Table of Contents
Introduction xi
Part I One of a Kind-Every One of Them 1
They Changed the Game 1
Jackie Robinson: He Led the Way 1
Biilie Jean King, Bobby Riggs and Chris Evert: The Unexpected 11
Nadia Comaneci: Gold-Medal Gymnast, Worldwide Heartthrob, Courageous Defector 21
Roger Bannister: The Impossible Becomes Possible 31
"Broadway Joe" and the Greatest Super Bowl Upset 34
The Top of Their Game 38
Muhammad Ali: The Ageless Champ 38
Michael Jordan: First in Flight 52
Jack Nicklaus: The Golden Bear Extraordinaire 65
Red Grange: One Remarkable Galloping Ghost 76
A Trio of Nearly Unbeatable Record Holders 81
The Night Chamberlain Scored 100 82
Ted Williams: The Slugging Professor 89
Gale Sayers: "Brian's Song Reprise" 93
Young, and Stardom Awaits 97
LeBron James: At 16, and Leaves No Doubt 97
Sidney Crosby: The Next One Is Here 100
The Americanization of Martina 104
Tiger Woods: A History Lesson from Joe Louis 107
So Many Hits, So Much Time for Jeter 110
A Historic Sullivan High School Baseball Game 113
Older, but Few Better 117
Bill Shoemaker: One Great Jockey 117
Citation: Still a Ladies' Man 126
Smarty Jones: Belmont Disappointment Hasn't Slowed the Mail 129
Gordie Howe: "Mr. Hockey" and a Puckful of Offshoots 132
Al Oerter: The Discus Spans the Ages 140
Archie Moore: The Secrets of the Mongoose 142
The LaMotta Nuptials 146
A Most Unlikely Duo: Bear Bryant and Ann Landers 149
Nolan Ryan on Satchei Paige's "Social Ramble" 152
Tom Seaver: From the Hill to the Hall 155
Moe Berg: "The Catcher Was Highly Mysterious" 161
Hank Greenberg: A Kind of Beacon 164
Playing Pickup with Oscar 167
When Ruby Missed the Final Four 176
Smooth, but Not Slick 178
The Changing Faces of Arthur Ashe 179
Roger Federer and "The Shot" 192
The Fluid Style of Rod Carew: In Total Control at Bat 195
Koufax Is No Garbo 203
That Quiet Moment for Larry Bird 207
Clyde's "Ultimate Cool" 210
Cheering for Soccer While the Toast Burns 213
Part II Heroes Behind Bars 217
O. J. Simpson: The Former "Lifesaver of the Month" 217
After Three Years in Prison, Mike Tyson Gains His Freedom 229
The Flowering and Wilting of Pete Rose 235
Part III In Troubled Waters 245
Tonya Harding: Did She or Didn't She? 245
Katarina Witt: Firepower Off the Ice 259
Bob Knight: Degrees of Separation for Coach and Indiana 265
The Darkest Blot 268
The Edwin Moses Case 271
Jerry Smith: "The Courage of the Gentle" 275
Dilemma on the Slopes 279
Part IV The Munich Olympics 283
Triumph and Tragedy 283
Olympic Disaster: Out of Beauty, Horror 292
Mark Spitz, After the Glory 295
Part V The Furor, the Fuhrer, and Beyond 299
As the World Watches 299
Aryan and Owens: Back to Berlin 300
Marty Glickman: The Return of the Old Sprinter 303
An Olympic Swimmer Remembers the Fuhrer 305
John Carlos: "All Because I Stuck My Fist in the Air" 307
Wilma Rudolph: Forever the Regal Champion 309
Abel Kiviat: "America's Oldest Olympic Medal-Winner" 312
It's a Long Way Home 316
The Marathon's Other Side 316
Kathy Switzer, Marathon Pioneer, and the Knife 318
Part VI Wrien the Rubber Hits the Road 323
The Strange Vocabulary of Johnny Rutherford 323
De Ferran Keeps His Cool in the Heat of Competition 326
Taking a Detour from the Indy 500 329
"King" Richard Petty: Dealing with Defeat Away from NASCAR 332
Part VII Behind the Curtain-Four Unlikely Sports Executives 335
Donald Trump's Forays into Sports 335
Bart Giamatti: From Dante to Darling 351
Jerry Krause: The Man Who Built Jordan's Bulls 355
The Man Who Missed George Steinbrenner 362
Part VIII How the Weather Was 365
On the Whole, He'd Rather Be in May 365
Rain Check 367
On Sports in October 369
The Pigeon Race 372
Credits 375
Acknowledgments 377
About the Author 379
