One of Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 Sports Books of All Time: The riveting story of the point-shaving scandal that shook college basketball to its core It was the ultimate Cinderella sports story. Unranked heading into the 1949–50 season, the City College basketball team delighted their hometown of New York City and shocked the rest of America by winning both the NCAA and NIT tournaments. An unprecedented feat that would never be duplicated, City College’s postseason grand slam was made all the more remarkable by the fact that, in an era when many premier teams were segregated, its starting lineup consisted of 3 Jewish and 2 African American athletes. With Hall of Fame coach Nat Holman and 4 of the starting 5 returning for the 1950–51 campaign, the stage was set for a thrilling title defense. Alas, it was not to be. City College’s season came to an abrupt end when 3 of its star players were arrested on charges of conspiring to fix games. The ensuing scandal, which would engulf 6 other schools and lead to the indictments of 20 players and 14 fixers, cast New York City sports under a dark cloud, derailed the careers of some of the game’s most promising young talents, and forever altered the landscape of college basketball. The basis for the award-winning HBO documentary City Dump, The Game They Played is a poignant portrait of the unforgettable moment when an unheralded team of local boys united New York City in both triumph and disgrace.

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A group biography of seven enduring and beloved games, and the story of why—and how—we play them. Checkers, backgammon, chess, and Go. Poker, Scrabble, and bridge. These seven games, ancient and modern, fascinate millions of people worldwide. In Seven Games, Oliver Roeder charts their origins and historical importance, the delightful arcana of their rules, and the ways their design makes them pleasurable. Roeder introduces thrilling competitors, such as evangelical minister Marion Tinsley, who across forty years lost only three games of checkers; Shusai, the Master, the last Go champion of imperial Japan, defending tradition against “modern rationalism”; and an IBM engineer who created a backgammon program so capable at self-learning that NASA used it on the space shuttle. He delves into the history and lore of each game: backgammon boards in ancient Egypt, the Indian origins of chess, how certain shells from a particular beach in Japan make the finest white Go stones. Beyond the cultural and personal stories, Roeder explores why games, seemingly trivial pastimes, speak so deeply to the human soul. He introduces an early philosopher of games, the aptly named Bernard Suits, and visits an Oxford cosmologist who has perfected a computer that can effectively play bridge, a game as complicated as human language itself. Throughout, Roeder tells the compelling story of how humans, pursuing scientific glory and competitive advantage, have invented AI programs better than any human player, and what that means for the games—and for us. Funny, fascinating, and profound, Seven Games is a story of obsession, psychology, history, and how play makes us human.

Three boys spend their childhood together experiencing life in very similar ways. After spending two decades apart, their paths meet up again. How different things are for each of them now, some of it predictable, some good, some bad. This story is about how personal choices affect the outcome of our lives. More importantly, this story is about how some things that happen in our lives are clearly not a result of our choice but the intervention of One who cares more about the choices we make than we do.

If childhood is magic, kids have created its principal enchantment by dreaming up their own games, writing their own rules, inventing endless variations on anything fun. Bottle Cap Soldiers. Kid Crusher, Ring-a-leavio, Chinaberry War -- no one remembers the scores anymore and the rules changed as often as the players, but the strongest and best memories of childhood grow from the games we played.

It wasn't the physical pain that stayed with me, it was the emotional mind games that I still suffered from. Two years later and I still carried those scars everywhere. But then two megastar athletes walked into my life with their own kind of games, and suddenly hiding wasn't so easy. Their games made me forget my issues. Made me feel safe again. Made me laugh again. Made me trust again. Made me forget I even had a reason to hide in the first place.And with them, I ultimately agreed to the craziest game of all--a new relationship that would test friendships, boundaries, and trust.The problem was....once I let my guard down......I was found. My past intertwined with my present to complicate an already perverse situation. Despite my past, despite the obstacles, and despite the forbidden games we play..... can our new relationship find a happy ending? And if we do, will I be forced to choose between them? Neither of them? Or will I get to keep them?Both.*This is an adult sports romance designed to be fun, quirky, and lite.....with a little bit of dark sprinkled in. MFM leads and an HEA.