In Fried Twinkies, Buckle Bunnies, & Bull Riders, award-winning sports journalist Josh Peter takes readers along on the Professional Bull Riders tour to witness the death-defying confrontation between man and beast that has made bull riding the fastest growing sport in the world. Success in this sport is measured in seconds-staying on a bull for 8 seconds without getting tossed is likely to secure the rider a big score. Josh Peter captures the high drama of the sport and introduces readers to a culture that's rife with colorful characters: courageous riders, scouts, breeders, love-struck groupies, and a few of those very angry bulls.

An inside look at the sport of bull riding, this book provides a behind-the-scenes look at the adrenaline-fueled phenomenon that’s enjoyed by more than 100 million television viewers yearly from around the world and the fastest-growing sport in America. The full-color action-packed images throughout capture the pain, fear, blood, and glory that is professional bull riding. Readers will experience the masterful rides, the horrendous falls, and the pure excitement with each turn of the page. From Adriano Moraes, Justin McBride, and Chris Shivers to Little yellow Jacket and Mossy Oak Mudslinger, all the favorite riders and bulls are included. Newcomers will find clear explanations and concise background on a growing sport that is guaranteed to thrill.

The most famous rodeo champion of all time tells his amazing true story -- and opens a fascinating window into the world of the professional cowboy. Ty Murray was born to be a rodeo star -- in fact, his first words were "I'm a bull rider." Before he was even out of diapers, he was climbing atop his mother's Singer sewing machine case, which just so happened to be the perfect mechanical bull for a 13-month-old. Before long, Ty was winning peewee events by the hatful, and his special talent was obvious...obvious even to a man called Larry Mahan. At the time the greatest living rodeo legend, six-time champion Mahan invited a teenaged Ty Murray to spend a summer on his ranch learning not just rodeoing but also some life lessons. Those lessons prepared Ty for a career that eventually surpassed even Mahan's own -- Ty's seven All-Around Championships. In King of the Cowboys, Ty Murray invites us into the daredevil world of rodeo and the life of the cowboy. Along the way, he details a life spent constantly on the road, heading to the next event; the tragic death of his friend and fellow rodeo star Lane Frost; and the years of debilitating injuries that led some to say Ty Murray was finished. He wasn't. In fact, Ty Murray has brought the world of rodeo into the twenty-first century, through his unparalleled achievements in the ring, through advancing the case for the sport as a television color-commentator, and through the Professional Bull Riders, an organization he helped to build. In the end, though, Ty Murray is first and foremost a cowboy, and now that he's retired from competition, he takes this chance to reflect on his remarkable life and career. In King of the Cowboys, Ty Murray opens up his world as never before.

Available in both an adult and a youth edition, Danger Calling features 16 true stories that take readers on a high-adrenaline ride--from the depths of the sea to the top of Mount Everest and everywhere in between--and pose provocative questions that move men and teen boys forward in their lives and faith. Danger Calling challenges readers to discover if they are truly living out God's game plan for their lives: Would you stop to help a climber in the "death zone" on Everest? What is your source of strength in a crisis? Could you lead others into battle knowing some are likely to die? To what challenge is God summoning you right now? Each story thrills and engages. Each set of questions challenges readers to discover who they are, where they stand in their faith, and whether God is calling them to a life of greater risks and deeper meaning. The youth edition contains a combination of eight stories of youth adventures, as well as eight from the adult version. Both books are perfect for small group use and include study questions with each chapter.

Modern Sports around the World focuses on the history, geography, sociology, economics, and technological advancements of 50 sports played from India to Ireland. Sports have become an international spectacle that influences nations' foreign policy, world economies, and regional morale. Hundreds of billions of dollars are at stake as governments and multinational corporations rush to make sure they have a place at the table. And yet, sports come from humble beginnings. We are fascinated by who can run the fastest, lift the most weight, jump the highest, swim the farthest, and act with the most precision. The history of sports is the history of the world. Modern Sports around the World examines 50 of the world's most popular sports. Each chapter features one sport and details that sport's origins, global migration, economic forces, media influences, political environment, pop-culture inspirations, scandalous moments, and key individuals. Sports history is a tapestry of sociological variables; Modern Sports around the World weaves them together to create a unique history book that explains not only where humanity has been, but where it might be going.

"What would rodeo look like if we took it as a record, not of human triumph and resilience, but of human imperfection and stubbornness?” asks animal historian Susan Nance. Against the backdrop of the larger histories of ranching, cattle, horses, and the environment in the West, this book explores how the evolution of rodeo has reflected rural western beliefs and assumptions about the natural world that have led to environmental crises and served the beef empire. By unearthing behind-the-scenes stories of rodeo animals as diverse individuals, this book lays bare contradictions within rodeo and the rural West. For almost 150 years, westerners have used rodeo to symbolically reenact their struggles with animals and the land as uniformly progressive and triumphant. Nance upends that view with accounts of individual animals that reveal how diligently rodeo people have worked to make livestock into surrogates for the trials of rural life in the West and the violence in its history. Western horses and cattle were more than just props. Rodeo reclaims their lived history through compelling stories of anonymous roping steers and calves who inspired reform of the sport, such as the famed but abused bucker Steamboat, and the many broncs and bulls, famous or not, who unknowingly built an industry. Rodeo is a dangerous sport that reveals many westerners as people proudly tolerant of risk and violence, and ready to impose these values on livestock. In Rodeo: An Animal History, Nance pushes past standard histories and the sport’s publicity to show how rodeo was shot through with stubbornness and human failing as much as fortitude and community spirit.

Black Cowboys of Rodeo is a collection of one hundred years’ worth of firsthand cowboy stories, set against the backdrop of Reconstruction, Jim Crow, segregation, the civil rights movement, and eventually the integration of a racially divided country.