Playgrounds to the Pros

Playgrounds to the Pros
Author: Jeff Karzen
Publisher: University of Illinois Press
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2023-02-07
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0252053893

Howard Nathan. A. J. Guyton. Sergio McClain. Marcus Griffin. Frank Williams. Shaun Livingston. This dazzling constellation of talent helped make Peoria a prep basketball hotbed from the 1980s to the 2000s. Jeff Karzen takes readers inside the lives of the players, coaches, and others who defined an era that produced six state titles and four Illinois Mr. Basketball winners. Drawing on dozens of in-depth interviews, Karzen tells the stories behind the on-court triumphs while providing a panorama of the entire Peoria scene--the rivalries and relationships, the families and friendships, the hopes and hard work. Karzen also follows the players into their Division 1 and NBA careers and pays special attention to the pipeline that, by connecting Peoria to Champaign-Urbana, powered one of the most successful periods in Fighting Illini basketball history. Intense and intimate, Playgrounds to the Pros chronicles a basketball golden age in America’s quintessential blue collar town.

Playgrounds to the Pros

Playgrounds to the Pros
Author: Caroline Denyer Gallacci
Publisher: University of Washington Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2005
Genre: Sports
ISBN: 9780295984773

Provides an extensive overview of the sports played in the region during the last 150 years

The City Game

The City Game
Author: Pete Axthelm
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 275
Release: 2011-06-28
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 145322064X

DIVA fascinating chronicle of New York basketball, from the concrete courts of the city’s parks to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden/divDIV/divDIVThe New York Knickerbockers, one of the NBA’s charter franchises, played professionally for twenty-four years before winning their first championship in 1970, defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in a thrilling seven-game series. Those Knicks, who won again in 1973, became legends, and captivated a city that has basketball in its blood./divDIV /divDIVBut this book is more than a history of the championship Knicks. It is an exploration of what basketball means to New York—not just to the stars who compete nightly in the garden, but to the young men who spend their nights and weekends perfecting their skills on the concrete courts of the city’s parks. Basketball is a city game, and New York is the king of cities./div

Playground Day

Playground Day
Author: Jennifer Merz
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages: 41
Release: 2007-09-17
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0547533985

Intricate and charming collage illustrations crafted from torn and cut paper and found materials shine in this exuberant celebration of imagination and play. When a young girl packs her stuffed animals into her wagon and heads off to the park, she is inspired by both her toys and the playground equipment, and soon she is hiding like a squirrel, climbing like a monkey, sliding like a penguin, and so on--all relayed in catchy rhymed couplets. Each page offers clues to a friendly preschool guessing game and captures the unique pleasures of a day spent at the playground.

Sacred Playgrounds

Sacred Playgrounds
Author: Jacob Sorenson
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2021-07-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1532694628

Sacred Playgrounds explores the wisdom of camping ministry for Christian education and faith formation, examining its rich history and fundamental characteristics with compelling stories, groundbreaking research, and theological grounding. Christian summer camp is an integral part of the ecology of faith formation in North America, though it has received surprisingly little attention in the scholarly community until now. Camping ministry is often dismissed as simple fun and games or a brief spiritual high that does not last. However, camp experiences often serve as deeply relational and immersive faith experiences that have lasting impacts on participants. Five fundamental characteristics combine dynamically in the effective camp experience: participatory, faith-centered, safe space, relational, and unplugged from home. Together, they open the space for participants to consider new understandings of God, to have time for deep self-reflection, and to build intentional Christian community. These camp experiences are essential components in a larger ecology of faith formation, including the home and congregation. The insight and evidence presented in this book demonstrate that the contributions of camping ministry must be taken seriously among scholars, Christian educators, and ministry professionals.

Hoops Nation

Hoops Nation
Author: Chris Ballard
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 385
Release: 1998-03-15
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 0805048774

"Hoops Nation" is the result of former college-basketball player Chris Ballard's six-month quest to find the best pick-up games in the country. Entries from all 48 mainland states break down the key points of each game site, including level of play, number of hoops, playing surface, whether women play, average age of players, and whether night play is an option. Ballard also gives the entertaining low down on local basketball culture, lore, and etiquette. 93 photos. Line drawings.

Heaven is a Playground

Heaven is a Playground
Author: Rick Telander
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 246
Release: 1995-01-01
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 9780803294271

In 1974, Rick Telander intended to spend a few days doing a magazine piece on the court wizards of Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant. He ended up staying the entire summer, becoming part of the players' lives and eventually the coach of a loose aggregation known as the Subway Stars. Telander tells of everything he saw: the on-court flash, the off-court jargon, the late-night graffiti raids, the tireless efforts of one promoter-hustler-benefactor to get these kids a chance at a college education. He lets the kids speak for themselves, revealing their grand dreams and ambitions. But he never flinches from showing us how far their dreams are from reality. The roots of today's inner-city basketball can be traced to the world Telander presents in "Heaven is a Playground," the first book of its kind. Rick Telander is a senior writer for "Sports Illustrated" and the winner of the 1987 Notre Dame Club Award for Excellence in Sports Journalism.

Homer

Homer
Author: Jeff Karzen
Publisher:
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2012-05-13
Genre:
ISBN: 9780975270646

Earl the Pearl

Earl the Pearl
Author: Earl Monroe
Publisher: Rodale Books
Total Pages: 501
Release: 2013-04-23
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 160961562X

Earl "The Pearl" Monroe is a basketball legend whose impact on the game transcends statistics, a player known as much for his unorthodox, "playground" style of play as his championship pedigree. Observers said that watching him play was like listening to jazz, his moves resembling freefloating improvisations. "I don't know what I'm going to do with the ball," Monroe once admitted, "and if I don't know, I'm quite sure the guy guarding me doesn't know either." Traded to the New York Knicks before the 1971–72 season, Monroe became a key member of the beloved, star-studded 1972–73 Knicks team that captured the NBA title. And now, on the 40th anniversary of that championship season—the franchise's last—Monroe is finally ready to tell his remarkable story. Written with bestselling author Quincy Troupe (Miles, The Pursuit of Happyness) Earl the Pearl will retrace Monroe's life from his upbringing in a tough South Philadelphia neighborhood through his record-setting days at Winston-Salem State, to his NBA Rookie of the Year season in 1967, his tremendous years with the Baltimore Bullets and ultimately his redemptive, championship glory with the New York Knicks. The book will culminate with a revealing epilogue in which Monroe reflects on the events of the past 40 years, offers his insights into the NBA today, and his thoughts on the future of the game he loves.

Gurple and Preen

Gurple and Preen
Author: Linda Sue Park
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2020-08-25
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 153443142X

This wildly imaginative, crayon-inspired picture book shows that with a bit of teamwork and a universe of creativity, anything is possible! Buzz! Zap! CRASH! Gurple and Preen are in a big mess! When they crash-land onto an unfamiliar planet with nothing but boxes of crayons, they must work together to get the mission back on course. From Newbery Award–winning author Linda Sue Park and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi comes a story about all the best things that can come out of a box of crayons.