This is the story of George Toma, who climbed from his roots in a poor coal-mining town in Depression-era Pennsylvania to the top of his profession as a groundskeeper. Toma has become the authority in his profession, preparing the field for every Super Bowl that has ever been played. Toma was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2001.

George Brett: A Royal Hero is the most complete volume ever compiled about the 1999 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee. His legendary career is reviewed in precise detail through articles that appeared in The Kansas City Star from the early 1970s through 1999. No one followed George Brett with greater interest nor wrote of his exploits with greater insight than the sportswriters of the Royals' hometown daily newspaper.

The history of the Royals in Kansas City may not be a long one—the team first played in Kansas City in 1969—but it is a proud one. Embraced by a loyal fan base and boosted by small-market spunkiness, the team was a constant threat in the 1970s and 1980s, making multiple playoff appearances before beating the St. Louis Cardinals for the World Series in the "I-70 Series." Now, this all-new guide explores all of the things every true fan should know about the Royals and what they should do to celebrate their favorite team. This updated edition highlights the Royals' back-to-back World Series appearances and features current starts Lorenzo Cain, Yordano Ventura, Wade Davis, and more. The listings are ranked in importance from one to 100, and feature such legendary players, places, and moments as George Brett, Kaufmann Stadium, Denny Matthews, Game 6 of the 1985 Series, Dick Howser, and a certain infamous, pine-tar-covered bat. Packed with personalities, places, events, and facts, this fun and informative book is the perfect tool for any fan looking to take his love for the Boys in Blue to a whole new level.

The Devil's Snake Curve offers an alternative American history, in which colonialism, jingoism, capitalism, and faith are represented by baseball. Personal and political, it twines Japanese internment camps with the Yankees; Walmart with the Kansas City Royals; and facial hair patterns with militarism, Guantanamo, and the modern security state. An essay, a miscellany, and a passionate unsettling of Josh Ostergaard's relationship with our national pastime, it allows for both the clover of a childhood outfield and the persistence of the game's service to those in power. America and baseball are both hard to love or leave in this, by turns coruscating and heartfelt, debut. Josh Ostergaard holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Minnesota and an MA in cultural anthropology. He has been an urban anthropologist at the Field Museum and now works at Graywolf Press.

This heart-warming autiobiography blends the magic of music with the thrill of Kansas City football. For almost half a century, Tony DiPardo was the band director for the Knasas City Chiefs. In this humerous, touching, and lively memoir, fans will re-live all the greatest moments of Chiefs football through the unqiue, smiling eyes of the longest running music act in the NFL.

The 1960s were a tumultuous period in U.S. history and the sporting world was not immune to the decade's upturn of tradition. As war in Southeast Asia, civil unrest at home and political assassinations rocked the nation, professional football struggled to attract fans. While some players fought for civil rights and others fought overseas, the ideological divides behind the protests and riots in the streets spilled into the locker rooms, and athletes increasingly brought their political beliefs into the sports world. This history describes how a decade of social upheaval affected life on the gridiron, and the personalities and events that shaped the game. The debut of the Super Bowl, soon to become a fixture of American culture, marked a professional sport on the rise. Increasingly lucrative television contracts and innovations in the filming and broadcasting of games expanded pro football's audiences. An authoritarian old guard, best represented by the revered Vince Lombardi, began to give way as star players like Joe Namath commanded new levels of pay and power. And at last, all teams fielded African American players, belatedly beginning the correction of the sport's greatest wrong.

Virgin’s Richard Branson, Zappos’ Tony Hsieh, and Tesla’s Elon Musk, apart from their obvious success, all share another thing in common. Each utilizes storytelling to maximize their effectiveness as leaders. Many of the most influential leaders of our and all time, including arguably the most influential leader in history, used storytelling whenever they had a particularly important point to make. Encouraged by these influences, a father who was a known storyteller and a Nigerian priest who used stories to bridge a language barrier, author, and successful businessperson, Phillip Kane used stories each Friday throughout his career to help business associates relate to key issues facing the organizations he had the privilege to lead. These weekly letters had less to do with what was going on in the business than how people thought about what was going on in the business. By helping shift and align his teams’ point of view, Kane and the teams he led were able to accomplish more and win more often. All because of the stories he told. Many of them are assembled here in one place for the first time. Organized around key themes like encouragement, trust, and gratitude, Kane also provides additional insights for existing or aspiring leaders looking for a different, better way to appeal to those who should be following them. Featured twice in Kouzes’ & Posner’s, The Leadership Challenge (Wiley), first-time author, Phillip Kane’s storytelling technique and the leadership lessons he imparts are key for any leader seeking to create winning teams built on a fundamental foundation of caring and service to others.