Is there anything more universally American than NFL football? Love of the NFL runs deep and broad. It is a primetime TV event on multiple national networks, subsidized by public funds and popular from Mount Rainier to Miami Beach. The 2015 Super Bowl, a thriller between the Patriots and Seahawks, was the most-watched program in the history of television, with more than a third of the country watching. Yet football is in trouble. Public anxiety over football spiked in 2014 during the heat of the Ray Rice domestic violence scandal, the ongoing concussion crisis and the league's appropriations of tax money for its own ends. The mounting problems have led some to question the ethics of watching America's beloved game. In this sharply argued, witty, observant book, Gregg Easterbrook makes a spirited case in defense of the NFL. As he shows, the league brings together Americans of all stripes, providing a rare space to talk about what matters. Indeed, the various issues we see in the league are often microcosms of the ones we see elsewhere, whether it's suspicion of the rich, or gender politics or even concern over bullying. The NFL's social, economic and legal problems are real, but they also produce some of our best and most valuable discussions of those issues. Football is a magnificent incarnation of our national character. It has many flaws, and they need fixing -- but the game's not over.

After publishing the Quebec Major Junior hockey League: from Lafleur to Lemieux and Crosby, in 2012, authors, Jean-Pierre D’Auteuil (right) and Jean-Philippe Otis (left), present The Game Is Not Over: The epic story of the most prestigious Pee wee hockey tournament in the world. The Quebec City International Pee Wee Hockey Tournament took off in 1960, when five die-hard hockey fans, led by Gérard Bolduc, decided to bring together young Pee-Wee calibre players in Quebec City. After starting out at the Aréna du Parc Victoria, the adventure continued for many years at the Colisée de Québec and currently takes place at the Centre Vidéotron. This book tells the beautiful and great story of this prestigious event, which has enabled millions of hockey fans to see the great players of yesterday and the stars of today at work: Guy Lafleur, Auston Matthews, Wayne Gretzky, Manon Rhéaume, Connor McDavid, Patrick Roy, Jonathan Quick, Nikolaj Ehlers, Brett Hull, Brendan Gallagher, Nico Hischier, Mario Lemieux, Sylvain Côté, Steven Stamkos, Thomas Chabot, Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Audy-Marches-sault, Pierre Larouche, Yanni Gourde, Réal Cloutier, Mathew Barzal et Guy Chouinard, just to name a few. While reading this book, you will also discover Gaétan Boucher, Arthur Quoquochi, Raynald Fortier, Gilles Levasseur, Benoît Parke, Jeannot Ferland, Tim Connolly, Gilles Duclos, Freddie Meyer and many others, as well as players, who are less well known today, but who have made their own mark on the history of the Quebec City International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament. Statistics, anecdotes, highlights, quotes and more than 400 photos. A real piece of anthology!

From the untimely deaths of young athletes to chronic disease among retired players, roiling debates over tackle football have profound implications for more than one million American boys—some as young as five years old—who play the sport every year. In this book, Kathleen Bachynski offers the first history of youth tackle football and debates over its safety. In the postwar United States, high school football was celebrated as a "moral" sport for young boys, one that promised and celebrated the creation of the honorable male citizen. Even so, Bachynski shows that throughout the twentieth century, coaches, sports equipment manufacturers, and even doctors were more concerned with "saving the game" than young boys' safety—even though injuries ranged from concussions and broken bones to paralysis and death. By exploring sport, masculinity, and citizenship, Bachynski uncovers the cultural priorities other than child health that made a collision sport the most popular high school game for American boys. These deep-rooted beliefs continue to shape the safety debate and the possible future of youth tackle football.

More American children recognize Super Mario, the hero of one of Nintendo’s video games, than Mickey Mouse. The Japanese company has come to earn more money than the big three computer giants or all Hollywood movie studios combined. Now Sheff tells of the Nintendo invasion–a tale of innovation and cutthroat tactics.

Helps readers to understand what matters most in life--their relationships with God and people--by using personal stories, humor, and metaphors about popular games, which show Christians how to focus on winning "the right trophies" in life.

Devin Devine's debut collection DRINKING TO SAINTHOOD is an unwavering portrayal of addiction, both the funeral and the wake. Drinking to Sainthood confronts the narrative of two addicts careening into love, the crumbling of a whiskey-brined marriage, and ultimately the loss of Devine's estranged husband to suicide. This collection is a labyrinth to Devine's sobriety, from journal entry to the hospital stay. This book is a biblical reconciliation of grief, a willingness to offer mercy, and an invocation to forgive oneself. "Drinking to Sainthood is a lifeline for those of us that have survived rock bottom and homage to those that didn't. A profound and cautious study in mourning, self-preservation, and the lengths our hearts will take us to love our kin and ourselves, no matter the cost."--Desireé Dallagiacomo, author of Sink "We aren't always ready for what we need. This collection of poems is a tire iron hidden under a blanket of apologies and wishes. It is a model for fearless writing. It is a clear reminder that it is not a total loss to be totally filled with loss."--Derrick C. Brown, author of How the Body Works in the Dark Poetry. Hybrid. LGBTQ+ Studies. Women's Studies.

Video game designer River Weston is ready to sell her soul to smooth out the glitches in her latest project. When she unwittingly taps into a parallel dimension via cutting-edge technology, a Dark Lord is quick to take her up on her inadvertent offer. Trapped in the world she thought she'd created for her game, River finds herself in a very real alternate dimension that she must escape from before her soul can be used to unleash evil--upon this dimension and many others. River's only ally is the sexy and mysterious Chase Hawkins. A prisoner of the Dark Lord, Hawk is a man adrift—literally. His body safe at home under the watchful care of the Guardians' scientists, his astral-traveling spirit has been enslaved by his people's worst enemy, the Dark Lord. Clinging desperately to his sense of self, Hawk is determined to turn the tables on his captor before the connection to his body is lost. When the beautiful, achingly familiar River enters the picture, he vows he will do everything he can to save her from her bleak fate. Drawn together with an inescapable force, Hawk and River must wrest her soul from the Dark Lord's grasp before it's too late. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.