Upon further review : the greatest what-ifs in sports history /
Upon further review : the greatest what-ifs in sports history /
[edited by] Mike Pesca.
- First edition.
- x, 308 pages ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-289) and index.
Foreword / Introduction / What if Muhammad Ali had gotten his draft deferment? / What if football had been deemed too boring in 1899? / What if the United States had boycotted Hitler's Olympics? / What if the 2017 Golden State Warriors traveled through time to play the greatest teams in NBA history? / What if horse racing was still the most popular sport in America? / What if I hadn't written that fan letter to Dan Majerle in April 1993? / What if Wayne Gretzky hadn't been an Oiler? / What if Major League Baseball had started testing for steroids in 1991? / What if Bucky Dent hadn't homered over the Green Monster in 1978? / What if Jerry Tarkanian had beaten the NCAA and liberated college basketball? / What if football were reinvented today? / What if there had always been sports PR flacks? / What if...Title IX never was? / What if Tom Brady hadn't stepped in/taken over for an injured Drew Bledsoe? / What if the 1999 U.S. Women's National Soccer Team had lost the Women's World Cup? / What if the Olympics had never dropped tug-of-war? / What if Billie Jean King had lost to Bobby Riggs? / What if Mike Tyson had beaten Buster Douglas? / What if? A tour through NBA injury history / "What if Bernard King hadn't been injured? / What if the Dodgers had left Brooklyn? / What if a blimp full of money had exploded over World Track Headquarters in 1952? / What if baseball teams only played once a week? / What if Bobby Fischer had received proper psychiatric help? / What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs? / What if the AFL-NFL merger had been complicated by the Jets' loss in Super Bowl III? / What if the National League had the DH? / What if Nixon had been good at football? / What if Bill Walton had healthy knees? / What if Roger Bannister trained today? / What if Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton's pass hadn't gone awry? / What if Game 7 of the 2016 World Series had turned into every sports movie ever made? / by Malcolm Gladwell -- by Mike Pesca -- by Leigh Montville -- by Jason Gay -- by Shira Springer -- by Ethan Sherwood Strauss -- by Peter Thomas Fornatale -- by Jesse Eisenberg -- by Katie Baker -- by Ben Lindbergh -- by Stefan Fatsis -- by Jonathan Hock -- by Nate Jackson -- by L. Jon Wertheim -- by Mary Pilon -- by Steve Kornacki -- by Louisa Thomas -- by Nate DiMeo -- by Wayne Coffey -- by Jeremy Schaap -- by Neil Paine ; by Mike Pesca -- by Robert Siegel -- by Paul Snyder -- by Will Leitch -- by Dylan Loeb McClain -- by Jon Bois -- by Michael MacCambridge -- by Rob Neyer -- by Julian E. Zelizer -- by Bob Ryan -- by Liam Boylan-Pratt -- by Claude Johnson -- by Josh Levin. with introductory notes on the topic
"From Mike Pesca, host of the popular Slate podcast The Gist, comes the greatest sports minds imagining how the world would change if a play, trade, injury, or referee's call had just gone the other way. No announcer ever proclaimed: "Up Rises Frazier!" "Havlicek commits the foul, trying to steal the ball!" or "The Giants Lose the Pennant, The Giants Lose The Pennant!" Such moments are indelibly etched upon the mind of every sports fan. Or rather, they would be, had they happened. Sports are notoriously games of inches, and when we conjure the thought of certain athletes - like Bill Buckner or Scott Norwood - we can't help but apply a mental tape measure to the highlight reels of our minds. Players, coaches, and of course fans, obsess on the play when they ask, "What if?" Upon Further Review is the first book to answer that question. Upon Further Review is a book of counterfactual sporting scenarios. In its pages the reader will find expertly reported histories, where one small event is flipped on its head, and the resulting ripples are carefully documented, the likes of... What if the U.S. Boycotted Hitler's Olympics? What if Bobby Riggs beat Billie Jean King? What if Bucky Dent popped out at the foot of the Green Monster? What if Drew Bledsoe never got hurt? Upon Further Review takes classic arguments conducted over pints in a pub and places them in the hands of dozens of writers, athletes, and historians. From turning points that every sports fan rues or celebrates, to the forgotten would-be inflection points that defined sports, Upon Further Review answers age old questions, and settles the score, even if the score bounced off the crossbar"--
9781455540365 1455540366
2017041897
Sports--Anecdotes.
Sports--Miscellanea.
Counterfactual histories.
Anecdotes.
Trivia and miscellanea.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 287-289) and index.
Foreword / Introduction / What if Muhammad Ali had gotten his draft deferment? / What if football had been deemed too boring in 1899? / What if the United States had boycotted Hitler's Olympics? / What if the 2017 Golden State Warriors traveled through time to play the greatest teams in NBA history? / What if horse racing was still the most popular sport in America? / What if I hadn't written that fan letter to Dan Majerle in April 1993? / What if Wayne Gretzky hadn't been an Oiler? / What if Major League Baseball had started testing for steroids in 1991? / What if Bucky Dent hadn't homered over the Green Monster in 1978? / What if Jerry Tarkanian had beaten the NCAA and liberated college basketball? / What if football were reinvented today? / What if there had always been sports PR flacks? / What if...Title IX never was? / What if Tom Brady hadn't stepped in/taken over for an injured Drew Bledsoe? / What if the 1999 U.S. Women's National Soccer Team had lost the Women's World Cup? / What if the Olympics had never dropped tug-of-war? / What if Billie Jean King had lost to Bobby Riggs? / What if Mike Tyson had beaten Buster Douglas? / What if? A tour through NBA injury history / "What if Bernard King hadn't been injured? / What if the Dodgers had left Brooklyn? / What if a blimp full of money had exploded over World Track Headquarters in 1952? / What if baseball teams only played once a week? / What if Bobby Fischer had received proper psychiatric help? / What if basketball rims were smaller than basketballs? / What if the AFL-NFL merger had been complicated by the Jets' loss in Super Bowl III? / What if the National League had the DH? / What if Nixon had been good at football? / What if Bill Walton had healthy knees? / What if Roger Bannister trained today? / What if Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton's pass hadn't gone awry? / What if Game 7 of the 2016 World Series had turned into every sports movie ever made? / by Malcolm Gladwell -- by Mike Pesca -- by Leigh Montville -- by Jason Gay -- by Shira Springer -- by Ethan Sherwood Strauss -- by Peter Thomas Fornatale -- by Jesse Eisenberg -- by Katie Baker -- by Ben Lindbergh -- by Stefan Fatsis -- by Jonathan Hock -- by Nate Jackson -- by L. Jon Wertheim -- by Mary Pilon -- by Steve Kornacki -- by Louisa Thomas -- by Nate DiMeo -- by Wayne Coffey -- by Jeremy Schaap -- by Neil Paine ; by Mike Pesca -- by Robert Siegel -- by Paul Snyder -- by Will Leitch -- by Dylan Loeb McClain -- by Jon Bois -- by Michael MacCambridge -- by Rob Neyer -- by Julian E. Zelizer -- by Bob Ryan -- by Liam Boylan-Pratt -- by Claude Johnson -- by Josh Levin. with introductory notes on the topic
"From Mike Pesca, host of the popular Slate podcast The Gist, comes the greatest sports minds imagining how the world would change if a play, trade, injury, or referee's call had just gone the other way. No announcer ever proclaimed: "Up Rises Frazier!" "Havlicek commits the foul, trying to steal the ball!" or "The Giants Lose the Pennant, The Giants Lose The Pennant!" Such moments are indelibly etched upon the mind of every sports fan. Or rather, they would be, had they happened. Sports are notoriously games of inches, and when we conjure the thought of certain athletes - like Bill Buckner or Scott Norwood - we can't help but apply a mental tape measure to the highlight reels of our minds. Players, coaches, and of course fans, obsess on the play when they ask, "What if?" Upon Further Review is the first book to answer that question. Upon Further Review is a book of counterfactual sporting scenarios. In its pages the reader will find expertly reported histories, where one small event is flipped on its head, and the resulting ripples are carefully documented, the likes of... What if the U.S. Boycotted Hitler's Olympics? What if Bobby Riggs beat Billie Jean King? What if Bucky Dent popped out at the foot of the Green Monster? What if Drew Bledsoe never got hurt? Upon Further Review takes classic arguments conducted over pints in a pub and places them in the hands of dozens of writers, athletes, and historians. From turning points that every sports fan rues or celebrates, to the forgotten would-be inflection points that defined sports, Upon Further Review answers age old questions, and settles the score, even if the score bounced off the crossbar"--
9781455540365 1455540366
2017041897
Sports--Anecdotes.
Sports--Miscellanea.
Counterfactual histories.
Anecdotes.
Trivia and miscellanea.