All Rath wants is a quiet, peaceful life. Unfortunately, his father brings him too much trouble-and too many debts to pay-for that to ever be possible. When the local crime lord drags Rath out of bed and tells him he has three days to pay his father's latest debt, Rath doesn't know what to do. There's no way to come up with so much money in so little time.Then a friend poses an idea just ridiculous enough to work: enter the Tournament of Losers, where every seventy-five years, peasants compete for the chance to marry into the noble and royal houses. All competitors are given a stipend to live on for the duration of the tournament-funds enough to cover his father's debt.All he has to do is win the first few rounds, collect his stipend, and then it's back to trying to live a quiet life...

Global popular culture and big business have revolutionised the East in a generation. Football, Sport of the masses and now commercial super power, has travelled with this tide of change in the East in its own right. The development of football as a major participatory sport in Japan, Korea and China makes it an ideal case study for analysis of the complex relationship between sport, culture, society and economy in the East. Football is also a useful entry point for examination of the phenomena of increasing globalisation, and this theme is widely discussed. This broad ranging collection of essays includes: - Social change and national identity - Women's football and gender traditions - Finance and investment in football - The development of professional football - Football and the media - Football Fans, 'hooligans' and soccer supporter culture

“From Six-on-Six to Full Court Press is a complete history of Iowa women’s high school, college, and recreational basketball. Beran’s exhaustive research . . . covers legendary players and coaches, changes in rules, stats on Iowa girls’ high school records, alterations in playing styles and uniforms, along with the heart-stopping excitement of the state tournament.”—Hoop Source

'In the Handbook on the Economics of Women in Sports, Leeds and Leeds put together an impressive list of heavy hitters in the sociology and economics literature on sports to produce a tour de force volume. The entire spectrum of international perspectives is covered, from US, Korean, and Australian sports to world competition at the highest level of the Olympics and international championships. Whether your interest is attendance at women's events, performance and rewards in women's pro sports, gender issues in US college sports, or international performance and how women compete, this handbook is a must read for any serious fan, and for all serious scholars interested in the impacts of being female on sports performance and competitiveness.' Rodney Fort, University of Michigan, US 'Leeds and Leeds have filled a gaping hole in sports economics with this revealing collection of essays. The economics of women in sports has been too long neglected. By covering everything from women as sports spectators, to women as participants in individual and team sports at the collegiate and professional levels, to women's sports internationally, Title IX, and women's differential response to incentives, this volume not only demonstrates that there is much fertile ground to be studied, but also that the subject matter is both interesting and important.' Andrew Zimbalist, Smith College, US Women's sports have received much less attention from economists than from other social scientists. This Handbook fills that gap with a comprehensive economic analysis of women's sports. It also analyzes how the behavior and treatment of female athletes reflect broad economic forces. Contributors to this volume use current theoretical models and econometric tools to examine the legal, social, and economic forces that affect the experiences of female athletes. They address such traditional topics as discrimination against female athletes and coaches and the effect of athletic events on the economies of host countries. They also apply theory and estimation to new settings, such as how women respond to tournaments in skiing and figure skating or how the growing dominance of Korean women on the LPGA tour is a form of immigration. This groundbreaking book is a valuable resource for professors, students, and researchers in sports economics, sports management, and women's studies.

How do you design a video game that people love to play? In this practical guide, game designer Tynan Sylvester shows you how to create emotionally charged experiences through the right combination of game mechanics, fictional wrapping, and story. You’ll learn design principles and practices used by top studios, backed by examples from today’s most popular games. This book also takes you through the day-to-day process necessary to keep your project on track: when to build and when to test, how to work with a team, and how to avoid creative dead ends. Explore topics such as: Integration: thread fictional elements and games rules together into a single system of meaning Emergence: generate plot, character, and theme in response to a player’s decisions Compulsion: understand the difference between motivating players and fulfilling them, and how to do each Elegance: maximize a game’s emotional power and variety of play experiences while minimizing the burden on players—and your team Iteration: plan, test, and analyze your design in stages instead of trying to decide everything up front