Check, Please! Book 1

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Walter Byers with Charles Hammer

Byers believes that modern-day college sports are no longer a student activity: they are a high-dollar commercial enterprise, and college athletes should have the same access to the free market as their coaches and colleges. He favors no one as he cites individual cases of corruption in NCAA history. From Byers's first enforcement case, against the University of Kentucky in 1952, to the NCAA's 1987 "death penalty" levied against Southern Methodist University of Dallas, he shows the change in the athletic environment from simple rules and personally responsible officials to convoluted, cyclopedic regulations with high-priced legal firms defending college violators against a limited NCAA enforcement system. This book is a must for anyone involved in college sports - athletes, coaches, fans, college faculty, and administrators.

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John R. Gerdy

"John R. Gerdy has seen nearly every side of athletics. He is the son of a high school football coach; he was an All-American and professional basketball player, he was a legislative assistant for the National Collegiate Athletic Association; and he served as an associate commissioner for the Southeastern Conference." "In Air Ball: American Education's Failed Experiment with Elite Athletics, Gerdy brings all of those perspectives to bear and argues that the American system of school and community athletics is broken. But he is no mere naysayer. He offers a bold, progressive blueprint for reforming athletics to meet our country's educational and public health needs."--Jacket.

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Kathy Orton

The Ivy League is a place where basketball is neither a pastime nor a profession. Instead, it is a true passion among players, coaches, and committed sports enthusiasts who share in its every success and setback. Orton weaves together the stories of coaches and players as they move from fall practice through an entire season and ahead to the NCAA tournament. --from publisher description

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story and art by Inoue Takehiko

The final Volume! With only a minute left in the game, the players of Shohoku High have closed the gap on the scoreboard with a supreme effort that has the crowd on its feet. Sannoh, the reigning champions, are still in the lead, but the game now hangs in the balance, and it isnt over until the last whistle blows. Both teams know this is ittime to lay everything on the line and no holding back, because only one team will leave the court victorious!