Set against the backdrop of New York's high-stakes underground poker world, Rounders is the story of one man's journey to pursue his ultimate dream. The film features a first class line-up of stars, including Matt Damon and Edward Norton, and is directed by John Dahl. Kevin Canty is the highly acclaimed author of A Stranger in This World and Into the Great Wide Open.
The Rounders and the Tallers is a tale of a town where its people have lost their way and separated themselves and the journey to come back together. While the adult leaders of two groups of people struggle to get along, it's a little boy, in his innocence and compassion, that teaches the people how to forgive and unite.
With hundreds of books dedicated to conventional sports and activities, this encyclopedia on the weirdest and wackiest games offers a fresh and entertaining read for any audience. Weird Sports and Wacky Games around the World: From Buzkashi to Zorbing focuses on what many would consider abnormal activities from across the globe. Spanning subjects that include individual games, team sports, games for men and women, and contests involving animal competitors, there is something for every reader. Whether researching a particular country or region's traditions or wanting an interesting read for pleasure, this book offers an array of uses and benefits. Though the book focuses on games and sporting activities, the examination of these topics gives readers insight into unfamiliar places and peoples through their recreation—an essential part of the human experience that occurs in all cultures. Such activities are not only embedded in everyday life but also indelibly interconnected with social customs, war, politics, commerce, education, and national identity, making the whimsical topic of the book an appealing gateway to insightful, highly relevant information.
South Africa has produced more great cricket all-rounders than any other country. A century ago there was Jimmy Sinclair, the first man from any country to score a century and take six wickets in an innings in a Test match; and Aubrey Faulkner, still the only man with a Test batting average over 40 and a bowling average under 30. In the 1950s and 1960s, there was Trevor Goddard, opening batsman and the most economical bowler in Test history. And then came the brilliant era of Eddie Barlow, Tiger Lance, Mike Procter and Clive Rice (as well as Tony Greig and Basil D'Oliveira, South Africans who played for England). A great tradition was established for the modern era: Brian McMillan, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener and, perhaps the greatest of them all after Sir Garfield Sobers, Jacques Kallis. These are the 13 men who were worth two players in one, capable of winning a place as batsmen or bowlers, adored by the fans, and capable of changing a game with either skill. Now their careers and exploits are examined for the first time in one book - as are those of four players who, but for apartheid, might have been acknowledged as their equals: Taliep Salie, Gesant "Tiny" Abed, Cecil "Cec" Abrahams and Sulaiman "Dik" Abed.
It may be America?s game, but no one seems to know how or when baseball really started. Theories abound, myths proliferate, but reliable information has been in short supply?until now, when Baseball before We Knew It brings fresh new evidence of baseball?s origins into play. David Block looks into the early history of the game and of the 150-year-old debate about its beginnings. He tackles one stubborn misconception after another, debunking the enduring belief that baseball descended from the English game of rounders and revealing a surprising new explanation for the most notorious myth of all?the Abner Doubleday?Cooperstown story. ø Block?s book takes readers on an exhilarating journey through the centuries in search of clues to the evolution of our modern National Pastime. Among his startling discoveries is a set of long-forgotten baseball rules from the 1700s. Block evaluates the originality and historical significance of the Knickerbocker rules of 1845, revisits European studies on the ancestry of baseball which indicate that the game dates back hundreds, if not thousands of years, and assembles a detailed history of games and pastimes from the Middle Ages onward that contributed to baseball?s development. In its thoroughness and reach, and its extensive descriptive bibliography of early baseball sources, this book is a unique and invaluable resource?a comprehensive, reliable, and readable account of baseball before it was America?s game.
This book focuses on the application of data mining techniques in cricket. It provides detailed examples of how data mining can be helpful for decision-making in sports with special reference to cricket, particularly the quantitative features related to Twenty20 cricket, the latest and the most popular format of the game. The book highlights the performance quantification of cricketers (batsmen, bowlers, all-rounders, and wicket keepers), determining the market valuation of cricketers based on their on-field performances and the effect of age on the performance of the cricketers. It also provides a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of the game where quantitative techniques are beneficial, and highlights the use of statistical and data mining tools in analysing sports-related data and objective decision-making in sports. The book appeals to a wide readership, including postgraduate students of statistics/mathematics, data analysts, sports management bodies. It also offers data miners, such as researchers in statistics, mathematics, operations research, and computer science ideas for projects.