Böcker av Lars Anderson

WITH A FOREWORD BY COACH BRUCE ARIANSThe extraordinary behind-the-scenes story of how Coach Bruce Arians, Tom Brady, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came together to deliver one of the most improbable Super Bowl victories in NFL history.The pursuit was so shrouded in secrecy that it was referred to within the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' organization by codename: Operation Shoeless Joe Jackson. Indeed, the prospect of Tom Brady, six-time Super Bowl champion and widely-acknowledged greatest football player ever, joining the Bucs, a historically hapless franchise that hadn't made the playoffs in more than a decade, seemed about as likely as Jackson emerging out of an Iowa cornfield in the movie Field of Dreams.But come Brady did. At age forty-three, pushing the boundaries of football mortality and without Bill Belichick by his side for the first time in his NFL career, this would be the ultimate test for the ultimate football legacy. Brady's new coach, Bruce Arians, also had much to prove. One of the great offensive minds of his generation, Arians returned to coaching in 2018, at the age of 65, in search of the one achievement that had eluded him throughout his illustrious career: a Super Bowl championship. Together, like so many aged snowbirds, Brady and Arians had decamped to Florida to make the most of their remaining years.Renowned sports journalist Lars Anderson was granted extraordinary access to the inner workings of the Bucs' organization. The result is a remarkable work of sports journalism, peppered with wild inside stories and new insights into Brady, Arians, and the Bucs. From the practice facility to the team plane, from the garage where Brady treats his footballs to the huddle on gameday, Anderson captures the rhythms of perhaps the strangest NFL season ever, turned upside down by the COVID-19 pandemic. In his telling, the Bucs' quest for one glorious season in the sun becomes a riveting sports epic.

In this stunning work of narrative nonfiction, Lars Anderson recounts one of college football's greatest contests: Carlisle vs. Army, the fateful 1912 gridiron clash that had far-reaching implications both real and symbolic.The story centers on three men: Glenn "Pop” Warner, who came to the Carlisle Indian School in 1903 and saw beyond its assimilationist agenda, molding the Carlisle Indians into a football juggernaut and smashing prejudices along the way; Jim Thorpe, who arrived at Carlisle as a troubled teenager-only to become one of America's finest athletes, dazzling his opponents and gaining fans across the nation; and a hardnosed Kansan back named Dwight Eisenhower, who knew that by stopping Carlisle's amazing winning streak, he could lead the Cadets of Army to glory. But beyond recounting the tale of this momentous match, Lars Anderson reveals its broader social and historical context, offering unique perspectives on sports and culture at the dawn of the twentieth century.Filled with colorful period detail, Carlisle vs. Army gives a thrilling, authoritative account of the events of an epic afternoon whose reverberations would be felt for generations.Praise for Carslisle vs. Army:"Richly detailed and gracefully written . . . In an often overlooked football era, Anderson found a true Game of the Century.”-Sports Illustrated"[A] remarkable story . . . Carlisle vs. Army is about football the way that The Natural is about baseball.”-Jeremy Schaap, author of Cinderella Man "A great sports story, told with propulsive narrative drive . . . Anderson allows himself to get inside the heads of his characters, but as in the best sports-centered nonfiction (Hillenbrand's Seabiscuit and Frost's Greatest Game Ever Played, for example), the technique is based on solid research.”-Booklist (starred review)"A masterly tale of the gridiron.”-Neal Bascomb, author of Red Mutiny"A magnificent story that's as rich in American history as it is in sporting lore. Carlisle vs. Army is a dramatic and moving book, told with an unrelenting grace.”-Adrian Wojnarowski, author of The Miracle of St. Anthony"Gripping, inspiring coverage of three powerful forces' unforgettable convergence: the sports version of The Perfect Storm.”-Kirkus Reviews