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| larry bird hall of fame speech: When the Game was Ours Larry Bird, Earvin Johnson, Jackie MacMullan, 2009 With intimate, fly-on-the-wall detail, When the Game Was Ours transports readers to an electric era of basketball and reveals for the first time the inner workings of two players--Larry Bird and Earvin Magic Johnson--dead set on besting one another. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Larry Bird Jack Kavanagh, 2013-07-01 Treat readers to a biography about one of the greats. Many basketball experts consider Larry Bird among the greatest all-around players in the history of basketball. A three-time MVP, Bird guided the Boston Celtics to three NBA championships. Readers find out how Bird went from a small-town Indiana boy to a basketball star on the greatest stage. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Book of Basketball Bill Simmons, 2010-12-07 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The wildly opinionated, thoroughly entertaining, and arguably definitive book on the past, present, and future of the NBA—from the founder of The Ringer and host of The Bill Simmons Podcast “Enough provocative arguments to fuel barstool arguments far into the future.”—The Wall Street Journal In The Book of Basketball, Bill Simmons opens—and then closes, once and for all—every major NBA debate, from the age-old question of who actually won the rivalry between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain to the one about which team was truly the best of all time. Then he takes it further by completely reevaluating not only how NBA Hall of Fame inductees should be chosen but how the institution must be reshaped from the ground up, the result being the Pyramid: Simmons’s one-of-a-kind five-level shrine to the ninety-six greatest players in the history of pro basketball. And ultimately he takes fans to the heart of it all, as he uses a conversation with one NBA great to uncover that coveted thing: The Secret of Basketball. Comprehensive, authoritative, controversial, hilarious, and impossible to put down (even for Celtic-haters), The Book of Basketball offers every hardwood fan a courtside seat beside the game’s finest, funniest, and fiercest chronicler. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Focus On: 100 Most Popular National Basketball Association All-Stars Wikipedia contributors, |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Billboard , 2004-03-13 In its 114th year, Billboard remains the world's premier weekly music publication and a diverse digital, events, brand, content and data licensing platform. Billboard publishes the most trusted charts and offers unrivaled reporting about the latest music, video, gaming, media, digital and mobile entertainment issues and trends. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Rejection Proof Jia Jiang, 2015-04-14 The inspiring, relatable, and sometimes outrageous true story of how one man used 100 days of rejection therapy to overcome fear and dare to live more boldly “Rejection Proof smashes fear in the face with a one-two punch. You’ll laugh out loud at Jia’s crazy social experiments, but you’ll also go away thinking differently about what you can accomplish.”—Chris Guillebeau, New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Pursuit Jia Jiang’s TEDx Talk, “What I learned from 100 days of rejection,” has amassed over ten million views! Jia Jiang came to the United States with the dream of being the next Bill Gates. But despite early success in the corporate world, his first attempt to pursue his entrepreneurial dream ended in rejection. Jia was crushed and spiraled into a period of deep self-doubt. Jia realized that his fear of rejection was a bigger obstacle than any single rejection would ever be; he needed to find a way to cope with being told “no” that wouldn’t destroy him. Inspired by rejection therapy, which uses similar modalities as exposure therapy to desensitize you to the effects of being rejected, he undertook the “100 days of rejection” experiment, during which he willfully sought out rejection on a daily basis—from requesting a lesson in sales from a car salesman (no) to asking a flight attendant if he could make an announcement on the loud speaker (yes) to his famous request to get Krispy Kreme donuts in the shape of Olympic rings (yes, with a viral video to prove it). Over the course of one hundred rejection attempts, Jia realized that even the most preposterous wish might be granted if you ask the right way. He learned the secrets to making successful requests, tactics for picking the right people to approach at the right time, and strategies for converting an initial no into something positive. More important, Jia discovered ways to steel himself against rejection and live more fearlessly—skills that can’t be derailed by a single setback. The changes Jia experienced from his rejection therapy experiment went far beyond becoming more successful in business; he realized that he could apply these techniques to get more out of his relationships with friends, family, and even casual encounters with strangers. Filled with great stories and valuable insight, Rejection Proof shares the secrets of Jia’s rejection journey, distilling each lesson into a strategy that can be used in any negotiation or pitch. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Our Time Scott Illiano, 2011-10-06 A coach is part teacher, part parent, part student, part mentor, and part guru. He must possess a stern hand and a comforting touchand the wisdom to discern when each is needed. Each decision he makes is a part of a perilous high wire act that can propel a team forward or send a season tumbling downward. But when does a coach truly become a coach? Is it after some athletic director looks across the desk, offers his hand, and says, Congratulations, youve got the job? Is it after that first win? That first championship? Or is it when all those nagging questions in the back of the mind finally stop nagging? Scott Illiano, head baseball coach of the West Essex High School Knights, chronicles his incredible journey from waiter in a chain restaurant to veteran coach in Our Time. Discover how an unproven coach and a patchwork group of underdogs battle injuries, biting cold temperatures, and fierce competition in their quest to win the Greater Newark Tournament, the oldest and most prestigious baseball tournament in the state of New Jersey. Twenty kids and four coaches share a dream and a whole lot of heart. Through their journey, in victory and defeat, struggle and success, readers will find out when a coach becomes a coach. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: When March Went Mad Seth Davis, 2009-03-03 Davis recounts the dramatic story of how two legendary players--Earvin Magic Johnson and Larry Bird--burst on the scene in a 1979 NCAA championship that gave birth to modern basketball. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Michael Jordan Speaks Janet Lowe, 1999-10-22 Hailed as the greatest to have ever played the game, Michael Jordan reigned supreme over theNBA for eleven seasons. While his achievements on the court have made him a basketball legend, his activities off the court as businessman, movie star, and pitchman have made himan American icon. In this unique biography, the author of the bestselling Speaks series shedslight on the drive and determination behind the incredible success of His Royal Airness by bringing together original Jordan quotes culled from articles, newscasts, andinterviews. Possibly the most recognized celebrity on the planet today, definitely one of the greatest sports figures who ever lived and, by far, the most effective product endorser in the history of business, Michael Air Jordan is the stuff of legend. But it is more than his unrivaled skill in basketball or his phenomenal success in business that have earned him the love and respect of billions. Whether on the court or the sound stage, Jordan embodies all the qualities that people most admire in a winner and role model: quiet dignity and consummate grace, driving ambition and a heartfelt sense of fair play. In this book Janet Lowe, author of the bestselling Warren Buffett Speaks and Oprah Winfrey Speaks, offers us an inspiring look at the man behind the Michael Jordan image. Drawn from hundreds of sources, the quotes gathered together in this book reveal Michael Jordan's views on everything from sports and winning to love and family, to teamwork and individual initiative. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: From Hang Time to Prime Time Pete Croatto, 2020-12-01 Perfect for fans of Moneyball and The Book of Basketball, this vivid, thoroughly entertaining, and well-researched book explores the NBA’s surge in popularity in the 1970s and 1980s and its transformation into a global cultural institution. Far beyond simply being a sports league, the NBA has become an entertainment and pop culture juggernaut. From all kinds of team logo merchandise to officially branded video games and players crossing over into reality television, film, fashion lines, and more, there is an inseparable line between sports and entertainment. But only four decades ago, this would have been unthinkable. Featuring writing that leaps off the page with energy and wit, journalist and basketball fan Pete Croatto takes us behind the scenes to the meetings that lead to the monumental American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, revolutionizing the NBA’s image. He pays homage to legendary talents including Julius “Dr. J” Erving, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan and reveals how two polar-opposite rookies, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson, led game attendance to skyrocket and racial lines to dissolve. Croatto also dives into CBS’s personality-driven coverage of key players, as well as other cable television efforts, which launched NBA players into unprecedented celebrity status. Essential reading whether you’re a casual or longtime fan, From Hang Time to Prime Time is an enthralling and entertaining celebration of basketball history. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Nike Tracy Carbasho, 2010-08-19 This compelling book provides a comprehensive examination of Nike, utilizing never-before-heard interviews with top sports celebrities and the informed perspectives of marketing gurus to explain why Nike has ruled the sports world for more than four decades. Nike's immortal Just Do It slogan is displayed at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The company's pioneering use of athlete endorsements as the foundation of its marketing and its dedication to incorporating advanced technology and materials in its products has forever changed the world of sports. Amazingly, what is now Nike sprang from the humblest beginnings—two runners with a passion for improving the sport willing to sell shoes out of their cars at track meets. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the company, giving readers a full appreciation of its fascinating history and the attributes and strategies that have helped Nike outlast its competitors. Material derived from interviews with star athletes and marketing experts lend additional insight into the Nike phenomenon. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Ball Don't Lie Santiago Colás, 2016-04-05 Pro basketball player Rasheed Wallace often exclaimed the pragmatic truth “Ball don’t lie!” during a game. It is a protest against a referee’s bad calls. But the slogan, which originated in pickup games, brings the reality of a racialized urban playground into mainstream American popular culture. In Ball Don’t Lie!, Yago Colás traces the various forms of power at work in the intersections between basketball and language from the game’s invention to the present day. He critiques existing popular myths concerning the history of basketball, contextualizes them, and presents an alternative history of the sport inspired by innovations. Colás emphasizes the creative prerogative of players and the ways in which their innovations shape—and are shaped by—broader cultural and social phenomena. Ball Don't Lie! shows that basketball cannot be reduced to a single, fixed or timeless essence but instead is a continually evolving exhibition of physical culture that flexibly adapts to and sparks changes in American society. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Spencer Haywood Rule Marc J. Spears, Gary Washburn, 2020-10-06 If you are a basketball fan, you should be aware of Spencer Haywood's immense historical importance. If you're not aware, you should be. —Bob Ryan, The Boston Globe Hall of Famer, Olympic gold medalist, MVP, and All-Star could all be used to describe the illustrious career of Spencer Haywood on the hardwood. From picking cotton in rural Mississippi to the historic 1968 Olympics to Winning ABA MVP to the battle with the NBA that would go all the way to the Supreme Court and change the league forever, Spencer Haywood's life has been a microcosm of 20th-century sports and culture. One of the most dominant big men of his era, Haywood burst onto the international scene as a teenager with a revelatory performance at the Mexico City Olympics. Yet, while his basketball career was just beginning back in that summer of '68, it was only one of many notable moments in the extraordinary and fateful life of the big man from Silver City, Mississippi. In The Spencer Haywood Rule, Marc J. Spears of ESPN's The Undefeated and Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe worked with Spencer to tell the remarkable story of a man who was born into indentured servitude in rural Mississippi, and all of the unbelievable trials, tribulations, successes, failures, and redemptions that followed. Haywood would go on to be the ABA Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, but his triumphs on the court are only part of the?legend. His winding journey off the court saw him challenge the NBA's draft-entry rules and win at the Supreme Court level; run in New York City high-fashion circles in the mid-70s with his then-wife, supermodel Iman; and bottom out with alcohol and drug addiction during the infancy of the Showtime Lakers dynasty.? Spears and Washburn explore how Haywood's impact was felt throughout the NBA and in society at large—and still is to this day—culminating in Haywood's inspiring second act as an advocate for current and retired NBA players alike. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Comeback Coach Jesse Braverman, 2017-11-06 In 2000, after a long bureaucratic struggle straight out of Kafka, Jesse Braverman was removed as coach of the varsity baseball team of Bethlehem Central High School of Bethlehem, New York, nearly destroying him. But the baseball gods were not done with the beloved diamond strategist. Hired by La Salle Institute of Troy, Braverman took its baseball team, the Cadets, to new heights, including an unprecedented twenty-seven-game winning streak. Written with distinguished journalist and his long-time friend Gordon F. Sander, Comeback Coach tells the story of Braverman's remarkable, dual career as multi-sport athletic coach and special education teacher. Packed with human interest, Coach follows Jesse's forty-year journey from the sandlot baseball fields of his youth, learning about life and baseball at the knee of his mentor, Joe Austin-with whom he would be elected to the New York State Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015-to his initial successes with his numerous Bethlehem teams; to his heartbreaking firing and inspiring redemption with the Cadets. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Jolt! Phil Howard Cooke, 2011-04-18 In Jolt! television producer, social media guru, and cultural commentator Phil Cooke helps you discover how you can navigate today's culture of disruption and actually use it to your advantage. You'll learn that changing a company and changing your life are based on virtually the same key principles. The world is changing at light speed, but mastering the power of change can revolutionize your business and your life. Stop feeling overwhelmed with changing technology, culture, business, trends, and values and regain the confidence that can give you a real advantage. The book reveals twenty-five jolts that anyone can leverage to establish a new direction, maximize potential, overcome insecurity, and create an amazing future and legacy. Jolt! will revolutionize your thinking and shake up your life! |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Chuck Noll Michael MacCambridge, 2016-10-28 Chuck Noll won four Super Bowls and presided over one of the greatest football dynasties in history, the Pittsburgh Steelers of the ‘70s. Later inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his achievements as a competitor and a coach are the stuff of legend. But Noll always remained an intensely private and introspective man, never revealing much of himself as a person or as a coach, not even to the players and fans who revered him. Chuck Noll did not need a dramatic public profile to be the catalyst for one of the greatest transformations in sports history. In the nearly four decades before he was hired, the Pittsburgh Steelers were the least successful team in professional football, never winning so much as a division title. After Noll’s arrival, his quiet but steely leadership quickly remolded the team into the most accomplished in the history of professional football. And what he built endured well beyond his time with the Steelers – who have remained one of America’s great NFL teams, accumulating a total of six Super Bowls, eight AFC championships, and dozens of division titles and playoff berths. In this penetrating biography, based on deep research and hundreds of interviews, Michael MacCambridge takes the measure of the man, painting an intimate portrait of one of the most important figures in American football history. He traces Noll’s journey from a Depression-era childhood in Cleveland, where he first played the game in a fully integrated neighborhood league led by an African-American coach and then seriously pursued the sport through high school and college. Eventually, Noll played both defensive and offensive positions professionally for the Browns, before discovering that his true calling was coaching. MacCambridge reveals that Noll secretly struggled with and overcame epilepsy to build the career that earned him his place as “the Emperor” of Pittsburgh during the Steelers’ dynastic run in the 1970s, while in his final years, he battled Alzheimer’s in the shelter of his caring and protective family. Noll’s impact went well beyond one football team. When he arrived, the city of steel was facing a deep crisis, as the dramatic decline of Pittsburgh’s lifeblood industry traumatized an entire generation. “Losing,” Noll said on his first day on the job, “has nothing to do with geography.” Through his calm, confident leadership of the Steelers and the success they achieved, the people of Pittsburgh came to believe that winning was possible, and their recovery of confidence owed a lot to the Steeler’s new coach. The famous urban renaissance that followed can only be understood by grasping what Noll and his team meant to the people of the city. The man Pittsburghers could never fully know helped them see themselves better. Chuck Noll: His Life’s Work tells the story of a private man in a very public job. It explores the family ties that built his character, the challenges that defined his course, and the love story that shaped his life. By understanding the man himself, we can at last clearly see Noll’s profound influence on the city, players, coaches, and game he loved. They are all, in a real sense, heirs to the football team Chuck Noll built. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Treasure Chibuike E. Wogu, 2016-02-02 In this phenomenal text, Chibuike E. Wogu has outlined truths and suggested techniques to aid you in living your dreams now and to achieve great and lasting success. He has written this book to you not as a onetime event, but through persistent practice to self-mastery of the techniques contained in it, you will be able to achieve your goals, whatever they are. These techniques will help restore your dreams and make them real, get you to understand how to discover the silver lining in every frustration, setback, challenge that may have up until now hindered you from realizing your dreams and aspirations, and launch you into your winning realm of endless possibilities. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Tall Tales and Short Shorts Adam J. Criblez, 2017-06-09 In basketball, just as in American culture, the 1970s were imperfect. But it was a vitally important time in the development of the nation and of the National Basketball Association. During this decade Americans suffered through the war in Vietnam and Nixon’s Watergate cover-up (not to mention disco music and leisure suits) while the NBA weathered the arrival of free agency and charges that its players were “too black.” Despite this turmoil, or perhaps because of it, the NBA evolved into a cultural phenomenon. Tall Tales and Short Shorts: Dr. J, Pistol Pete, and the Birth of the Modern NBA traces the evolution of the NBA from the retirement of Bill Russell in 1969 to the arrival of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson ten years later. Sandwiched between the youthful league of the sixties and its mature successor in the eighties, this book reveals the awkward teenage years of the NBA in the seventies. It examines the many controversies that plagued the league during this time, including illicit drug use, on-court violence, and escalating player salaries. Yet even as attendance dwindled and networks relegated playoff games to tape-delayed, late-night broadcasts, fans still pulled on floppy gray socks like “Pistol Pete” Maravich, emulated Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s sweeping skyhook, and grew out mushrooming afros à la “Dr. J” Julius Erving. The first book-length treatment of pro basketball in the 1970s, Tall Tales and Short Shorts brings to life the players, teams, and the league as a whole as they dealt with expansion, a merger with the ABA, and transitioning into a new era. Sport historians and basketball fans will enjoy this entertaining and enlightening survey of an often-overlooked time in the development of the NBA. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership John C. Maxwell, 2007-09-16 What would happen if a leadership expert were willing to distill everything he’s learned in his 30+ years of experience into a handful of life-changing principles just for you? It would change your life. Internationally-recognized leadership expert and bestselling author John C. Maxwell wrote his million-seller The 21 Laws of Leadership over ten years ago. Now, this expanded and updated edition of one of the most trusted and referenced leadership books features revised content that is fundamental to any leader. Maxwell provides new learnings that makes his original bestseller bigger and better including: Sharpening and updating every Law of Leadership Seventeen new leadership stories Two new Laws of Leadership New evaluation tool revealing your leadership strengths and weaknesses New application exercises in every chapter that help you grow The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership features insights learned from Maxwell’s 30-plus years of leadership successes and mistakes with observations from the worlds of business, politics, sports, religion, and military conflict. The result is a revealing study of leadership delivered as only a communicator like Maxwell can. Follow these laws of leadership and people will follow you. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The 5-Year Plan: The Nets' Tumultuous Journey from New Jersey to Brooklyn Greg Hrinya, 2015-05-22 The New Jersey Nets were mired in mediocrity when an international man of mystery emerged from the shadows. Russian multibillionaire Mikhail Prokhorov came bearing two gifts: a bottomless wallet and a passion for basketball. In return for his money, he expected everybody associated with the team -- management, players, ball boys -- to commit to success . . . and achieve it within five years. But the Nets required more than money to change their fortunes. They needed shrewd decision makers, brilliant minds, and the most physically gifted players in the world. Instead, as Prokhorov's thirst for instant gratification spiraled out of control, management turned losing into an art form, dangling perfectly good players as trade bait, kowtowing to their stars, and alienating an entire state. The fallout on the court and in the locker room produced, if not a winning team, the most interesting basketball story not yet told. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Hinkle Fieldhouse Eric Angevine, 2015 Walk into Hinkle Fieldhouse, and you feel it-that palpable sense of history known as the Hinkle mystique. Indiana's basketball cathedral has stood in all its glory at Butler University since 1928. John Wooden, Oscar Robertson and Larry Bird played on its floor. Jesse Owens sprinted to a record at Hinkle, and athletes from around the globe have brought Olympic-level competition to crowds gathered under its steel arches. It was the setting for the climactic scene in Hoosiers, arguably the greatest sports movie ever made. It has hosted evangelists, ice shows, tennis matches, bike races and even roller derbies. Author Eric Angevine gets inside the paint in this complete Hinkle history, featuring archival photographs of the iconic structure and words from those who know it best. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Undisputed Truth Mike Tyson, 2014-10-28 “Raw, powerful and disturbing—a head-spinning take on Mr. Tyson's life.”—Wall Street Journal Philosopher, Broadway headliner, fighter, felon—Mike Tyson has defied stereotypes, expectations, and a lot of conventional wisdom during his three decades in the public eye. Bullied as a boy in the toughest, poorest neighborhood in Brooklyn, Tyson grew up to become one of the most ferocious boxers of all time—and the youngest heavyweight champion ever. But his brilliance in the ring was often compromised by reckless behavior. Yet—even after hitting rock bottom—the man who once admitted being addicted “to everything” fought his way back, achieving triumphant success as an actor and newfound happiness and stability as a father and husband. Brutal, honest, raw, and often hilarious, Undisputed Truth is the singular journey of an inspiring American original. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Wish It Lasted Forever Dan Shaughnessy, 2021-11-16 Drawing on unprecedented access and personal experiences that would not be possible for any reporter today, Shaughnessy takes us inside the legendary Larry Bird-led Celtics teams, capturing the camaraderie as they rose to dominate the NBA. Fans can witness the cockiness of Larry Bird (who once walked into an All Star Weekend locker room, announced that he was going to win the three-point contest, and did); the ageless athleticism of Robert Parish; the shooting skills of Kevin McHale; the fierce, self-sacrificing play of Bill Walton; and the playful humor of players like Danny Ainge, Cedric Cornbread Maxwell, and M.L. Carr.-- |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: African linguistics across the disciplines Samuel Gyasi Obeng, 2019-11-12 Since the hiring of its first Africanist linguist Carleton Hodge in 1964, Indiana University’s Department of Linguistics has had a strong and continuing presence in the study of African languages and linguistics through the work of its faculty and of its graduates on the faculties of many other universities. Research on African linguistics at IU has covered some of the major language groups spoken on the African continent. Carleton Hodge’s work on Ancient Egyptian and Hausa, Paul Newman’s work on Hausa and Chadic languages, and Roxanna Ma Newman’s work on Hausa language structure and pedagogy have been some of the most important studies on Afro-Asiatic linguistics. With respect to Niger-Congo languages, the work of Charles Bird on Bambara and the Mande languages, Robert Botne’s work on Bantu structure (especially tense and aspect), Samuel Obeng and Colin Painter’s work on Ghanaian Languages (phonetics, phonology, and pragmatics), Robert Port’s studies on Swahili, and Erhard Voeltz's studies on Bantu linguistics are considered some of the most influential studies in the sub-field. On Nilo Saharan languages, the work of Tim Shopen on Songhay stands out. IU Linguistics has also forwarded theoretical work on African languages, such as John Goldsmith’s seminal research on tone in African languages. The African linguistics faculty at IU have either founded or edited important journals in African Studies, African languages, and African linguistics, including Africa Today, Studies in African Linguistics, and Journal of African Languages and Linguistics. In 1972, the Indiana University Department of Linguistics hosted the Third Annual Conference of African Linguistics. Proceedings of that conference were published by Indiana University Publications (African Series, vol. 7). In 1986, IU hosted the Seventeenth Annual Conference of African Linguistics with Paul Newman and Robert Botne editing the proceedings in a volume entitled Current Approaches to African Linguistics, vol. 5. In 2016, Indiana University hosted the 48th Annual Conference on African Linguistics with the theme African Linguistics Across the Disciplines. Proceedings of that meeting are published in this volume. The papers presented in this volume reflect the diversity of opportunities for language study in Africa. This collection of descriptive and theoretical work is the fruit of data gathering both in-country and abroad by researchers of languages spoken across the continent, from Sereer-sin in the west to Somali in the northeast to Ikalanga in the south. The range of topics in this volume is also broad, representative of the varied field work in country and abroad that inspires research in African linguistics. This collection of papers spans the disciplines of phonology (both segmental and suprasegmental), morphology (both morphophonological and morphosyntactic), syntax, semantics, and language policy. The data and analyses presented in this volume offer a cross-disciplinary view of linguistic topics from the many under-resourced languages of Africa. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: A History of American Sports in 100 Objects Cait Murphy, 2016-10-11 A history of American sports told through one hundred iconic objects |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Heart Over Height Nate Robinson with Jon Finkel, 2014-05-30 Heart Over Height tells the motivational story of how three-time NBA Slam Dunk Champion Nate Robinson combined an unstoppable will with dogged determination to achieve his goals, and how those traits can apply to anyone facing their own seemingly insurmountable obstacles. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Law of Process John C. Maxwell, 2012-08-27 Theodore Roosevelt helped create a world power, won a Nobel Peace Prize, and became president of the United States. But today you wouldn't even know his name if he hadn't known the Law of Process. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Mickey Mantle, the American Dream Comes to Life Mickey Mantle, Lewis Early, 2002 |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Full Court Faith George Shinn, 2025-05-13 In Full Court Faith, George Shinn's remarkable journey from small-town obscurity to NBA franchise owner shows how trusting God's plan can lead to incredible success, redemption, and miraculous life transformations. “God has done many wonderful things in my life—but the biggest things aren’t the accomplishments I used to take the most pride in.” —George Shinn What can God do with a poor country boy from a small town in North Carolina? The child no one expected much from. The kid who finished high school dead last in his graduating class. One of only two students in the whole school on government assistance. The young man who had to clean business school toilets in exchange for tuition. The aspiring pro-sports franchise owner no one in New York or California took seriously. The victim of an extortion scandal that rocked the sports and business communities of Charlotte, North Carolina. The sinner whose private mistakes became front-page news for more than a year. What can God do with a person like that? Amazing things . . . things that lead to unbelievable fame and fortune. Wonderful things . . . things that brought new life and vigor to a southern gem no one outside the south had ever heard of. Miraculous things . . . things that have saved the lives of numerous stroke victims—including his own. Full Court Faith presents the uniquely inspiring life of Charlotte entrepreneur, businessman, and former NBA franchisee George Shinn, the man who brought professional sports to North Carolina. With charm, wit, humility, and his trademark enthusiasm, Shinn tells his story his way—taking responsibility for the mistakes and giving God all the credit for the victories. If you’ve ever wondered, What could God do with someone like me? Full Court Faith brings you the answer: Anything He wants. As long as you’re willing to trust Him on the journey. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Chicago's Greatest Sports Memories Roland Lazenby, 2000-12 From the Bears' 73-0 win in 1940 over the Redskins in the most lopsided playoff game in NFL history to Michael Jordan and the Bulls' six NBA championships in the '90s, Chicago's Greatest Sports Memories presents the greatest moments in Chicago sports history. This book features stories and photographs from the archives of the Chicago Sun-Times, plus introductions and original essays by award-winning writer Roland Lazenby. The book contains historical and eyewitness accounts of such feats as Rocky Marciano's knockout of Jersey Joe Walcott in 1953; Walter Payton breaking Jim Brown's rushing record in 1984; and Bobby Hull becoming the first NHL player to exceed 50 goals in a season in 1966. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Assisted John Stockton, Kerry L. Pickett, 2013 A basketball player known for his vast amounts of assists and steals, and for helping the Utah Jazz make the playoffs all of his nineteen seasons with the team, chronicles his life and the people, places, and events that have influenced him. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Counting Descent Clint Smith, 2020-01-06 From the author of How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America * Winner, 2017 Black Caucus of the American Library Association Literary Award * Finalist, 2017 NAACP Image Awards * One Book One New Orleans 2017 Book Selection * Published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry Magazine, The Paris Review, New Republic, Boston Review, The Guardian, The Rumpus, and The Academy of American Poets So many of these poems just blow me away. Incredibly beautiful and powerful. -- Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow Counting Descent is a tightly-woven collection of poems whose pages act like an invitation. The invitation is intimate and generous and also a challenge; are you up to asking what is blackness? What is black joy? How is black life loved and lived? To whom do we look to for answers? This invitation is not to a narrow street, or a shallow lake, but to a vast exploration of life. And you’re invited. -- Elizabeth Acevedo, Author of Beastgirl & Other Origin Myths These poems shimmer with revelatory intensity, approaching us from all sides to immerse us in the America that America so often forgets. -- Gregory Pardlo Counting Descent is more than brilliant. More than lyrical. More than bluesy. More than courageous. It is terrifying in its ability to at once not hide and show readers why it wants to hide so badly. These poems mend, meld and imagine with weighted details, pauses, idiosyncrasies and word patterns I've never seen before. -- Kiese Laymon, Author of Long Division Clint Smith's debut poetry collection, Counting Descent, is a coming of age story that seeks to complicate our conception of lineage and tradition. Do you know what it means for your existence to be defined by someone else’s intentions? Smith explores the cognitive dissonance that results from belonging to a community that unapologetically celebrates black humanity while living in a world that often renders blackness a caricature of fear. His poems move fluidly across personal and political histories, all the while reflecting on the social construction of our lived experiences. Smith brings the reader on a powerful journey forcing us to reflect on all that we learn growing up, and all that we seek to unlearn moving forward. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Basketball Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew, Dan Klores, 2018-09-18 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Inspired by a major ESPN film series, this is an extraordinary oral history of basketball—its eye-opening untold history, its profound deeper meaning, its transformative influence on the world—as told through an unprecedented series of candid conversations with the game’s ultimate icons. This is the greatest love story never told. It has passion and heartbreak, triumph and betrayal. It is deeply intimate yet crosses oceans, upends lives and changes nations. This is the true story of basketball. It is the story of a Canadian invention that took over America, and the world. Of a supposed “white man’s sport” that became a way for people of color, women, and immigrants to claim a new place in society. Of a game that demands everything of those who love it, yet gives so much back in return. To tell this story, acclaimed journalists Jackie MacMullan, Rafe Bartholomew and Dan Klores embarked on a groundbreaking mission to interview a staggering lineup of basketball trailblazers. For the first time hundreds of legends, from Kobe, Lebron and Steph Curry to Magic Johnson, Dr. J and Jerry West, spoke movingly about their greatest passion. Former NBA commissioner David Stern and iconic coaches like Phil Jackson and Coach K opened up like never before. Those who shattered glass ceilings, from Bill Russell and Yao Ming to Cheryl Miller and Lisa Leslie, explained what it really took to lay claim to their place in the game. At once a definitive oral history and something far more revelatory and life affirming, Basketball: A Love Story is the defining untold oral history of how basketball came to be, and what it means to those who love it. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Lost in the Game Thomas Beller, 2022-10-07 For players, coaches, writers, and fans, basketball is a science and an art, a religious sacrament, a source of entertainment, and a way of interacting with the world. In Lost in the Game Thomas Beller entwines these threads with his lifetime's experience as a player and journalist, roaming NBA locker rooms and city parks as a basketball flaneur in search of the meaning of the modern game. He captures the magnificence and mastery of today’s most accomplished NBA players while paying homage to the devotion of countless congregants in the global church of pickup basketball. He shares his own stories from the courts, meditating on basketball’s role in city life and its impact on the athlete’s psyche as he moves from youth to middle age. Part journalistic account, part memoir of a slightly talented player whose main gift is being tall, Lost in the Game charts the game’s inexorable gravitational hold on those who love it. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Dream Team Jack McCallum, 2013-04-09 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Acclaimed sports journalist Jack McCallum delivers the untold story of the greatest team ever assembled: the 1992 U.S. Olympic Men’s Basketball Team. As a writer for Sports Illustrated, McCallum enjoyed a courtside seat for the most exciting basketball spectacle on earth, covering the Dream Team from its inception to the gold medal ceremony in Barcelona. Drawing on fresh interviews with the players, McCallum provides the definitive account of the Dream Team phenomenon. He offers a behind-the-scenes look at the controversial selection process. He takes us inside the team’s Olympic suites for late-night card games and bull sessions where superstars like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird debated the finer points of basketball. And he narrates a riveting account of the legendary intrasquad scrimmage that pitted the Dream Teamers against one another in what may have been the greatest pickup game in history. In the twenty years since the Dream Team first captivated the world, its mystique has only grown. Dream Team vividly re-creates the moment when a once-in-a-millennium group of athletes came together and changed the future of sports—one perfectly executed fast break at a time. With a new Afterword by the author “The absolute definitive work on the subject, a perfectly wonderful once-you-pick-it-up-you-won’t-be-able-to-put-it-down book.”—The Boston Globe “An Olympic hoops dream.”—Newsday “What makes this volume a must-read for nostalgic hoopsters are the robust portraits of the outsize personalities of the participants, all of whom were remarkably open with McCallum, both then and now.”—Booklist (starred review) |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Big Bam Leigh Montville, 2007-05-01 National Bestseller He was the Sultan of Swat. The Caliph of Clout. The Wizard of Whack. The Bambino. And simply, to his teammates, the Big Bam. Babe Ruth was more than baseball’s original superstar. For eighty-five years, he has remained the sport’s reigning titan. He has been named Athlete of the Century . . . more than once. But who was this large, loud, enigmatic man? Why is so little known about his childhood, his private life, and his inner thoughts? In The Big Bam, Leigh Montville, whose recent New York Times bestselling biography of Ted Williams garnered glowing reviews and offered an exceptionally intimate look at Williams’s life, brings his trademark touch to this groundbreaking, revelatory portrait of the Babe. From the award-winning author of the New York Times bestseller Ted Williams comes the thoroughly original, definitively ambitious, and exhilaratingly colorful biography of the largest legend ever to loom in baseball—and in the history of organized sports. Based on newly discovered documents and interviews—including pages from Ruth’s personal scrapbooks —The Big Bam traces Ruth’s life from his bleak childhood in Baltimore to his brash entrance into professional baseball, from Boston to New York and into the record books as the world’s most explosive slugger and cultural luminary. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Language Instinct Steven Pinker, 2010-12-14 A brilliant, witty, and altogether satisfying book. — New York Times Book Review The classic work on the development of human language by the world’s leading expert on language and the mind In The Language Instinct, the world's expert on language and mind lucidly explains everything you always wanted to know about language: how it works, how children learn it, how it changes, how the brain computes it, and how it evolved. With deft use of examples of humor and wordplay, Steven Pinker weaves our vast knowledge of language into a compelling story: language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution. The Language Instinct received the William James Book Prize from the American Psychological Association and the Public Interest Award from the Linguistics Society of America. This edition includes an update on advances in the science of language since The Language Instinct was first published. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Last Enforcer Charles Oakley, 2022-02-01 In this “incredible read on some incredible days and nights in the old association” (Adrian Wojnarowski, ESPN senior NBA insider) Charles Oakley—one of the toughest and most loyal players in NBA history—tells his unfiltered stories about his basketball journey and his relationships with Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Phil Jackson, Pat Riley, James Dolan, Donald Trump, George Floyd, and many others. If you ask a New York Knicks fan about Charles Oakley, you better prepare to hear the love and a favorite story or two. But his individual stats weren’t remarkable, and while he helped power the Knicks to ten consecutive playoffs, he never won a championship. So why does he hold such a special place in the minds, hearts, and memories of NBA players and fans? Because over the course of nineteen years in the league, Oakley was at the center of more unbelievable encounters than Forrest Gump, and nearly as many fights as Mike Tyson. He was the friend you wish you had, and the enemy you wish you’d never made. If any opposing player was crazy enough to start a fight with him, or God forbid one of his teammates, Oakley would end it. “I can’t remember every rebound I grabbed but I do have a story—the true story—of just about every punch and slap on my resume,” he says. In The Last Enforcer, Oakley shares one incredible story after the next—all in his signature “unflinchingly tough, honest, and ultimately endearing” (Harvey Araton, New York Times bestselling author) style—about his life in the paint and beyond, fighting for rebounds and respect. You’ll look back on the era of the 1990s NBA, when tough guys with rugged attitudes, unflinching loyalty, and hard-nosed work ethics were just as important as three-point sharpshooters. You’ll feel like you were on the court, in the room, can’t believe what you just saw, and need to tell everyone you know about it. |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: Prominent Families of New York Lyman Horace Weeks, 1898 |
| larry bird hall of fame speech: The Last Pass Gary M. Pomerantz, 2018 Out of the greatest dynasty in American professional sports history, an intimate story of race, mortality, and regret-- |
Larry Page - Wikipedia
Lawrence Edward Page[2][3][4] (born March 26, 1973) is an American businessman, computer engineer and computer scientist best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. [2][5]
Larry - Name Meaning and Origin
The name Larry is a diminutive form of Lawrence, derived from the Latin name Laurentius, meaning "from Laurentum." It is believed to have originated from the Roman city of Laurentum, which was known for its …
Larry Name Meaning, Origin, History, And Popularity
May 7, 2024 · Laurentum is the name of an ancient Roman city located between Ostia and Lavinium. Larry is a diminutive of …
Meaning, origin and history of the name Larry
Dec 1, 2024 · Diminutive of Laurence 1. A notable bearer is former basketball player Larry Bird (1956-).
Larry - Baby Name Meaning, Origin and Popularity
This traditional name means "crowned with laurel" and invites lovely, natural imagery that can make anyone's heart swell. While a …
Larry Page - Wikipedia
Lawrence Edward Page[2][3][4] (born March 26, 1973) is an American businessman, computer engineer and computer scientist best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin. [2][5]
Larry - Name Meaning and Origin
The name Larry is a diminutive form of Lawrence, derived from the Latin name Laurentius, meaning "from Laurentum." It is believed to have originated from the Roman city of Laurentum, which was known for its …
Larry Name Meaning, Origin, History, And Popularity
May 7, 2024 · Laurentum is the name of an ancient Roman city located between Ostia and Lavinium. Larry is a diminutive of …
Meaning, origin and history of the name Larry
Dec 1, 2024 · Diminutive of Laurence 1. A notable bearer is former basketball player Larry Bird (1956-).
Larry - Baby Name Meaning, Origin and Popularity
This traditional name means "crowned with laurel" and invites lovely, natural imagery that can make anyone's heart swell. While a …
