The most ubiquitous feature of Harlem life between the world wars was the game of “numbers.” Thousands of wagers were placed daily. Playing the Numbers tells the story of this illegal form of gambling and the central role it played in the lives of African Americans who flooded into Harlem in the wake of World War I.

The true story of how Detroit entrepreneurs created a thriving—if illegal—lottery system to support themselves and uplift their communities. A testament to the tenacious spirit embodied in Detroit culture and history, this account reveals how numbers gambling, initially an illegal enterprise, became a community resource and institution of solidarity for Black communities through times of racial disenfranchisement and labor instability. Author Felicia B. George sheds light on the lives of Detroit's numbers operators—many self-made entrepreneurs who overcame poverty and navigated the pitfalls of racism and capitalism by both legal and illegal means. Illegal lottery operators and their families and employees were often exposed to precarity and other adverse conditions, and they profited from their neighbors' hope to make it through another day. Despite scandal and exploitation, these operators and their families also became important members of the community, providing steady employment and financial support for local businesses. This book provides a glimpse into the rich culture and history of Detroit's Black Bottom and Paradise Valley neighborhoods, linking the growing gambling scene there with key characters and moments in local history, including Joe Louis's rise to fame and the recall of a mayor backed by the Ku Klux Klan. In succinct and engrossing chapters, George explores issues of community, race, politics, and the scandals that sprang up along the way, discovering how "playing the numbers" grew from a state-proclaimed crime to an encouraged legal activity.

This work is a complete mathematical guide to lottery games, covering all of the problems related to probability, combinatorics, and all parameters describing the lottery matrices, as well as the various playing systems. The mathematics sections describe the mathematical model of the lottery, which is in fact the essence of the lotto game. The applications of this model provide players with all the mathematical data regarding the parameters attached to the gaming events and personal playing systems. By applying these data, one can find all the winning probabilities for the play with one line (for each category in part or cumulatively), and how these probabilities change with playing the various types of systems containing several lines, depending on their structure. Also, each playing system has a formula attached that provides the number of possible multiple prizes in various circumstances. Other mathematical parameters of the playing systems and the correlations between them are also presented. The generality of the mathematical model and of the obtained formulas allows their application for any existent lottery (including variations like Keno) and any playing system. Each formula is followed by numerical results covering the most frequent lottery matrices worldwide and by multiple examples predominantly belonging to the 6/49 lottery. The listing of the numerical results in dozens of well-organized tables, along with instructions and examples of using them, makes possible the direct usage of this guide by players without a mathematical background. The author also discusses from a mathematical point of view the strategies of choosing involved in the lotto game. The book does not offer so-called winning strategies (proving that the only strategy is that of choosing), but helps players to better organize their own playing systems and to confront their own convictions (so many times based on false perceptions) with the incontestable reality offered by the direct applications of the mathematical model of the lotto game. As a must-have handbook for any lottery player, this book offers essential information about the game itself and can provide the basis for gaming decisions of any kind.

Football is a game of numbers--fourth and inches, the three-man rush, a two point conversion, first down. Even with the obvious numbers in the statistics, rules and game situations, the players' uniform numbers themselves have become part of professional football and its lore. NFL players, like modern-day gladiators, are fitted head-to-toe in protective gear, obscuring even their faces from their most loyal fans. They have become largely identifiable through their uniform numbers. You cannot conjure up Larry Csonka without seeing the number 39 crashing through the line of scrimmage, or recall Lawrence Taylor without imagining the fear his 56 inspired in opposing quarterbacks. This comprehensive reference work lists all 32 current franchises of the NFL and includes brief team histories, statistics and interesting facts. Each chapter ends with an all-time numerical roster listing the numbers 1 through 99 (in some cases beginning with 00) and everyone, from Hall-of-Famer to replacement player, who has ever worn the corresponding number for that club. Four appendices are included.

The purpose of this book is to provide the player, family, coach and player’s support network with the information needed for positional excellence in the position of Loose-head Prop (No. 1) in Rugby Union. The objectives of this book are as follows: 1. To provide the reader with an understanding of the natural physical and mental development of young players in the sport of Rugby Union 2. To explain the demands of Rugby Union and use that information to help guide the player’s development 3. To provide a blueprint for the core conditioning needed to achieve results in the game of Rugby Union 4. To provide an insight into what selectors and coaches are looking for at a representative level 5. To provide free access to a professional player development portal www.developaplayer.com whereby the player can record and share their Rugby development with friends, family, coaches, sponsors, and selectors

Langston Hughes's most beloved character comes back to life in this extraordinary collection Langston Hughes is best known as a poet, but he was also a prolific writer of theater, autobiography, and fiction. None of his creations won the hearts and minds of his readers as did Jesse B. Semple, better known as "Simple." Simple speaks as an Everyman for African Americans in Uncle Sam's America. With great wit, he expounds on topics as varied as women, Gospel music, and sports heroes--but always keeps one foot planted in the realm of politics and race. In recent years, readers have been able to appreciate Simple's situational humor as well as his poignant questions about social injustice in The Best of Simple and The Return of Simple. Now they can, once again, enjoy the last of Hughes's original Simple books.

This book depicts portions of my life through a series of significant events which helped shape me into who I am today. My story is filled with pain and suffering. Sometimes I did not know if I would live or die. Sometimes I thought I had died and gone to hell. Overall, my story will encourage women from all walks of life because the course of my life changes for the better.

Can we truly call football England's 'national' game? How have we arrived at this point of such clear inequality between men's and women's football? Between 1921 and 1972, women were banned from playing in football League grounds in the UK. Yet in 1998 FIFA declared that "the future is feminine" and that football was the fastest growing sport for women globally. The result of several years of original research, the book traces the continuities in women's participation since the beginnings of the game, and highlights the significant moments that have influenced current practice. The text provides: *insight into the communities and individual experiences of players, fans, investors, administrators and coaches *examination of the attitudes and role of national and international associations *analysis of the development of the professional game *comparisons with women's football in mainland Europe, the USA and Africa. A Game for Rough Girls is the first text to properly theorize the development of the game. Examining recreational and elite levels, the author provides a thorough critique, placing women's experience in the context of broader cultural and sports studies debates on social change, gender, power and global economics.

From legendary playwright August Wilson comes the powerful, stunning dramatic bestseller that won him critical acclaim, including the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize. Troy Maxson is a strong man, a hard man. He has had to be to survive. Troy Maxson has gone through life in an America where to be proud and black is to face pressures that could crush a man, body and soul. But the 1950s are yielding to the new spirit of liberation in the 1960s, a spirit that is changing the world Troy Maxson has learned to deal with the only way he can, a spirit that is making him a stranger, angry and afraid, in a world he never knew and to a wife and son he understands less and less. This is a modern classic, a book that deals with the impossibly difficult themes of race in America, set during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. Now an Academy Award-winning film directed by and starring Denzel Washington, along with Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Viola Davis.