I affectionally refer to as the zeal- ots, and magnifies many of the traditions, rivalries, rituals, and superstitions that help make football the wonderful, mysterious, enjoyable game it is. This book explores foot- ball karma and the dark side of football, and searches for the fingerprints of the Football Gods from beginning to end. It also celebrates serendipitous moments and even investigates the paranormal world of football, including tales of curses, ghosts, and - believe it or not - UFOs. Breaking tackles like a power running back and heading towards the end zone, this book revisits the American dream and looks ahead to the golden age of football yet to come.

Author: Juan Villoro
Publisher: Restless Books
ISBN: 1632060779
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 234

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Book Description
A brilliant, kaleidoscopic exploration of soccer—and the passion, hopes, rivalries, superstitions, and global solidarity it inspires—from award-winning author and Mexico’s leading sports journalist, Juan Villoro. On a planet where FIFA has more members than the United Nations and the World Cup is watched by more than three billion people, football is more than just a game. As revered author Juan Villoro argues in this passionate and compulsively readable tribute to the world’s favorite sport, football may be the most effective catalyst for panglobal unity at the time when we need it most. (Following global consensus, Villoro uses “football” rather than “soccer” in the book.) What was the greatest goal of all time? Why do the Hungarians have a more philosophical sense of defeat than the Mexicans? Do the dead play football? In essays ranging from incisive and irreverent portraits of Maradona, Messi, Ronaldo, Pelé, Zidane, and many more giants of the game to entertaining explorations of left-footedness and the number 10, Juan Villoro dissects the pleasure and pain of football fandom. God Is Round is a book for both fanatics and neophytes who long to feel the delirium of the faithful. Praise for God is Round “If you want to talk about soccer, go talk to Juan Villoro.” —Carlos Fuentes “In trying times like these, when the anguish and uncertainty can be almost too much to bear, Mexico turns to him, its philosopher-fanatic, to make sense of the seemingly nonsensical. With the nation’s hopes for the World Cup spiraling into doubt and chaos, Juan Villoro, one of Mexico’s most decorated and esteemed writers — who also happens to be a leading soccer analyst—comes charging down the metaphorical field to scold, explain and extract the lessons within.” —The New York Times “The literature of Juan Villoro…is opening up the path of the new Spanish novel of the millennium.” —Roberto Bolaño “[Villoro] has assumed the Octavio Paz mantle of Mexican public wise man of letters (though with none of Paz’s solemnity, for Villoro is as boyishly effusive, brimming with laughter and cleverness, as Paz was paternalistically dour—and, of course, Villoro, the author of the book God Is Round, may be the most fútbol-obsessed man alive)” —Francisco Goldman, The New Yorker Juan Villoro is Mexico’s most prolific, prize-winning author, playwright, journalist, and screenwriter. His books have been translated into multiple languages; he has received the Herralde Award in Spain for his novel El testigo, the Antonin Artaud award in France for Los culpables. His novel, Arrecife, was recently short-listed for the Rezzori Prize in Italy. Villoro lives in Mexico City and is a visiting lecturer at Yale and Princeton universities. Thomas Bunstead's translations from the Spanish include work by Eduardo Halfon and Yuri Herrera, Aixa de la Cruz's story “True Milk” in Best of European Fiction, and the forthcoming A Brief History of Portable Literature by Enrique Vila-Matas (a co-translation with Anne McLean). A guest editor of a Words Without Borders feature on Mexico (March 2015), Thomas has also published his own writing in the Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, the Paris Review blog, 3ammagazine, Days of Roses, readysteadybook, and >kill author.

Author: Chad Gibbs
Publisher: Zondervan
ISBN: 0310329221
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 242

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Book Description
Renowned humorist and die-hard football fan Chad Gibbs knows he cannot serve two masters, but at times his faith is overwhelmed by his fanaticism. He is not alone.

Author: Colt McCoy
Publisher: Multnomah
ISBN: 1601424841
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 226

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Book Description
Prepare for a paradigm-shifting view of biblical manhood. Every man wants to succeed. But for so many, life seems to get in the way. We all have friends—good men, followers of Christ even—who start out well but before long, they’re failing at relationships, bending ethical standards, or driving themselves so hard at work they’re losing the hearts of their wife and kids. In The Real Win, Colt McCoy and Matt Carter wrestle deeply and personally with this challenge, then deliver down-to-earth, biblical answers. Based on their personal experiences and a close study of Scripture, McCoy and Carter show men: • Why so much depends on who you trust and who you serve • Why every man is called to lead and why every man can • How to man up to temptation—and conquer it • How to find the “win” even in your biggest failure “The real win means trusting the Lord and walking with Jesus no matter what,” write Matt and Colt. “That kind of faithfulness is possible for any man who follows God with all his heart. No matter what circumstances threaten him, a faithful man is the most truly confident man in the room.” Now includes bonus section on mentoring, plus a small group reading guide.

Author: Reggie White
Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers
ISBN:
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Though he is the NFL's all-time sack leader, a Super Bowl champion, and a future Hall of Famer, Reggie White believes his true mission in life is spreading the Word of God. In God's Playbook, White makes the Bible's timeless message come alive, clearly illustrating how its ancient principles remain relevant today. White shares his own experiences on and off the football field, drawing valuable lessons from sports legends -- Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson, Hank Aaron, and Dr. J. -- biblical heroes -- Jesus, David, Moses, and Lazarus -- as well as the unsung coaches, ministers, and mentors who have influenced him personally. For sports fans and non-sports fans alike, God's Playbook is an instructional and inspirational guide to living a rich and rewarding life.

Author: Sally Jenkins
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0385522991
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 352

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Book Description
Sally Jenkins, bestselling co-author of It's Not About the Bike, revives a forgotten piece of history in The Real All Americans. In doing so, she has crafted a truly inspirational story about a Native American football team that is as much about football as Lance Armstrong's book was about a bike. If you’d guess that Yale or Harvard ruled the college gridiron in 1911 and 1912, you’d be wrong. The most popular team belonged to an institution called the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Its story begins with Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt, a fierce abolitionist who believed that Native Americans deserved a place in American society. In 1879, Pratt made a treacherous journey to the Dakota Territory to recruit Carlisle’s first students. Years later, three students approached Pratt with the notion of forming a football team. Pratt liked the idea, and in less than twenty years the Carlisle football team was defeating their Ivy League opponents and in the process changing the way the game was played. Sally Jenkins gives this story of unlikely champions a breathtaking immediacy. We see the legendary Jim Thorpe kicking a winning field goal, watch an injured Dwight D. Eisenhower limping off the field, and follow the glorious rise of Coach Glenn “Pop” Warner as well as his unexpected fall from grace. The Real All Americans is about the end of a culture and the birth of a game that has thrilled Americans for generations. It is an inspiring reminder of the extraordinary things that can be achieved when we set aside our differences and embrace a common purpose.

Author: Jeremy Williams
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 1595555242
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
Jeremy Williams captured the nation’s imagination by coaching his high school football team to unprecedented heights while combating ALS and caring for a son with spina bifida. This is his family’s inspiring story. America first met Jeremy and Jennifer Williams when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition rebuilt their Depression-era farmhouse into a beautiful, handicapped-accessible haven. Friends, family, and neighbors from their west Georgia community—and all over the state—came together to support the ailing high school coach who had won their respect and their hearts. It made for compelling television but only told a little slice of the story. Tenacious gives you the rest—a tender love story, a thrilling sports story, and an unforgettable testimony to the power of faith and grit in the face of almost overwhelming adversity. In Tenacious you’ll meet: The distraught parents learning their son would be born with spina bifida. The young father facing his own devastating diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) with matter-of-fact courage. The coach who guided his underdog team to a 10–0 Cinderella season—while struggling to walk, talk, and even breathe. Packed full of faith, hope, love, and miracles, Tenacious is a story you don’t want to miss.

Author: John Sexton
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101609737
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 267

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Book Description
The president of New York University offers a love letter to America’s most beloved sport and a tribute to its underlying spirituality. For more than a decade, John Sexton has taught a wildly popular New York University course about two seemingly very different things: religion and baseball. Yet Sexton argues that one is actually a pathway to the other. Baseball as a Road to God is about touching that something that lies beyond logical understanding. Sexton illuminates the surprisingly large number of mutual concepts shared between baseball and religion: faith, doubt, conversion, miracles, and even sacredness among many others. Structured like a game and filled with riveting accounts of baseball’s most historic moments, Baseball as Road to God will enthrall baseball fans whatever their religious beliefs may be. In thought-provoking, beautifully rendered prose, Sexton elegantly demonstrates that baseball is more than a game, or even a national pastime: It can be a road to enlightenment.

Author: Amy Hammond Hagberg
Publisher: Destiny Image Publishers
ISBN: 0768495180
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 469

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Book Description
Are All Christians stuffy old people sitting (or sleeping) in church on Sunday morning? No! Most Christians are people with problems just like you. Being famous doesn't make their lives any easier. They still struggle with anger, drugs, alcohol, sex, relation-ships, despair, and disappointment. Whether they are Olympic gold medallists, musicians, professional athletes, or extreme sports fanatics, they know that God is real—and here are their stories. Life takes courage to wake up and face each day. Find out where some of today's most amazing young people get their strength to face each day, and how you can tap into your inner strength and discover the power of God Unplugged! Plug into God's exciting plan for your life TODAY!