Buried in the Sky: The Extraordinary Story of the Sherpa Climbers on K2's Deadliest Day

When Edmund Hillary first conquered Mt. Everest, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay was at his side. Indeed, for as long as Westerners have been climbing the Himalaya, Sherpas have been the unsung heroes in the background. In August 2008, when eleven climbers lost their lives on K2, the world's most dangerous peak, two Sherpas survived. They had emerged from poverty and political turmoil to become two of the most skillful mountaineers on earth. Based on unprecedented access and interviews, Buried in the Sky reveals their astonishing story for the first time. Peter Zuckerman and Amanda Padoan explore the intersecting lives of Chhiring Dorje Sherpa and Pasang Lama, following them from their villages high in the Himalaya to the slums of Kathmandu, across the glaciers of Pakistan to K2 Base Camp. When disaster strikes in the Death Zone, Chhiring finds Pasang stranded on an ice wall, without an axe, waiting to die. The rescue that follows has become the stuff of mountaineering legend. At once a gripping, white-knuckled adventure and a rich exploration of Sherpa customs and culture, Buried in the Sky re-creates one of the most dramatic catastrophes in alpine history from a fascinating new perspective.

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The Smart Guide to Bridge

Twenty million people in North America play bridge. If you are not one of them, you are missing out on the world's most popular card game. But that's not all. Bridge is a social game and a thinking game. It's a great way to keep your mind sharp. It's great mental exercise to follow the cards, count your points and plan your strategies. It's easy to learn the basics, but when you discover the endless variety of bridge - every hand you pick up is a new adventure - you will want to know more. You will learn that there are different ways to communicate with your partner in the bids that you make. You will learn new and exciting ways to manipulate the cards to come out on top. This book is designed to help you at all stages of your development - teaching you from scratch but adding the extra touches that will help you become a good player. It's all there: the mechanics of play, how to bid, how to relate to your partner, how to take those all-important tricks that make you a successful player. You will learn when to be aggressive and when to rein in your enthusiasm. To be sure, bridge can be a challenging game. This book will help you get the most out of the most fascinating card game ever. Don't wait - get started today.

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A Warrior's Heart: The True Story of Life Before and Beyond the Fighter

With the success of the critically-acclaimed, Academy Award-winning film "The Fighter," the world stood up and cheered for the inspiring true story of Micky Ward--a heart-and-soul warrior who overcame the odds to make history in the ring. But that was only part of the tale... Now, in his own words, "Irish" Micky Ward tells his inspirational life story as only he can. From his first bout at the age of seven, Micky Ward was known first and foremost for giving as good as he got, and for leaving absolutely everything he had in the ring. When he fought, quitting was never an option. It was that indomitable spirit that would allow him to survive, battle against, and overcome the harsh realities that he faced every day of his life. For it was outside the ring that Ward's heart would be most needed, from witnessing his idolized older half-brother Dicky fall from grace, to dealing with his wildly dysfunctional--if frighteningly loyal--family, to the darkest of secrets that he has never revealed until now, and the numerous setbacks and defeats that would have stopped a lesser man. Micky Ward has remained a fighter, through and through--both as a professional boxer, and as a man who finally found his greatest strength in friendship, family, and faith in himself From the rough streets of Lowell, Massachusetts, to the blood and sweat of the international fight game, to the bright lights and adulation of Hollywood, this is the rousing, moving, tragic, and humorous story of the one and only Micky Ward.


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Tainted Glory: Marshall University, the NCAA, and One Man's Fight for Justice

In 1997, Dave Ridpath walked onto the campus of Marshall University as a sports-loving athletic administrator with a career on the rise. Less than five years later, Ridpath's quest to reform one of the most corrupt athletic departments in college sports, while simultaneously standing up to the behemoth governing body that is the NCAA, had all but destroyed that career. While serving as assistant athletic director for compliance and student services at Marshall University from 1997 through 2001, Ridpath unearthed violations of several NCAA rules. These violations included overt academic fraud and impermissible, booster-devised employment for members of the Marshall University football team-a team had taken the nation by storm because of its incredible success on the field. Ridpath now chronicles his experiences through this trying time in Tainted Glory: Marshall University, the NCAA, and One Man's Fight for Justice. Instead of being hailed as a conquering hero determined to clean up an outlaw program, Ridpath had the tables turned on him. He found himself out of a job when Marshall University and the NCAA determined that the path of least resistance would be to remove him rather than address the issues head-on. With this action, they hoped to avoid damaging the university, the athletic department, and the NCAA overall. This story is about more than the NCAA or Marshall University. It is about the state of the business of intercollegiate athletics told by someone on the inside who lived it-the good and the bad.

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The Best American Sports Writing 2012

The Best American Sports Writing" brings together the finest writing on sports to appear in the past year. Culled from over 350 publications, this collection captures the world of sports in all its drama, humanity, and excitement.

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