Книги, похожие на «Chris Kamara, Mr Unbelievable»

An anecdote-driven narrative of the classic footballer's ‘DOs and DO NOTs’ from the ever-popular Arsenal legend and football pundit Paul Merson, aka ‘The Merse’.When it comes to advice on the pitfalls of life as a professional footballer, Paul Merson can pretty much write the manual. In fact, that's exactly what he's done in this hilarious new book which manages to be simultaneously poignant and gloriously funny.Merson was a prodigiously talented footballer in the 80s and 90s, gracing the upper echelons of the game – and the tabloid front pages – with his breathtakingly skills and larger-than-life off-field persona.His much-publicised battles with gambling, drug and alcohol addiction are behind him now, and football fans continue to be drawn to his sharp footballing brain and playful antics on SkySports cult results show Soccer Saturday.The book delights and entertains with a treasure chest of terrific anecdotes from a man who has never lost his love of football and his inimitable joie de vivre through a 25-year association with the Beautiful Game.The DO NOTs include:DO NOT adopt 'Champagne' Charlie Nicholas as your mentorDO NOT share a house with GazzaDO NOT regularly place £30,000 bets at the bookie'sDO NOT get so drunk that you can't remember the 90 minutes of football you just played inDO NOT manage Walsall (at any cost)How Not to be a Professional Footballer is a hugely entertaining, moving and laugh-out-loud funny story.

Originally published as BOUNCE: How Champions Are MadeThe ‘Freakonomics of Sport’…What are the real secrets of sporting success, and what lessons do they offer about life in general? Why doesn’t Tiger Woods “choke”? Why are the best figure skaters those that have fallen over the most and why has one small street in Reading produced more top table tennis players than the rest of the country put together.As a three-time Commonwealth table-tennis champion and two-time Olympian, Matthew Syed is perfectly placed to show what it takes to get to the top in any discipline. And as an award-winning writer for the sports and comment pages of the Times – and holder of a prize-winning degree from Oxford University – he knows the facts, the science and the personalities better than anyone.In his book Matt overturns myths and outdated thinking to show “why it is that top sportsmen seem to perceive faster, smarter and deeper than the rest of us.” He draws on the latest in neuroscience and psychology to discover why so many top athletes are superstitious, and meets the Hungarian man who turned his daughters into three of the best chess players in history – and explains how.Along the way, he introduces an extraordinary cast of footballers, cricketers, baseball players, speedskaters, scientists and experts – and interviews the East German athlete who became a man, and her husband. Matthew’s book is crammed full of fascinating stories and telling studies, insights and statistics, all brought together to make a wonderfully thought-provoking read.Matthew’s book is not simply the Freakonomics of sport though – it looks at big questions such as the nature of talent, what kind of practice actually works, how to achieve motivation, drugs in sport (and life) and whether black people really are faster runners. Fresh, ground-breaking and tackling subjects with wide appeal, Matthew’s book is sure to be one of the most talked-about of the year.

The inspiring autobiography of Britain's three-time World Touring Car champion, and almost certainly this country's best-kept sporting secret … until now!For someone who grew up on a small island with a speed limit of just 35 mph, Andy Priaulx drives his car awfully fast. But then the man from Guernsey is a hugely determined figure who has been fighting against the odds and performing the role of underdog throughout his entire career.In this his first book, Priaulx tells of how he has fought – tooth and claw, with virtually no back-up – for every sponsor, every car, every penny on his way to achieving his dream of one day becoming a world champion.With refreshing honesty, Priaulx reveals how he and his wife risked everything financially to get on the lower rungs of the motor racing ladder, even spending some time living in a borrowed caravan at the Silverstone circuit in an attempt to save money. «Pikey Priaulx» was his nickname at the time, but the story only goes to show how sacrifice and sheer bloody-mindedness can pay off.Priaulx's reserves of energy, enthusiasm and dedication – not to mention his natural talent – served him well as he won the European Touring Car Championship in 2004. Motor sport's governing body, the FIA, recognises only three world championships – Formula 1, World Rally and World Touring Cars. Priaulx has won the WTC championship for the last three years, an unprecedented achievement.In fact, such has been Priaulx's success that he has been universally hailed as the greatest touring car driver of all time, and widely dubbed «Britain's Schumacher». In 2007 Priaulx received the ultimate accolade when he was awarded the Gold Medal of the British Racing Drivers' Club «in recognition of outstanding contemporary racing success». This was only the eighth time the Gold Medal has been awarded.Told in Andy's energetic and engaging style, this is the story of that most rare of sporting beasts – a true British world champion.