Every year many wrong decisions are made by Referees during football matches; as a result, teams are knocked out of Champions Leagues by fake goals – penalties are awarded to players who dive in the penalty area; offside goals are allowed and legitimate goals are ruled out as offside goals. Many nations miss out on World Cup qualifications because of red cards that were issued to their players for fouls the players had not committed; and in leagues all around the world, teams are relegated because of refereeing errors while teams that may have been relegated, remain in higher divisions. Sadly, there have been death threats made on Referees after video replays showed that they made mistakes which cost teams and nations valuable points, qualifications and trophies. And these death threats are not only irresponsible but criminal. But If Referees are humans and not angels as FIFA wants us to believe; do they need help, and can video technology be the answer? Should video replays be approved to help Referees avoid these monumental errors or should the game continue as it is without video technology or video replays? This book is one of the most unique books you ever read; rather than using words or phrases as titles of chapters as it is in almost every book you and I have read; the titles of chapters of this book are actually sentences; yes, each chapter title, is a sentence – they are sentences made by fictional commentators in four of the more popular football or soccer leagues in the world. Each title sentence covers a specific Referee decision in football. Chapter one is titled with a sentence that covers the award of a penalty to a player who dives in the penalty box. Chapter two has a sentence title that exemplifies a commentator’s reaction when a fine goal is disallowed, and chapter three’s sentence title, deals with the issue of an unwarranted second yellow card to a player whilst the title of chapter four, is: a sentence that shows a commentator’s lamentation when a player is unjustly sent off; and finally chapter five carries in its title, a sentence of a commentator describing the worst decision he has ever seen in three decades of football commentary while calling for football authorities to consider the introduction of video replays to aid Referees.

After an unfortunate accident tears Manny from a nearly perfect life, he retreats to his childhood home in South America. There, memories spring up, weaving together sport, a search for forgiveness and contemporary history. The action of this short novel lies not only on the soccer pitch but also in the mind of a narrator trying to reconcile two halves of a crosscultural life. Flashbacks smoothly draw the past into the present until Manny faces an overwhelming family secret. Fencer uses circumstances and setting to explore the idea of grace in a game, and in life, when debts are too great to be paid.

The Gory Stories Behind The Murder Ballads Cheerfully vulgar, revelling in gore, and always with an eye on the main chance, murder ballads are tabloid newspapers set to music, carrying word of the latest ‘orrible murders to an insatiable public. Victims are bludgeoned, stabbed or shot in every verse and killers often hanged, but the songs themselves never die. Instead, they mutate – morphing to suit local place names as they criss cross the Atlantic and continue to fascinate each generation’s biggest musical stars. Paul Slade traces this fascinating genre’s history through eight of its greatest songs. Stagger Lee’s “biographers” alone include Duke Ellington, James Brown, Bob Dylan, Dr John, The Clash and Nick Cave. No two tell his story in quite the same way. Covering eight classic murder ballads, including “Knoxville Girl”, “Tom Dooley” and “Frankie & Johnny”, Slade investigates the real-life murder which inspired each song and traces its musical development down the decades. Billy Bragg, The Bad Seeds’ Mick Harvey, Laura Cantrell, Rennie Sparks of The Handsome Family and a host of other leading musicians add their own insights.

One of the Best Humor Books of 2021! (Vulture) You are a HUMAN MAN navigating every day life, dating, bus etiquette, and other important human concerns. You are definitely NOT A WOLF. Life is good. You have a job, an apartment in a nice part of town, and an online dating profile that’s recently yielded as many as three matches. From the outside, it would appear you’re a human man that has all the pieces of a stable and functional life. But you also have a horrible secret. You’re not a human man at all. You're a WOLF. Based on the immensely popular Twitter account @SickOfWolves, this interactive story follows you, (who, if anyone asks, is NOT A WOLF) as you go about normal life, making choices that will either reveal your true identity or allow you to keep your cover. Each choice is crucial to your survival and, more importantly, your burgeoning graphic design career. Will you navigate water cooler gossip without arousing suspicion? Can you go on a date without bringing up how much you love ham? Or is it perhaps time to throw this human world to the wind and return to the woods from whence you came?

Corey Maduro should be thrilled about the Orioles going to the big Grand Slam Tournament. But whenever he thinks about playing, he feels sick. For one thing, he's in a monster hitting slump, which shows no signs of ending. Then there's Katelyn Moss, who thinks she deserves Corey's center field job and tries to outdo him at everything. But Corey's biggest problem is his dad, who turns into a howling, wild-eyed maniac at his son's games. Joe Maduro ridicules the other team, gets in shouting matches with parents, and screams at the umps when calls don't go the Orioles' way. It's so embarrassing Corey wants to crawl into a hole—except Katelyn would probably dig a better hole and make him feel worse. With Squeeze Play, the best-selling team behind Hothead, Super Slugger, and Wild Pitch delivers another funny and action-packed home run.