The game of football has lots of odd language hidden in its history. Why is a field called a gridiron? Why are players called quarterback and fullback? Getting in the game can be intimidating if you dont know the lingo, which is why this book is full of football terms and their origins. From the difference between a safetythe playerand a safetya scoring playto some of the weirder quirks of the rules, full-color photographs and graphic organizers show readers everything they need to watch this exciting sport as an informed fan.
From a distance, soccer may seem like a tough sport to understand. Once you get to the pitch and get running, though, its easy to see why its so much fun! Readers explore the beautiful game in this exciting title full of soccer terms and facts. From an easy explanation of offside rules to the history of red and yellow cards, colorful photos and graphics make soccer history and tactical concepts easy to understand, bringing a new generation to the worlds most popular sport.
Basketball is a game of numbers. Scoring points is one thing, but readers might not know that each position in basketball has a number, too! Its just one of the many fun facts about basketball a reader needs to know to sound like a pro. Full-color photographs and graphic organizers explain concepts like the difference between a small forward and a power forward while introducing new terminology that helps readers get their heads in the game and ready to take the floor.
Baseball is a great sport full of weird words. Trying to play a game with friends might be hard if you dont know what anyone is saying! Readers will get a look in the dugout, and even learn why they call it a dugout in the first place. With color photos and other graphics explaining different terms and concepts like a double switch or ground rules, readers are sure to learn everything they need to talkand playlike a pro.
Can you put the biscuit in the basket? If you dont know your hockey lingo, that might be a hard question to answer. After reading this book full of colorful graphics and photos explaining the finer points of hockey jargon, readers will be sure to take a shot on net and try scoring a goal for themselves. From technical terms for hockey equipment to explanations of hockey rules and positions, this book has everything readers need to lace up the skates and hit the ice with confidence.
Theres a lot more to auto racing than just driving around in a circle. From engine maintenance to understanding wind physics while drafting, drivers and their crews are smart people making decisions in the blink of an eye. Making tough calls in an instant is often the difference between taking the checkered flag for the win or settling for a finish in the back of the pack. With vivid graphics and full-color photographs illustrating the fast-paced world of race car drivers, readers learn how spotters help drivers through crashes and some of the technical terms used in the pits to help make racing champions.
In his classic book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni laid out a groundbreaking approach for tackling the perilous group behaviors that destroy teamwork. Here he turns his focus to the individual, revealing the three indispensable virtues of an ideal team player. In The Ideal Team Player, Lencioni tells the story of Jeff Shanley, a leader desperate to save his uncle’s company by restoring its cultural commitment to teamwork. Jeff must crack the code on the virtues that real team players possess, and then build a culture of hiring and development around those virtues. Beyond the fable, Lencioni presents a practical framework and actionable tools for identifying, hiring, and developing ideal team players. Whether you’re a leader trying to create a culture around teamwork, a staffing professional looking to hire real team players, or a team player wanting to improve yourself, this book will prove to be as useful as it is compelling.
A fun, intelligent, and useful guide to understanding the nuanced language of soccer Every week, year-round, legions of devoted soccer fans across the country rise at the crack of dawn or quietly sneak out of work to watch their favorite teams play across the pond—complete with a soundtrack of two cheeky Englishmen spouting a stream of trite phrases and curious words that make maddeningly little sense. They’ll chat about flying teacups and cultured left feet, or point out a player who’s jinking through the corridor of uncertainty, hoping to bag one with aplomb. Confused? Many Brits are, too. In Football Clichés, London-based soccer writer Adam Hurrey amusingly translates the idioms of the sport, from the quaint to the ridiculous. Here you’ll find words for parts of the field and parts of the body; for ways to score a goal and ways to run, walk, or fake an injury. You’ll learn to read the shifting moods of fans at a soccer match and encounter the game’s oddly expressive gestures, which include the muted celebration and the beleaguered manager clap. Perfect for the die-hard or fair-weather fan, Football Clichés celebrates the world of soccer in all its glory.
Meet Johnny Anonymous. No, that’s not his real name. But he is a real, honest-to-goodness pro football player. A member of the League. A slave, if you will, to the NFL. For the millions of you out there who wouldn’t know what to do on Sundays if there wasn’t football, who can’t imagine life without the crunch of helmets ringing in your ears, or who look forward to the Super Bowl more than your birthday, Johnny Anonymous decided to tell his story. Written during the 2014–2015 season, this is a year in the life of the National Football League. This is a year in the life of a player—not a marquee name, but a guy on the roster—gutting it out through training camp up to the end of the season, wondering every minute if he’s going to get playing time or get cut. Do you want to know how players destroy their bodies and their colons to make weight? Do you wonder what kind of class and racial divides really exist in NFL locker rooms? Do you want to know what NFL players and teams really think about gay athletes or how the League is really dealing with crime and violence against women by its own players? Do you wonder about the psychological warfare between players and coaches on and off the field? About how much time players spend on Tinder or sexting when not on the field? About how star players degrade or humiliate second- and third-string players? What players do about the headaches and memory loss that appear after every single game? This book will tell you all of this and so much more. Johnny Anonymous holds nothing back in this whip-smart commentary that only an insider, and a current player, could bring. Part truth-telling personal narrative, part darkly funny exposé, NFL Confidential gives football fans a look into a world they’d give anything to see, and nonfans a wild ride through the strange, quirky, and sometimes disturbing realities of America’s favorite game. Here is a truly unaffiliated look at the business, guts, and glory of the game, all from the perspective of an underdog who surprises everyone—especially himself. JOHNNY ANONYMOUS is a four-year offensive lineman for the NFL. Under another pseudonym, he’s also a contributor for the comedy powerhouse Funny Or Die. You can pretty much break NFL players down into three categories. Twenty percent do it because they’re true believers. They’re smart enough to do something else if they wanted, and the money is nice and all, but really they just love football. They love it, they live it, they believe in it, it’s their creed. They would be nothing without it. Hell, they’d probably pay the League to play if they had to! These guys are obviously psychotic. Thirty percent of them do it just for the money. So they could do something else—sales, desk jockey, accountant, whatever—but they play football because the money is just so damn good. And it is good. And last of all, 49.99 percent play football because, frankly, it’s the only thing they know how to do. Even if they wanted to do something “normal,” they couldn’t. All they’ve ever done in their lives is play football—it was their way out, either of the hood or the deep woods country. They need football. If football didn’t exist, they’d be homeless, in a gang, or maybe in prison. Then there’s me. I’m part of my own little weird minority, that final 0.01 percent. We’re such a minority, we don’t even count as a category. We’re the professional football players who flat-out hate professional football.
