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A Few Seconds Of Panic
''A Few Seconds of Panic'' is a nonfiction first-person narrative by Stefan Fatsis, published in 2008. The book chronicles Fatsis, a professional 43-year-old sportswriter working for ''The Wall Street Journal'', and his attempt to play in the National Football League. Along the way, he relates the personal stories and struggles that professional football players face in the league. After some setbacks, Fatsis eventually finds some success as a backup placekicker for the Denver Broncos. The book's title comes from Jason Elam's description of being a kicker as "hours and hours of boredom surrounded by a few seconds of panic." ''A Few Seconds of Panic'' has been compared to George Plimpton's ''Paper Lion'', a 1966 book wherein the author joins the Detroit Lions as a backup quarterback. Featured persons Kickers * Jason Elam * Paul Ernster * Tyler Fredrickson * Micah Knorr * Todd Sauerbrun Other players * P. J. Alexander * Jay Cutler (American football), Jay Cutler * Preston P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stefan Fatsis
Stefan Fatsis (; born April 1, 1963) is an author and journalist. He regularly appears as a guest on National Public Radio's ''All Things Considered'' daily radio news program and as a panelist on Slate's sports podcast '' Hang Up and Listen''. He is a former staff reporter for ''The Wall Street Journal''. Biography Fatsis grew up in Pelham, New York. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1985 with a degree in American Civilization. He was a staff writer for the ''Daily Pennsylvanian'' as an undergraduate. From 1985 to 1994 he was a reporter for The Associated Press in Athens, Greece; Philadelphia; Boston and New York. He wrote about sports for ''The Wall Street Journal'' from 1995 to 2006. He is the author of three books: ''Wild and Outside: How a Renegade Minor League Revived the Spirit of Baseball in America's Heartland'' (1995); '' Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players'' (2001), about the subculture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jake Plummer
Jason Steven "Jake" Plummer (born December 19, 1974) is a former professional American football player, a quarterback for ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft, and spent his first six seasons with the Cardinals and the last four with the Denver Broncos. Plummer played college football at Arizona State University. Since retiring from the field, he made career transitionto mushroom farmer aMyCOLove Farmin Fort Lupton, Colorado. In addition, he launcheUMBO a functional mushroom supplement company alongside Former UFC Champion Rashad Evans. His nickname, "Jake The Snake", was given to him as a tribute to professional wrestler, Jake "the Snake" Roberts. Coincidentally, Roberts adopted his nickname as a tribute to his favorite NFL player, former Oakland Raiders quarterback Ken Stabler, who was nicknamed "Snake." Early years Born in Boise, Idaho in 1974, Plummer and his two older brothers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2008 Non-fiction Books
8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the form , being an integer greater than 1. * the first number which is neither prime nor semiprime. * the base of the octal number system, which is mostly used with computers. In octal, one digit represents three bits. In modern computers, a byte is a grouping of eight bits, also called an octet. * a Fibonacci number, being plus . The next Fibonacci number is . 8 is the only positive Fibonacci number, aside from 1, that is a perfect cube. * the only nonzero perfect power that is one less than another perfect power, by Mihăilescu's Theorem. * the order of the smallest non-abelian group all of whose subgroups are normal. * the dimension of the octonions and is the highest possible dimension of a normed division algebra. * the first numb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Footnotes
A note is a string of text placed at the bottom of a page in a book or document or at the end of a chapter, volume, or the whole text. The note can provide an author's comments on the main text or citations of a reference work in support of the text. Footnotes are notes at the foot of the page while endnotes are collected under a separate heading at the end of a chapter, volume, or entire work. Unlike footnotes, endnotes have the advantage of not affecting the layout of the main text, but may cause inconvenience to readers who have to move back and forth between the main text and the endnotes. In some editions of the Bible, notes are placed in a narrow column in the middle of each page between two columns of biblical text. Numbering and symbols In English, a footnote or endnote is normally flagged by a superscripted number immediately following that portion of the text the note references, each such footnote being numbered sequentially. Occasionally, a number between brack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Word Freak (book)
''Word Freak'' is a non-fiction narrative by Stefan Fatsis published in 2001 (). The book is subtitled ''Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive SCRABBLE Players''. Fatsis, a sports reporter for ''The Wall Street Journal'', introduces the reader to the world of competitive Scrabble through a narrative of his slow transformation from "a good living room player" into a player ranked as expert by the National Scrabble Association. Fatsis's humorous approach and descriptions of fellow competitive Scrabble players are interspersed with game strategies as the reader follows his ascent through the ranks of tournament players. The book also covers the history of the game, how tournaments are run, and the background politics of the Scrabble scene. ''Word Freak'' is a ''New York Times'' Bestseller and ''New York Times'' Notable Book. A 10th anniversary paperback edition of Word Freak came out in August 2011. The new edition (18th printing) includes a new 3 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice. It is also known for its annual swimsuit issue, which has been published since 1964, and has spawned other complementary media works and products. Owned until 2018 by Time Inc., it was sold to Authentic Brands Group (ABG) following the sale of Time Inc. to Meredith Corporation. The Arena Group (formerly theMaven, Inc.) was subsequently awarded a 10-year license to operate the ''Sports Illustrated''-branded editorial operations, while ABG licenses the brand for other non-editorial ventures and products. History Establishment There were two magazines named ''Sports Illustrated'' before the current magazine was launched on August 9, 1954. In 1936, Stuart Scheftel created ''Sports Illustrated'' with a target market of sportsmen. He publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. The NL and AL were formed in 1876 and 1901, respectively. Beginning in 1903, the two leagues signed the National Agreement and cooperated but remained legally separate entities until 2000, when they merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball. MLB is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. It is also included as one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. Baseball's first all-professional team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings, was founded in 1869. Before that, some teams had secretly paid certain players. The first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one te ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Toronto Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games primarily at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto. The name "Blue Jays" originates from the bird of the same name, and blue is also the traditional colour of Toronto's collegiate and professional sports teams including the Maple Leafs (ice hockey) and the Argonauts (Canadian football). In 1976, out of the over 4,000 suggestions, 154 people selected the name "Blue Jays." In addition, the team was originally owned by the Labatt Brewing Company, makers of the popular beer Labatt Blue. Colloquially nicknamed the "Jays", the team's official colours are royal blue, navy blue, red, and white. An expansion franchise, the club was founded in Toronto in 1977. Originally based at Exhibition Stadium, the team began playing its home games at SkyDome ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tom Verducci
Thomas Verducci (born October 23, 1960) is an American sportswriter who writes for ''Sports Illustrated'' and its online magazine SI.com. He writes primarily about baseball. He is also a reporter and commentator for Fox Major League Baseball and MLB Network. Early life and education Verducci was born in East Orange, New Jersey, and raised in Glen Ridge. He attended Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, New Jersey, and then went to Penn State, graduating with a B.A. in journalism, where he was a reporter for ''The Daily Collegian'' and appeared in the first edition of ''The Weekly Collegian''. On July 12, 2016, Verducci revealed he was a Mets fan growing up. Writing career After a one-year stint at ''Florida Today'', Verducci moved to ''New York Newsday'' in 1983, becoming a columnist in 1990. He began writing for ''Sports Illustrated'' in 1993. In 2005, while writing for ''Sports Illustrated'', Verducci briefly joined the Toronto Blue Jays as an outfielder for spring training. He is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Woodside
Paul Woodside (born September 2, 1963) is an American football placekicker who played college football at West Virginia University where he earned first-team All-America honors and set numerous placekicking and scoring records. In 2008, Woodside was featured in the book ''A Few Seconds of Panic'' by Stefan Fatsis. Early life Woodside attended Falls Church High School in Falls Church, Virginia, graduating in 1981. He practiced "soccer-style" kicking in high school. As a young boy, Woodside spoke with a severe stutter. Collegiate career Woodside enrolled at West Virginia University and joined the football team as a walk-on placekicker in 1981. As a four-year letter winner for the football team, Woodside established himself as one of the best placekickers in the nation and the finest in West Virginia University's history. He was known for his many eccentricities, including drawing patterns on his shoes with a magic marker, constant activity on the sideline during games, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Shanahan
Michael Edward Shanahan (born August 24, 1952) is a former American football coach, best known as the head coach of the Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 2008. During his fourteen seasons with the Broncos, he led the team to two consecutive Super Bowl victories in XXXII and XXXIII, including the franchise's first NFL title in the former. His head coaching career spanned a total of twenty seasons and also included stints with the Los Angeles Raiders and Washington Redskins. He is the father of San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan. Early career Shanahan played high school football at East Leyden High School, Franklin Park, Illinois, where he played wishbone quarterback for coach Jack Leese's 1968 and 1969 Eagles teams. Shanahan held the single-game rushing record of 260 yards on 15 carries (which was set in a 32–8 win over Hinsdale South on September 20, 1969) until it was broken in 1976 by Dennis Cascio. He graduated from high school in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
