2012 National Jewish Book Award Winner JEWISH JOCKS: AN UNORTHODOX HALL OF FAME is a timeless collection of biographical musings, sociological riffs about assimilation, first-person reflections, and, above all, great writing on some of the most influential and unexpected pioneers in the world of sports. Featuring work by today's preeminent writers, these essays explore significant Jewish athletes, coaches, broadcasters, trainers, and even team owners (in the finite universe of Jewish Jocks, they count!). Contributors include some of today's most celebrated writers covering a vast assortment of topics, including David Remnick on the biggest mouth in sports, Howard Cosell; Jonathan Safran Foer on the prodigious and pugnacious Bobby Fischer; Man Booker Prize-winner Howard Jacobson writing elegantly on Marty Reisman, America's greatest ping-pong player and the sport's ultimate showman. Deborah Lipstadt examines the continuing legacy of the Munich Massacre, the fortieth anniversary of which coincided with the 2012 London Olympics. Jane Leavy reveals why Sandy Koufax agreed to attend her daughter's bat mitzvah. And we learn how Don Lerman single-handedly thrust competitive eating into the public eye with three pounds of butter and 120 jalapeño peppers. These essays are supplemented by a cover design and illustrations throughout by Mark Ulriksen. From settlement houses to stadiums and everywhere in between, JEWISH JOCKS features men and women who do not always fit the standard athletic mold. Rather, they utilized talents long prized by a people of the book (and a people of commerce) to game these games to their advantage, in turn forcing the rest of the world to either copy their methods-or be left in their dust.

Sports talk in America has evolved from small-time barroom banter into a major media smorgasbord that runs 24/7 on TV and radio. With hundreds of billions of dollars generated annually by pro and college teams in major markets nationwide, sports fans across the country are more dedicated than ever to their teams. And when it comes to sports talk—especially all-sports radio—it's all about entertainment, information, prognostication, analysis, rankings, and endless discussion. Prominent sports-media figures in each of the three target cities—Cleveland, Detroit, and Washington, D.C.—engage in this phenomenon with a compilation of sports lists sure to delight as well as stir up debate within these already-buzzing sports communities. List topics include: • What were the most lopsided trades in local sports history? • Who were the most overrated athletes to play in our town? • What local athlete had the best appearance in TV or film? • What was the most heartbreaking loss in local sports history? • What was the greatest single play in local sports history? • Who are our team's most hated rivals? • Plus dozens of “guest” lists contributed by famous local sports and entertainment celebrities. Not only does Detroit host major pro sports teams—the Lions (NFL), the Red Wings (NHL), the Tigers (MLB), and the Pistons (NBA)—the area also includes prominent college sports programs such as the University of Michigan. Detroit's fans are some of the most educated and fanatical in the country, thanks to the work of long-time commentators Mike Stone and Art Regner.

Although the study of Jewish identity has generated a growing body of work, the topic of sport has received scant attention in Jewish historiography. Emancipation through Muscles redresses this balance by analyzing the pertinence of sports to such issues as race, ethnicity, and gender in Jewish history and by examining the role of modern sport within European Jewry. The accomplishments of Jews in the intellectual arena and their notable presence among Nobel Prize recipients have often overshadowed their achievements in sports. The pursuit of sports among Jews in Europe was never a marginal phenomenon, however. In the first third of the twentieth century numerous Jewish sport organizations were founded throughout Europe, and prowess in the realm called "muscle Jewry" by the Zionists was a symbol of widespread pride among European Jews. Some Jewish teams were remarkably successful: the legendary Austrian soccer champion Hakoah Vienna was arguably the most visible Jewish presence in interwar Vienna, and many readers will be surprised to learn that outstanding soccer teams such as Ajax Amsterdam and Tottenham Hotspur are still considered "Jewish teams." The contributors to this volume, an international group of scholars from a variety of fields, explore the diverse relationships between Jews and modern sports in Europe.

This is not merely a great book. It is an important piece of chess history, because the author Hans Kmoch visited the Rubinstein Family Home in 1933 in an effort to get the great grandmaster of chess to return to active play. When Rubinstein could not be induced to return, his family who was living in dire poverty asked Kmoch for help in raising funds. The result was an ad placed asking to finance this book on a subscription basis. The result was a book entitled "Rubinstein gewinnt : Hundert Glanzpartien des grossen Schachkunstlers. Erlautert von Hans Kmoch. Biographische Einleitung von Jacques Hannak. Verlag der Wiener Schachzeitung, Wien 1933" That book was then translated into this book. It was a direct translation. All the games are the same. I have not been able to find any changes at all, although there are no doubt a few. I have just purchased the only original copy of the 1933 book Rubinstein gewinnt left that I have been able to find after months of searching. I am reprinting it as ISBN 4871875806. Akiba Rubinstein was born on 12 December 1882 in Poland. He has long been regarded as the strongest chess player in history who never became world champion. A recent trivia quiz appeared in Chess Life Magazine: Who is the player who defeated Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine the first time he played each of them. The answer was of course Akiba Rubinstein. Rubinstein won five tournaments in a row during the period 1912-1914. There is little doubt that he was the strongest player in the world at that time. Rubinstein's contribution to chess opening theory has been enormous. Almost every major chess opening has a Rubinstein Variation or a Rubinstein Defense. Think about it: There is no Fischer Defense, no Capablanca Defense. But there are many variations called the Rubinstein Defense or Variation. Only Steinitz has as many openings named after him, but the Steinitz Defenses are no longer played. Rubinstein far outlived all of his contemporaries. His family all survived the war. Rubinstein died on 5 March 1961 in Antwerp, Belgium at age 83. He was in good physical health until just before he died. So perhaps there was a method to his madness."

This is the autobiography of George Koltanowski, the greatest showman and promoter that chess has ever known. Koltanowski will be best remembered as an exhibitor, writer, promoter and showman. Possessed with an incredibly powerful memory, Koltanowski would often give exhibitions, playing several games blindfold simultaneously. Strangely, what wowed the spectators the most was not that he would win all the games, even though blindfolded, but that after the games were over, he would recite the complete moves of the games without looking at the board, something which any competent master can do. Being an exhibitor giving blindfold exhibitions is what he was best known for, but it was only one aspect of his chess career. He was also a top level player. He defeated grandmasters Flohr and Rubinstein and drew Alekhine, Fine, Kotov and Keres in tournament games.

Evonne Goolagong, Cathy Freeman, Nova Peris, Lionel Rose, Artie Beetson, Polly Farmer are just a few of our Australian sporting heroes who, since the mid-1880s, have helped shape Australia's identity as a great sporting nation. They, along with 261 other individual sporting greats, are showcased here in this new edition of the Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame. Spanning 36 sports across a period of 166 years, Black Pearls presents some of our Olympic heroes, superb sportswomen, football giants, boxing legends, lightning sprinters and more - from darts champions to world class weightlifters and woodchoppers. Black Pearls is more than a sports book. It reveals a history of inclusion and exclusion, about Aboriginal determination in the face of enormous obstacles, and resilience in overcoming remoteness, discriminatory laws, incarceration on isolated reserves, and opponents in a variety of sports arenas.

Profiles 16 notable present and past Aboriginal Australian Rules Football players, such as Nicky Winmar, Che Cockatoo Collins, Graham 'Polly' Farmer and Gavin Wanganeen. Provides information on their backgrounds, experiences, aspirations and history of involvement with Australian Rules Football. Traces Aboriginal influence on Aussie Rules football from the 1950s onwards. Includes lists of medals and awards. The contributors are sportswriters or television producers.