Profiles a diverse group of successful male and female American athletes, executives, and sports writers, and questions them about how they achieved success in their professional and personal lives. Presents the subjects' own inspirational words detailing what motivates them, what obstacles they overcame, why they love their sport, what their favorite book is, and other aspects of their lives. Features figures from football, figure skating, soccer,...

"For every athlete who uses their platform for charitable, political, and social good, there are many whose unethical or even criminal behavior sends the wrong message. What is the responsibility of athletes to their fans, to their teams, and to their leagues? And how much responsibility do we hold for holding them in such high esteem? The viewpoints in this volume explore this complicated issue"--Provided by publisher.

"More than 100 ... stories of athletes and their faith walk; ... provides short, easy-to-read entries on baseball, basketball, football, and other players, some you already know and others worth knowing. Featuring names like Kurt Warner, Mickey Mantle, Tony Dungy, David Robinson, Andy Pettitte, and many more; ... describes the trusting, rejoicing, inspiring, understanding, meditating, praising, and honoring aspects of truly victorious athletes"--Amazon.com....

Professional athletes are omnipresent in the media, feeding a demand by sports fans for news about their heroes. Some are stories of personal achievement; others are of very public failures. But why do we hold up athletes as role models? And is it part of their job? This book offers a variety of perspectives on that question, as well as extensive resources for further research.

Presents stories of athletes who showed the world that athletic excellence can come from anyone, regardless of their background.

Presents stories of athletes that have proven their excellence under difficult circumstances, and have inspired people all around the world to stay strong when the pressure is on.

"Sabrina B. Little asks whether running can be a laboratory for developing our character. She looks at the key ideas in virtue ethics--virtue, vice, exemplarism, moral emotions, and competition--and brings them into conversation with her experience in training and racing. Little pushes against the frequent conversations about ethics and sport that focus on the negative--doping and other forms of cheating or on simplistic expressions like 'no pain,...

Champions are not made on talent alone. They are set apart by courage, faith, and above all, character. Celebrate the qualities that have turned today's top athletes into true role models in this inspiring colleciton of stories on the biggest names in sports.