ESPN: The Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge

Front Cover
Steve Wulf
Random House Publishing Group, Jun 9, 2009 - Sports & Recreation - 224 pages
In The ESPN Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge, Steve Wulf, acclaimed author and founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, delivers an arena’s worth of sporting wisdom, trivia, best-of lists, curiosities, legendary feats, and sacred objects–from the magic of Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech to the lore of hockey’s Stanley Cup to the art of the perfectly thrown Wiffle Ball pitch. Written to remind us all why we love the games, this indispensable reference features contributions from the finest minds at ESPN, as well as guidance from actual professionals. Inside you’ll discover

• twenty-five of the greatest sporting nicknames
• the keys to being a mascot
• what happens during a pit stop
• the five best (worst?) on-field temper tantrums
• a tour of Donovan McNabb’s locker
• how Wayne Gretzky tapes his sticks
• the unbeatable secret of rock-paper-scissors
• how to tape an ankle, fold a paper football, hit a hole in one, whistle with your fingers, throw a knuckleball, jump rope like a champ, and oil a baseball glove
• advice from star athletes–learn to run routes like Jerry Rice, take a penalty kick like Landon Donovan, fake opponents out like Chris Paul, and put on your socks the John Wooden way

The ESPN Mighty Book of Sports Knowledge is the perfect antidote to our video-game culture and an essential gift for any fan who ever dreamed of throwing a tight spiral in a Super Bowl, closing out a World Series game, or lining up a putt to win a major. In other words, it’s a book for the young and the young at heart.
 

Contents

Jerry Rice on How to Run a Pass Pattern
4
How to Whistle Like a Major Leaguer
10
The Five Best Sports Leads
16
Cal Ripken and Wade Boggs Play 33 Innings
22
A Breakdown of Michael Phelpss Morning Meal
28
Dont Stop to Smell the Hockey Bags
78
Whats a Blutarsky? A Quiz on Sports Lingo
85
The Day Bob Beamon Did the Impossible
92
vi
94
What the Quarterback Rating Really Means
98
The Five Greatest College Fight Songs
104
Missing the Triple Crown by a Nose
112
The Family Secrets of the Wiffle Ball
118
A Long Snapper on Why Its Not a Snap
124
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
207
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2009)

Steve Wulf is the coauthor (with Daniel Okrent) of the bestseller Baseball Anecdotes and (with Buck O’Neil) I Was Right on Time. A founding editor of ESPN The Magazine, Wulf has also been on the staffs of Time and Sports Illustrated. He has written for Entertainment Weekly, Life, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. A father of four, he lives in Westchester County, New York.

Bibliographic information