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Editorial Review Product Description
Athletes who know how to win are rare. These visceral, inventive geniuses and cool magicians somehow find a way to pull it out and engineer most of the upsets, comebacks, and miracle endings that break the hearts of those who come up short or flop. Then there are the numerous good-but-not-great individuals or teams who step up for one clutch moment, game, or match, play over their heads, and win the day on a combination of guts and skill.
Readers love learning about the all-pro quarterback whose offbeat comment in the huddle led his team to a last-second Super Bowl triumph; and two great horses who battled head-to-head on all three legs of a Triple Crown only one of them could win; an Olympic swimmer who sacrificed his spot in a race so that a teammate could win a gold medal; a pitcher who never played in the big leagues again after losing a World Series game on the only hit he gave up; a 45-year-old coach who had never played in the goal and prevailed in a Stanley Cup game; and the American wrestler who did the impossible and won an Olympic gold medal by upsetting an opponent who was considered unbeatable. And that’s only six of the eighty-four exciting stories.
This is a book to pick up when you have a few minutes or more, dip into, and have fun. You’ll then want to read more stories right away, or look forward to the next time. Over half of the stories won’t be immediately familiar to most readers, although many will stimulate pleasant recollections. The vignettes covering the more celebrated events contain surprising data and fresh observations, and will make even the most knowledgeable readers smile.
Guts In the Clutch: 77 Legendary Triumphs, Heartbreaks, and Wild Finishes is full in scope and loaded with fascinating anecdotes. This unexampled book includes
a range of remarkable stories from 12 sports: Football, Basketball, Baseball, Hockey, Track and Field, Golf, Boxing, Thoroughbred Racing, plus an assortment of rare vignettes from several other sports, including Swimming, College and Olympic Wrestling, Soccer, and Gymnastics.
A book about legends must include the Boston Celtics, New York Yankees, and Montreal Canadiens sports dynasties along with the struggles of their perennial victims: Lakers (until 1985), Red Sox (until 2004), and Bruins (still waiting). Two other storied runs, UCLA basketball and thoroughbred racing’s Calumet Farm, will also trigger memories and deliver fresh insights.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Richard Noyes was formerly Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Engineering Study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He now creates innovative products and services for public and private sector organizations.
Pamela Robertson has held executive positions in several Fortune companies. She also led a marketing management consultancy that delivered strategic direction, product and service development, integrated marketing, and branding to organizations nationwide. Robertson is currently a marketing leader at Experian, the global solutions organization.
Pamela and Richard come from extended families of sports enthusiasts. They also belong to a wide-ranging network of sports fanatics. The unified posse helped craft most of the stories. In fact, members attended many of the contests we write about. We hope that our readers have as much fun with Guts in the Clutch as we had researching and writing it.
Foreword by Drew Olson of ESPN Radio and past president of the Baseball Writers Association of America. Praise from David Houle, Emmy and Peabody-Award-winning producer of documentaries on Hank Aaron (Academy Award nominee) and the Harlem Globetrotters: "The best compilation of fascinating sports stories I have read."
... Read more Customer Reviews (9) 
A great holiday gift!
(disclosure: I read this book in galley form and reviewed it).
Since it's rainy and glunky in Chicago these days (it's a seasonal thing), I picked up "Guts in the Clutch" for a second read last Saturday and I have to admit that it was even better than the first go-through.I had been blown away by Richard and Pamela's attention to detail and the nuance of so many moments in sports, but this second read revealed things I'd either missed the first time, or perhaps not made the time to contemplate.
Ultimately, this book isn't only about sports but about people and how they experience challenges.The seemingly endless number of vignettes read like little adventures.
I'm biased because i know the authors and I liked the book the first time around.I liked it even more the second time, and it occurred to me that it would make a great gift this holiday season.I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Wonderful and Inspiring
"Guts in the Clutch" is filled with stories that make you want to cheer even louder for any player or coach who has the strength and determination it takes to become legenadary in sports.A wonderful read for an avid sports fan or great inspiration for anyone looking for motivation to achieve their own personal best.Entertaining and thoroughly researched, this book uniquely tells the "stories behing the stories" of many of sports greatest legends.
A Sports Book for Everyone
I had the good fortune to read a copy of this book in manuscript form more than a year ago.It was good then and the authors have made it even better since then.Simply put this is a sports book for everyone!
This is a book for the sports follower who likes the highlights: the top ten plays, the day's highlights, the championship game, the MVP moments and basically the top performances.More importantly this is a book about the human condition of sports and about the triumph of individuals in pressure situations.Even the non-sports fan can be roused emotionally by those unique moments in sports when sports is transcended and the extreme emotional highlights of humanity come to the fore.It is often in sports that the heroic, the triumphant, the inspirational performance and the transcendent moment of the human spirit is there for all of us to see. "Guts in the Clutch captures the top 77 such moments in one place.
If you are a sports fan, or just a human looking for inspiration, this book is a most worthy investment.In three words:Buy this book!
David Houle
Great Gift Book
I enjoyed Guts in the Clutch very much.It would make a great gift for Father's Day or a birthday.You can read about one athlete's achievemnents, put it down, and pick it up again later.The author's write in such a way that they draw you right in each time and keep your interest throughout.
Gut Pleasing
Guts in the Clutch is a unique look at famous, and not so famous, sports legends. Noyes and Robertson flawlessly recreate the drama, the tension and the magic of these one-of-a-kind moments. But it's not all compelling sports stories - there's plenty of human interest fun, too. I'm still laughing at the Jack Dempsey quote, "Honey, I forgot to duck" after he lost the heavyweight championship fight to Tunney in 1926. I'm definitely adding that to my one-liner repertoire. Thanks guys, for the enjoyable book.
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