The Rebel League - The Short and Unruly Life of the World Hockey Association

?Alan Bass does an incredible job of going through the era and describing these vital events that changed the game.?
?EDWARD FRASER, THE HOCKEY NEWS

?To the degree that expansion has changed the league since 1967, it?s surprising that no one?s gone in-depth to see what faced the NHL?s six newest teams. Bass does, and gives any hockey history nut their fix!?
?BRYAN THIEL, HOCKEY54.COM

?Alan Bass has captured the history of the biggest turning point in NHL history ? Bass brings both the highlights on the ice and all the important maneuvers behind the scenes to fans, including what happened and why. Full of in-depth analysis and interesting and never before heard stories, this book is a must for any hockey fan.?
?BRAD KURTZBERG, AUTHOR OF SHORTHANDED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE SEALS

?Alan Bass has produced a well researched and thoughtful look back at the NHL?s original ?expansion? ? this book is a must for all those interested in the history of pro hockey in North America.?
?BRUCE ?SCOOP? COOPER, HOCKEY HISTORIAN, AUTHOR, AND BROADCASTER

It was March 1965 when Clarence Campbell, president of the National Hockey League, emerged from a long board meeting and announced that the NHL would double in size beginning with the 1967-68 season. Fans loyal to the ?Original Six? were furious. Owners were irate. In The Great Expansion: The Ultimate Risk that Changed the NHL Forever, hockey expert Alan Bass profiles the power brokers and provides an in-depth study of the decision and its revolutionary impact on the game.

Bass, a former hockey player and freelance sports writer, relies on thorough research, interviews, and first-person accounts in order to reach into the past and uncover the mystery of a behind-closed-doors decision that seemed improbable at the time. As he profiles the powerful owners, media moguls, and die-hard sportsmen involved in the politics and backroom dealings, Bass shares a never-before-seen glimpse into how the decision forever impacted professional hockey in North America.

The Great Expansion: The Ultimate Risk that Changed the NHL Forever is not only an important documentation of Clarence Campbell?s bold move of doubling the number of NHL franchises, but also provides an unforgettable look back into the history of pro hockey in North America.

No player in the history of baseball has left such an indelible mark on the game as San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. In his twenty-year career, Bonds has amassed an unprecedented seven MVP awards, eight Gold Gloves, and more than seven hundred home runs, an impressive assortment of feats that has earned him consideration as one of the greatest players the game has ever seen. Equally deserved, however, is his reputation as an insufferable braggart, whose mythical home runs are rivaled only by his legendary ego. From his staggering ability and fabled pedigree (father Bobby played outfield for the Giants; cousin Reggie Jackson and godfather Willie Mays are both Hall of Famers) to his well-documented run-ins with teammates and the persistent allegations of steroid use, Bonds inspires a like amount of passion from both sides of the fence. For many, Bonds belongs beside Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron in baseball's holy trinity; for others, he embodies all that is wrong with the modern athlete: aloof; arrogant; alienated.

In Love Me, Hate Me, author Jeff Pearlman offers a searing and insightful look into one of the most divisive athletes of our time. Drawing on more than five hundred interviews -- with former and current teammates, opponents, managers, trainers, friends, and outspoken critics and unapologetic supporters alike -- Pearlman reveals, for the first time, a wonderfully nuanced portrait of a prodigiously talented and immensely flawed American icon whose controversial run at baseball immortality forever changed the way we look at our sports heroes.

Once upon a time, twenty-four grown men would play baseball together, eat together, carouse together, and brawl together. Alas, those hard-partying warriors have been replaced by GameBoy-obsessed, laptop-carrying, corporate soldiers who would rather punch a clock than a drinking buddy. But it wasn't always this way ...

In The Bad Guys Won, award-winning former Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jeff Pearlman returns to an innocent time when a city worshipped a man named Mookie and the Yankess were the second-best team in New York. So it was in 1986, when the New York Mets -- the last of baseball's live-like-rock-star teams -- won the World Series and captured the hearts (and other select body parts) of fans everywhere.

But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's won 108 regular-season games, while leaving a wide trail of wreckage in their wake -- hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the eternally cursed Boston Red Sox. With an unforgettable cast of characters -- Doc, Straw, the Kid, Nails, Mex, and manager Davey Johnson (as well as innumerable groupies) -- The Bad Guys Won immortalizes baseball's last great wild bunch of explores what could have been, what should have been, and thanks to a tragic dismantling of the club, what never was.

To hockey fans, Ray Scapinello's name and face are as recognizable as any star player or coach in the NHL. Scampy, as he is affectionately known has had a long and storied career as a linesman in the NHL. His 5-foot-7 frame and 163 pounds belie his ability and endurance on the ice. When Ray retired in 2004 after 33 years in the NHL, he had officiated in 2,500 regular season matches (never missing a game), 426 playoff games, and an astounding twenty Stanley Cup final series. His untouchable statistics make him a lock to enter the Hockey Hall of Fame as an official, but even they do not do justice to the respect he has earned from officials, players, coaches, and fans alike. On and off the ice, Scampy is considered one of hockey's great personalities, a consummate professional, a chronic practical joker, and a true ambassador of the sport.