Bücher von Mike Towle

Jack Nicklaus, Larry Mize, Ben Crenshaw and other famous golfers look back on the reverential Augusta National and its Masters Tournament, offering fresh insights and remembrances that together comprise an oral history of a unique club and tournament. Illustrations.

The author of ""The Ultimate Golf Trivia Book"" gathers candid memories and insights into ""the Hawk"" through more than 100 original stories and observations offered by friends, peers, partners, and apprentices.

College basketball and its annual March Madness extravaganza have emerged over the last three decades as one of the most popular sporting phenomena in America. Perhaps no one personifies the excitement of this tournament better than Jim Valvano, whose heavily underdog North Carolina State Wolfpack achieved the pinnacle of success in college basketball in 1983 with an unlikely run through the NCAA Tournament, culminating in an incredible one-point victory over Houston's heavily favored Phi Slamma Jamma squad in the championship game.While that Cinderella story was Valvano's only national championship, he quickly came to symbolize the exuberance and excellence of the exciting world of college basketball. Valvano transcended his sport, touching millions as he emerged as one of the most charismatic and, ultimately, courageous figures in American life who touched millions.Diagnosed with bone cancer, he joined ESPN to comment on college basketball games. Later he received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at ESPN's first ESPY Awards, where he announced that he was starting the V Foundation for Cancer Research. Shortly after receiving the award, he died at the age of forty-seven. In I Remember Jim Valvano, he is remembered by former players, fellow coaches, a variety of other basketball experts, close associates, and many others as one of college basketball's great movers and shakers, a man with a heart as big as his popularity. Valvano's life is the classic story of courage and determination as borne out in his memorable line: Don't give up. Don't ever give up"".""

This profile of tennis legend and activist Arthur Ashe, who succumbed to the AIDS virus in 1993, includes recollections from his peers, friends, family, and many others close to him, of a champion whose legacy remains alive today. Illustrations.

Walter Payton was arguably the greatest running back in the history of professional football. A star for the Chicago Bears from 1974 to 1987, Payton rushed for a National Football League career record of 16,726 yards. Known to football fans everywhere as "Sweetness," he helped lead the Bears to a Super Bowl victory following the 1985 season and over the years established himself as one of the sports world's most popular and personable role models. Payton was beloved by his teammates, idolized by his fans, and embraced by business partners. He captured the heart of the Windy City with a graciousness complimented by a spirit of humility and a wonderful sense of humor. Millions mourned in early November 1999 when Payton, a youthful 45, succumbed to cancer after a nearly year-long battle with various health problems. Even in his dying days, however, Payton maintained his dignity, a spirit of community charity, and a legendary ability to pull off practical jokes that would send friends and family reeling with laughter. Before he passed away, he reportedly also renewed his commitment to his Christian faith. His death on November 1 coincided with the day known as All Saints Day in many Christian quarters. In Walter Payton, dozens of his contemporaries, former teammates, coaches, childhood and college chums, business partners, fans, and friends offer in their own words their favorite memories and anecdotes of this man they loved so much. Walter Payton is a warm, entertaining, and inspiring book about a man whose fame transcended the sport in which he competed into the widest realms of life itself.

When Unitas unexpectedly died in September 2002, the sports world mourned the passing of a genuine sports hero. In ""Johnny Unitas: Mr. Quarterback,"" dozens of his friends, neighbors, acquaintances, relatives, fans, and teammates present compelling firsthand memories, insights, and testimonials.

Dozens of the people who know the legendary baseball player best¿teammates, opposing players, friends, fans, hometown acquaintances, and baseball experts and observers¿share their memories of the man and the player in this penetrating biography.

Boomer Sooner!Bud Wilkinson was one of America's greatest football coaches. His incredible achievements at the helm of the Oklahoma Sooners set a new benchmark for all college football coaches. During his seventeen years as the Sooners' head coach, Wilkinson amassed a stellar 145-29-4 record that included winning streaks of 31 and 47 games, three national titles, four undefeated seasons, and thirteen consecutive conference championships. His career .826 winning percentage surpassed that of other coaching legends of the era, including Woody Hayes and Paul ?Bear? Bryant.But it wasn't just the victories and titles that distinguished Wilkinson. The handsome and debonair former star quarterback was well-liked by colleagues, players, and football fans throughout the nation. In addition to his career as a college coach, he worked as a network-television commentator in the sixties and seventies, served as head of the President's Council on Youth Fitness, made a foray into politics, and briefly returned to coaching in the late seventies with the Saint Louis Cardinals of the National Football League.I Remember Bud Wilkinson offers hundreds of anecdotes and memories of Wilkinson by dozens of people who knew him well, including former players, fellow coaches, television personalities, friends, and many others. These recollections go into the locker room, between the white lines, and behind the scenes to explore and explain what made the multitalented Wilkinson a legend in his own time and beyond.

More than 150,000 Copies Sold in the I Remember Series Ageless Sam Snead made golf look easy with his silky-smooth swing, and he played the game at an elite level longer than any other golfer. His accomplishments were phenomenal: a PGA Tour record of eighty-one career victories, including Greensboro at age fifty-two; seven major championships, including three Master's titles and three PGA Championships; a round of 59 in 1959 at age forty-six; and induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame. Snead was perhaps the sport's most graceful and limber champion. Together with Ben Hogan and Byron Nelson, who also were born in 1912, Snead formed what arguably was golf's greatest triumvirate of competitors. These three men nearly dominated golf for much of the 1940s and well into the 1950s. Even past the age of seventy, Snead battled his way onto leader boards against men a generation younger than he. He was a star attraction for many years on a Senior PGA Tour he helped pioneer. When Snead passed away in May 2002, he left behind a life filled with stirring accomplishments as well as stunning heart-breaks. I Remember Sam Snead includes detailed reminiscences of Slammin's Sammy"" as told by dozens of the players and people who knew him, including Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Lee Trevino, Chi Chi Rodriguez, Fuzzy Zoeller, early tour days traveling companion Johnny Bulla, and many other friends and golf writers.""

The author of ""The Ultimate Golf Trivia Book"" gathers candid memories and insights into ""the Hawk"" through more than 100 original stories and observations offered by friends, peers, partners, and apprentices.

If at one time the Dallas Cowboys were America''s Team, Roger Staubach was America''s Quarterback. Roger the Dodger was a real-life embodiment of apple pie, world championships, and role models. Staubach was a Heisman Trophy winner at Annapolis who served four years as a naval officer before going on to a stellar eleven-year career with the Dallas Cowboys that included four NFC championships and two Super Bowl titles. Considered the master of the two-minute offense and late-game comeback, Staubach eventually earned a spot in the Cowboys'' illustrious Ring of Honor and, ultimately in 1985, the Pro Football Hall of Fame.If ever there was a perfect meshing of franchise, coach, and on-field leader, it was the silver-white-and-blue Cowboys of the seventies with Tom Landry strolling the sidelines in his trademark fedora and the unflappable Staubach barking signals. He led the NFL in passing five times, and when he retired at age thirty-seven he departed the game in possession of the highest quarterback rating of all time. After his retirement from football, he pretty much left the game behind, forsaking a shot at coaching or television commentary to focus his energies on the corporate world as chairman and CEO of the Staubach Company, a diversified commercial real estate company.Roger Staubach: Captain America is an oral history of Staubach''s life, times, and career. It is told in the words of dozens of former teammates and opponents, friends, business associates, civic leaders, acquaintances, and others who have known him over the years. Staubach turned sixty in 2002, and this book offers a touching and telling testimonial to a true American hero and role model.

This collection of personal memories of Chicago Bears star Walter Payton, who died in November, 1999, is compiled from recollections of those who know Payton best. Illustrated.