If there was ever a place in America where a city and its baseball team were as close as family, it was Brooklyn. The legacy of this relationship comes down to us in stories of childhoods spent at Ebbets Field and in the stories of Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey, whose courage changed the face of America. Baseball in Brooklyn goes back to the beginning of the sport, when a young city embraced a new game and, like missionaries, carried it to the nation. This book tells the story of that beginning and concludes with the heart-wrenching move of the franchise to the West Coast after the 1957...

When George S. Halas was asked to rebuild the Staley Company's football club in Decatur, Illinois in 1920, nobody could have imagined that his efforts would forever change Sunday afternoons in America. Halas helped found the National Football League, and with it the Chicago Bears, the most storied franchise in the league's history. From the Galloping Ghost, to the Monsters of the Midway, to that indomitable "46" defense-the "Grabowskis" as their coach named them-Bears teams and players have made such an impact on the city of big shoulders that Chicago will be forever known as a "Bears town."

There was little fanfare when Art Mickey McBride flew into Chicago in 1945 to purchase a professional football team for Cleveland. But that act set in motion a tradition that has brought the city of Cleveland together on Sunday afternoons for (most of) the sixty years to follow. Cleveland Browns History is the story of championship seasons, legendary coaches, and Hall of Fame players. Coach Paul Brown led his teams to seven league title games in their first 17 seasons. Running backs Marion Motley, Jim Brown, and Leroy Kelley each rushed over opposing defenses and
straight into Canton,...

The Hartford Whalers began their existence in Boston as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association (WHA). The Whalers played in every season of the WHA s seven-year existence and were the league s first champions. Although their games were well attended in Boston, the upstart league was never serious competition for the powerhouse Bruins. In 1975, they moved to Hartford to play in the new Hartford Civic Center, and in 1979, along with Winnipeg, Edmonton, and Quebec, joined the National Hockey League. They moved to North Carolina following the 1997 season and won a Stanley Cup as...

From the time it was founded in 1825, Akron was a town on the move. Once known as the Rubber Capitol of the World, it brought droves of new workers to downtown and the suburban areas. With expansion came a need for entertainment, and wrestling was there for the multitudes. From the contrast of high school amateurs on mats to snarling villains and heroes in the professional ring, the sport thrived. There were the early days of traveling carnivals, with circuit-riding wrestlers who would take on all comers from the audience, to secretive fights set by shifty promoters in railroad yards with...

With a history that stretches over a century, the Michigan Ohio State rivalry is one of the oldest in college football. The two teams claim a combined 19 national championships, hundreds of All-Americans, and 10 Heisman Trophies. Each year, millions of Buckeye and Wolverine fans watch the two teams battle for an opportunity to win the Big Ten championship in a contest simply known as the Game.
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