This heart-warming autiobiography blends the magic of music with the thrill of Kansas City football. For almost half a century, Tony DiPardo was the band director for the Knasas City Chiefs. In this humerous, touching, and lively memoir, fans will re-live all the greatest moments of Chiefs football through the unqiue, smiling eyes of the longest running music act in the NFL.
Case Keenum has traveled one of the most unique paths in the NFL. Recruited by just one college, undrafted, and released three times, Case has overcome every obstacle to become a successful starting quarterback. In 2017, Keenum captured America’s imagination by leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 13-3 record and an NFC North title. His game-winning touchdown in the final seconds of their divisional playoff game against the Saints, the "Minneapolis Miracle," made Case part of NFL history. Keenum shares stories from every stage of his life, starting out as a ball boy for his father’s college team in West Texas, going on to win a state title in high school, and rewriting the NCAA record book at the University of Houston. A devastating knee injury almost derailed his football career, but helped him get closer to the woman who would soon become his wife. Throughout his story, Case will explain how being a Christian helped him navigate the winding path to success. No matter what obstacle has been placed in front of him, Case believes God has a plan for him. That’s why he plays football and that’s why he’s writing this book: To glorify God and to help others who face adversity in their everyday life. “Am I a football player who happens to be a Christian?” Case writes, "No, I’m a Christian who happens to be a football player. That’s my calling. That’s my defining characteristic. Once I realized that, everything else fell into place. I became a better football player and, more importantly, a better person.”
From the duo behind the massively successful and award-winning podcast Stuff You Should Know comes an unexpected look at things you thought you knew. Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant started the podcast Stuff You Should Know back in 2008 because they were curious—curious about the world around them, curious about what they might have missed in their formal educations, and curious to dig deeper on stuff they thought they understood. As it turns out, they aren't the only curious ones. They've since amassed a rabid fan base, making Stuff You Should Know one of the most popular podcasts in the world. Armed with their inquisitive natures and a passion for sharing, they uncover the weird, fascinating, delightful, or unexpected elements of a wide variety of topics. The pair have now taken their near-boundless "whys" and "hows" from your earbuds to the pages of a book for the first time—featuring a completely new array of subjects that they’ve long wondered about and wanted to explore. Each chapter is further embellished with snappy visual material to allow for rabbit-hole tangents and digressions—including charts, illustrations, sidebars, and footnotes. Follow along as the two dig into the underlying stories of everything from the origin of Murphy beds, to the history of facial hair, to the psychology of being lost. Have you ever wondered about the world around you, and wished to see the magic in everyday things? Come get curious with Stuff You Should Know. With Josh and Chuck as your guide, there’s something interesting about everything (...except maybe jackhammers).
An unforgettable look at a lifetime of Vikings football packed with Studwell's insights into the game, on and off the field. In professional football, careers are often short and turnover is a constant. So when one man's career spans more than four decades with one organization, it is quite an achievement. Scott Studwell did just that with the Minnesota Vikings. As a linebacker, Studwell totaled a Vikings record 1,981 tackles in 14 seasons, reaching two Pro Bowls. After retiring as a player after the 1990 season, Studwell moved into the Vikings' player personnel department and served as the team's Director of College Scouting. In Viking for Life: A Four-Decade Football Love Affair, Studwell shares stories from the Vikings teams of the 1970s and '80s under head coaches Bud Grant and Jerry Burns, teams that reached two NFC championship games. He also provides rare insight into his three decades in the Vikings' scouting department and draft room, during which he helped the Vikings identify countless stars, including Randy Moss, Adrian Peterson, and Harrison Smith. In the pages of this striking memoir, Studwell shares a passion for the Vikings that he calls "a dream come true."
Otaku is the debut novel from former NFL player and tech enthusiast Chris Kluwe, with a story reminiscent of Ready Player One and Ender's Game. Ditchtown. A city of skyscrapers, built atop the drowned bones of old Miami. A prison of steel, filled with unbelievers. A dumping ground for strays, runaways, and malcontents. Within these towering monoliths, Ashley Akachi is a young woman trying her best to cope with a brother who's slipping away, a mother who's already gone, and angry young men who want her put in her place. Ditchtown, however, is not the only world Ash inhabits. Within Infinite Game, a virtual world requiring physical perfection, Ash is Ashura the Terrible, leader of the Sunjewel Warriors, loved, feared, and watched by millions across the globe. Haptic chambers, known as hapspheres, translate their every move in the real to the digital—and the Sunjewel Warriors' feats are legendary. However, Ash is about to stumble upon a deadly conspiracy that will set her worlds crashing together, and in the real, you only get to die once... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
All the action, all the personalities of the first 35 years of Minnesota Vikings football have been collected in "Purple Hearts and Golden Memories". This spectacular book is the most complete history of Vikings football ever compiled. From their early days in the NFL, through the dynasty under Bud Grant and the Purple People Eaters, to your favorite teams of today, you'll relive all the excitement that 35 years of Minnesota football has created.
If you're a Minnesota Vikings fan, chances are you know the true meaning of a love/hate relationship. Keith Richotte, lifelong fan and observer of his favorite team, has written an account of many of the major crushing defeats and blunders in the history of the Vikings--the ones maddeningly ingrained in the collective consciousness of Minnesota pro football fans. There are so many of these ugly moments, in fact, that Richotte was able to find a reason to hate every team in professional football for what that team has done to the Vikings as a franchise and to him as a fan. This book chronicles many, many incidences that have dictated the Monday morning moods of people across the land of 10,000 lakes for decades. Either we're a cheery lot saying hi to strangers, or a bunch of gray-faced commuters driving around in a foggy slump. It's not enough to turn away and not notice what's going on. It's an addiction. We can't help ourselves.
Minnesota sports legend Bud Grant tells the story of his remarkable life as a player and coach in this rich firsthand account. From surviving polio in childhood to a shining college sports career and playing both basketball and football professionally, and from coaching a championship-winning Canadian team to leading the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls, Grant shares his personal perspective for the first time in this autobiography with entertaining detail and refreshing openness. The book recounts his experiences with star players and gives the inside story on Grant’s controversial retirement in 1983 and his return to the sideline in 1985. Minnesota sports lovers will also enjoy Grant’s reflection on his own idiosyncrasies, including his famous love of cold-weather football and banning of sideline heaters, and his postretirement life spent devoted to environmental protection and being an outdoorsman.
Before there was artificial turf on the field-before Monday Night Football and the corporate culture that swallowed the game-there were players playing simply for love of the sport, and they were dedicated to making a name for their team, despite any and all odds. Last Kings of the Old NFL carries readers back to the golden age of football to follow the Minnesota Vikings' rise from last place to titans of the league in the two years from 1967 to 1969. From the team's struggles without a head coach, a quarterback, or direction to the acquisitions and lineups that were their saving grace, it chronicles the 1969 season that launched the Vikings into a Homeric journey of amazing triumphs and unfortunate finishes over the next thirteen years. A must-read for serious football fans, especially those who cheer for the purple and gold, Last Kings of the Old NFL captures the essence of a bygone era and tells an inspiring story about one team's swift rise to the top. Full of information gleaned from interviews with members of the 1969 Vikings, opponents, coaches, and other expert sources, it's sure to entertain and enlighten anyone interested in learning more about the history of America's most beloved sport.
