What Washington Can Learn From The World Of Sports

Asserts that American sports award merit, action, improvement, and defense, while politicians flounder because of a lack of these virtues.

Long before George Washington was a president or general, he was a sportsman. Born in 1732, he had a physique and aspirations that were tailor made for his age, one in which displays of physical prowess were essential to recognition in society. At six feet two inches and with a penchant for rambunctious horse riding, what he lacked in formal schooling he made up for in physical strength, skill, and ambition. Virginia colonial society rewarded men who were socially adept, strong, graceful, and fair at play. Washington's memorable performances on the hunting field and on the battlefield helped crystallize his contribution to our modern ideas about athleticism and chivalry, even as they also highlight the intimate ties between sports and war. Washington's actions, taken individually and seen by others as the core of his being, helped a young nation bridge the old to the new and the aristocrat to the republican. Author Philip G. Smucker, a fifth-great-grandnephew of George Washington, uses his background as a war correspondent, sports reporter, and amateur equestrian to weave an insightful tale based upon his own travels in the footsteps and hoofprints of Washington as a surveyor, sportsman, and field commander. As often as possible, he saddles up and charges off to see what Washington's woods, byways, and battlefields look like from atop a saddle. Riding with George is "boots-in-stirrups" storytelling that unspools Washington's rise to fame in a never-before-told yarn. It shows how a young Virginian's athleticism and Old World chivalry propelled him to become a model of right action and good manners for a fledgling nation.

George Allen was a fascinating and eccentric figure in the world of football coaching. His remarkable career spanned six decades, from the late 1940s until his sudden death in 1990 at the age of seventy-three. Although he never won a Super Bowl, he never had a losing season as an NFL head coach and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. In George Allen: A Football Life, Mike Richman captures the life and accomplishments of one of the most successful NFL coaches of all time and one of the greatest innovators in the game. A player's coach, Allen was a tremendous motivator and game strategist, as well as a defensive mastermind, and is credited with making special teams a critical focus in an era in which they were an afterthought. He had a keen eye for talent and pulled off masterful trades, often for veteran players who were viewed to be past their prime, who then had great seasons and made his teams much better. In addition to his coaching feats, Allen had an idiosyncratic and controversial personality. His life revolved around football 24-7. One of his quirks was to minimize chewing time by consuming soft foods, giving himself more time to prepare for games and study opponents. He lived and breathed football; he compared losing to death. Allen had contentious relationships with the owners of the two NFL teams for which he was the head coach, the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams. Richman explores why he was fired by those teams and whether he was blackballed from coaching again in the NFL. Based on detailed research and interviews with family, former players, and coaches, George Allen is the definitive biography of the football coach who lived to win, loved a good challenge, and left a lasting legacy on pro football history.

In Whats My Name, Fool? sports writer Dave Zirin shows how sports express the worst - and at times the most creative, exciting, and political - features of our society. Zirins sharp and insightful commentary on the personalities, politics, and history of American sports is unlike any sports writing being done today. Zirin explores how NBA brawls highlight tensions beyond the arena, how the bold stances taken by sports unions can chart a path for the entire labor movement, and the unexplored political stirrings of a new generation of athletes who are no longer content to just ''play one game at a time.'' Whats My Name, Fool? draws on original interviews with former heavyweight champ George Foreman, Olympic athlete John Carlos, NBA player and anti-death penalty activist Etan Thomas, antiwar womens college hoopster Toni Smith, Olympic Project for Human Rights leader Lee Evans and many others. It also unearths a history of athletes ranging from Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali to Billie Jean King, who charted a new course through their athletic ability and their outspoken views.

This 184-page, soft-cover book is designed to provide students in grades 7 through 12 with opportunities for practice in improving reading skills. The book provides nonfiction stories about sports, particularly football, swimming, and boxing, and sports figures such as Anne Henning, O.J. Simpson, Diane Holum, and Chris Evert. Each reading selection is followed by a set of exercises called 'Putting It All Together, ' which provided exercises in finding the main idea, skimming for details, drawing conclusions, and recognizing facts and opinions. Another section called 'Looking At Pictures, ' which asks students to examine some extraordinary sports photos which offer a challenge to observation. The specified reading levels include grades 4 through 6. LKK, 10-76.

It’s About Time. America has been craving leadership—and at last a gun-slinging, mega-rock star, deerslayer, and patriot has stepped forward to provide it. Make way for Ted Nugent. Cocked, locked, and ready to rock, the Motor City Madman, the thinking man’s Abraham Lincoln, has unleashed the ultimate high-octane political manifesto for the ages in Ted, White, and Blue—the most important patriotic statement since the Constitution. In Ted, White, and Blue you’ll discover: Why war is the answer to so many of our current problems Why if Ted were a Mexican, he’d start a revolution (and how, since he’s not, we can control our own borders) How to put Uncle Sam on a diet (a waste-watchers program for government) If you care about America, if you want to preserve, protect, and defend the land of the free and the home of the brave, if you’re fed up with lazy, whining, fear mongering, government-gorging Obamaniacs, then you need to read Ted, White, and Blue: The Nugent Manifesto.

A riotously entertaining chronicle of larger-than-life sporting characters and dramatic contests, this is an alternative political history of the United States as seen through the games its people played. Replete with surprises for seasoned sports, it will also amaze anyone interested in history with the connections Zirin draws between politics and sports. A groundbreaking book, it looks at the history of sports in the US through the lens of politics and culture, and shows how athlete-rebels have used sports for social and political change.

The modern day youth sports environment has taken the enjoyment out of athletics for our children. Currently, 70% of kids drop out of organized sports by the age of 13, which has given rise to a generation of overweight, unhealthy young adults. There is a solution. John O’Sullivan shares the secrets of the coaches and parents who have not only raised elite athletes, but have done so by creating an environment that promotes positive core values and teaches life lessons instead of focusing on wins and losses, scholarships, and professional aspirations. Changing the Game gives adults a new paradigm and a game plan for raising happy, high performing children, and provides a national call to action to return youth sports to our kids.