Title: The League: How Five Rivals Created the NFL and Launched a Sports Empire [Nov 15, 2018] Eisenberg, John
Publisher: Basic Books
Publication Date: 2018
Language: English
ISBN 10: 0465048706
ISBN 13: 9780465048700
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: As New

About this title

Synopsis

Today, the NFL is the world's most popular sports league, a towering, distinctly American colossus spewing out $10 billion in annual revenues. Given its current dominance, most fans could never imagine professional football's dismal early years, or how five men of varied backgrounds and talents managed to keep the sport alive. The rise of the NFL is one of the most improbable tales in sports, and in The League, John Eisenberg gives us this story in all of its drama and color.

Rooney, Halas, Mara, Marshall, and Bell-their names are enshrined in Canton and in the minds of fans across the country. When they started out, however, they were gamblers, bookies, and prodigal sons. And when they came together in the 1920s to create a new league, they faced the kind of long odds only a horseplayer could love. At the time, America's sports fans cared more about baseball, college football, horse racing, and boxing. Pro football was widely ignored, even mocked as only slightly more serious than the circus. The Great Depression and rival leagues almost put the fledgling enterprise out of business. Through it all, Rooney and company expanded, devising new ways of bringing fans to the sport as well as new tactics on the field. Finally, in the 1950s, with the advent of TV and the creation of the wildly entertaining spread attack, the game truly arrived.

Taking us from the smoke-filled rooms where the founders plotted their rise to the dirt fields on which their game first flourished, Eisenberg shows that the league survived only because each man brought to it a particular skill. Marshall had a nose for business, Halas the innovative football mind, Rooney the gambler's eye for the main chance, Mara the chutzpah, and Bell the managerial talent. Together they did it all-finding the stadiums and the crowds to fill them, coaching the teams (and even taking the field in a pinch), marketing their product, even while squabbling among themselves, over matters of profit and prestige. At once a history of a sport and a great American success story, The League is an absolute must-read for any fan of the true national pastime.

About the Author

John Eisenberg is the author of nine previous books, including That First Season and Ten-Gallon War, and a former sportswriter for the Baltimore Sun. He also has written for Sports Illustrated and Smithsonian Magazine. Eisenberg lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

I am an amateur bookseller, with a personal interest in military and local history, specifically Essex. My stock varies considerably

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Gonkerbooks
United Kingdom

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer you can withdraw from the contract in accordance with the following. Consumer means any natural person who is acting for purposes which are outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

Information regarding the right of withdrawal

Statutory right to withdraw

You have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason.

The withdrawal period will expire after 14 days from the day on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires, physical possession of the last good or the last lot or piece.

To exercise the right of withdrawal, electronically fill in and submit a clear statement on our website, under "My Purchases" in "My Account". We will communicate to you an acknowledgement of receipt of such a withdrawal on a durable medium (e.g. by e-mail) without delay.

To meet the withdrawal deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your exercise of the right of withdrawal before the withdrawal period has expired.

Effects of withdrawal

If you withdraw from this contract, we will reimburse to you all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (except for the supplementary costs arising if you chose a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us).

We may make a deduction from the reimbursement for loss in value of any goods supplied, if the loss is the result of unnecessary handling by you.

We will make the reimbursement without undue delay, and not later than 14 days after the day on which we are informed about your decision to withdraw from this contract.

We will make the reimbursement using the same means of payment as you used for the initial transaction, unless you have expressly agreed otherwise; in any event, you will not incur any fees as a result of such reimbursement.

We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back, or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.

You shall send back the goods or hand them over to Gonkerbooks, Earls Colne, Essex, United Kingdom, without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days from the day on which you communicate your withdrawal from this contract to us. The deadline is met if you send back the goods before the period of 14 days has expired. You will have to bear the direct cost of returning the goods. You are only liable for any diminished value of the goods resulting from the handling other than what is necessary to establish the nature, characteristics and functioning of the goods.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

The right of withdrawal does not apply to:

The delivery of newspapers, journals or magazines with the exception of subscription contracts; and
The supply of digital content which is not supplied on a tangible medium (e.g. on a CD or DVD) if you accepted when you placed your order that we could start to deliver it, and that you could not withdraw once delivery had started.

Shipping Terms

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.

Shipping rates from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Order quantity	14 to 45 business days	5 to 10 business days
First item	� 10.00	� 20.00

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.