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‘Athletes first'is a slogan the International Olympic Committee often touts, but the reality is very different, as pre-eminent Olympics expert Jules Boykoff shows in this book. While the world's attention is riveted by the triumphs and tribulations on their screens, there is much that goes on behind the scenes that is deeply troubling: athletes are increasingly voicing concerns over physical, mental, and sexual abuse, and they are collectively expressing grievances around equity and human rights. Outside the stadiums, problems range from the democratic deficit and corruption surrounding the awarding of the Games, to displacement of people and gentrification of neighbourhoods to make way for Olympic venues, to the environmental damage that Olympic construction inflicts and then tries to greenwash away. Boykoff tells us that radical steps are required if the Games are to be fixed and only then will they be truly ‘athletes first'.

In theory, esports should be inclusive regardless of gender, race, or ability – however, incidents in the world of esports indicate otherwise. This collection provides an examination of diversity and inclusion in esports as contributors offer a way for readers to understand the history, current issues, and potential impacts of diversity and inclusion in the industry. Through analyses of players, games, fans, and broadcasts, this book highlights the exponential growth of the industry alongside the burgeoning cultural importance of diversity and inclusion. Ultimately, Diversity and Inclusion in the Esports Industry contributes to an intersection of well-established research areas to draw new insights as the industry continues to evolve. Scholars of communication, media studies, game studies, and sociology will find this book of particular interest.

The'C-Suite'Executive Leader in Sport explores the challenges of this unique role within elite professional sport. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the book blends academic theory with practitioner interviews from leading figures working a range of elite sporting disciplines and organisations, enhancing understanding of the C-Suite executive within the world of elite sports, where the exploration of the role remains ambiguous and conflicted. The'C-Suite'Executive Leader in Sport studies a range of issues including global sport governance and best practice, high performance organisations, masterminding innovation and change, diversity and inclusion, current and future key challenges faced by sports organisations, C-Suite leader education and professional development, and the future of the C-Suite leader in elite sport. Examining the lived experience of C-Suite executives, contributors analyse how this relates to existing research, seeking to inform and challenge those individuals responsible for identification, recruitment and promotion of C-Suite sports industry personnel. The book's findings have far reaching implications for analysis of C-Suite effectiveness and efficiency across sporting sectors.

Chasing Perfection goes behind the scenes of the multi-million dollar, high-stakes world of basketball player development, research and analysis, and the often secretive, cutting-edge methods that NBA franchises use to turn less-expensive, supporting players into vital parts of championship teams.NBA superstars push as close to perfection as we're likely to see, but they are few and far between. The farther you get from the league's top echelon of talent, the more it's up to the players—and their teams—to develop and utilize their strengths while diminishing and masking their weaknesses as much as possible. There are no perfect basketball players, but there are plenty of perfected ones, who start with a basis of skill and physical ability and then are refined further and further in order to move closer and closer to their absolute potential.In Chasing Perfection, national sportswriter Andy Glockner reveals that, though the concept of player improvement is as old as basketball itself, the current era of Big Data analytics in the NBA is transforming that process more quickly and aggressively than anything we have seen before. Players are learning more and more about themselves through video and data visualization, seeing how things like diet and sleep can impact their performance, and learning how having healthy joints and role-specific workout plans are lengthening and improving their careers. Teams are internalizing the same lessons, as well as figuring out how to better implement optimal on-court strategies, how to refine their approaches to player acquisition and how to gauge the varying values and success rates of different, crucial team-building strategies.It's an absolutely fascinating time to be a fan, as the marriage of basketball and technology is bringing two of our most popular and competitive worlds together in compelling fashion. Using the 2014–15 NBA season as a prism to explore this mesh of sport and science, Glockner offers detailed perspective from NBA players, coaches, team management, and media, offering a comprehensive insider's view of how analytics are shaping the basketball we watch, and how those who are lagging behind in the technology race already are feeling the competitive hit.

Title from PDF title page (viewed on Sept. 10, 2009).

Thomas Hauser has been called “one of boxing's greatest writers. The Boxing Scene, Hauser's provocative new anthology, contains all of his trademark insights and candor as he peels away layers of hypocrisy to reveal the men who make up the contemporary boxing landscape. Hauser exposes the inner workings of HBO Sports; examines the phenomenon of mixed martial arts as it relates to boxing; and records the amusing encounter between his 81-year-old mother and larger-than-life boxing impresario Don King. The Boxing Scene also updates Hauser's personal and professional thoughts on superstars like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Bernard Hopkins as well as fight promoter Bob Arum, announcer Bob Sheridan and a host of others. The Boxing Scene recreates another year in professional boxing and adds to Hauser's definitive record of the sport.