C. J. Jones knows college basketball from the inside, first as a player, then a coach, and now as Athletics Director at Central Connecticut State University. A Method to March Madness: An Insider's Look at the Final Four draws upon C. J.'s more than three decades of experience attending the Final Four. He has seen the Final Four grow from simply a popular college championship into the international, multibillion-dollar spectacle that it is today, and A Method to March MadnesS gives C. J.'s perspective on that transformation. Many well-known college basketball insiders have contributed behind-the-scenes stories, including Jim Calhoun, Dean Smith, Lute Olson, K. C. Jones, Gail Goodrich, Ray Meyer, and Howie Dickenman, among others. Featuring a four-color photographic section of Final Four memories, this book is of interest to all sports followers, from the casual hoops fan to the true college basketball junkie.

Every March, millions of Americans have their minds fixated on one thing: the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. From bracket pools in offices worldwide to students on campuses in all corners of the nation, “March Madness” takes the country by storm. From the “First Four” to the Final Four, collegiate heavyweights such as Duke and North Carolina, Kansas and Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan, Texas and UCLA mix it up with Cinderella underdogs such as VCU, George Mason, and Penn, reminding the world that anything is possible. The magic of the tournament and the purity of the amateur game keep fans coming back year after year. From the birth of the tournament in 1939 to the most recent on-court drama, The Ultimate Book of March Madness explores the stories—both the legendary and the forgotten—behind each year’s tournament, and author Tom Hager selects the 100 greatest games from tournament history. With insight from dozens of players and coaches, this book reveals the tension, strategy, and even the behind-the-scenes humor of the tournament’s history. Featuring a unique blend of storytelling, quotes, vintage photographs, and game descriptions, The Ultimate Book of March Madness provides the average hoops fan with a deeper understanding of the history of the Final Four, while providing true fanatics with memorable and amazing stories they’ve never heard before.

Throughout the NCAA Tournament’s history, underdogs, Cinderella stories, and upsets have captured the attention and imagination of fans. Making March Madness is the story of this premiere tournament, from its early days in Kansas City, to its move to Madison Square Garden, to its surviving a point-shaving scandal in New York and taking its games to different sites across the country.Chad Carlson’s analysis places college basketball in historical context and connects it to larger issues in sport and American society, providing fresh insights on a host of topics that readers will find interesting, illuminating, and thought provoking.

More information to be announced soon on this forthcoming title from Penguin USA

Business Success Requires Strategy First In Strategy First, Brad Chase, the mind behind some of Microsoft’s largest and most successful initiatives, explains why building robust strategies is the imperative to business success. Chase leads readers through his easy-to-use strategy model, Strategy = E x mc2, which teaches readers the art of strategy—how to build and execute winning strategies relative to the competition. To supplement the model, Chase provides 5 key tips to strategy prosperity and over 50 examples from a broad range of businesses that help the reader think about how they can use his Strategy First toolkit. The author will inspire readers to examine the effectiveness of their current strategies, using the model that has served him in his distinguished career. Chase began his Microsoft tenure in 1987, where his award-winning marketing campaign promoting Windows 95 broke numerous records and his efforts as MSN.com’s leader prompted a turnaround of the site’s success. Chase ended his tenure at Microsoft in 2002 and since then has served as an advisor and/or board member to many companies, such as GE, Brooks, Expedia, and the Boys and Girls Clubs. Chase has also shared his Strategy First approach across the nation through speeches to executives at large and small businesses, incubators, and students at topflight MBA programs and at conferences.

This four-volume set introduces, on the management side, principles and procedures of economics, budgeting and finance; leadership; governance; communication; business law and ethics; and human resources practices; all in the sports context. On the marketing side this reference resource explores two broad streams: marketing of sport and of sport-related products (promoting a particular team or selling team- and sport-related merchandise, for example), and using sports as a platform for marketing non-sports products, such as celebrity endorsements of a particular brand of watch or the corporate sponsorship of a tennis tournament. Together, these four volumes offer a comprehensive and authoritative overview of the state of sports management and marketing today, providing an invaluable print or online resource for student researchers.

How was basketball born? Why is the area in the paint and around the free throw circle known as the key? When did the NBA begin play? What team was arguably the worst NBA squad ever? Who was the highest drafted college player who never played a single game in the NBA? This book provides over 100 questions and detailed answers concerning the traditions, rules, and history of basketball. Organized by the sport’s three eras—its birth through 1945, the NBA from 1946 through 1999, and the game today—it answers questions about the sport at all levels, from college games to the Olympics. A bonus chapter provides a who, what, when, where, why, and how of basketball—the perfect resource to settle arguments or to answer challenging trivia questions.

A workaholic physician for more than 30 years, often at the expense of family, Milton Haber defied convention in his internal medicine practice in marginalized Laredo, Texas. House calls, groceries, cash, prescriptions, birthday cakes, Thanksgiving turkeys, and paying utility bills for patients were common occurrences, as was his quest to do more. In 2018 he founded Laguna Clinical Research Associates, helping thousands of South Texans by partnering with drug companies to execute clinical trials. Laguna partnered with Moderna in 2020 to execute the COVID-19 vaccine trials, a challenging feat in a minority community that mistrusts science. Catching the virus himself, the doctor spent a week in intensive care, in and out of consciousness and under pandemic rules totally alone. He thought deeply about family, friends, and death. The experience broke him wide open to the intrinsic power of love. It underscored the importance of the vaccine. It revealed on practical and spiritual levels the disposition needed for all of us to live together in a drastically altered post-COVID world.

"Canadians are passionate about their healthcare system--and their hockey. While the Canadian medical system is a source of pride―based on ideals of universal coverage, public funding, and high-quality medical care--this treasured healthcare system is failing due to soaring costs, the challenge of an aging population, and poor care delivery. It needs a reality check ... Dr. Stephen Pinney pulls the curtain back on the existing Canadian healthcare system and exposes its fundamental flaws--flaws that are the inevitable result of the system's history and evolution. Hockey, Canada's game, offers a potential principle-based solution to this national dilemma. The book proposes a path forward that would allow Canadians to redesign their healthcare system in a way that matches their ideals. That redesign, Dr. Pinney proposes, should reflect ideas most Canadians know and accept: the principles inherent in a Stanley Cup--winning hockey team."--Provided by publisher.