Sportsbiografier

Walk Alone - the Craig Johnston Story. The best-selling autobiography of Australia's greatest soccer player makes a long overdue return to coincide with Liverpool Football Club's historic first trip to Australia in July 2013. A timeless tale guaranteed to inspire every young footballer, Walk Alone tells how Johnston beat adversity, rejection, injury and homesickness to travel alone to England where he carved out a remarkable career winning nine major titles with the famous Merseyside club before retiring from the game at just 27 years of age.

From the outside looking in, many people think that professional racing drivers have the best jobs ever! However there is a side to racing that most do not understand - the politics! While following their passion, professional racing car drivers have to constantly hustle in order to land contracts, and then they have to be careful who finds out in order to protect themselves from others who may intervene, with often devastating consequences. In addition, racing drivers often find themselves doing many different jobs apart from actual racing, such as driver's instruct racing schools and work ride and drive schools, in order to keep their dream alive. This book tells Byron Payne's story of life as a professional racing driver, from landing sponsors, to making friends, enemies, and ultimately to dreams coming true. And none of this would have been possible without that key ingredient: Passion for the Ride.

In this first and only biography on the life and boxing career of heavyweight boxing contender Joe Jennette, author Joe Botti chronicles the life and career of this interracial athlete who competed in the longest boxing contest of the twentieth century.From 1904 to 1922 Jennette faced and defeated the most dangerous fighters of his era, including Jack Johnson, Sam Langford, and Sam McVea. Jennette was unable to secure a title shot due to the fact that the world was fixated with finding a Caucasian boxer to defeat Jack Johnson in the "great white hope" era. The story deals with the struggles of interracial romance, racism, and the world of boxing in the early twentieth century.Joe Botti is the Founder and Head Coach of the Union City Boxing Club in Union City, N.J. He studied at William Paterson University in Wayne, N.J. A former amateur boxer, Botti has trained over 30 New Jersey Golden Glove champions and currently manages and trains professional and amateur boxers.

Brother Bill Frazier - A living testament to God's Love and Grace Bill Frazier showed up unannounced at a race in Talladega in 1970 with home-built Chapel-on-wheels, and like a missionary in a foreign land, started to minister to the race drivers, the crews and their families. Person-by-person, and race-by-race, Bill Frazier earned the trust and respect of people who lived a fast paced life, and were considered by many "church-goers" beyond redemption. And Brother Bill, as the racers came to call him, found that there were many God fearing men in the racing world, including the sports super-stars. Men like Richard Petty and Bobby Allison, who quickly adopted Bill Frazier's Ministry, and helped it to grow. But the story of Bill Frazier's life is a story of battling personal demons. Bill was an unlikely candidate when God rescued him from a turbulent life style, as Bill became living proof that "it's through Him that I can do all things". Bill's effectiveness at establishing a full time ministry in Stock Car racing is still appreciated by many. As for Bill Frazier's style, Richard Petty put it best; "Bill came in with his people, not above them. The only difference between Bill and the crews in the pits, was that Bill would get up and preach on Sundays"

Tommy Banks...Is this a story that is any different to the plethora of footballers' autobiographies that cram the bookshelves of the High Street retailers?The reality is that this is a story of a very talented, very proud and extremely honourable and dignified man.A man who recognised the wrongs of the professional footballers' contracts in the post-war era and, in his own words and dialect, was determined to "purrit reet."This down to earth charismatic Farnworth lad played an integral and pivotal role in changing the way footballers were treated and paid. There is absolutely no doubt that the celebrity footballers we recognise today bear no comparison to the men that Tommy took up the cause for. However they would do well to read, recognise and, most importantly, respect the part that Tommy and several others played in changing the landscape of the present modern day footballer.Tommy Banks...family man, coal miner, hod carrier, Bolton Wanderer and England footballer, a warm hearted man with a bulldog spirit and a builder of dreams.Ah'm tellin' thee is a humble, honest and heartfelt account of a local lad made good.Tommy was astute and quick, wingers didn't like playing against him, he was belligerent, he would clatter them if required and played mind games with them.Francis Lee Today's multi-millionaire footballers owe a great debt to the son ofFarnworth who might well have been formed out of the very coal pitswhich featured in that area as he was granite like, a great player, greatperson and a great character.from the Foreword by Gordon TaylorChief Executive of the Professional Footballers Association I admire him, a gifted footballer he was also a leader, you could hear him all over the field roaring out instructions and praise.Dennis StevensHe had a lot to say on and off the field but knew his football and was a master of his craft. If you had any soft spot in your make up he'd exploit it, few if any got the better of him.Every time I see him I always try to think of something fun to say but he always beats me to it, a lovely man.Bobby Charlton

Billy Miske: The St. Paul Thunderbolt is Clay Moyle's second biography and a worthy successor to his critically acclaimed tome concerning the life and career of Sam Langford. Hall of Fame boxer Billy Miske was arguably the most courageous and inspirational figure in boxing history, and his story is long overdue. During a career that was impeded and cut short as a result of his ongoing battle with a terminal illness, Billy fought a number of the greatest fighters who ever lived, including the likes of Jack Dillon, Harry Greb and Jack Dempsey. The thrilling details and stories surrounding those fights and those of many other ring legends are all here, brought back to life for the reader to enjoy. This book goes far beyond simply chronicling Miske's career, but provides the reader with an in-depth view of a number of the sport's greatest contests and one of the more remarkable periods in boxing's history. Miske's courage and perseverance in the face of his impending death, and his personal sacrifice to provide his family with one last Christmas to remember him by, will tug at your heartstrings and leave you with an indelible image of the man.The book is comprised of 206 pages, including 61 photographs, and includes Miske's record, footnotes and an index. Clay Moyle is a member of the International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO) and the author of Sam Langford, Boxing's Greatest Uncrowned Champion. He lives in Edgewood, Washington.

He is the most ornery, cantankerous rule-breaker the sports world has ever seen. Seventy million people witnessed his pioneering event. While his athleticism is unparalleled, it is his persona - as The Destroyer and later Doctor X - that earns the reverence of people worldwide...yet few have seen his face.Masked Decisions paints an in-depth portrait of Dick Beyer's unexpected journey from a working-class Buffalo upbringing to a sports standout at Syracuse University to a world class wrestling trailblazer. Along the way, readers are given front-row seats to experiences and decisions that took a Depression-era boy into a euphoric future. An inspirational story of family, personal resolve and making the best of situations, it resonates with today's headlines.Researched and written over three years, the book presents the never-before-revealed backstory of the athletically gifted Beyer. While working toward two college degrees, Beyer inadvertently morphed into one of the most compelling amateur sports stars of his era. He co-captained his football team to its first bowl appearance, was chosen Syracuse University's 'athlete of the year', medaled in national wrestling tournaments, and while on the coaching staff of Ben Schwartzwalder, mentored freshman Jim Brown, helped guide the 1959 team to a national championship, and developed the offensive line that propelled Ernie Davis to the Heisman Trophy, before taking up professional wrestling full time.Through early television broadcasts of wrestling, Beyer gained respect, but not marquee status, until a Los Angeles promoter put him in a mask and named him The Destroyer. At first, Beyer detested the gimmick, but soon realized he had an opportunity for something unique. However, even Beyer could not foresee how his life would dramatically change after a match with the father of Japanese wrestling thrust him into the spotlight. The Destroyer became an international star and Japan's biggest media celebrity, but soon his world would be rocked. More than a celebrity sports bio, Masked Decisions underlines the human emotions and consequences associated with fame, faults and fortitude. Ultimately, Beyer's most significant and lasting achievement is realized not in the ring but outside it. His example influenced many, and his story will inspire many more.