Clayton Trutor examines how Atlanta’s pursuit of the big leagues invented business-as-usual in the business of professional sports.

Having skyrocketed from six to fourteen teams between 1966 and 1970, leaders of the National Hockey League had planned to wait a few more years before expanding any further. But as its rivalry with the World Hockey Association intensified, competition for markets rose, and the race for continued expansion became too urgent to ignore. Not to be outdone, the NHL introduced two new teams in 1971: one in Long Island, New York, and one in Atlanta, Georgia. For its own part, Atlanta had been watching as White residents left the city for the suburbs over the course of the 1960s. As the turn of the decade approached, city leadership was searching for ways to mitigate white flight and bring residents of the surrounding suburbs back to the city center. So when a stereotypically White sport came to the Deep South in 1971 in the form of the Atlanta Flames, ownership saw a new opportunity to appeal to White audiences. But the challenge would be selling a game that was foreign to most of Atlanta’s longtime sports fans. Filling a significant gap in scholarly literature concerning race and hockey within US history, White Ice: Race and the Making of Atlanta Hockey is a response to two simple questions: How did a cold-climate sport like hockey end up in a majority Black city in the Deep South? And why did it come when it did? Over seven chronological chapters, Thomas Aiello unpacks the history, culture, and context surrounding these questions, teasing out what the story of the Atlanta Flames can teach us about the NHL, Atlanta, race, and the business of professional sports expansion.

From award-winning Boston Herald sports columnist Steve Buckley comes Wicked Good Year, an insightful, celebratory look at Boston’s mega-successful 2007-2008 sports season, during which the Red Sox swept the World Series, the Patriots went undefeated during the regular season, and the Celtics won the NBA Championship. Wicked Good Year looks at the three teams through the eyes of the players, coaches, and team personnel and also a variety of personalities and fans, showing how these teams worked together to shed their city’s “Loserville” image and transform it into the capital of sports.

Hard-won insights on transitioning into adulthood Author, speaker, and autism advocate Jesse A. Saperstein knows a lot about living with Asperger’s. Diagnosed at the age of 14, Jesse has struggled, triumphed, flubbed, soared, educated, and inspired. Along the road to adulthood, he has learned many lessons the hard way. In this honest and engaging book, he offers a guided tour of what he’s learned about getting along with others, managing emotions, succeeding in school and work, building relationships, and more. Among his Asperger’s Rules are: Clean Up Your Own Mess (including but not limited to credit card debt, out-of-control collections, and your cesspool of a room) You Can’t Bail Out the Titanic with a Wine Glass (or change the world of online dating) Serving as a Role Model to the Next Generation of Asperger's Syndrome Navigating the challenges of college and the unrelenting storm of transition. The Road to Catastrophe is Paved with Good Intentions (understanding how others perceive you, even if they’re wrong) WIN (Work Is Necessary) You are talented enough to maintain employment even if your options are not ideal Confronting Memories of Bullying and Showing Mercy toward Yourself Heartfelt, insightful, and generous, this book will enlighten and inform readers, whether they are on the autism spectrum or not.

A warm welcome isn’t what greets the Smartuss family in their new hometown of Loserville. Trying to fit in, the family encounters shady characters in a series of avoidable and humorous misfortunes leading them to challenge their situation in a court battle. The family uncovers secret documents, finding thus a false hope of overcoming bankruptcy and ending the streak of bad luck once and for all.

How to Be a Total Loser: A Step-by-Step Guide to Failure Welcome to the ultimate anti-self-help guide! Are you tired of the endless advice on how to succeed, thrive, and reach your full potential? Ready for a refreshing, humorous, and downright hilarious take on what not to do? Then this book is for you! In How to Be a Total Loser: A Step-by-Step Guide to Failure, you’ll embark on a journey through the art of failure, exploring the best practices for flunking school, tanking your career, sabotaging relationships, wrecking your health, mismanaging your finances, ruining your social life, making terrible decisions, avoiding personal growth, and ensuring perpetual unhappiness. With wit, sarcasm, and a playful tone, this book turns conventional advice on its head, using reverse psychology to reveal the path to success by highlighting the pitfalls to avoid. Laugh out loud as you read real-life scenarios of spectacular failure, all while picking up valuable lessons on what it truly takes to live a fulfilling and prosperous life. Highlights include: Mastering the Art of Procrastination: Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Perfecting the Skill of Being Unreliable: Make sure no one can ever count on you! Ignoring All Financial Advice: Who needs budgets when you can live on the edge? Holding Grudges: Because forgiveness is overrated. Embracing a Fixed Mindset: Why grow when you can stay comfortably mediocre? But here’s the twist—How to Be a Total Loser isn’t just about embracing failure. It’s a tongue-in-cheek manual that ultimately guides you towards success by showing you what not to do. Each chapter is packed with humor, irony, and clever insights that will make you laugh and think. So, if you’re ready to turn your life around by learning from the worst possible advice, this book is your perfect companion. Discover how to avoid the common pitfalls of failure and unlock the secrets to a happier, more successful you—one hilarious misstep at a time. Grab your copy today and start your journey to success by mastering the art of being a total loser!

By the time ninth grade begins, Ishmael Leseur knows it won't be long before Barry Bagsley, the class bully, says, "Ishmael? What kind of wussy-crap name is that?" Ishmael's perfected the art of making himself virtually invisible. But all that changes when James Scobie joins the class. Unlike Ishmael, James has no sense of fear - he claims it was removed during an operation. Now nothing will stop James and Ishmael from taking on bullies, bugs and Moby Dick, in the toughest, weirdest, most embarrassingly awful - and the best - year of their lives.