Athletes of Purpose 5 0 P E O P L E W H O C H a N G E D T H E F a C E O F S P O R T S

Home , Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Bob Mathias, Bonnie Blair, Carl Lewis, Dean Smith (sprinter), Florence Griffith Joyner

Athletes of Purpose 5 0 P e o p l e W h o C h a n g e d t h e F a c e o f S p o r t s

Arnold B. Cheyney Emeritus Professor University of Miami D e d i c a t i o n To the memory of Coach Junius B. Ferrall 1911–1995

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s ost athletes, however gifted or average, have at least one coach that made a significant difference in their Mlives and added many memories. My personal memory, among many, is of the half-time pep talks of my football coach. Coach Junius B. Ferrall’s admonitions ran something like this: “Play your best, for you will replay these games in your minds the rest of your lives.” Sure, Coach, you bet! Now in my seventies, I am startled from time to time because I still replay those 1940s games in my mind. I say to myself, “If I had only. . . .” Coach Ferrall made a difference in my life and in the lives of countless others. Athletes of Purpose gave me great joy in its writing. Much of the credit for that joy goes to the children’s department of the Wooster Public Library. The staff helped me time and again with my search for background material. Denise Cheyney, my daughter-in-law, was very helpful with her knowledge of the Internet, as was my wife, Jeanne, who once again spent much time proofing the many drafts of the manuscript. Any shortcomings here- in are attributable to the author.

Photo Credits Unless otherwise acknowledged, all photos are the property of Scott, Foresman and Company. Page abbreviations are as follows: (T) top, (C) center, (B) bottom, (L) left, and (R) right. Front cover: (TL) SportsChrome, (BL) Reuters/Corbis-Bettmann, (C) Andy Hayt/DUOMO, (TR) Corbis-Bettmann, (BR) Reuters/Corbis-Bettmann; Back cover: (L) UPI/Corbis-Bettmann, (R) Chris Trotman/DUOMO. 2 AP/Wide World; 4 DUOMO; 6 Mitch Gerber/Corbis; 8 Rich Kane/SportsChrome East/West; 10 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 12 Steve Raymer/Corbis; 14 William R. Sallaz/DUOMO; 16 SportsChrome East/West; 18 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 20 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 22 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 24 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 26 Laurie Warner/SportsChrome East/West; 28 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 30 AP/Wide World; 32 Reuters/Corbis-Bettmann; 34 Reuters/Corbis-Bettmann; 36 Paul J. Sutton/DUOMO; 38 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 40 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 42 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 44 Rich Kane/SportsChrome East/West; 46 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 48 DUOMO; 50 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 52 Steven Sutton/DUOMO; 54 DUOMO; 56 SportsChrome East/West; 58 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 60 Chris Trotman/DUOMO; 62 AP/Wide World; 64 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 66 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 68 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 70 Reuters/Corbis-Bettmann; 72 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 74 AP/Wide World; 76 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 78 Steven E. Sutton/DUOMO; 80 DUOMO; 82 DUOMO; 84 AP/Wide World; 86 AP/Wide World; 88 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 90 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 92 AP/Wide World; 94 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann; 96 Corbis-Bettmann; 98 Reuters/Corbis-Bettmann; 100 UPI/Corbis-Bettmann. Silhouettes All silhouettes are taken from Image Bank DigitArt Clip Art Volumes 19 and 25, Eyewire Studios.

are available for most basic curriculum subjects plus many enrichment areas. For more Good Year Books, contact your local bookseller or educational dealer. For a complete catalog with information about other Good Year Books, please write:

Good Year Books A Division of Social Studies School Service 10200 Jefferson Boulevard Culver City, CA 90232-0802

(800) 421-4246

ISBN 978-1-59647-351-5 Previous ISBN 0-673-58667-7

Only portions of this book intended for classroom use may be reproduced without permission in writing from the publisher. Preface

he athletes in this volume have two per- Parents and teachers are encouraged to Tsonality traits in common: they set goals read the biographies aloud to children or a and made the sacrifices necessary to attain group of children. The questions and activi- them. The primary sacrifice was hours of ties are designed to deepen the thought tedious practice. All of us, child or adult, processes of those who have listened or read need to be reminded that real success comes the material. Think of the Further Reading through sacrifice. list as an assignment. Juvenile books about these athletes are The pages are perforated on the inside generally available in libraries, even though edges for separating and copying. They can they may be out of print. Some of the athletes then be used with individuals and small are included in special volumes along with groups. The limitation on their use in this other players. The athletes were chosen based form is determined by the creativity of the on the character they displayed while playing instructor. The Index on page 105 lists the the sport or sports in which they excelled. sports in which these athletes participated Also, I considered it important to feature a and their relationships with other athletes. variety of sports so children realize that some Specific Ways to Use This Book sports are lifetime activities and not just for the years of youth with its attendant vigor. 1. Reserve class time to share thoughts gen- My most agonizing moments involved erated by the biography or the reading list in making choices as to who would make the the Further Reading section. final cut, to apply a sport term to a literary 2. Encourage children to keep a log of what predicament. I can only suggest that parents they read. Set time aside so they may share and teachers go with their children to the what they wrote in their logs. library or bookstore, perhaps the Internet, 3. Encourage children to read aloud the and find a biography of a sport hero or hero- Athletes of Purpose biographies with younger ine not found in these pages. Then read or older persons, especially senior citizens. together. Athletes of Purpose is intended as a link 4. Read paragraphs from the biographies to further reading and study; the biographies that make a person feel good. Share them are short by intention so as to fulfill this con- with each other in small groups. nection. The Further Reading lists are exactly 5. Read the sentence thought to be most that. The books listed are presently in libraries quotable. Memorize the quote and share it at somewhere, along with many others of the the dinner table at home. Discuss the family’s same sort. Some books about these athletes reaction the following day with classmates. are now in the process of being published. They may be found in your local library, 6. Select the biography most enjoyed. Dress through interlibrary loan, or in bookstores. in the uniform of the athlete and read the biography in front of the class or in an assembly.

Athletes of Purpose iii 7. Create a class mural of a specific sport of the athletes from newspapers or sports and emphasize the athletes found in these cards, newspaper clippings, student illustra- pages. tions and writing, records and awards, and Internet information. Encourage the students 8. Read portions of a biography that make to make a Table of Contents for their portfolio one feel uneasy. Explain the reasons for these in chronological order or another logical feelings, if possible. arrangement. 9. Using girl and boy dolls, create uniforms 19. Jot down ideas and questions as you read. for sports figures in Athletes of Purpose. What else would you like to know about these 10. Retell an Athletes of Purpose biography athletes? Use the Further Reading lists as a using flannelboard characters. starting point to find answers to questions. 11. Read parts that prove a point or a certain 20. Set a period at the end of the week to dis- point of view. cuss one specific athlete on which the students 12. Create and deliver a twenty-word tele- agree. Have each student read about that per- gram to another person in class urging him or son. Order a video or film about the athlete her to read about a specific athlete. from the school audiovisual department or the children’s department of your public library. 13. Create a comic strip of one of the athletes Discuss the film in light of what was learned in Athletes of Purpose. (Study some comic from books and other materials. strips from a Sunday newspaper first.) 21. For those with access to the Internet, 14. Have an “Athlete of the Day Read-a-Thon.” search for athletes who are still living and During the day, encourage children to read in find what they are now doing. Report findings small groups about their favorite athletes. to the class. 15. Create book jackets for specific sports. 22. Create a mural titled “Classroom Wall of Have the children include their own illustra- Athletic Fame” highlighting students’ favor- tions, the records and awards of the athletes, ite athletes. Later, honor others who led and the athletes’ public service contributions. purposeful lives: people from scientific, medi- Show the stapled sports books at a Back to cal, political, religious, or other professions. School Night, PTA, or PTO meeting. 23. Set aside time during the day for “Read- 16. Read parts aloud from Athletes of Purpose ing and Writing Together About My Favorite that have the element of surprise. Athlete.” Reserve the last fifteen minutes for 17. Create a dance using movements that writing about the athlete. You, the teacher, athletes make during games or Olympic com- should also participate in this exercise by petitions. Do the dance before a group and see reading and writing, too. how many in the audience can recognize the sports that are illustrated by the movements. 18. Create a portfolio titled “Celebration of an Athlete.” Include in the portfolio copies of the biographies from Athletes of Purpose, photos Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright iv Athletes of Purpose Contents

2 Aaron, Henry “Hank” 28 Gehrig, Lou Baseball Baseball

4 Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem 30 Gibson, Althea Basketball Tennis, Golf

6 Ali, Muhammad 32 Graf, Steffi Boxing Tennis

8 Andretti, Mario 34 Gretzky, Wayne Automobile Racing Hockey

10 Bannister, Roger 36 Griffith Joyner, Florence Track and Field Track and Field

12 Blair, Bonnie 38 Hamill, Dorothy Speed Skating Figure Skating

14 Butcher, Susan 40 Henie, Sonja Sled Dog Racing Figure Skating

16 Capriati, Jennifer 42 Hillary, Sir Edmund Tennis Mountain Climbing

18 Clemente, Roberto 44 Jordan, Michael Baseball Basketball

20 Cobb, Ty 46 Joyce, Joan Baseball Softball and Golf

22 Comaneci, Nadia 48 Joyner-Kersee, Jackie Gymnastics Track and Field

24 Ederle, Gertrude 50 Killy, Jean-Claude Swimming Skiing

Athletes of Purpose v 54 Korbut, Olga 82 Retton, Mary Lou Gymnastics Gymnastics

56 Krone, Julie 84 Robinson, Jack “Jackie” Thoroughbred Horse Racing Baseball

58 Lewis, Carl 86 Rudolph, Wilma Track and Field Track and Field

60 Lopez, Nancy 88 Sayers, Gale Golf Football

62 Louis, Joe 90 Schwarzenegger, Arnold Boxing Body Building

64 Marble, Alice 92 Shoemaker, Bill Tennis Thoroughbred Horse Racing

66 Mathias, Bob 94 Stagg, Amos Alonzo Track and Field Football

68 McCormick, Pat 96 Thorpe, Jim Diving Football, Baseball, Track and Field

70 Miller, Shannon 98 Yamaguchi, Kristi Gymnastics Figure Skating

72 Navratilova, Martina 100 Zaharias, Mildred “Babe” Didrickson Tennis Basketball, Track and Field, Golf

74 Owens, Jesse 102 Answer Key Track and Field 105 Index 76 Paige, Leroy “Satchel” Baseball

78 Pelé Soccer

erbert and Estella Aaron had eight chil- hall entrance looking at him. After a long talk Hdren during the Great Depression. The about the necessity of a high school educa- family lived in Mobile, Alabama, among other tion, Henry went back to school. poor black families. Henry was their third A baseball scout heard about Henry and child. Their home had no windows or lights, his baseball talent. He signed Henry with the but they did have a kerosene lamp, love, and Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro American space around them—space to play ball. League. Soon the 18-year-old was batting Baseball was Henry’s favor- fourth in the Clowns’ lineup, ite sport. He gathered bottle playing shortstop and hitting caps and hit them with a over .400. Henry’s practice in broomstick. Caps that went the hitting floating bottle caps and farthest he called home runs; racing around the house to shorter ones he called singles catch his “baseball” was paying and doubles. He wrapped nylon off. The Clowns won the Negro stockings or cloth around old League World Series, and Henry golf balls and bound them was still able to graduate from tightly together to make base- high school, to the delight of his balls. Henry then tossed them mother and father. on the roof of the house and Henry joined the Milwaukee caught them as they tumbled Braves and was given the nick- down. For a change, he tossed them over the name “Hank.” In 1954 the Braves called him roof, ran around to the other side, and caught to their spring training camp. One of the reg- them before they hit the ground. ular players had fractured an ankle sliding Henry stopped playing high school foot- into second base. The next day, Hank Aaron ball for fear he might hurt himself and ruin was playing left field for the major league a baseball career. In high school, he learned team. In April he hit his first big league that Jackie Robinson, an African American home run. man, had broken the color barrier and was Becoming a major league player in the playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the all- 1950s was not easy. Hank was subjected to white major leagues. Henry skipped school in racial slurs and anonymous death threats. the afternoons and listened to the radio at the He countered this cowardice by his dignified pool hall as the announcer described Jackie’s manner and excellent playing. As he got playing. older, he married and started a family, and When the high school principal found out his accomplishments on the baseball field about Henry’s absences, he expelled him. grew. By the time he retired from baseball Henry did not tell his parents, but he did go after the 1976 season, he had hit more home to school. He just walked in the front door runs in his career than any other player in and out the back and went on to the pool hall. the history of the game. Shortly thereafter, his father stood in the pool Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

2 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. In your estimation, who are the best Deane, Bill. Top 10 Baseball Hitters. major league baseball players in the game Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1998. today? What makes each one great? Share ______. Top 10 Baseball Home Run your choices with your classmates. Hitters. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 2. What is your favorite sport? What nick- 1997. name would you choose for yourself in The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. that sport? Why? Volume 16. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 3. Major league baseball records are con- Company, 1993. stantly being made and broken. What are Margolies, Jacob. Hank Aaron: Home Run some recent ones that are important to King. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992. fans and players? Rennert, Richard Scott. Henry Aaron: 4. Write a title for the biography of Hank Baseball Great. New York: Chelsea House Aaron. Compare your title with those of Publishers, 1993. your classmates. Sullivan, George. Sluggers: Twenty-Seven of Baseball’s Greatest. New York: Atheneum, Social Studies 1991. Tackach, James. Hank Aaron. New York: 1. Hank Aaron was elected to the National Chelsea House Publishers, 1992. Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982. Where is it located?

2. Hank Aaron had a record 755 home runs during his career. Whose record did he break?

3. What baseball stadium is the closest to your home? What is the name of the home team that plays there?

Henry “Hank”Athlete Aaron name 3 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1947 • Basketball

t birth, Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr., national championships. Overall, they won 1 Aweighed 13 pounds and was 22 /2 inches eighty-eight games and lost only two. During long. As a pro basketball player, he was 260 this period, Lew took instruction in the pounds and 7 feet 2 inches tall. Muslim faith. He graduated with a degree In the elementary grades, Lew was awk- in history from UCLA and later officially ward and uncoordinated, but he exercised changed his name from Lew Alcindor to and practiced and soon was able to hold his Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, “the powerful servant own on the basketball court. In the sev- of Allah.” enth grade, he was given the Of course, teams in the pro- number 33 to wear, never realiz- fessional basketball leagues wanted ing, at the time, that he would him to play center for them. He be wearing it throughout his decided that each one should career. In the eighth grade, he make its best offer. Kareem made his first “dunk,” jumping would take the best of those. He high and putting the basket- signed with Milwaukee even ball down through the hoop. though the other team offered to For his high school educa- give him much more money than tion, he chose to go to a private it had originally planned. He proved, Catholic school, Power Memorial in however, to be a man of his word. New York City. In his 3 years there, Kareem was voted the league’s the team lost only one game and had a Most Valuable Player several times. The Los 71-game winning streak! He finished high Angeles Lakers offered him a lifetime con- school with 2,067 points. Naturally, many col- tract. Back in southern California, he not leges wanted him to attend their schools. Lew only played basketball, but he married and chose UCLA, the University of California at had four children. Another career, television, Los Angeles, where Coach John Wooden opened up for him. In 1979 “Magic” Johnson stressed the importance of grades as well as joined the team and the Lakers began win- basketball. At that time, freshmen in college ning even more games. could not play on the varsity squads in regu- The 1988-89 season would be his last. lar-season play. UCLA’s varsity had recently He had played professional basketball for a won the national basketball championship. In record 20 years, and he was the oldest player the fall of 1965, a game was organized in in the National Basketball Association. which the freshmen would play against the Kareem ended his career with 38,387 points, varsity in UCLA’s new 12,500-seat arena. and the Lakers retired his jersey, number 33. The freshmen beat the varsity players 75 to 60! Lew made 31 points. For the 3 years Lew played varsity basketball at UCLA, the team won three Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

4 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. After reading Kareem’s biography, make Anderson, Dave. The Story of Basketball. up a title that best expresses what you New York: William Morrow and Company, think of him. 1988.

2. Draw a picture of Kareem playing basket- Borello, Helen. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. New ball as a professional. Add a caption below York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1995. your picture explaining what he is doing. Coburn, R. Thomas. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 3. After reading one or two other biogra- Basketball Great. New York: Chelsea House phies about Kareem, list three positive Publishers, 1995. character traits that you find in his life Dunnahoo, Terry Janson and Herma Silver- story. Compare your list with those of stein. Basketball Hall of Fame. New York: your classmates. Crestwood House, 1994. 4. Kareem studied and then embraced the Knapp, Ron. Top 10 Basketball Scorers. Muslim faith. What distinctive beliefs do Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1994. you have? List some of them. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 1. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Social Studies Company, 1993. Margolies, Jacob. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 1. Kareem remarked that even though a Basketball Great. New York: Franklin Watts, basketball player can make a basket from 1992. 25 feet, it does not make him the kind of Miller, Faye Young and Wayne Coffey. person who can tell you how to live your Winning Basketball for Girls. New York: life. What does this statement mean Facts on File, 1992. to you? Sanford, William R. and Carl R. Green. 2. In a reference book, read about Los Ange- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. New York: Crestwood les, California. Make a list of five places House, 1993. that would interest you if you could visit the area. Discuss your list with your Sehnert, Chris W. Top 10 Big Men. Edina, classmates. MN: Abdo & Daughters, 1997.

3. As a student at UCLA, Kareem majored Sullivan, George. Center. New York: Thomas in history. At this time in your life, what Y. Crowell, 1988. do you think will be your major in college? In twenty-five words or less, write why you would choose that major area of study. Discuss it with your parents and classmates. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5 Muhammad Ali 1942 • Boxing

welve-year-old Cassius Clay and his best wearing Nazi symbols on their black jackets, Tfriend were riding their bicycles in Louis- could be served. Cassius threw his gold medal ville, Kentucky. Cassius’s father had just into the river. bought his son a new Schwinn bike. To get After the Olympics, Cassius turned profes- out of the rain, the two boys went to the sional, and in 1964 he won the heavyweight Home Show, where there was free popcorn title from Sonny Liston. After the fight, he and hot dogs. When Cassius returned for his announced his conversion to the religion of bicycle, it was gone. Someone told him the Nation of Islam and changed his to see the off-duty policeman, Joe name to Muhammad Ali. Becoming Martin, at a nearby gym. While a Black Muslim brought Ali a Cassius told Joe his story, he great deal of criticism from was actually watching the boys white and black people alike. who were sparring, shadow But he countered with “I’m free boxing, and jumping rope in the to be who I want.” gym. He would soon know what Ali’s rematch with Liston he wanted to do with his life: box. lasted one minute and fifty-two Cassius’s parents, desiring to seconds. He went on to beat many keep him out of a gang, signed a other heavyweight fighters, but his parental consent form and Cassius biggest fight was against the United began to learn the art of boxing. Early in States government. Ali refused to join the the mornings, he ran for miles and skipped U.S. military because he was now a Muslim rope. During the day, he went to school. After minister and opposed to war. Ali was banned school he cleaned rooms at a nearby college. from boxing, convicted for draft evasion, and Then he went to Joe’s gym for a couple of stripped of his heavyweight title. After 4 years hours. Later in the evening, he worked in of costly legal battles, the Supreme Court another gym on timing, rhythm, and counter- ruled unanimously in Ali’s favor. punching. By the age of 16, he was 6 feet tall, Ali came back to win his heavyweight title weighed 170 pounds, and was still growing. again, only to lose it and win it once more. He In 1960 he won the Amateur Athletic fought in many countries and had a vast fol- Union (AAU) title, which qualified him for lowing of fans all over the world. A slurring the Olympic Trials. After winning the Trials, of his speech and other symptoms were diag- he went to Rome, Italy, for the Summer nosed as Parkinson’s Disease, which had Olympics, proclaiming, “I am the greatest!” been caused by repeated blows to his head. He backed up his boast, winning a gold med- Now Ali enjoys spending time with his wife al. On returning to Louisville, Kentucky, he and eight children, does charitable work in received a hero’s welcome. But because he developing countries, and is remembered by was black, he could not be served a hamburger many fans as “The Greatest.” and milk shake in a restaurant at that time. In the same restaurant, a motorcycle gang, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

6 Athletes of Purpose 3. In a reference book, search for informa- Reading tion about Parkinson’s Disease. Discuss what you learned with your classmates. 1. Who would be the best audience for the biography of Muhammad Ali? Practice 4. Many people have been treated unfairly reading it aloud and then read it to some- in the past, as was Muhammad Ali. Think one you think would find it interesting. of a time when you were treated unfairly. How did you cope with the situation? If 2. Do any of the incidents in the life of you had to do it over, would you react Muhammad Ali bring back memories of differently? How? something that happened to you? Explain the situations to your classmates, if you feel comfortable in doing so. Further Reading 3. Ali enjoyed creating poetry. He wrote about a fight he was to have with Sonny Conklin. Thomas. Muhammad Ali: The Fight Liston: “If you like to lose money/Be a for Respect. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook fool and bet on Sonny.” Write a short Press, 1991. poem about Ali and share it with your classmates. Denenberg, Barry. The Story of Muhammad: Heavyweight Champion of the World. New 4. In your library, check out one of the books York: Dell Publishing, 1990. from the Further Reading list about Ali. Report on several items that interest you Fitzgerald, Jim. Boxing for Beginners. New and that were not mentioned in the York: Atheneum, 1980. Athletes of Purpose biography. Knapp, Ron. Top 10 Heavyweight Boxers. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1997.

The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Social Studies Volume 1. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 1. Muhammad Ali boxed in many cities of the world: Vancouver, Canada; Djakarta, Ricciuti, Edward R. How to Box: A Guide for Indonesia; Dublin, Ireland; Rome, Italy; Beginners. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, Tokyo, Japan; Manila, Philippines; Zur- 1982. ich, Switzerland; and Kinshasa, Zaire Rummel, Jack. Muhammad Ali. New York: (now Congo). Find the countries and cities Chelsea House Publications, 1988. on a map or globe. Sanford, William R. and Carl R. Green. 2. Those who refused to fight in the war in Muhammad Ali. New York: Crestwood Vietnam were labeled “conscientious House, 1993. objectors.” Look up this term in a reference book. Then make a list of reasons Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New why someone might refuse to participate York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. in a war. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Muhammad Ali 7 Mario Andretti 1940 • Automobile Racing

ario Andretti was born five hours Then their great plans were turned upside Mbefore his twin brother, Aldo. The small down, for the family had an opportunity to Italian town in which they grew up was on move to the United States in 1955. Mario’s the peninsula of Istria, south of Trieste. Their uncle sponsored them, for he had lived in the father, “Gigi,” owned seven farms, so they United States since 1909. When they got to were prosperous. With their mother, Rina, their new home in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and older sister, Anna Maria, they were a they found a race track. Since they had no car, happy family. they decided to rebuild one from scratch: At the end of World War II, Italy a 1948 Hudson Hornet. and its allies, known as the Axis Soon the two boys were win- powers, lost the war. In the set- ning races. Then Aldo crashed tlement ending the war, the and was in a coma for 2 weeks. Istrian peninsula became part They could not hide this from of Yugoslavia, and a communist their father. He would not speak state. To retain their Italian cit- to them for 6 months. But he izenship, they were given the did let them live at home. In opportunity to move into Italy. 1961 Mario married Dee Ann For 7 years Mario and his family Hoch. She encouraged him to lived at Lucca, about 45 miles from make race car driving a career. Florence. They had one room and shared Mario raced every kind of vehicle he a bathroom with other families. could, from motorcycles, midget cars, stock The two boys were thrilled when their cars, and dirt cars to the finest custom-made uncle let them drive his motorcycle. He even race cars in the Indianapolis 500 races. He built them a wooden car to race down hills. was injured several times: broken ribs, a When they were 13, Aldo talked an owner of a cracked pelvis, a broken clavicle, and multiple garage into letting them park cars. Aldo burns on his hands and face. Even so, Mario failed to mention that they had never driven missed only two races because of injury. an automobile before! They learned quickly Mario Andretti won the Indianapolis 500, and automobiles became their life. the Daytona 500, and the Formula One About this time, a racing organization Grand Prix; he was the first race car driver was formed for Italian youngsters aged 14 to to do so. He is also the only person to win the 21. Its purpose was to prepare them for Ital- Driver of the Year Award in three different ian car racing when they were older. Even decades. Mario retired from racing in 1994. though they were only thirteen, the two boys His two sons, Michael and Jeff, and nephew, managed to get into the program. The garage John, carry on the Andretti winning tradition owner had a small car they could drive. The in auto racing. big hurdle was their father. He was totally against race car driving for his boys. But the brothers kept their car racing a secret. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

8 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Mario and his brother had interesting Andretti, Mario. Andretti. San Francisco, CA: childhood experiences. In twenty-five Collins Publishers, 1994. words or more, write about a childhood Burchard, Marshall. Sports Hero: Mario memory of yours that you think your Andretti. New York: G. P. Putman’s Sons, classmates might find interesting. 1977. 2. Read about the Indianapolis 500 car race De Vere, Charles. Let’s Look Up Racing Cars. in a reference book. Bring five interesting New York: Gloucester Press, 1992. facts about the race to your classmates. Dolan, Edward F., Jr. Great Moments in the 3. Go through your local newspaper and cut Indy 500. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982. out a picture of the fastest or best car you can find. If possible, get advice from an Krishef, Robert K. The Indianapolis 500. adult. Tell your friends why you chose the Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1974. car you did. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. 4. List three reasons you would feel safe Volume 1. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press driving across the United States with Company, 1993. Mario Andretti as your driver. Murphy, Jim. The Indy 500. New York: Clarion Books, 1983. Social Studies Olney, Ross R. Super Champions of Auto Racing. New York: Clarion Books, 1984.

1. On a map, find these places mentioned Prentzas, G. S. Mario Andretti. New York: in the biography: Trieste, Italy; Florence, Chelsea House Publishers, 1996. Italy; Lucca, west of Florence; and Naza- reth, in eastern Pennsylvania, located above Bethlehem.

2. Pretend you are a race car driver in the last two miles of the Indianapolis 500. Write what you are feeling physically and mentally as you look for the checkered flag indicating you are the winner.

Mario Andretti 9 Roger Bannister 1929 • Track and Field

oger Bannister was born in Harrow, Roger did: two and one-half miles twice a R England, near London. Ten years later, week. The next year he won because, as he in World War II, England fought Germany. said, “I refused to let anyone beat me.” He Roger’s family moved to Bath when Germany won the cross-country race 3 years in a row. began bombing London. Roger went to Oxford to study medicine in Running was the exercise Roger enjoyed 1946. While there, he was encouraged to take most. He was shy and timid and easily up a sport. Because he was rather frail, run- frightened by other boys. If ning appealed to him. Roger set confronted by them, he would as his goal the four-minute run. Once he was climbing a mile. No one throughout the tall tree. A friend warned him ages of the approach of the owner. had ever accomplished the feat. Roger scurried down and ran, From his studies in hurtling over a barbed-wire medicine, Roger came to the fence that tore his clothing and conclusion that running the scratched him. Another time, mile in less than 4 minutes he was playing with a boat on a was as much a mental test as pond when a practice air-raid a physical one. One runner got alert was sounded. He ran the as close as 4 minutes and 2 sec- half mile home in a panic, onds and then declared, “It’s a believing bombs would fall on him. brick wall.” Another predicted that Roger The City of Bath Boy’s School was made would do it because he “uses his brains as up of young men from the surrounding area much as his legs.” and boys evacuated from London. Roger felt Finally, Roger ran the mile in 3 minutes, part of neither group and described himself 59.4 seconds. The twenty-five-year-old medi- as a loner. Basically, he was a very serious cal student/runner was the first man to young man. complete the mile in less than 4 minutes. In his autobiography he wrote, “As a boy I Seven weeks later in Turku, Finland, John had no clear understanding of why I wanted Landy broke that record. Shortly after, Roger to run. I just ran anywhere and everywhere— and John raced and both broke the 4-minute never because it was an end in itself, but barrier with Roger winning. Since then, a because it was easier for me to run than to number of other runners have lowered the walk. . . . I always felt impatient to see or do record further. something new, and running saved time.” Roger Bannister received his medical The school had an annual junior cross- degree in 1954 and won one more race at country race of three miles. Roger entered Bern, Switzerland. He retired from racing and enthusiastically started out at a fast run. to devote his time to a medical life as a He managed to cross the finish line exhaust- neurologist. ed and eighteenth. When told he should train, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

10 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Make a list of five words that describe Bannister, Roger. The Four-Minute Mile. Roger Bannister. Compare your list with New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1981. those of your classmates. Defend The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. your choices. Volume 1. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 2. In a reference book, read what diseases a Company, 1989. neurologist treats and report to your Rosenthal, Bert. Track and Field. Austin, TX: classmates what you learned. Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1994. 3. Share with a classmate what you most Savage, Jeff. Running. Parsippany, NJ: admired about Roger Bannister. Why did Crestwood House, 1995. you choose what you did? Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New 4. Roger’s remark, that he refused to let York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. anyone beat him, is a powerful statement. Do you think there may be a negative side Wright, Gary. Track & Field: A Step-by-Step to the comment? If so, what would it be? Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990.

Social Studies

1. Roger’s family took him from London to the city of Bath because of the devastation the German bombing was causing in London. Find the two cities on a map. Which direction did the family travel from London?

2. What direction is Turku from Helsinki, the capital of Finland? What are the two official languages of Finland?

3. Running is sometimes thought of as a sol- itary activity. What does that mean to you? What sport, in your opinion, would be just the opposite?

4. Pretend you are a journalist covering the meet at which Roger Bannister breaks the 4-minute barrier. Write a headline and a brief article describing this historic moment in track-and-field history. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Roger Bannister 11 Bonnie Blair 1964 • Speed Skating

kating was a family affair for the Blairs, be first to cross the finish line. Bonnie learned Seven before Bonnie was born. When her to get a quick start. Then she changed to mother, Eleanor, was ready to go to the hospi- Olympic-style racing. In this type of racing, tal to give birth to Bonnie, her father, skaters race against the clock. Charlie, was not sure what to do. Three of the More practice was needed by Bonnie on children were waiting in the car. They were Olympic-sized ice rinks. Since there were few scheduled to race at an ice skating rink and in the United States, she decided to go to Charlie was to be a timer. Eleanor Europe to train. This, of course, would decided that she should be dropped take money. Her father was retired off at the hospital first and the and could not help her, so Bonnie rest would proceed to the rink. went to the local police depart- After all, it might be some time ment for help. The police held before the baby would come. bake sales and raffles and col- Later, while they were at the lected donations. Finally she rink, a loudspeaker announce- had money to travel, practice, ment was made that another and even compete in the World skater had just been born into Cup speed skating events. In the Blair family. What 1984 she qualified for the U.S. a surprise! Back to the hospital Olympic team! they raced. To gain strength, Bonnie lifted When Bonnie was two, her parents weights, cycled, ran, and carried an inner slipped a pair of skates over her shoes. Soon tube filled with 30 pounds of sand around the Bonnie was racing other children on week- track! Because she was participating in so ends with the family. When the Blairs moved many meets, she did her homework in hotel to Champaign, they spent much of their time rooms, automobiles, and during any free time on the ice skating rink at the University of at the ice skating rinks. Illinois. The children won national speed Bonnie’s relatives, the Blair Bunch, rang- skating titles. At age four, Bonnie began ing in age from a four-month-old nephew to winning races. an 80-year-old uncle, became her personal In 1979 Cathy Priestner, a Canadian sil- cheering section at meets. At the 1994 Winter ver medalist speed skating champion from Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, 60 Blairs Canada, moved to Champaign. Cathy met showed up. Bonnie and became her coach. They practiced Just before turning thirty-one, Bonnie in the early mornings. Fifteen-year-old retired as the fastest U.S. women’s speed Bonnie just missed making the 1980 U.S. skater. She was the first American woman to Olympic speed skating team. ever win consecutive Winter Olympic titles. Bonnie started her career as a pack skat- Overall, Bonnie won five gold medals and one er. In pack skating, everyone lines up bronze in the Olympic games. together in a pack and races to see who will Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

12 Athletes of Purpose pics in 1988. Who was president at that Reading time? Who was president before him? After him? 1. Before a race, Bonnie felt best if she ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. What is 4. Often the fans would sing, “My Bonnie your favorite snack? Is it as nutritious Lies Over the Ocean” when Bonnie Blair as Bonnie’s? competed. What is the rest of the first verse of the song? Sing it with your 2. Choose a classmate for a writing partner. classmates. Each of you write a sentence telling what you like best about Bonnie Blair. Exchange your sentences and write the Further Reading reason you agree or disagree with your partner’s sentence. Arnold, Caroline. The Olympic Winter Games. 3. Write Bonnie’s last name vertically on a New York: Franklin Watts, 1991. paper. Use each letter of her name to Blair, Bonnie with Greg Brown. A Winning begin words describing her. Consult a Edge. Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing, 1996. dictionary if you need help. Then do the same with your name, using words that Breitenbucher, Cathy. Bonnie Blair: Golden describe you. Streak. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publica- tions, 1994. 4. An alliteration (repeating the same initial consonant sound in two or more words) Daly, Wendy. Bonnie Blair: Power on Ice. was used to describe Bonnie: Bonnie Blur. New York: Random House, 1996. Write two about yourself and share them Italia, Bob. Bonnie Blair: Five-Time Gold with your classmates or parents. Medal Winner. Edina, MN: Abdo & Daugh- ters, 1994. Social Studies Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Cornerstones of Freedom. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1. In the Olympics of 1988, 1992, and 1994, 1992. Bonnie won gold medals at Calgary, Can- The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. ada; Albertville, France; and Volume 2. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Lillehammer, Norway. Find these places Company, 1993. on a map or globe. What continents are they on? MacLean, Norman. Ice Skating Basics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984. 2. On a map, find Champaign, Illinois, the location of the University of Illinois. What Rambeck, Richard. Bonnie Blair. New York: is your favorite college or university? Find The Child’s World, 1996. it on a map. McMane, Fred and Cathrine Wolf. Winning 3. Bonnie turned down a dinner with the Women. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. president of the United States because she had to practice for the Winter Olym- Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Bonnie Blair 13 Susan Butcher 1954 • Sled Dog Racing

usan loved animals from childhood. The only airplanes were in storage for the SWhen she was four, a dog that was part winter. Even if they could be put together in Labrador retriever named Cabee came into time, the planes were windowless and the her life. As she walked through her neighbor- pilot might freeze and lose the serum. A train hood in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with could take the serum 300 miles. The rest of Cabee, neighborhood dogs would follow along the trip required dog sleds to carry the serum with them. Susan began to understand the through the cold, windswept Alaskan wilder- emotions they were feeling by ness. The dog sleds were the just listening to their barking. only solution. By the time she was seven- Dog sled drivers worked teen, Susan had left the in relays along the trail. The northeast part of the country temperatures dropped to -50˚ for Colorado. There she began and the wind blew up to 50 veterinary training and miles an hour. The serum learned how to care for ani- arrived, and many children mals. The annual Iditarod race lived because of the courage in Alaska was just beginning and strength of the dogs and and news of it attracted the men who drove the sleds. Susan’s attention. Alaska The Iditarod race is held in beckoned and she left to go to their honor. the “top of the world.” Susan competed in her first Iditarod in In Alaska, Susan purchased three Alas- 1978 and came in nineteenth. She kept enter- kan huskies. A bush pilot flew her into the ing and improving year by year. By 1985, she Alaskan wilderness with her dogs. Flying was thought she had a good chance of winning the only way in or out unless one walked on with the splendid dogs she had raised. But a snowshoes. She was by herself with her dogs. huge, starving moose stood in the trail and She killed wild animals for food, built a cabin, attacked her team of dogs. One died and thir- and began training for the 1,000-mile Iditar- teen were badly hurt. She had to withdraw. od Trail Sled Dog Race. The next year she won the Iditarod; it was The race was named for a village along an the first of four wins for her. Among Susan’s Alaskan trail. This trail played an important many honors and awards were the 1987 U.S. role in Alaska’s history. In 1925 the children Sports Academy Female Athlete of the Year in Nome, Alaska, were exposed to the deadly and France’s Outstanding Female Athlete of disease of diphtheria called the “Black the World in 1989. Death.” Only a serum would save them. The nearest place the serum was available was in Anchorage, Alaska, 1,000 miles away. Time was running out. Two children had already died. The Bering Sea was frozen. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

14 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Read about the plant and animal life in Crisman, Ruth. Racing the Iditarod Trail. Alaska. Report to your classmates five New York: Dillon Press, 1993. interesting facts you learned. Dolan, Ellen M. Susan Butcher and the 2. Read about dogs in an encyclopedia or ref- Iditarod Trail. New York: Walker and erence book. In your opinion, what is the Company, 1993. most unusual, and the most beautiful, Gil, Shelley. Kiana’s Iditarod. Homer, AK: type of dog? Discuss your answers with Paws IV Publishing Company, 1984. your classmates. Heinrichs, Ann. America the Beautiful: 3. What thoughts and emotions went Alaska. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1991. through Susan’s mind when she and her dog team came face-to-face with the starv- Johnston, Joyce. Alaska. Minneapolis, MN: ing moose? Write a paragraph describing Lerner Publications, 1994. what she might have felt. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. 4. After reading the biography of Susan Volume 3. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Butcher, what thought came to your Company, 1993. mind? Write about it and share it with Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of your classmates. Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- lastic, 1997. Social Studies Paulsen, Gary. Woodsong. New York: Bradbury Press, 1990.

1. The highest mountain in North America Shahan, Sherry. Dashing Through the Snow: is in central Alaska. What is its name? The Story of the Jr. Iditarod. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook Press, 1997. 2. The Bering Strait separates what country from Alaska? Thompson, Kathleen. Alaska. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1996. 3. Susan trained alone in the Alaskan wilderness with her dogs. What equipment Wood, Ted. Iditarod Dream: Dusty and His would you need to survive in the wilder- Sled Dogs Compete in Alaska’s Jr. Iditarod. ness? What skills would be necessary? New York: Walker and Company, 1996.

4. What direction is Nome from Anchorage? Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1992. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Susan Butcher 15 Jennifer Capriati 1976 • Tennis

ennifer Capriati was on tennis courts sharpen her skills. She beat everybody, Jbefore she was born. Her mother, Denise, including older men and boys. At twelve, she was receiving tennis instruction from her hus- won the eighteen-and-under clay court cham- band, Stefano, just 17 hours before Jennifer pionship. Another problem was finding time entered this world. Stefano was convinced his for homework while she played in various new 11-pound daughter would be a future ten- tournaments around the country. This was nis star. Stefano joked that Jennifer was born solved by working with a private tutor. She holding a tennis racket. faxed her homework assignments back Before Jennifer could walk, she and forth to her high school teachers was climbing to the top of the at the private school in which she monkey bars on the playground. was enrolled. Practicing tennis A few months later she was was not a problem. She prac- playing with the tennis balls ticed without complaint. behind the machine that shot Jennifer joined the profession- balls out for tennis practice. By al ranks as a tennis player the the time she was four, Jennifer month she turned fourteen, and began hitting tennis balls on her she was the youngest person in own with a small racket. the United States ever to do so. In Stefano played soccer in Milan, one year in the early 1990s, she won Italy, until he was injured. He then went $300,000, not counting her multimillion- to Spain as a movie stunt man and met dollar endorsement deals for skin care and Denise, a Pan-American flight attendant, other products. Her picture appeared on the whom he married. They moved to the United covers of Sports Illustrated and Newsweek. States so their first child, Jennifer, would be Jennifer had to be careful not to overtrain born as an American citizen. Jennifer’s early and burn out. As a precaution, her parents aptitude for tennis prompted them to move to involved her in a strength program to avoid Lauderhill, Florida. They asked Jim Evert, possible serious injuries. Weight lifting, Chris Evert Lloyd’s father, to instruct Jenni- stretching exercises, massage, long daily fer in tennis. He said no. He insisted that a runs, and wind sprints, coupled with 3 hours child must be at least five years old to begin of tennis and school work, made up her day. tennis lessons. Stefano asked him to watch The high point in her tennis life came her play before making a final decision. He when she played Steffi Graf in the 1992 did, and was impressed. Jim Evert told his Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. After daughter, Chris, that he’d found someone three grueling sets, Jennifer emerged the with the kind of tennis potential she had had victor, taking home a gold medal. as a child. One of Jennifer’s problems as a young tennis player was finding competition to Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

16 Athletes of Purpose 3. Pretend you are featured on the covers of Reading Sports Illustrated and Newsweek magazines. How would you handle this 1. Compare and contrast Jennifer’s biogra- experience? How would your friends react phy with the biographies of other tennis to your fame? Write an essay of fifty to players. How are they alike or different? seventy-five words about how you feel. Who is your favorite? Why? 4. When she had free time, Jennifer enjoyed 2. Create three titles for the biography of going to shopping malls with her high Jennifer Capriati. Arrange them in your school friends. Make a list of places in order of preference. Compare yours with your community you would take Jennifer, those of your classmates. if she visited you. Compare your list with 3. Draw three cartoon pictures of Jennifer: those of your classmates. first, as a child climbing the monkey bars; second, hitting tennis balls as a four-year- old; and third, standing on a platform Further Reading receiving the gold medal in Barcelona, Spain. Gutman, Bill. Jennifer Capriati: Teenage Tennis Star. Brookfield, CT: The Millbrook 4. Visit a tennis court when it is empty. In Press, 1993. a paragraph, write what you see. Then imagine you are playing against a famous Goldstein, Margaret J. Jennifer Capriati: tennis player and the bleachers are filling Tennis Sensation. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner up with tennis fans. Write how you feel Publications, 1993. and how well you play. Share your para- Lakin, Patricia. Jennifer Capriati: Rising graphs with a friend. Star. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Enterprises, 1993. Social Studies Miller, Marc. Fundamental Tennis. Minneap- olis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995.

1. Locate Milan, Italy, and Barcelona, Spain, Morrissette, Mikki. Jennifer Capriati. New on a map or globe. Read about these two York: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. famous cities in a reference book and report three interesting facts about each Singleton, Skip. The Junior Tennis Hand- one to your classmates. book: A Complete Guide to Tennis for Juniors, Parents, and Coaches. Cincinnati, OH: Shoe 2. To maintain health, daily exercise is Tree Press, 1991. important for old and young alike. Make a list of your daily exercises or physical Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- activities and compare it with those of letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced your classmates. If practical, discuss what Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx you learned with your health or physical Press, 1992. education instructor. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Jennifer Capriati 17 Roberto Clemente 1934-1972 • Baseball

n northeast Puerto Rico lies the city of saw him and told her. Nevertheless, Vera’s ICarolina. There Roberto Clemente was family followed the custom that young people born to Melchor and Luisa Clemente. The must be chaperoned when dating. They were family lived close to the sugar cane fields married in 1963 and had three sons. where Melchor worked for $2 a week. Even As a baseball player, Roberto became when he was promoted to foreman at $4 a noted for his fielding, hitting, and throwing. week, there was little money to spare. In 1966 he was named the National League’s At nine, Roberto wanted a bicycle. Most Valuable Player. In his last game His father told him to earn it. So in the major leagues, in 1972, Roberto Roberto took a job carrying an needed one hit to become the elev- empty milk can for a neighbor to enth player in history to get a grocery store about a half mile 3,000 hits. He succeeded! away. The grocer filled it with For some time, Roberto milk and Roberto carried it planned a recreation center back. For this chore he received (Sports City) between San Juan a few cents a day. When he was and Carolina for the children of twelve, he had earned enough the island. They needed a free money to buy a used bicycle. place to play. Playing ball was Roberto’s great On December 23, 1972, an passion. With an old tree limb, he hit earthquake in Nicaragua killed 7,000 tin cans and balls made of tightly bound rags. people and left many injured and homeless. At night he squeezed a rubber ball to Roberto was named the Puerto Rican honor- strengthen his hands. By the time he was ary relief chairman. To make sure that the eighteen, he signed a contract to play for the medicines and food got to the people, he Puerto Rican Winter League. His $500 sign- decided to go there and supervise its distribu- ing bonus, plus $60 a week and a new mitt, tion. On New Year’s Eve, 1972, the supply seemed like a dream come true. plane carrying him and a few others crashed In November 1954, the Pittsburgh Pirates off the coast of Puerto Rico. All were killed. chose Roberto in the major league draft. But The five-year waiting period for induction tragedy followed. His oldest brother, Luis, into the Baseball Hall of Fame was lifted. died of a brain tumor on New Year’s Eve. Roberto was enshrined a few weeks later, Then Roberto was in a near fatal automobile the first Puerto Rican to be honored. People crash when a drunken driver plowed into his contributed to Roberto’s recreation center. It car. Roberto’s spinal cord was damaged. This became a memorial to a young man who injury bothered him for some time. began by hitting homemade cloth balls with Things looked better when he met Vera a tree limb. Cristina Zabala, who worked at a bank. She did not know he was the famous Puerto Rican baseball player until her friends from work Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

18 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. In what particular sport or occupation Bjarkman, Peter C. Roberto Clemente. New would you like to excel? Make a list of five York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991. important things to do to be the best in Dunnahoo, Terry Janson and Herma that sport or occupation. Sit in a circle Silverstein. Baseball Hall of Fame. New with a few friends and read and respond York: Crestwood House, 1994. to each other’s lists. Geng, Don. Fundamental Baseball. Minneap- 2. What is your opinion about having an old- olis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. er brother, sister, or parent as a chaperone when dating? What do you like Green, Carol. Roberto Clemente: Baseball about this custom? Superstar. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1991. 3. From the biography, copy two sentences that indicate Roberto’s determination to Gutelle, Andrew. Baseball’s Best: Five True make himself a success in baseball. Share Stories. New York: Random House, 1990. and compare your sentences with your Kalb, Jonah. How to Play Baseball Better classmates. Than You Did Last Season. New York: Mac- 4. Who among your friends has the potential millan Publishing Co., 1974. to be a professional athlete? Why? Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). Social Studies New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997.

1. Find Puerto Rico on a map or globe. Then The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. find Carolina, the city where Roberto Cle- Volume 4. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press mente was born. Company, 1993.

2. Find Nicaragua on a map or globe. What Macht, Norman L. Roberto Clemente. New country lies to its north? South? What York: Chelsea Juniors, 1994. body of water lies to its east? West? O’Connor, Jim. The Story of Roberto Clem- 3. Earthquakes are most often caused by ente: All-Star Hero. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth movement of the Earth. What is this Stevens Publishing, 1995. movement called? Walker, Paul Robert. Pride of Puerto Rico: The Life of Roberto Clemente. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Roberto Clemente 19 Ty Cobb 1886-1961 • Baseball

y Cobb grew up wanting two things: to on opposing teams, but also the friendship of Twin every contest he entered and to his own team members. He spent much time please his father. Pleasing his father was dif- alone visiting public libraries, art galleries, ficult. His father, nicknamed “the Professor,” and museums, even operas and classical had high goals for Ty. He wanted Ty to be a concerts. doctor, lawyer, or perhaps an army officer. When he developed a fever and it was diag- Ty’s goal was to be a professional baseball nosed as inflamed tonsils, Ty found a doctor player. who would remove them with- When he was 17, Ty had out anesthesia. He felt he could the opportunity to try out for a not miss appearing in the line- minor league team. Summon- up or someone else would take ing his courage, he asked his his place. A friend carried him father if he could leave home to bed after the operation. In for a tryout. His father talked great pain, he played the next to him until three o’clock in the day. The doctor was committed morning, telling him of his to an asylum for the insane need for a college education shortly after the operation. and the riffraff in baseball with In 1906 Ty began a hitting whom he would associate. Ty streak in which he batted .320 could only counter with, “I just or higher every year for 23 have to go.” years. In 1911 he hit .420 for the year and Finally, Professor Cobb wrote out six was voted the most valuable player in the checks for $15, each with a different date for American League. In 1915 he began a major cashing, and the admonishment to “get it out league record for the most stolen bases: 892. of your system.” When Ty didn’t make the That record lasted 47 years. team, he called home to tell his father that Despite his success, his temper got in his he had an opportunity with another team. way. Once he jumped into the stands and Expecting the worst, Ty was happy to hear beat up a fan who was yelling insults. Ty was his father say, “Don’t come home a failure.” suspended for 10 days and fined $50. Ty made the roster of the next club. Ty invested his money wisely in a copper Just before Ty moved into the big leagues, mine, in General Motors stock when it was Ty’s mother accidentally killed the Professor first offered, and a company called Coca-Cola. when she thought he was a robber entering During World War I, he enlisted in the U.S. their home through a window late at night. It Army and served as a captain in the Chemi- was then Ty learned his father carried news- cal Warfare Service. In 1936 the first group of paper clippings of his earliest feats on the players was inducted into the Baseball Hall baseball field. He was very proud of Ty. of Fame. Ty got more votes than any other Ty’s fierce determination to be the best player, including Babe Ruth, and became the often cost him not only the friendship of those first inductee to be honored. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

20 Athletes of Purpose 4. At this time, who is your favorite baseball Reading player in the major leagues? On what team does he play? In a reference book, 1. After reading the biography of Ty Cobb, read about the city in which he plays, and and another book or reference about him, report three things of interest about the make a list of three titles that best depict city to your classmates. his life.

2. What thought or idea in the biography surprised you? Explain the surprise to Further Reading your parents or classmates. Dunnahoo, Terry Janson and Herma Silver- 3. As you read about Ty Cobb, in what ways stein. Baseball Hall of Fame. New York: are you similar to and different from him? Crestwood House, 1994. List the ways in two columns headed Alike and Different. Geng, Don. Fundamental Baseball. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. 4. Rank the following in order of importance to you: (1) a player’s batting average for Jacobs, William Jay. They Shaped the Game: the year, (2) his number of home runs in a Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson. New year, or (3) his base hits in a year. Defend York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994. your position with your classmates. Kalb, Jonah. How to Play Baseball Better Than You Did Last Season. New York: Mac- Social Studies millan Publishing Co., 1974. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. 1. Do you think Ty would have been equally Volume 3. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press as successful as a lawyer or doctor if he Company, 1993. had chosen one of these professions rather Macht, Norman L. Ty Cobb. New York: Chel- than baseball? Why? sea House, 1992.

2. Babe Ruth was noted for hitting home Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of runs, Ty Cobb for getting base hits and Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- stealing bases. Which of these two types lastic, 1997. of players do you think is more important to the success of a baseball team? Explain Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New your opinion to your classmates. York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.

3. Imagine Ty Cobb visiting your home for dinner. Who among your friends and relatives (limit of five, not including yourself) would you invite? Why? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Ty Cobb 21 Nadia Comaneci 1961 • Gymnastics

he small town of Onesti nestles in the especially if you were only 5 feet tall and TMoldavian Carpathian Mountains of weighed 86 pounds! eastern Romania. When Nadia Comaneci was What truly set the stage for Nadia’s popu- six years old, she and a friend were doing larity in gymnastics was the performance of their “exercises” in a school yard of Onesti. a young girl from the Soviet Union, Olga Nadia loved to skip and jump and run and Korbut. In the 1972 Olympics in Munich, move like the wind. At the side of the yard, a Germany, Olga won three gold medals and a man and a woman watched Nadia in silver. She became the spokesperson for fascination. They were gymnastics gymnastics. The sport gained enor- coaches who were constantly on mous popularity, especially in the the lookout for children with United States. gymnastic potential. Then the In 1976 Nadia made Olympic bell rang and Nadia and her history at the games in Mon- friend disappeared into the treal, Canada. Seven times she school before the couple could earned scores of 10. In the talk to them. Olympics, a 10 in gymnastics The coaches, Bela and Marta competition is a perfect score. Karolyi, went through the school She earned her gold medals com- twice looking for the two girls. But peting in exercises on the uneven the Karolyis could not recognize them. parallel bars, the balance beam, and in The third time around, Bela asked the ques- the all-around competition. She was in ninth tion, “Who loves gymnastics?” The two girls grade that year. raised their hands excitedly. Nadia went on By 1979, at 18 years of age, Nadia was 5 to train with the Karolyis, and her friend feet 3 1/2 inches tall and weighed 106 pounds. became a ballerina. The following year the Olympics were held in Two years later, Nadia won the Romanian Moscow. Nadia won gold medals in the bal- national junior gymnastics title. By the time ance beam and the floor exercise competitions. she was fourteen, she was in international She retired from competitive gymnastics competitions. Nadia won gold medals in and began coaching Romanian youth. The London, England; Oslo, Norway; and at the Romanian communist government put travel American Cup competition in New York City. restrictions on her, so Nadia left Romania Bela Karolyi said Nadia had a number of and toured with a group of gymnasts. She characteristics that made her skillful in gym- and an American gymnast, Bart Conner, fell nastics. They were strength, agility, speed, in love and married and now live in Colorado. intelligence, and concentration. To top it off, he said she possessed great courage. It did take courage to do back flips on a 4-inch narrow board high above the floor and to twist and turn on the uneven parallel bars, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

22 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Nadia’s coach said she had strength, agili- Bragg, Linda Wallenberg. Fundamental ty, speed, intelligence, concentration, and Gymnastics. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner courage. Rank these characteristics in Publications, 1995. order of importance. Compare your rank- Brodman, Jonathon, editor. Athletes. ing with those of your classmates. How do Volume 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier 1996. you differ? Discuss your reasoning with each other. Burchard, Sue H. Sports Star, Nadia Coman- eci. New York: Harcourt Brace, 1977. 2. Does Nadia remind you of someone you know? Who? In what way? Cohen, Joel H. Superstars of Women’s Gymnastics. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea 4. Using a recent almanac, skim over the House Publishers, 1997. various competitions at the Olympic Games. What surprised you most? Com- Grumeza, Ian. Nadia. New York: Hawthorn pare your findings with those of your Books, 1977. friends or relatives. Haycock, Kate. Gymnastics. New York: Crestwood House, 1991. Social Studies Jones, Betty Millsaps. Wonder Women of Sports. New York: Random House, 1981. 1. With two or three friends, find the follow- The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. ing places where Nadia lived, or traveled Volume 4. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press to, as an athlete: The mountains of the Company, 1993. Moldavian Carpathians; Onesti, Roma- nia; Oslo, Norway; London, England; McMillam, Constance Van Brunt. Nadia Moscow, Russia; Montreal, Canada; Comaneci: Enchanted Sparrow. St. Paul, Munich, Germany. MN: EMC Corporation, 1977.

2. Choose two locations from the cities and Readhead, Lloyd. The Fantastic Book of countries above and read about them in a Gymnastics. Brookfield, CT: Copper Beech reference book. With your classmates, dis- Books, 1997. cuss three of the most interesting things Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New you learned. York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. 3. When did Communist Romania hold its ______. The Picture Story of Nadia first free multiparty elections after World Comaneci. New York: Julian Messner, 1977. War II? Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- 4. What incident in the biography reminds letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced you of something that happened to you? Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Relate it to two friends or a parent. Press, 1992. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Nadia Comaneci 23 Gertrude Ederle 1907 • Swimming

ew York City was hot in the summer, so tried, but only five had succeeded. On Trudy’s NGertrude Ederle, nicknamed Trudy, first attempt to cross, the strong current went to the pool to keep cool. Her parents forced her to quit because she attempted to go owned a cottage in New Jersey. It was there too fast. that Trudy’s father taught her to swim when In a later attempt, Trudy set off from the she was eight years old. Later, at 15, she got a French coast at 7:09 in the morning. Her body membership in the Women’s Swimming Asso- was layered with olive oil, then a coat of lano- ciation on Manhattan’s lower East Side. lin, and another covering of lard and The lessons she took there improved petroleum jelly. The current was too her natural ability to swim. strong for a rowboat escort, so a Trudy soon won national tugboat stayed beside her. A swimming titles in 200- and coach encouraged her to keep a 400- yard races. Then she tried steady pace, and she set off for longer races. In a 3-mile race the coast of England. she beat fifty world-class swim- Trudy became seasick. Because mers. At 17, she set 18 world of the waves and cold she lost distance records. her hearing. Many people rooted Trudy decided to attempt a for her. Along the coast of Eng- long swim from the Battery in lower land, people lit bonfires as their New York City, across New York Bay, welcome. That night, August 6, 1926, and on to Sandy Hook New Jersey, a distance Trudy finally walked ashore. She reached of 21 miles. With one mile to go, the outgoing Dover at 9:40 p.m., approximately 14 hours tide began to slow Trudy down. Her sister, after she started. Her time was 2 hours faster riding in a boat nearby, began scolding her than any of the five men who had swum the and telling her she was loafing. This upset English Channel before her. Asked by a Trudy, so she tried harder to finish. She not reporter how she felt, she replied, “Wet.” only accomplished her goal, but broke the Two million New Yorkers turned out to men’s record besides. welcome the now-famous teenager with a The 1924 Olympic Games in Paris beck- traditional ticker-tape parade. Commercial oned Trudy. For the second time, women endorsement contracts totaling $200,000 were allowed to compete in swimming. In were offered her. This was a tremendous France, she won two bronze medals. As lead- amount of money at that time. A few years off swimmer in the 400-meter women’s relay, later, Trudy fell in her New York apartment she won the gold along with three other and injured her spine. It took 4 years for her young women. to recover. After that she taught deaf children The challenge that really excited Trudy to swim. Trudy made swimming a major was not at the Olympics. It was one no wom- sport for women. an had ever attempted: swimming the 21-mile English Channel. Many men had Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

24 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Does Gertrude Ederle remind you of Dabney, Gene. Swimming: A Step-by-Step someone you know? Who? In what way? Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990.

2. Share with a classmate two things you Gorton, Eddie. Swimming. London: Batsford admire most about Gertrude Ederle. Academic and Educational Ltd., 1982.

3. Do you know a location that is 21 miles The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. from where you live? If so, think about Volume 5. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press places where you could stop to rest if the Company, 1993. road was one long swimming channel. Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, How many rest stops would you have to Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). make? Where would you stop? New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997. Social Studies Orr, C. Rob and Jane B. Tyler. Swimming Basics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1. On a map, trace the swimming route Ger- 1980. trude Ederle took from Battery Park on Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of lower Manhattan, through Upper and Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- Lower New York Bay, to Sandy Hook, lastic, 1997. New Jersey. What large island was west of her most of the time she was swimming? Sandelson, Robert. Swimming and Diving. New York: Crestwood House, 1991. 2. What bodies of water does the English Channel connect? Verrier, John. Swimming and Diving. Crys- tal Lake, IL: Rigby Education, 1996. 3. At the English Channel’s narrowest part, what English and French cities are oppo- Wilson, Charlie G. Swimming and Diving. site each other? Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1987.

Gertrude Ederle 25 Chris Evert 1954 • Tennis

hris Evert was the second of five chil- The interest she generated in tennis Cdren. Her father, Jim, played tennis for brought many young girls into the sport. The the University of Notre Dame. After gradua- publicity brought the media to her doorstep. tion, he became a tennis instructor and Her father and mother tried to keep family manager of a tennis complex in South Florida. life as normal as possible. Her father finally Tennis was a family affair. All the children told the journalists that came to the Evert played tennis and all became good at it. house that he didn’t want to be rude, but the Jim noticed how hard Chris children needed their rest, all hit tennis balls against a wall, five of them, and they did have before she was 6 years old, so homework to do. he started giving her lessons. In 1976 Sports Illustrated As Chris grew older, she prac- named Chris Sportswoman of ticed 20 hours a week after the Year, the first woman to be school and on weekends. Off chosen for the honor. The Asso- the court she was shy, but on ciated Press honored her as the the court Chris relentlessly hit Female Athlete of the Year sev- the ball across the net until her eral times. At one point, she opponents made a mistake. had a winning streak of 125 Because she was a child and straight matches on clay didn’t have the strength of old- courts. Chris had 157 singles er players, Chris worked hard to develop a titles, 1,300 career match wins, and from powerful two-handed backhand for returning 1972 to 1989 was never below the top-four the ball. When she was behind in tennis ranking for women in tennis. matches, she would battle to win. Her endur- By the time Chris was 28, she was worth ance, developed from constant practice, made $10,000,000. Even so, she had been taught by her a winner. her parents to make wise purchases. So when In 1970 the tennis world found out what a she decided to buy an expensive car, she had top-flight player she was. Margaret Court, her husband call to find out what her father about 10 years older than Chris, had just won might say. Of course, she had the money to the Grand Slam—four of the top tennis tour- buy several cars. Someone said, in jest, that naments in the world. Only one person had she could start a car dealership with the cars done it before Margaret, and Chris beat Mar- she won as prizes in tournaments. garet when Chris was only fifteen! Chris was the first professional tennis The day Chris turned eighteen, she player to win 1,000 matches. Over her 19- turned professional and signed a $50,000 con- year career she averaged .903 wins. She tract endorsing tennis wear. The media retired in 1989 and analyzed tennis matches created nicknames describing her style of for television. play as “Little Miss Cool” and “Ice Princess.” Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

26 Athletes of Purpose 4. After discussing question 3, make a list of Reading those character traits you already have and a list of those you desire to attain. 1. After reading the biography of Chris Evert, close the book and list five important things you remember about her. Further Reading Share your list with classmates or friends. Were any items on your list the same as Aaseng, Nathan. Winning Women of Tennis. those of your classmates? Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1981. 2. Often short biographies leave a reader Hahn, James and Lynn. Chris! The Sports feeling there is much more to learn about Career of Chris Evert Lloyd. Mankato, MN: a person. What more would you like to Crestwood House, 1981. know about Chris Evert? Make a list with a friend and see if you can find out the The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. answers by reading more about her. Volume 5. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 3. List the names of two older relatives or adult friends whom you think would enjoy MacCurdy, Doug and Shawn Tully. Sports this biography. Read the biography to Illustrated Tennis. New York: Harper & Row, them and discuss their reactions to what 1980. you read. May, Julian. Chris Evert: Princess of Tennis. 4. With a highlighter pen, highlight three Mankato, MN: Creative Education Society, sentences that you think tell something 1977. important about Chris. Discuss your O’Shea, Mary Jo. Winning Tennis Star: Chris choices with your classmates. Evert. Mankato, MN: Creative Education Society, 1977. Social Studies Schmitz, Dorothy Childers. Chris Evert: Women’s Tennis Champion. Mankato, MN: 1. Make a list of four products you could Crestwood House, 1977. comfortably endorse. Write a sentence or Schwabacher, Martin. Superstars of Women’s two why you believe in each of these prod- Tennis. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, ucts. Discuss with your classmates. 1997. 2. What four counties form the southern tip Smith, Jay, H. Chris Evert. Mankato, MN: of Florida? What city is farthest south? Creative Education Society, 1975. What is the name of the large national park located in South Florida? Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced 3. What character traits must a person like Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Chris Evert need to be a consistent win- Press, 1992. ner in her sport for 19 years? Make a list and discuss it with a small group of classmates. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Chris Evert 27 Lou Gehrig 1903-1941 • Baseball

er and father were delighted that he could go n June 19, 1903, a big baby boy of to college, but they had little money and his 14 pounds was born to Heinrich and O father was ill and out of work. Christina Gehrig in New York City. The cou- To pay the bills, Lou’s mother got a job ple had emigrated from Germany, met in cooking in a fraternity house while Lou was New York City, married, and worked hard to at Columbia University. Even so, Lou worked, make a living for themselves and their child. too. He served meals at the fraternity house. They named him Heinrich Ludwig Gehrig, While in college, Lou played football but he became known to all as Lou Gehrig. and baseball. Then his mother contract- Lou’s favorite gift as a child was a ed double pneumonia and the family baseball catcher’s mitt he got for was months behind in making its Christmas when he was five. It rent payments. When the New was for a boy who threw with his York Yankees offered him a right hand and Lou was left- contract for $3,500 for the handed. After Lou caught the remaining months of the 1923 ball, he tucked the mitt under season, he took it to help his his right arm and threw with family. his left. Lou didn’t mind because Babe Ruth was the star for he knew his parents were poor the Yankees at that time. With and sacrificed a lot to get it for him. Bob Meusel, Lou, and the Babe, the The chubby boy grew to be strong. Yankees had three .300 hitters in a row. When Lou was eleven, he swam across the They were called Murderer’s Row. Opposing Hudson River, a distance of one mile. His pitchers had difficulty getting them out. father was proud of him but boxed his ears In 1933 Lou married Eleanor Twitchell, for taking such a chance with his life. who helped him to overcome his lack of self- By the time he went to Commerce High confidence. Lou played day after day during School, the shy young man weighed 200 the 1930s, never missing a game. Then in pounds. He played sandlot baseball, football, 1938, he went into a slump. He couldn’t hit and soccer. One of his teachers heard he was or move the way he had. On May 2, 1939, a good baseball player. The teacher told him he benched himself after 2,130 consecutive to go to the next high school baseball game games. At the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, he and play. When he got there, he heard the was diagnosed with a disease called amyo- crowd roaring, so he immediately went back trophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and he died home. He was too timid to be in front of a at age 37. crowd. His teacher threatened to fail him if he didn’t join the team. So he did. Lou hit a home run in the ninth inning of a championship game for his high school and was featured in the newspaper. That brought him offers to play for college teams. His moth- Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

28 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Does Lou Gehrig remind you of someone Adler, David A. Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man. you know? Who? In what way? New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997.

2. When Lou Gehrig found out he was dying Brandt, Keith. Lou Gehrig: Pride of the of an incurable disease, he said that he Yankees. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1986. still considered himself “the luckiest man Dunnahoo, Terry Janson and Herma on the face of the Earth.” Why do you Silverstein. Baseball Hall of Fame. New think he felt this way? Explain. York: Crestwood House, 1994. 3. How many hits would a .300 hitter get if Geng, Don. Fundamental Baseball. he or she batted 100 times? One thousand Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. times? The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. 4. From the biography, read aloud three Volume 6. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press sentences that best tell about the kind of Company, 1993. person Lou Gehrig was. Read them to a classmate or parent. Luce, Willard and Celia. Lou Gehrig: Iron Man of Baseball. Champaign, IL: Garrard Publishing Company, 1970. Social Studies Kalb, Jonah. How to Play Baseball Better Than You Did Last Season. New York: Mac- 1. What is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis millan Publishing Co., 1974. (ALS), and what is this disease called today? Macht, Norman L. Lou Gehrig. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1992. 2. The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota is one of the world’s largest medical centers. Read Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of about it in a reference book. Report to Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- your class or parents three interesting lastic, 1997. facts you learned. In what city is it Rambeck, Richard. Lou Gehrig. Chicago, IL: located? Find it on a map. The Child’s World, 1994. 3. What is your favorite professional baseball team? On a map, locate the place where it plays its home games.

Lou Gehrig 29 Althea Gibson 1927 • Tennis and Golf

lthea Gibson was born to sharecroppers ued her high school education. In the Ain Silver, South Carolina. In 1930, after summer, she lived with Dr. Robert Johnson’s sharing their cotton crop with the landowner, family in Lynchburg, Virginia. He took her they made only $75 for the whole year. Mr. and others on the all-black American Tennis Gibson went to New York City and got a job Association tour. She won its championship as a handyman in a garage at $10 a week, title 10 years in a row. Finally, she stopped, and his family joined him later. They lived in “to give somebody else a chance,” she said. an apartment in Harlem, the Althea received an athletic black section of the city. scholarship to Florida A & M Althea did not care much University in Tallahassee. She for school and often missed played on the tennis and bas- classes. Sometimes she rode ketball teams. the subway throughout the Tennis star Alice Marble night because she was afraid to believed that Althea should be go home and face her father. allowed to play in the all-white Although he loved her, he United States Lawn Tennis whipped her, hoping to make Association tournaments. She her obey. It didn’t work. wrote in the USLTA journal To defend herself when she that people in the association was traveling alone, he gave were acting like “sanctimo- her boxing lessons. One day, with one punch, nious hypocrites” by keeping her out on the Althea flattened a man who was beating basis of race. Althea was finally given the his wife. chance to play in the USLTA based on her The Police Athletic League put wooden ability. In 1950 she became the first African barricades on Althea’s street so the children American to compete in the national champi- could have a summer playground. Althea onships at Forest Hills. excelled at paddle ball and won trophies. The U.S. State Department sent Althea Buddy Walker, whose regular work as a and three other U.S. players on a goodwill tour musician was slow in the summer months, of Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), Pakistan, worked for the city as the playground leader. India, Indonesia, and Malaysia in Southeast He bought Althea two secondhand tennis Asia. In 1957 she became the first African rackets and taught her tennis. American player to win at Wimbledon. She played so well that two African Amer- After her tennis career, Althea joined the ican medical doctors, who were interested in Ladies Professional Golf Association as a pro promoting African American tennis players, golfer. The talented young woman also acted took her into their families. Althea lived with with John Wayne in the movie The Horse Dr. Hubert Eaton of Wilmington, North Caro- Soldiers. Later she became the Recreation lina, and his family during the school year. Director for the City of East Orange, She practiced on his tennis court and contin- New Jersey. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

30 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Write the names of three relatives who Aaseng, Nathan. Winning Women of Tennis. would enjoy the biography of Althea Gib- Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1981. son. Tell why you chose each person and Biracree, Tom. Althea Gibson: Tennis plan to read it to at least one of them. Champion. Los Angeles, CA: Melrose Square 2. Write a short essay of approximately 50 Publishing Company, 1990. words telling why whipping a child helps Davidson, Sue. Changing the Game: The or does not help him or her to want Stories of Tennis Champions Alice Marble to obey. and Althea Gibson. Seattle, WA: Seal Press, 3. Pretend Althea came to your class. Write 1997. three questions you would ask her. See if Gibson, Althea and Edward E. Fitzgerald. you can find any of the answers in the I Always Wanted to Be Somebody. New York: books listed for Further Reading, or use Harper & Row, 1958. others in your library. Jones, Betty Millsaps. Wonder Women of 4. Check a dictionary for the words Sports. New York: Random House, 1981. sanctimonious and hypocrites. Write a definition of this phrase in simple words The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. and compare it with those of your Volume 6. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press classmates. Company, 1993.

Singleton, Skip. The Junior Tennis Hand- book: A Complete Guide to Tennis for Juniors, Social Studies Parents, and Coaches. Cincinnati, OH: Shoe Tree Press, 1991. 1. Compare biographies of Jackie Robinson and Althea Gibson. How are they alike? Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women How are they different? Athletes: Who They Are and How They Influenced Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: 2. Alice Marble believed that Althea should The Oryx Press, 1992. be judged by ability rather than the color of her skin. What special beliefs do you have? Share them with your classmates and discuss them.

3. List the countries in Southeast Asia that Althea and the other tennis players visited on the goodwill tour. Choose one and find five interesting facts, in a reference book, to share with your classmates. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Althea Gibson 31 Steffi Graf 1969 • Tennis

hen Steffi Graf was three years old, she was fifteen, Steffi journeyed to Los Angeles Wwatched her father play tennis. She for the Summer Olympics. Tennis was not yet exclaimed she would like to play tennis just an official sport at the Olympics. It was called like he did. So her father, Peter Graf, cut the a “demonstration” sport. Even so, Steffi won handle off a tennis racket so Steffi could hold it. the gold medal. Peter, an automobile dealer and insur- Steffi continued to win tournaments and ance salesman, loved to play tennis. Her earn money. She worked hard to be the very mother, Heidi, also played best. She exercised, lifted well. Steffi and her dad played weights, and practiced her tennis in the house, causing serve, forehand, and backhand disorder with the furniture. drive for long hours every day. They moved to the downstairs Her opponents were amazed at playroom after smashing some her powerful forehand when lamps. Peter set up chairs as a she sent the ball back over the net. He promised her bread- net. Coupled with her astonish- sticks if she could return his ing foot speed, Steffi kept her volleys several times in a row competition off balance. without missing. She became Steffi especially wanted to so good that he had to raise the win the Grand Slam of tennis. number of times she had to do This meant winning the four it without missing. major tournaments of the year: The Australian Her father sold his dealership when Steffi Open, French Open, Wimbledon (in England), was five years old. The family moved from and the United States Open. In 1988, this Mannheim, Germany, to a small town called finally happened when she was 19 years old. Bruhl. There he opened a tennis club and And that same year she won an Olympic gold Steffi began playing on a real tennis court. medal. This put her in the history books. No Peter became her coach and Steffi became an man or woman had ever done that! outstanding tennis player at a very young age. In 1993 she won $2,753,000, bringing her By the time she was 12, Steffi was win- total at that time to more than $13,000,000. ning tournaments in competition with players But money was not that important. She was older than she. Trophies and prizes began to in Chicago for a tournament and it was cold. fill the home of the Grafs. Peter decided it She called her father. He laughed and told was time for Steffi to begin competing against her to buy herself a coat. She had millions of adult women tennis players, since she already dollars! ranked so highly with them inEurope. At 13, Steffi dropped out of eighth grade and turned professional. Peter hired a personal school tutor to travel with them to tournaments all over the world. In 1984, when she Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

32 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Think back to the first game you ever Brodman, Jonathon, editor. Athletes. Volume played. How old were you? What was the 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1996. game? Compare your experience with that Brooks, Philip. Steffi Graf: Tennis Champ. of your friends. New York: Childrens Press, 1996. 2. Steffi did not have time to be with her Hilgers, Laura. Steffi Graf. New York: The friends when she became a professional Time Inc. Magazine Company, 1990. tennis player. Write a paragraph about something you had to give up in order to Knapp, Ron. Sports Great Steffi Graf. gain something else of value. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1995.

3. What does the word ace mean in The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. tennis talk? Volume 7. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 4. If you could ask Steffi one question about her career in tennis, what would it be? MacCurdy, Doug and Shawn Tully. Sports Illustrated Tennis. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Social Studies McMane, Fred and Cathrine Wolf. Winning Women. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. 1. Two rivers meet near Mannheim, Germany, where Steffi was born. What Miller, Marc. Fundamental Tennis. Minneap- are they? olis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995.

2. To win the Grand Slam of professional Rothaus, James R. Steffi Graf. Chicago, IL: tennis, a player must win tournaments in The Child’s World, 1991. four different countries. What are the Schwabacher, Martin. Superstars of Women’s countries? Find them on a map or globe. Tennis. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 3. What Olympic sport and its event is of 1997. most interest to you? In a reference book, Singleton, Skip. The Junior Tennis Hand- read about the winner of that event in the book: A Complete Guide to Tennis for Juniors, last Olympics. Share what you find out Parents, and Coaches. Cincinnati, OH: Shoe with your classmates. Tree Press, 1991.

Steffi Graf 33 Wayne Gretzky 1961 • Hockey

ayne’s father gave him his first pair of also. He was a fast sprinter, good at lacrosse, Wskates when he was two years old. and an excellent baseball player. A major Walter Gretzky had played junior hockey in league baseball team offered him a contract Canada, but he now worked for the telephone even though he’d signed with a professional company. He built Wayne a skating rink in hockey team. But hockey was his first love. the backyard by flooding it with water and let- In order to have stronger competition, ting it freeze. Wayne’s mother turned on the Wayne went to Toronto and lived with a fami- lawn sprinkler from time to time to ly there so he could play in a more water the 40-by-60-foot rink in order advanced league. At 17, he turned to keep it smooth for Wayne to professional and, eventually, on practice on. his eighteenth birthday, he Walter cut down the small- joined the Edmonton Oilers. est hockey stick he could find so His fans called him “The his son could practice shooting Great Gretzky,” imitating a hockey puck into a net. Some- the title of a book by F. Scott times he would put a table in Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby. front of the net with just enough His idol over the years was room on the sides so Wayne could Gordie Howe, a tremendous hockey aim the puck into the narrow open- player who wore number 9. Wayne ings and make a goal. His father put tin took the number 99 and made that num- cans, traffic cones, and hockey sticks on the ber famous. rink. Wayne skated around them as he swift- Wayne began to break the records that ly moved the puck with his hockey stick up great hockey players had set for many years. and down the rink. At night, lights were set At age 19 he was the youngest player to up in the backyard for Wayne to continue receive the Hart Memorial Trophy as the practicing. Wayne loved to play. In fact, he most valuable player in the National Hockey wanted to join the youth league at five, but League. He continued receiving the trophy for the league had a rule that a youngster must the next 7 years. be six to play. In 1988 he asked to be traded to the Los By the time Wayne was 10 years old Angeles Kings in the United States so he he was 4 feet 4 inches tall and weighed could move to be with his wife, an actress 70 pounds. In the Peewee games he made there. But in 1992 he awoke one night with 378 goals in 68 games. Newspapers and tele- severe back pain caused by a herniated disk. vision stations interviewed him. Some of the It was doubtful that he would ever play parents were upset because their children again. Wayne fought back. He exercised and weren’t able to make goals because of Wayne, went on to win more awards, becoming the but he did pass off to the other children most outstanding hockey player in the world. frequently. Wayne Gretzky retired from professional Wayne performed well in other sports, hockey in 1999. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

34 Athletes of Purpose Minnesota Wild, St. Paul, MN Reading Montreal Canadiens, Montreal, PQ Nashville Predators, Nashville, TN 1. Read other biographies and books about New Jersey Devils, East Rutherford, NJ Wayne Gretzky. Make a list of his New York Islanders, Uniondale, NY awards. Which one do you think was the New York Rangers, New York, NY most important to him? Discuss your Ottawa Senators Hockey Club, Kanata, ON answer with classmates who also Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia, PA answered this question. Phoenix Coyotes, Scottsdale, AZ 2. With two or three friends role-play a con- Pittsburgh Penguins, Pittsburgh, PA versation between Wayne, Walter, and St. Louis Blues, St. Louis, MO his mother concerning the decision about San Jose Sharks, San Jose, CA Wayne leaving home and living with a Tampa Bay Lightning, Tampa, FL family in Toronto so he could play in a Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto, ON more advanced hockey league. Vancouver Canucks, Vancouver, BC Washington Capitals, Landover, MD 3. What might have happened if Wayne had gone into professional baseball instead of 2. Choose a Canadian city and a U.S. city hockey? Write a paragraph of fifty words from the list of National Hockey League or less to explain your answer. franchises above. Read about each city in a reference book and discuss with your classmates why you would want live in Social Studies each particular city. 3. What is the name of the trophy that is 1. From the following list of teams in the given annually to the team that wins the National Hockey League, locate the states National Hockey League championship? or provinces in which they are found on a North American map. Atlanta Thrashers, Atlanta, GA Further Reading Boston Bruins, Boston, MA Buffalo Sabres, Buffalo, NY Knapp, Ron. Top 10 Hockey Scorers. Hillside, Carolina Hurricanes, Morrisville, NC NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1994. Calgary Flames, Calgary, AB Chicago Black Hawks, Chicago, IL Rappoport, Ken. Sports Great Wayne Gretzky. Colorado Avalanche, Denver, CO Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1996. Columbus Blue Jackets, Worthington, OH Rozens, Aleksandrs. Wayne Gretzky: Dallas Stars, Irving, TX Magician on the Ice. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Detroit Red Wings, Detroit, MI Enterprises, 1993. Edmonton Oilers, Edmonton, AB Florida Panthers, Sunrise, FL Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. Books Hartford Whalers, Hartford, CT for Young Readers. New York: Charles Los Angeles Kings, Inglewood, CA Scribner’s Sons, 1988. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Wayne Gretzky 35 Florence Griffith Joyner 1959–1998 • Track and Field

lorence was the seventh of 11 children. Florence became as well known for her FHer parents separated when she was long fingernails as she was for her running, young and her mother took the children to for she let them grow to four inches and paint- the Watts district of Los Angeles to live. The ed them a variety of colors. For a while she family was poor and sometimes ate oatmeal dropped out of running and took a job in a three times a day. But there was much love in bank, but she returned and graduated from the family. UCLA in 1983. Florence’s middle name In 1987 she married Al was Delorez and as a child she Joyner, a 1984 Olympic gold became known as Dee Dee. Dee medalist. She took the last Dee loved to run. When she name of Griffith Joyner, and visited her father in the Mojave soon the press called her “Flo- Desert, she chased jackrabbits. Jo,” a combination of her first Back in Watts, she became and last names. Her coach, Bob involved in the Sugar Ray Rob- Kersee, and her husband, Al inson Youth Foundation and Joyner, both worked with her in took part in organized races. preparation for the 1988 Olym- By the time she was 14, she pics in Seoul, Korea. won a track meet sponsored by Florence trained diligently, Jesse Owens, an Olympic often late into the night. To champion sprinter. make faster starts, she lifted leg weights for Mrs. Griffith set rules for her children: more than an hour a day. She did 100- and bed by 10 p.m. and no television during the 200-meter sprints and ran about 4 miles a week. Dee Dee was an A student in school. day. She was determined to win a gold medal. She had a mind of her own and had a boa con- At track meets, her creativity in dress was strictor snake for a pet! Her hobbies included distinct. Besides the long painted fingernails sewing and creating new hair styles for her- with rhinestones, birds, and trees on them, self and others. she designed track uniforms of various colors After performing well as a track star and and styles. Once she accidently cut off a leg of student at Jordan High School in Los Ange- one uniform, so she ran with one leg bare and les, Florence entered California State the other covered. University at Northridge. She worked with In the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, Bob Kersee, a women’s track coach. When he where wearing the U.S. team uniform was transferred to UCLA, she went there, too, required, she won gold medals in the 100 majoring in psychology. She barely missed meters, 200 meters, the 400-meter relay, and qualifying for the 1980 Olympic team, but she a silver medal in the 1600-meter relay. She made it to the 1984 Olympic Games held in was “the fastest woman in the world.” Flo-Jo Los Angeles. She won a silver medal in the died of an epileptic seizure at her home at the 200-meter run. age of 38. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

36 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. To you, what sort of person is Florence Aaseng, Nathan. Florence Griffith Joyner: Griffith Joyner? Would you have liked to Dazzling Olympian. Minneapolis, MN: have had her as a friend? Why or why not? Lerner Publications, 1989.

2. Using the biography of Florence, create a Hunter, Shaun. Great African Americans in comic strip. Create “balloons” for the the Olympics. New York: Crabtree Publishing words she might say. Make at least ten Company, 1997. panels. Read and discuss your comic strip Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: with younger children. Childrens Press, 1992. 3. Florence was known for her personal flair Koral, April. Florence Griffith Joyner: Track and style as well as for her running abili- and Field Star. New York: Franklin Watts, ty. What is your personal style? Describe 1992. it in a paragraph. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. 4. Copy what you consider the most impor- Volume 5. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press tant sentence in the biography of Florence Company, 1993. Griffith Joyner. Defend your choice against those of your classmates. Merrison, Tim. Field Athletics. New York: Crestwood House, 1991. Social Studies Rosenthal, Bert. Track and Field. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1994.

1. Find the Mojave Desert on a physical map Sandelson, Robert. Track Athletics. New of California. What direction is Los Ange- York: Crestwood House, 1991. les from the desert? Savage, Jeff. Running. Parsippany, NJ: 2. Are there any incidents or locations in Crestwood House, 1995. Florence’s biography that remind you of Stewart, Mark. Florence Griffith Joyner. something in your life? List them and dis- New York: Childrens Press, 1996. cuss them with your classmates. Wickham, Martha. Superstars of Women’s 3. A social problem that Florence and her Track and Field. New York: Chelsea House family had to combat early in life was Publishers, 1997. being poor. What social problems do people in your community have to face? What Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- is being done about them? What should letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced be done? Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1992. 4. Find Seoul, Korea, on a map. What is the approximate north latitude line that sepa- Wright, Gary. Track & Field: A Step-By-Step rates North and South Korea? Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Florence Griffith Joyner 37 Dorothy Hamill 1956 • Figure Skating

ight-year-old Dorothy Hamill put one commitment to the goal of becoming the best Eskate forward, then the other, on Morse’s figure skater in the world also meant she Pond behind her grandparents’ home. She couldn’t participate in school activities as fell, got up again, then smiled. She could others did. But her love for skating meant skate! A group of children went by, skating more to her. backward. But skating backward didn’t work One September she was at Lake Placid, for her, for Dorothy fell down. Then she got New York, with her coach, Gustave Lussi. He right back up and began again. suggested she try something new for Dorothy spent the winter skat- her routine, a flying camel layover. ing near her home in Rye, New Dorothy added another move by York, wearing out her first pair dropping into a sit spin. News- of skates in the process. papers later called it the Because she loved to skate, “Hamill Camel.” her mother decided Dorothy Sometime later, Dorothy should have lessons. went to Denver, Colorado, to Her first competition was in train and practice with another New York City’s Central Park. coach, Carlo Fassi. There she fin- She did well. Her father began a ished high school at the Colorado notebook listing events she entered Academy. After graduation, she spent and the results. There were notebooks more than two hours every morning at the for her sister and brother, too. They con- ice rink. Dorothy ate breakfast, jogged and tained lists of each child’s flu shots, grades, exercised, skated in the afternoon, and then and other achievements. again in the late afternoon. If she went out in Soon it was obvious that Dorothy could the evening, she had to be back by 9 o’clock. be a medal-winning figure skater. But that The Winter Olympics began on February meant sacrifice on her part as well as that of 4, 1976, in Innsbruck, Austria. All the years of the rest of the family. She had to go to places hard work and competitions paid off. Nine- where there were ice rinks. This required get- teen-year-old Dorothy was selected to ting up at 5 o’clock in the morning, six days a represent the United States and received the week. She learned to eat, sleep, and study in figure skating gold medal. A few weeks later the car. It also meant getting to bed by 7 or 8 she won the World Championship in Göteborg, o’clock in the evening to be ready to start her Sweden. Dorothy turned professional and practice schedule again in the morning. joined the Ice Capades for 3 years. She later The family made sacrifices, too. The car married a sports medicine specialist named required gas and oil. The lessons were expen- Ken, and they had a little girl, Alexandra. sive. Her mother gave up things she wanted to do. Dorothy had to travel to other parts of the country so she could train with excellent coaches. The expenses became enormous. Her Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

38 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Name one personal characteristic Dorothy Arnold, Caroline. The Olympic Winter Games. Hamill had that made her a successful New York: Franklin Watts, 1991. figure skater. On a scale of 1 to 10, what Gutman, Dan. Ice Skating: From Axels to number would you give yourself for that Zambonis. New York: Viking, 1995. particular characteristic? Hamill, Dorothy with Elva Clairmont. On 2. Have you ever had to make a sacrifice in and Off the Ice. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, order to gain something in the long run? 1983. Write a paragraph about it. Was it worth it? Hilgers, Laura. Great Skates. Boston, MA: 3. Pretend you are a reporter interviewing Little, Brown and Company, 1991. Dorothy after she won her Olympic gold medal. What would be your first question? The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. What would her answer be? Volume 5. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 4. Why would you like, or not like, to be a younger brother or sister of Dorothy MacLean, Norman. Ice Skating Basics. Hamill? Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984.

Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of Social Studies Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- lastic, 1997.

1. Read in a reference book about Innsbruck, Ryan, Margaret. Figure Skating. New York: Austria. Tell your classmates what you Franklin Watts, 1987. learned. Show them where it is located on Sanford, William R. and Carl R. Green. Doro- a map or globe. thy Hamill. New York: Crestwood House, 1993. 2. Of all the places listed in the biography, Smith, Pohla. Superstars of Women’s Figure where would you prefer to go for a Skating. Philadelphia: Chelsea House vacation? Why? Publishers, 1997. 3. Create a drawing of Dorothy doing a Van Steenwyk, Elizabeth. Dorothy Hamill: Hamill Camel. Write a caption below Olympic Champion. New York: Harvey the picture. House Publishers, 1976. 4. Write a sentence of twenty words or less Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- telling why you would or would not want letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced to make a living as a figure skater. Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1992. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Dorothy Hamill 39 Sonja Henie 1912-1969 • Figure Skating

onja Henie was born during a snowstorm The next Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Sin Oslo, Norway, on April 8, 1912. Her Switzerland, were quite different. Sonja not brother, Leif, was 5 years older than she. Her only won the gold medal in figure skating, but mother, Selma, and father, Wilhelm, both she won the hearts of the crowds. Her style of came from wealthy families. Wilhelm had skating was more like ice dancing and includ- inherited a fur business, and the royalty of ed twists and turns and flowing glides. Also, Europe wore his furs. her costumes were much different from those Wilhelm was athletic as a youth, of the other skaters. They wore long winning world bicycle champion- skirts and dark colors. Sonja’s skirts ships and excelling in speed were short and trimmed with fur. skating. As he grew older, he After the 1928 Olympics, became a financial genius. But Sonja decided that her long- his family, and especially Son- range goal was to be a movie ja, took priority over star. She planned to make her- everything else. self known as a figure skater As a child, Sonja followed and then move to Hollywood. her brother everywhere he went, With her father’s backing, she even ice skating. When she was put on ice skating performances five, Sonja went out on the ice with everywhere, and won gold medals in skates that clamped onto her shoes and the 1932 Olympics at Lake Placid, New won her first skating contest. The first-place York, and again in 1936 in Garmisch-Parten- prize was a silver-handled paper cutter, kirchen, Germany. Finally, she turned which she put under her pillow for luck. Now professional and put on an ice show in Holly- it rests in a museum in Oslo with many of wood so movie producers could see her. her other trophies. Sonja Henie became the movie star she Her father bought her an expensive pair planned, plus more. When she wasn’t making of shoe skates. He also made sure that she got a movie, she was performing on ice every- the best ice skating teachers. By the time she where. After one movie featured her skating was 10, she jumped from Junior Class C com- in white ice skates, all the stores in the petition to Senior A and won the Norwegian United States sold out of them in one week. ladies title. Her daily schedule included prac- Sonja became a U.S. citizen. By 1956, she ticing 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours in retired from ice skating and married Nils the afternoon. Her classes in ballet influenced Onstad. They built a museum in Oslo to hold the way she skated. At 11, she went to the their art collection and Sonja’s trophies. She 1924 Olympic Games at Chamonix, France, died of leukemia at the age of 57. the first Winter Olympics. She came in last, but one judge ranked her first in free skating. Wilhelm was infuriated that she had not won a medal. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

40 Athletes of Purpose 4. Draw a picture of Sonja skating in her fur- Reading trimmed skating outfit among those young women with long skirts of dark colors. 1. Sonja won gold medals in figure skating in three different Winter Olympic games. Without rereading the biography, try to Further Reading recall the countries in which these games took place. Then reread the biography to Aaseng, Nate. Great Winter Olympic see if you were correct. Moments. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner 2. Read the biography of Sonja Henie to an Publications, 1990. older person, perhaps a grandmother or Arnold, Caroline. The Olympic Winter Games. grandfather. When you are finished, ask New York: Franklin Watts, 1991. what he or she remembers about her. Gutman, Dan. Ice Skating: From Axels to 3. Write a dialogue with Sonja’s white Zambonis. New York: Viking, 1995. skates. What would you say and ask them? What would they say and ask you? Hilgers, Laura. Great Skates. Boston, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. 4. Sonja’s goals included becoming a world- class figure skater and a movie star. Knight, Theodore. The Olympic Games. Make a list of some of your long-term San Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1991. goals. Then describe the steps you would Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, need to take to make each goal happen. Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997. Social Studies The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 8. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 1. Chamonix, France, is just east of southern Company, 1993. Switzerland and northern Italy. Find it on Lindop, Laurie. Athletes. New York: Henry a map. Holt and Company, 1996.

2. Find Oslo, Norway, on a map or globe. Ryan, Margaret. Figure Skating. New York: Read about the city in a reference book or Franklin Watts, 1987. text. Share with your classmates five interesting things you learned. Did any of Tames, Richard. The Modern Olympics. them choose the same items as you did? If Crystal Lake, IL: Rigby Education, 1996. so, which ones? Smith, Pohla. Superstars of Women’s Figure 3. Write a nonrhyming poem about the Skating. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, Winter Olympics. Select a setting from 1998. any one of the Olympic sites from 1928 to Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- the present (find the list in a reference letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced book). Read in a reference book about the Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx site you chose and refer to it in your poem. Press, 1992. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Sonja Henie 41 Sir Edmund Hillary 1919 • Mountain Climbing

dmund Hillary was born in Auckland, apiece during the three-week trek to the base ENew Zealand. He loved to read, especially camp. As the teams went up the mountain, adventure stories. His father was very strict they stopped at designated sites and set up and made bed checks at night to make sure camp stations. This allowed the teams to get his children were sleeping. Ed tied a string to warm and eat. The higher they went, the his toe and ran it down the hall to the room of more they needed the oxygen containers they his sister, June. When their father passed carried. Because the sun was bright, glancing June’s room, she pulled on the string off the snow, the members of the expe- and Edmund knew to turn out his dition wore dark glasses to avoid light and pretend to sleep. blindness. When he was 16, Ed went Edmund Hillary and Norgay with his class to visit Mount were chosen to make the last Ruapehu, south of Auckland. effort to scale the top of Mount He was entranced with the Everest. That night Ed’s boots mountain and with snow. He froze. He had to thaw them hiked on weekends with his before they could go on. As they sister and her friends and read climbed, they said little in order every book he could find on to conserve their energy and mountain climbing. Every chance prevent unstable ice giving way he had, he went mountain climbing and beneath them. A fall would be two miles learned much about the sport. At home, down. After wedging themselves through a Ed worked with his father caring for his crack in the ice, they reached the top togeth- hundreds of beehives. er. It was 11:30 a.m., May 29, 1953. At the outbreak of World War II, Ed The two men received many honors from joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a their countries and others around the world. navigator. After the war, he returned to They became good friends. Ed’s love for the mountain climbing and became a member of people of the high Himalayas was demon- a team of New Zealanders exploring the strated by his launching of construction southwestern side of Mount Everest, the projects for schools, hospitals, clinics, air- highest mountain in the world. It stands at fields, and bridges for his mountain friends. 29,028 feet above sea level between Nepal Ed returned home to marry Louise Rose and Tibet. At that time, no one had ever been under an archway of ice axes. Ed became the able to climb to its top, for the air at that alti- first man to reach the South Pole on a tractor tude has little oxygen and breathing is adapted to that terrain. He studied the effects difficult at that height. of high altitudes on humans. He searched for The leader of the expedition teamed Ed the Abominable Snowman, or yeti, as the with Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa native of Sherpas called it. But to the Sherpas, he was Nepal. Hundreds of Sherpa men and women fondly remembered as the man who built porters carried 50 to 60 pounds of supplies schools for their children. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

42 Athletes of Purpose 4. The south geographic pole near the center Reading of Antarctica is the point where invisible lines circling the Earth meet. What are 1. What kind of person was Sir Edmund these lines called? Hillary? Make a list of his traits from reading the biography and one or more books about him from the Further Read- Further Reading ing list. Discuss your thoughts with your classmates. Davidson, Bob. Hillary and Tenzing Climb 2. The tallest office building in the world... Everest. New York: Dillon Press, 1993. the Petronas Towers in Malaysia (1,483 Foster, Lynne. Take a Hike! The Sierra Club feet). What is the tallest building in the Kid’s Guide to Hiking and Backpacking. Bos- United States? Where is it located? ton, MA: Little, Brown and Company, 1991. (See a reference book.) Fraser, Mary Ann. On Top of the World: The 3. A 2-mile fall off Mount Everest is how Conquest of Mount Everest. New York: Henry many feet? How many feet higher is Holt and Company, 1991. Mount Everest than the Petronas Towers? Gaffney, Timothy T. Edmund Hillary: First to 4. Draw a picture of Edmund Hillary and Climb Mt. Everest. Chicago, IL: Childrens Tenzing Norgay at the top of Mount Ever- Press, 1990. est. Beneath the picture, write what you imagine the two men might have said to Hacking, Sue Muller. Mount Everest and each other when they reached the top. Beyond: Sir Edmund Hillary. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 1997.

Hunt, Sir John and Sir Edmund Hillary. Social Studies “Triumph on Everest.” National Geographic 106 (1954): 1-64. 1. “It is not the mountain we conquer, it is ourselves. If you can overcome your fear, Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, you are frequently able to extend yourself Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). far beyond what you normally regard as New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, your ability.” What does this quote by Sir 1997. Edmund Hillary mean to you? Discuss The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. your answer with your classmates Volume 8. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press or parents. Company, 1989. 2. New Zealand is made up of two islands. Skinner, Todd and John McMullen. Modern What are their names? On which island Rock Climbing: Beyond the Basics. was Edmund born? Merrillville, IN: ICS Books, 1993. 3. Approximately how many miles above sea Stewart, Whitney. Sir Edmund Hillary: To level were Hillary and Norgay when they Everest and Beyond. Minneapolis, MN: stood together at the top of Mount Everest? Lerner Publications, 1996. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Sir Edmund Hillary 43 Michael Jordan 1963 • Basketball

ichael Jordan’s dad made the comment weekends. He was suspended from school Mthat two-and-a-half-year-old Michael when he skipped classes to go to the gym for played with a stick in his hand or bounced a more practice time. Finally his father asked if ball all the time. Later, in grade school, he he wanted to play college basketball. If he played short stop and pitcher for a Little did, he would have to study so he could get League Baseball team. He was nicknamed admitted to college. Michael got the message. “Rabbit” because of his quickness. He graduated from Laney High School in Michael’s older brother, Larry, made Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1981 the varsity basketball team as a with a game average of 28 points senior in high school. Michael was and 12 rebounds. disappointed because he didn’t He decided to play for coach make it as a tenth grader. He Dean Smith of the Tar Heels at went home crying and his the University of North Caroli- mother cried with him. But his na in Chapel Hill. He was a disappointment led him to prac- starter as a freshman. In the tice harder and longer. Michael last game for the NCAA title, looked up to his older brother Michael was given the ball for and it wasn’t long before he could the final shot. From 16 feet out, beat him one-on-one in backyard the ball sailed through the air and basketball. He grew even taller than into the basket. North Carolina won 63– Larry. When Michael did make the varsity 62! On campus, Michael was called the “Last team, he chose the number 23, because it was Shot.” about half of 45, his brother’s number. Michael skipped his senior year of college Michael’s father was also his inspiration. and turned professional. Later he returned in Mr. Jordan had a way of sticking his tongue the off-season to get his degree in geology. out when he worked with his tools. Michael But before he joined the Chicago Bulls, he picked up the habit and did the same thing went to the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles when he went for a basket. It became his and won a gold medal in basketball. He went trademark. on to lead the Bulls to their first NBA cham- The summer before his senior year in high pionship in 1992. school, Michael went to a summer camp for Even so, not everything went well for high school basketball players. He waited on Michael. His beloved father was murdered in tables to pay his way. Michael found he could 1993. Michael retired from basketball in 1994 compete with the top high school players to become a professional baseball player with around the country. the Birmingham Barons, a farm team of the Michael’s high school coach brought him Chicago White Sox. Later he returned to the to school at six in the morning so he could Chicago Bulls and continued to set new bas- practice a couple of hours before classes. He ketball records. In 1999 he again retired from practiced after school with the team and on basketball. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

44 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. When Michael switched athletic careers Brooks, Philip. Michael Jordan: Beyond Air. in 1994 to play baseball, he said, “I can Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1995. accept failure, but I can’t accept not try- Christopher, Matt. Michael Jordan. Boston: ing.” What do you think he meant by this Little, Brown and Company, 1996. statement? Deegan, Paul J. Michael Jordan: Basketball’s 2. What are the meanings of these acro- Soaring Star. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner nyms? NCAA, NBA Publications, 1988. 3. What are the nicknames for three of your Dolan, Sean. Michael Jordan: Basketball favorite teams? Write them down and Great. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, compare them with your classmates’ 1994. favorites. Italia, Bob. Michael Jordan. Edina, MN: 4. In what ways are basketball and baseball Abdo & Daughters, 1992. alike and different? Knapp, Ron. Michael Jordan: Star Guard. Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1994. Social Studies ______. Top 10 Basketball Scorers. Sports Top 10. Hillside, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1. Michael Jordan endorses a number of 1994. different products. With two other classmates, make a list of the products you see The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. or hear him advertise. Volume 9. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 2. Find Chapel Hill on a North Carolina map. What large city is just northeast of Lipsyte, Robert. Michael Jordan: A Life Chapel Hill? What large city is southeast Above the Rim. New York: HarperCollinsPub- of it? lishers, 1994.

3. With two friends, create a new sports Rothaus, James R. Michael Jordan. Chicago, game that would involve four to six play- IL: The Child’s World, 1991. ers. Describe the object of the game, the rules, and how the game is won.

4. Some professional basketball players make a great deal of money in their sport. Make a list telling why this is good and bad. Talk with some adults and get their reactions, too. Discuss with your classmates the pros and cons. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Michael Jordan 45 Joan Joyce 1940 • Softball and Golf

oan Mary Joyce enjoyed spending time In her career she won 753 games as pitch- Jwith her brother on the playground. Her er. One-hundred and fifty of those games father took the two of them and watched were no-hit, no-run games and 50 were per- while they played. Mr. Joyce encouraged her fect games. As a batter, she also excelled with to try various sports and she began participat- an average of nearly .325 during her career. ing in many of them. By the time she was 13, These records put her into the National she had become very good at softball. Amateur Softball Hall of Fame. Just before the turn of the When Joan pitched the century, softball was created as ball, it would go up and down, an indoor game by George W. drop suddenly, and twist, in Hancock in Chicago. He was a addition to traveling at great member of a boat club. Because speed. The year after the it was often stormy outside, famous baseball hitter, Ted George took an old boxing glove Williams, retired, he came to and bound it to make a ball. Waterbury, Connecticut, and Then he got a broomstick for a tried to hit her pitches. He was bat and a game was begun in only able to foul a few. He could the club’s gymnasium. A few not connect at all. She struck years later, the Minneapolis out another great hitter, Hank Fire Department, having no Aaron, in 1978, and Hank is fires to fight at the time, took the game out- the major league’s leading career hitter of doors. By the 1930s, the Amateur Softball home runs! Association was organized and promoted soft- Joan was not only a great softball player, ball all over the United States. By 1952, there she was also an All-American woman’s bas- was an International Softball Association. ketball player at Chapman University in Today there are two types of pitching in California. During her years playing basket- softball: fast pitch and slow pitch. In both, the ball, she averaged 25 points per game. She pitcher throws the ball underhand. Joan also excelled in bowling and volleyball. Upon threw fast pitch and was clocked at more retiring from softball, she took up golf and than 115 miles per hour! joined the Ladies Professional Golf Associa- As a young teenager, she played with the tion (LPGA). Even in golf, she set new records. Stratford Raybestos Brakettes, a team in In 1994, as Florida Atlantic University’s Connecticut. Many of their players were first women’s softball coach, her teams set eighteen-year-olds. She then went with a records. She was named the Trans American California team and, later, came back to Athletic Conference Softball Coach of the Connecticut with a professional softball team. Year and went on to coach FAU’s women’s The teams she played for won 19 national golf team. Joan Joyce is an all-round woman championships. athlete in the tradition of “Babe” Didrickson Zaharias. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

46 Athletes of Purpose you. Make a list of questions you would Reading ask her. Discuss with your classmates ways she might answer the questions. 1. Do you know anyone who is like Joan Joyce? How are they like her? How are they different? Further Reading 2. The acronym LPGA stands for the Ladies Professional Golf Association. An acronym Craig, Susan and Ken Johnson. Softball’s is sometimes sounded out as a word and is Power Offense. Champaign, IL: Sagamore formed from the first letters or syllables of Publishing, 1997. a group of words, such as “self-contained Galt, Margot Fortunato. Up to the Plate: The underwater breathing apparatus” (SCU- All American Girls Professional Baseball BA) or “absent without leave” (AWOL). League. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Find two or three in a newspaper or maga- Publications, 1995. zine and write out their meanings. Jensen, Julie. Beginning Softball. 3. Summarize Joan Joyce’s athletic career in Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1997. exactly 30 words and compare your summary with that of a classmate. How are Jones, Betty Millsaps. Wonder Women of your summaries alike and different? Sports. New York: Random House, 1981.

Joyce, Joan and John Anquillare with Dave Klein. Winning Softball. Chicago, IL: Henry Social Studies Regnery Company, 1975.

1. In a reference book, look up Chapman Lindop, Laurie. Athletes. New York: Henry University and Florida Atlantic Univer- Holt and Company, 1996. sity. In what city and state is each located The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. and when was each founded? Locate them Volume 9. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press on a map. What direction are they from Company, 1993. your present location? Macy, Sue. A Whole New Ball Game: The 2. Choose any sport. Then write an essay of Story of the All-American Girls Professional approximately 125 words on what it takes Baseball League. New York: Henry Holt and to be a superior coach of that sport. Company, 1993. 3. Pretend you are a journalist for your local Pagnoni, Mario and Geral Robinson. Softball: newspaper. Write a news article about Fast and Slow Pitch. Indianapolis, IN: Joan striking out a well-known baseball Masters Press, 1995. player with her underhand, fast-pitch softball. Answer the questions who? Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- what? when? where? why? and how? letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx 4. You are sitting by yourself on a bench by Press, 1992. a softball diamond. Joan Joyce sits beside

Joan Joyce 47 Jackie Joyner-Kersee 1962 • Track and Field

fter Alfred and Mary Joyner, two black pentathlon: the 80-meter high hurdles, Ateenagers from East St. Louis, Illinois, 800-meter run, long jump, high jump, and were married, they had four children. Their shot put. Her combined scores from the five second child was a little girl, so her grand- events made her the winner. She won the mother suggested the name Jackie because event 4 years in a row. she liked Jackie Kennedy, who at that time Like many natural athletes, she excelled was the wife of the president of the United in other sports, too. Jackie was so proficient States. at basketball in high school, Even though the family was she earned an athletic scholar- poor, the parents worked hard ship to UCLA, the University to support them. There were of California at Los Angeles. times on cold nights that the She also got permission to go family slept in the kitchen to out for track and field events. take advantage of the heat com- There Jackie trained with Bob ing from the stove. Some nights Kersee, one of the coaches, their dinner consisted of bread whom she later married. He smeared with mayonnaise. encouraged her to prepare for Fortunately, the Mary E. the heptathlon. This seven- Brown Community Center was event track and field close by and the children spent competition is performed over a much time there. Jackie and her brother two-day period. On the first day, the athletes Alfred, 2 years older than she, participated in do the 100-meter hurdles, high jump, shot the programs. put, and 200-meter dash. On the second day, Jackie’s coach, Nino Fennoy, soon realized they do the long jump, javelin throw, and that Jackie possessed not only athletic ability 800-meter run. The training is rigorous and but the personality and drive to succeed at a time-consuming because each event requires high level in sports. When the Center’s teams special training. went to various events, he encouraged her to While at UCLA, Jackie was diagnosed keep a journal. This he corrected for grammar with asthma. This disease causes chest con- and spelling. striction, coughing, and difficult breathing. Jackie’s mother, knowing the kinds of Since Jackie was preparing to enter the trouble her daughter faced in the neighbor- Olympics, she could not take certain drugs to hood, insisted that she not date until she was relieve her asthma because they were banned 18. And Jackie listened. by the Olympic committee. By the time she was 12 years old, Jackie Nevertheless, in basketball Jackie was could jump as far as 17 feet. That’s better named UCLA’s Most Valuable Player. At the than many high school athletes can manage! 1988 Olympics she won the pentathlon and in In 1976 she entered the National Junior 1992 she won the heptathlon. Olympics as a young teenager. She won the Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

48 Athletes of Purpose (Jackie jumped into sand on a regulation Reading track. Do not try to do this on hard ground or asphalt. Do it only under supervision of 1. Jackie called the motto she followed “the an adult physical education instructor.) three Ds”: determination, dedication, and desire. Choose an athletic area in which 3. Through your teacher, ask a track and you wish to succeed. Rank yourself, on a field coach to come to your classroom to scale of 1 to 10, in the areas of determina- speak. Prepare questions for him or her tion, dedication, and desire. Talk with a on how best to train for certain athletic parent or guardian about your rankings events. Give the questions to the coach and what you need to do to improve. several days in advance.

2. Jackie had her mother, brother, and coaches to guide her in the decisions she Further Reading had to make. Who do you turn to for help in making decisions that affect you? Write Green, Carl R. Jackie Joyner-Kersee. New that person a note of thanks for being York: Crestwood House, 1994. there when you need him or her. Harrington, Geri. Jackie Joyner-Kersee: 3. One of Jackie’s role models was Babe Champion Athlete. New York: Chelsea House Zaharias. Read biographies and books Publishers, 1995. about both and compare and contrast their lives. Share what you learned with Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: your classmates. Childrens Press, 1992.

4. Jackie is quoted as saying, “I want to be a The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. good statement of the possibilities.” In 25 Volume 7. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press words or less, write what you think she Company, 1993. meant in this quote. Share with a class- Rambeck, Richard. Jackie Joyner-Kersee. mate what you wrote. New York: The Child’s World, 1997.

Savage, Jeff. Running. Parsippany, NJ: Social Studies Crestwood House, 1995. Wickham, Martha. Superstars of Women’s 1. Jackie is now a successful businesswoman Track and Field. New York: Chelsea House and has created the Jackie Joyner-Kersee Publishers, 1997. Community Foundation to help inner-city children in East St. Louis, Illinois. Find Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- the city on a map. What direction is it letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced from where you live? Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1992. 2. At 12, Jackie jumped nearly 17 feet in the long jump competition. Measure 17 feet Wright, Gary. Track & Field: A Step-By-Step on your lawn or school yard. How well do Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990. you think you could do in comparison? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Jackie Joyner-Kersee 49 Jean-Claude Killy 1943 • Skiing

ean-Claude loved to ski. He started at the Mountains of New Hampshire and in Vail, Jage of three when the family left St. Cloud, Colorado. When asked why he was so suc- a suburb of Paris, France. They moved to Val cessful, he said he trained hard and kept his d’Isère, a ski resort town in the French Alps, thoughts only on skiing. He attained speeds where he skied for hours at a time. After of 80 miles per hour. Before a race, he men- Jean-Claude started school, he took his skis tally thought through each turn and twist of with him and skied during his lunch break. the course. When he and his friends Grenoble, France was host skipped their religion class to to the 1968 Winter Olympics. ski, the priest donned skis and The president of France, Gener- went after them. al Charles de Gaulle, attended. When he was eight, Jean- Only once had anyone won Claude began winning races. three gold medals in skiing. By the age of 10, he was win- The pressure was on Jean- ning against young people who Claude. Just before the were 13 and 14 years old. But downhill race, one of Jean- life was not always a pleasant Claude’s skis lost its wax on ski run down a mountain- side, some rough ice. There was no for Jean-Claude’s parents time to rewax the ski. Even so, divorced and sent him to a he won by .08 of a second for boarding school some distance from his his first gold medal. He won two more races, beloved mountains. There he became with- one in the fog, for a total of three gold medals! drawn and sickly. One time he left school to Then he retired from competition. race, but gave no notice where he was going Jean-Claude’s life changed. His hard and broke his leg. On his return, the school training was over. He endorsed magazines, expelled him. clothing, airlines, automobiles, and more. He At 16, Jean-Claude dropped out of school starred in a movie and a television show. But to devote himself to full-time skiing. He care- 4 years later, he knew he must return to ski- fully watched outstanding skiers handle ing. He came out of retirement and became a themselves on the slopes. From his observa- professional skier. The experts said it was tions, he developed his own style. A broken impossible for him to regain his form after ankle and serious illnesses, such as amebic such a lengthy time away from skiing, but he dysentery, plagued him. During a term of duty worked hard and became the top professional in the French army, he contracted jaundice. skier in 1972. Jean-Claude loved to travel. In 1966 he Jean-Claude retired again and married won the World Championships in Portillo, Danièle Gauber, a former movie actress. They Chile, for skiing. In the following year, he had three children. Jean-Claude Killy, now a won races in Austria, France, and Italy. In successful businessman, finds his danger in the United States, he won in the White skydiving, bullfighting, and motorbike racing. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

50 Athletes of Purpose 4. President Charles de Gaulle was a famous Reading French General in World War II. Learn five important things about him from a 1. In addition to downhill skiing, Jean- juvenile biography or reference book. Claude enjoyed skydiving, bullfighting, With a panel of two others, in front of and motorbike racing. Write a paragraph your class, discuss your findings. that compares these activities, and explain what you think attracted Jean- Claude to these sports. Further Reading 2. Choose a classmate for a writing compan- ion. Each of you write a sentence telling Aaseng, Nate. Great Winter Olympic what you liked about Jean-Claude Killy. Moments. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Exchange your sentences and write com- Publications, 1990. ments telling your classmate why you Arnold, Caroline. The Olympic Winter Games. agree or disagree with him or her. New York: Franklin Watts, 1991.

3. Draw a picture of Jean-Claude traveling Brodman, Jonathon, editor. Athletes. Volume 80 miles per hour down a ski slope. 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1996.

4. Write a poem—rhymed or unrhymed— Dieterich, Michelle. Skiing: All Action. about Jean-Claude Killy. Share it with Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1991. your classmates. Gaff, Jackie and David Jefferis. Skiing and Snow Sports. New York: Warwick Press, 1990.

Social Studies Hahn, James and Lynn. Killy! The Sports Career of Jean-Claude Killy. Mankato, MN: 1. Jean-Claude traveled to many places to Crestwood House, 1981. ski: Chile, Austria, Italy, and the United States (New Hampshire and Colorado). The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Find these countries and states on a map Volume 7. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press or globe. Read about them in a reference Company, 1993. book. Which one would be your first choice Marozzi, Alfred. Skiing Basics. Englewood to visit? List the locations in order of your Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, 1980. preferences. Explain why you placed them in the order you did. Sheahan, Casey. Sports Illustrated Cross- Country Skiing. New York: Harper & Row, 2. On a physical map of France, find the cit- 1984. ies of Paris and Grenoble. Which is located on flat terrain and which is in Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. mountainous terrain? New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.

Jean-Claude Killy 51 Billie Jean King 1943 • Tennis

orn during World War II, Billie Jean was great. The top male players that year won Bnamed for her father, Bill Moffitt, who nearly three times as much as women did. was in the military service. Hers was a family She became the first woman to win tennis of sports enthusiasts: Her father enjoyed titles on four kinds of tennis surfaces: grass, basketball, her mother was a fine swimmer, clay, concrete, and indoor courts. and her younger brother became a major Because women tennis players were dis- league pitcher. criminated against in many ways, especially By age 10, Billie Jean became a star financially, Billie Jean felt she must do as shortstop on a girl’s softball team. something to cause a positive But she began to realize that change in attitude among promot- there were not many choices for ers and the public. In 1973 a girl who wanted to excel in Bobby Riggs, a former 1939 sports. Her father suggested Wimbledon champion, chal- that she try tennis. Billie Jean lenged her to a tennis saved her money and bought an match—man against woman. $8 tennis racket. She took les- Bobby, who was 55 years old, sons, practiced hitting a tennis was known as a “hustler.” He ball against a backyard fence, and would challenge other players to found her sport. beat him while he held a suitcase in One day her pastor, Reverend Bob his hand or wore high heels—and he Richards, an Olympic gold-medal pole vault- would win. er, asked her what she planned to do with her Billie Jean accepted the challenge from life. “Reverend,” Billie responded, “I’m going this man who was 26 years older than she. A to be the best tennis player in the world.” promotor and television network put up Billie Jean worked at becoming the best $400,000 to finance the event. More than in tennis. She walked three miles to school to 30,000 people came to the Houston Astro- strengthen her legs. By the time she was 16, dome to watch. Television carried the tennis she ranked nineteenth in the United States. match to 36 countries around the world. Tennis great Alice Marble gave her lessons, Billie Jean prepared by studying tapes of and she jumped to a number-four ranking. Bobby Riggs’ playing style so she would not Then she married a law student, Larry King, be distracted by his antics. In the match, he who encouraged her to continue with tennis. soon began to tire. She beat him soundly. She won many tournaments at Wimbledon, That year she became the first president England, in women’s doubles, singles, and of the Women’s Tennis Association, promot- mixed doubles. ing equal rights for women in athletics. She In 1968 she turned professional, and by was one of four athletes in Life magazine’s 1971, Billie Jean was the first woman to earn list of the “100 Most Important Americans of more than $100,000 in tennis. The contrast the Twentieth Century.” between earnings for men and for women was Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

52 Athletes of Purpose 4. Imagine yourself as a famous tennis play- Reading er in the year 2020. How old would you be? In what country and location would 1. Billie Jean often talked aloud to herself as you be playing? Find the place on a map she played tennis. What do you suppose or globe. Compare your answer to these she said? questions with those of your classmates. 2. Write a dialogue between Billie Jean and any another athlete you respect. What would they say to each other? On what Further Reading would they agree and disagree? Aaseng, Nathan. Winning Women of Tennis. 3. In what ways is Billie Jean King like Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1981. someone you know? Make a list and discuss it in class. Hahn, James and Lynn Hahn. King! The Sports Career of Billie Jean King. Mankato, 4. The top pro athletes now make millions MN: Crestwood House, 1981. of dollars by using their physical abilities and by endorsing products. Write a short Jones, Betty Millsaps. Wonder Women of essay on the disadvantages of receiving so Sports. New York: Random House, 1981. much money. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 10. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Social Studies Company, 1993. Lindop, Laurie. Athletes. New York: Henry 1. Life magazine’s other three athletes Holt and Company, 1996. named “most important Americans,” were McMane, Fred and Cathrine Wolf. Winning Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, and Muham- Women. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. mad Ali. Make a list of five persons, other than athletes, who did the most for Schwabacher, Martin. Superstars of Women’s humanity during the twentieth dentury. Tennis. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, Compare and discuss your list with those 1997. of your classmates. Stanford, William R. and Carl R. Green. Bil- 2. If you were asked what you intended to do lie Jean King. New York: Crestwood House, with your life, what would you answer? 1993. Write your answer and discuss it with ______. Great Lives: Sports. New York: family or friends. Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.

3. Billie Jean King believed that the men Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- and women who participated in pro tennis letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced tours should be paid equally. In what Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx areas in present-day life are there Press, 1992. inequalities between men and women? What do you think should be done? How would you propose doing it? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Billie Jean King 53 Olga Korbut 1955 • Gymnastics

lga was very small for her age. Children stayed up all night devising her gymnastic Oteased her and asked her when she was moves to new music, certain she would not be going to grow up, but Olga was determined to prepared in time to win a medal. be an athlete. Her balance was excellent. She In the team competition, Olga did well on could run faster than most. Soon Olga was the vault and the balance beam with her noticed by adults. By the time she was 11, famous back somersault. The crowd cheered. she was enrolled in a special gymnastic But the uneven bars were a problem, for she schools in Grodno, in what is now Belar- slipped and fell. The half-billion people us (Belorussia), near Poland and around the world watching on tele- Lithuania. vision felt for the gymnast as she Her coach, Renald Ivanovich finished her routine and left Knysh, head of the Grodno crying in disappointment. Sports School, was famous for The next day, under tre- training Soviet gymnasts. He mendous pressure, she taught her many new tech- performed in the individual niques. She was eager to try apparatus competition. Olga them. One of the most difficult came back and won a silver med- was the backward somersault on al on the uneven parallel bars, a the balance beam. What made it gold for the balance beam, and a gold dangerous was landing perfectly, after a for the floor exercise with new music! 1 back flip, onto a narrow 4 ∕2-inch board a few Olga’s performance as a gymnast electrified feet off the floor. Olga could not be off-center girls around the world. Thousands all over the when she landed or she would take a bad fall. United States wanted classes in gymnastics. She mastered it after a great deal of practice! The Soviet team toured the United States And practice she did: 6 hours a day every the following year. Wherever they performed, day of the week except Sunday. She also had tickets were sold out. Everyone wanted to see her schoolwork to do. Often she thought of Olga. Her fan clubs sprang up all over the what her mother had taught her: “Be careful, country. After winning another silver medal be first, and be joyful.” Olga was joyful. Her in the 1976 Olympics, Olga retired and joy was gymnastics. became a coach. Later she married Leonid, a The 1972 Olympic Games were held in musician, and had a son. They came to the Munich, West Germany. Eighty-five-pound United States, where Olga continued to coach Olga, at 17, prepared routines for the vault, gymnastics. uneven parallel bars, balance beam, and floor exercise. Seven days before the Olympics, she insisted on a change in the music for her floor exercise. “The Flight of the Bumble Bee” wasn’t right for her, for a nasty bee was for- eign to her nature, she said. Her coaches Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

54 Athletes of Purpose power plant accident in Chernobyl in the Reading Ukraine in 1986. Read about the accident in a reference book and find Chernobyl on a map 1. What character trait in Olga Korbut is of Ukraine. It is near the capital, Kiev. one that would be good for you to develop over the next few years? Why? Discuss this with your classmates. Further Reading 2. Olga once said, “If there had not been such a thing as gymnastics, I would have Berke, Art. Gymnastics. New York: Franklin had to invent it.” Write sentences telling Watts, 1988. what that statement means to you. Bragg, Linda Wallenberg. Fundamental Compare your interpretation with that Gymnastics. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner of a friend. Publications, 1995.

3. Olga insisted on a change in music Brodman, Jonathon, editor. Athletes. Volume because “The Flight of the Bumblebee” 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1996. did not reflect her personality. What song or type of music best reflects your person- Coffey, Wayne. Olga Korbut. Woodbridge, CT: ality or attitudes? Write a paragraph Blackbirch Press, 1992. describing the music and why it suits you. Cohen, Joel H. Superstars of Women’s 4. In 30 words or less, write the first Gymnastics. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House paragraph of a news article about Olga Publishers, 1997. Korbut, answering the five Ws (who, Evans, Gwen. Eastern Superstar: Olga what, when, where, why) and How. Korbut. Milwaukee, WI: Raintree Editions, 1976. Social Studies Haycock, Kate. Gymnastics. New York: Crestwood House, 1991.

1. Olga adopted her mother’s philosophy as Jensen, Julie. Beginning Gymnastics. her own: “Be careful, be first, be joyful.” Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. Create a three-part philosophy of your own and compare it with those of your The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. classmates. Volume 10. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 2. What is the capital of Belarus (Belorus- sia)? What direction is it from Grodno? Murdock, Tony and Nik Stuart. Gymnastics. New York: Franklin Watts, 1989. 3. Choose one paragraph from the biography of Olga Korbut. Read it very slowly, think- Smith, Jay H. Olga Korbut. Mankato, MN: ing about each word as you read. What Creative Education, 1974. surprised you when you read it this way?

Olga Korbut 55 Julie Krone 1963 • Thoroughbred Horse Racing

ittle Julie’s first ride was on her father’s girl, they thought she should be doing “girl” Lback. Then she rode Twiggy, the family things. A 100-pound girl controlling an ani- dog. Finally, she rode Dixie, the Shetland mal weighing more than 1,000 pounds is not pony. The Krones moved to a 10-acre farm in easy. But Julie would not give up. Eau Claire, Michigan. Julie and her older Soon she was winning at racetracks in brother had all kinds of pets, especially hors- Florida, Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylva- es. Mrs. Krone raised horses for sale. One day nia. Then she went to the next level of racing Julie brought one of the horses where the purses for winning into the house. She was having were higher: New Jersey and trouble getting the saddle onto New York. But there were diffi- the animal. With her mother’s culties along the way. She had help, they devised a pulley over serious injuries from spills and a tree limb to place the saddle falls during the races: a torn on the horse’s back. muscle in an arm, a concussion, School wasn’t one of Julie’s fractures in her arm and ankle, favorite things to do. She pre- a bruised heart when she fell ferred riding horses to most and a horse stepped on her, and anything else. At 17, she a broken finger. Nevertheless, dropped out of school to work she got right back up after she full time around horses. Her healed and began racing again. mother took her to Tampa, Florida, to live Often she was up in the early morning with her grandparents near the Tampa Bay working out with horses, racing them at a Downs racetrack. track in the afternoon, and racing again in She got a job as a workout rider exercising the evening from 7:30 to midnight at another thoroughbred race horses. One of the trainers track. On March 6, 1988, she had her 1,205th let her ride a horse in one of the races. She did win. At 24 years old, she was the female jock- well and soon won five races. That allowed her ey with the most wins, but she wanted to be to be an apprentice rider for one year. known as a winning jockey, not a winning After one race, Julie went up to the track female jockey. office to talk with another Julie—Julie Snel- A high point in her career was the Bel- lings. Julie Snellings watched the races on mont Stakes. No female jockey had ever won the track’s closed circuit TV. She had been a the race. In 1993 Julie won it. By 1994, Julie jockey but became paralyzed when a horse was the all-time top female jockey, with 2,861 fell on her. Now in a wheelchair, she worked wins. Now people thought of her as a jockey in the office and gave good advice to Julie first, who happened to be a woman. about riding. They became good friends. Julie worked hard as a jockey. Some male jockeys were not happy to have her riding, nor were some of the fans. Because she was a Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

56 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. What places or smells does the biography Brodman, Jonathon, editor. Athletes. Volume of Julie Krone remind you of ? Make a 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier Educational Corpora- list and compare it with those of your tion, 1996. classmates. Callahan, Dorothy. Julie Krone: A Winning 2. After reading biographies of Mario Jockey. Minneapolis MI: Dillon Press, 1990. Andretti and Julie Krone, make lists of Forbis, Judith E. Hoofbeats Along the Tigris. ways racing cars and racing horses are Mena, AR: Ansata Publications, 1990. alike and different. Decide which of the two you prefer. Gutman, Bill. Julie Krone. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn Publishers, 1996. 3. Look through the section on horses in an encyclopedia. Which kind of horse would Harris, Jack C. The Kentucky Derby. you prefer to have? Explain to your class- Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 1990. mates why you chose the one you did. Johnson, Neil. Born to Run: A Racehorse Grows Up. New York: Scholastic, 1988. Social Studies Lindop, Laurie. Athletes. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996. 1. Read about horse racing in a juvenile McFarland, Cynthia. Hoofbeats: The Story of book or reference book. Choose three a Thoroughbred. New York: Atheneum, 1993. things from your reading that you learned for the first time. Share these with two McMane, Fred and Cathrine Wolf. Winning classmates. Women. New York: Bantam Books, 1995.

2. Almost everyone has had a particular Spence, Jim. Julie Krone: Fearless Jockey. year that was significant or special to him Vero Beach, FL: The Rourke Press, 1995. or her in some way. What year in your life Stone, Lynn M. Bluegrass Country. Vero stands out above all the others? Why? Beach, FL: Rourke Corporation, 1993. 3. The Triple Crown of thoroughbred racing is the Kentucky Derby (Louisville, Ken- tucky); the Preakness (Baltimore, Maryland); and the Belmont Stakes (Bel- mont, New York). Find these cities on a map or globe. What are the names of the racetracks where these races are run?

Julie Krone 57 Carl Lewis 1961 • Track and Field

illiam McKinley Lewis, Jr., was the was to jump a record 25 feet before complet- Wfirst in his family to attend college. He ing high school. He did that and more: At a went to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, meet in Memphis, Tennessee, he jumped where he played football and was a sprinter 25 feet 9 inches. When they met a second on the track team. There he met Evelyn time, Jesse Owens had heard about Carl. Lawler, who was there on an athletic track Soon the media were making comparisons of and field scholarship. Her areas were the long the two and wondering, in print, if Carl would jump, high jump, and sprint. Evelyn’s surpass Jesse’s records. goal was to be a physical education Carl chose the University of teacher. After they married, they Houston for his college education. had three boys and a girl. All The track coach, Tom Tellez, was the children were athletic, but one of the country’s most knowl- Carl, their third son, thought edgeable men in track. He of himself as the runt, for even helped Carl change his form in his sister, Carol, who was 2 the long jump so he wouldn’t years younger than Carl, was injure his legs. Coach Tellez had better than he in many athletic Carl rest several months from areas. long jumping and practice sprint- When Carl was two years old, ing instead. When the 1984 Olympics the family moved to Willingboro, New began in Los Angeles, California, Carl Jersey. Because there was no track program was ready, but by then, Jesse Owens had died. there, the Lewises created the Willingboro Carl won four gold medals in Los Angeles: Track Club for the local children. The Lewis- in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the long es took Carl and his sister, Carol, to the jump, and as a member of the 400-meter practices because they had no money for bab- relay race. This was the same number of gold ysitters. The two children played in a sand medals Jesse had won in 1936. pile close by while their parents coached the Four years later, in the 1988 Olympics in club members. Carol tried jumping in the Seoul, South Korea, Carl distinguished him- sand like those she saw practicing with her self by winning gold medals in the 100 meters parents. Carl just played. At a meet sometime and the long jump. He was the first person to later, they met the famous Jesse Owens, who ever repeat the feat in the Olympics. His time had won gold medals at the 1936 Olympic in the 100 meters was a record 9.86 seconds. Games in Germany. Carl remembered that In 1992, at the Barcelona, Spain, Olympics, Jesse told him to “have fun.” Now Carl was Carl won gold medals in the long jump and ready to long jump into sand rather than the 400-meter relay. There was no other run- make castles. ner or jumper in the world who was able to By the time Carl got to high school, he dominate world-class competition for as many had outgrown his “runt” status. He chose the years as Carl did. number 25 for his jacket, because his goal Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

58 Athletes of Purpose with your classmates or other interested Reading persons.

1. Why do you suppose Jesse Owens encour- 3. Compare and contrast the lives of Jesse aged Carl to “have fun” when competing Owens and Carl Lewis in terms of their in track and field, rather than telling him childhoods and athletic experiences. to win the most events? Discuss your 4. Talk to some older adults about their thoughts with your friends and parents. memories of people who participated in 2. Discuss, with your parents or relatives, track and field events. Question them who the athletes were in your family. about the athletes and where they Make a list of sports in which they partici- observed them competing. Share what pated. Select a biography of an athlete you learned with your friends. you admire whom you think would interest one of these family members, and read it aloud to them. Further Reading

3. What number would you choose to wear Coffey, Wayne. Carl Lewis. Woodbridge, CT: if you set a sports goal to reach in high Blackbirch Press, 1993. school? Explain your choice to your classmates. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 8. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 4. With a teacher, coach, or physical educa- Company, 1993. tion instructor, discuss what a person must do to promote his or her health as Merrison, Tim. Field Athletics. New York: an athlete for a number of years. Make a Crestwood House, 1991. list of their suggestions. Discuss the list Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of with your classmates. Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- lastic, 1997. Social Studies Rosenthal, Bert. Track and Field. Austin, TX: Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1994. 1. Carl Lewis won Olympic gold medals in Sandelson, Robert. Track Athletics. New the following cities: Los Angeles, Califor- York: Crestwood House, 1991. nia; Seoul, South Korea; and Barcelona, Spain. Locate these cities on a map and Savage, Jeff. Running. Parsippany, NJ: read about them in a reference book. With Crestwood House, 1995. your classmates, discuss several facts you Wright, Gary. Track & Field: A Step-By-Step learned about each city. Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990. 2. Attend a track meet and take a pad and pencil. Make a list of the events you watch. After each event, rate it from 1 to 10 (1 for least enjoyed; 10 for most enjoyed). Later, discuss your reactions Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Carl Lewis 59 Nancy Lopez 1957 • Golf

ancy Lopez’s father, Domingo, dropped By the time Nancy was 12 years old, she Nout of school when he was in the third won the New Mexico State Women’s Amateur grade. Domingo had to help his family earn a Championship. Domingo built an addition to living so they could eat. They had just moved their house to show the trophies he was sure from Mexico to the United States. He worked she would win. Nancy played on the all-male hard in the fields. Later, he met Marina and high school golf team. She later got an athlet- they were married. After serving in the U.S. ic scholarship to play at the University of Army, he learned to repair Tulsa in Oklahoma. cars. The owner of the shop After 2 years in college, where Domingo worked taught Nancy dropped out to become a him to play golf and he excelled professional golfer. She wanted quickly. to pay back her parents for all Marina developed a lung the sacrifices they had made for disease and the doctor pre- her. She joined the Ladies Pro- scribed walking to help her fessional Golf Association regain her health. She and (LPGA) tour in 1977 when she Domingo walked together on was 20. Misfortune hit the fam- the public golf links of Roswell, ily that year when Marina died New Mexico. When Nancy, after surgery for a ruptured their second daughter, could appendix. Nancy remembered walk, she followed them around the golf her mother telling her to practice hard, work course on weekends, so they did not need a hard, and be number one. In 1978 Nancy won babysitter. By now, Domingo owned and five tournaments in a row! She was named operated the auto-body shop. Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year, the One day, when Nancy was 8 years old, first person to receive both honors in one year. Domingo handed her one of her mother’s People began following her on the golf clubs and said to keep hitting the golf ball tour and called themselves “Nancy’s Navy,” until it went into a hole. And hit it she did, much like those who called themselves right over their heads. Domingo became her “Arnie’s Army,” after the famous male golf golf teacher. By the age of nine, she won her star, Arnold Palmer. first tournament by 110 strokes! Nancy continued to win many victories on Marina sacrificed by giving up golf so the pro tour. By 1985 her average score for a there would be money for Nancy to play on game was a fabulous 71.73. In 1982 she mar- the public golf links. Because of discrimina- ried Ray Knight, a major-league baseball tion against Mexican Americans, they could player and coach, and they had three children. not play on some of the better golf courses. Nancy was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Domingo worked extra hours and put aside Fame at the age of 30 and won her third LPGA $100 a month to help Nancy travel to championship in 1989. tournaments. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

60 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Read about the game of golf in a reference Hahn, James and Lynn Hahn. Nancy Lopez, book. Define the following terms: par, Golfing Pioneer. St. Paul, MN: EMC birdie, bogey, eagle, and ace. Corporation, 1979.

2. The word Domingo is a Spanish word for Jensen, Julie. Beginning Golf. Minneapolis, a day in the week. Nancy’s father was MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. sometimes called the English translation Krause, Peter. Fundamental Golf. of this word. What is the translation? Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. What are the days of the week in Spanish? The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 11. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 3. If you were asked to write about the most Company, 1993. important event in the biography of Nan- cy Lopez, what would be your focus? Why? Lindop, Laurie. Athletes. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996. 4. What three things do you think made Nancy Lopez so successful as a golfer? Put Phillips, Betty Lou. The Picture Story of them in order of importance. Discuss your Nancy Lopez. New York: Julian Messner, thoughts with your classmates. Do they 1980. agree? Why or why not? Robison, Nancy. Nancy Lopez: Wonder Wom- an of Golf. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1979. Social Studies Schumacher, Craig. Nancy Lopez. Mankato, MN: Creative Education Society, 1979. 1. In what section of New Mexico is the city Wilner, Barry. Superstars of Women’s Golf. of Roswell located? Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997. 2. Read about the state of New Mexico in a Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- reference book. Report to your classmates letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced five interesting facts that you found about Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx the state. Press, 1992. 3. Make a list of five sacrifices you would make if you had a child who showed the possibility of becoming an exceptional athlete. Compare your list with those of your classmates.

4. What are some reasons a very good athlete should continue in college and complete his or her degree program before turning professional? Discuss with your classmates. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Nancy Lopez 61 Joe Louis 1914-1981 • Boxing

oe was born in Alabama to Munroe and American fighters generally lost decisions JLillie Barrow. They had eight children. against white opponents. Secondly, he said, Munroe was a sharecropper on a 120-acre “Kill the body and the head will die!” That’s farm. Because of mental illness, Munroe was what Joe did in his first pro fight: he beat on placed in an institution, where he later died. the man’s ribs until the fighter lowered his Lillie later married a widower with eight chil- guard. A swift left hook to the chin ended dren of his own. The family of eighteen moved the fight. to Detroit to find work. Then the Great Joe could not forget his fight Depression hit the world. against Max Schmeling, a German. In 1931 Joe was 17 years old That was his first pro defeat. It and 6 feet tall. Embarrassed, he ended in the twelfth round on hid a rented violin under his June 19, 1936. Joe felt humiliat- coat. With a hard-earned 50 ed. The rematch was set for cents in change from his moth- June 22, 1938. Adolph Hitler er, Joe went to his violin was beginning World War II and lesson. But a friend talked him wanted Max to beat Joe again to into going to a gym where boxers show that Germans were a mas- trained. There he learned that he ter race. Joe was under pressure could fight as an amateur for mer- too. President Roosevelt told him the chandise checks for up to $25. His violin country was depending on his muscles for teacher contacted Lillie, and they decided America. boxing was a better career choice for Joe. So Joe was ready. He beat Max in 2 minutes during the day he delivered ice (there were no and 4 seconds. He knocked Max down three refrigerators then) or worked in an auto fac- times. Max spent 2 weeks in the hospital tory. He trained at the gym in the evenings. before returning home to Germany. Later, Joe fought under the name of Joe Louis. after the war, Max and Joe became friends. His potential as a boxer was soon known. In 1942 Joe volunteered to go into the John Roxborough, a real estate agent and army. He appeared in a movie, This Is the gambler, sought Joe out, became his manag- Army, and toured military bases, giving er, and hired Jack Blackburn as his trainer. boxing exhibitions. During his 4 years in The deal was that when Joe turned pro, he the service, he fought in 96 exhibitions and would split his winnings 50/50 with Roxbor- visited countless GIs everywhere. ough. Until that time, Roxborough would Joe Louis, who was nicknamed the keep him in spending money, clothes, and “Brown Bomber,” became the heavyweight equipment, and take charge of his training champion of the world in 1937 by defeating and fight schedule. Jim Braddock. He reigned for 11 years as the Joe’s first pro fight in 1934 lasted less champion, the longest any heavyweight ever than 2 minutes. Blackburn trained Joe to go held the title. for a knockout every time because African Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

62 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Write a poem (rhyming or non-rhyming) Fitzgerald, Jim. Boxing for Beginners. about why boxing is a career for you, or New York: Atheneum, 1980. why it should be discontinued as a sport. Jakoubek, Robert. Joe Louis: Heavyweight Share your poem with your classmates. Champion. New York: Chelsea House 2. Look up sharecropper in a dictionary or Publishers, 1990. reference book. What does it mean? Knapp, Ron. Top 10 Heavyweight Boxers. 3. Choose any incident in Joe Louis’s biogra- Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1997. phy and make it into a cartoon. Give your Libby, Bill. Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber. drawing a caption. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books, 4. Pretend Joe Louis asked you to come to 1980. the gym to watch him train. What three The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. questions would you ask him when he Volume 11. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press took a break? Write them down and com- Company, 1993. pare them with those of your classmates. Lipsyte, Robert. Joe Louis: A Champ for All America. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, Social Studies 1994. Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of 1. Joe Louis won more than $4,000,000 as a Sports in the United States. New York: fighter but spent or gave most of it away. Scholastic, 1997. What advice would you have given Joe if he had asked you? Be specific. Ricciuti, Edward R. How to Box: A Guide for Beginners. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 2. Joe thought Max Schmeling would be a 1982. “pushover” in their first fight. How would you have consoled Joe after he was beaten the first time? What would you have said to him?

3. To many African Americans at the time, Joe Louis was a hero. Do you have a personal hero or someone you look up to? Write a character description of that person, and explain why he or she is important to you.

Joe Louis 63 Alice Marble 1913-1990 • Tennis

lice spent the first 6 years of her life on and other physical problems. After hospital- A a farm in northeastern California. Her ization, Alice worked on both diet and father thought that farming was too strenu- exercise. By 1936, she was winning singles, ous for his wife, Jessie, so he took a job in doubles, and mixed-doubles matches at Wim- San Francisco and moved his wife and five bledon and in the United States. Alice was children there. The worldwide flu epidemic named Female Athlete of the Year by the of 1919 struck the Marble family that year. Associated Press in 1939 and 1940. Alice’s father, who was just In the early 1940s, the world getting over injuries from an was engulfed in World War II, automobile accident, became so international tennis tourna- ill with the flu and died on ments were suspended. Alice Christmas Eve. met Joe Crowley, an army cap- With bills to pay, Jessie tain. They were married and took a job cleaning offices at looked forward to the end of the 4 o’clock in the morning, and war. But on Christmas Eve, then came home to get the 1944, Alice received a telegram children off to school. Alice’s from the War Department that brothers quit school and got Joe had been killed over Ger- jobs to support the family. Jes- many. Alice was grief-stricken. sie’s brother introduced Alice Several months later, U.S. mil- to baseball. She loved it and played catch dur- itary intelligence contacted Alice to conduct ing practice with the local baseball team, the tennis matches in Switzerland. The true pur- San Francisco Seals. But her brother, Dan, pose of her mission was to spy on a banker who had assumed the role of head of the she knew before the war. He lived in Switzer- house, thought tennis was a more ladylike land and was suspected of helping the Nazis game for her. He bought her a tennis racket smuggle stolen treasures out of Germany. and encouraged her to play. Dan was strict, The banker’s records were needed to convict allowed no dating, and made sure she got to the Nazis. Alice got the records but was shot bed early. by a double agent as she fled for her life. Alice was unhappy but did as she was After the war, Alice lectured, taught ten- told. In fact, she enjoyed tennis. The more she nis, and wrote a second autobiography. An played, the better she became. Newspapers angry editorial she wrote for American Lawn said she played more like a man than a wom- Tennis magazine helped break down the an. In 1930 Alice, coached by the highly racial barrier that kept Althea Gibson and regarded Eleanor “Teach” Tennant, was other African American tennis players from ranked third in the country. playing in major tennis tournaments. In an all-day tournament, playing in 104-degree heat, Alice collapsed. The doctors diagnosed her ailment as sunstroke, anemia, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

64 Athletes of Purpose parents or other adults about home reme- Reading dies that people use. Discuss them with your classmates. 1. Alice’s life was not always pleasant. List several of her difficult experiences. Which 4. Read about anemia in a reference book. one on your list do you think was the most Explain what you learn to your difficult? Discuss this with your classmates. classmates. 2. What is the difference between a singles, Further Reading a doubles, and a mixed-doubles tennis match? Find the answer in a reference Coombs, Charles. Be a Winner in Tennis. book or ask someone who is familiar New York: William Morrow and Company, with tennis. 1975. 3. List five interesting facts about Alice MacCurdy, Doug and Shawn Tully. Sports Marble. Compare your list with those of Illustrated Tennis. New York: Harper & Row, your classmates. 1980. 4. Summarize the life of Alice Marble in Marble, Alice. The Road to Wimbledon. New exactly 30 words. Read your summary York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1946. aloud to your parents or classmates. Miller, Marc. Fundamental Tennis. Minneap- olis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995.

Social Studies Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of Sports in the United States. New York: 1. Read about World War II in a reference Scholastic, 1997. book. Report to your classmates five things of interest to you that happened in Singleton, Skip. The Junior Tennis Hand- one of the following theaters of war: book: A Complete Guide to Tennis for Juniors, Europe, northern Africa, Asia, or the Parents, and Coaches. Cincinnati, OH: Shoe Pacific. With which side was Switzerland Tree Press, 1991. allied during World War II? Sullivan, George. Better Tennis for Boys and 2. Alice Marble wrote an editorial that Girls. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, helped break down racial barriers in pro- 1987. fessional tennis. Choose an issue you feel strongly about. Then write an editorial that explains your position.

3. After Alice had sunstroke while playing tennis too long in the summer, she put a wet cabbage leaf inside her hat, as some farm workers do on hot days. She believed this helped her to stay cool. Talk to your Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

AthleteAlice Marble name 65 Bob Mathias 1930 • Track and Field

obert “Bob” Mathias was born in the so one was ordered from Los Angeles. With Rtown of Tulare in the San Joaquin Valley just a few months to prepare, Bob trained dil- of California. From his father, a medical doc- igently. He qualified for the 1948 Olympics at tor, Bob inherited his physique and age 17. His goal was to win a third-place easy-going nature; from his mother he bronze medal against his older, more experi- learned, among other things, how to relax. enced competitors. Tulare, a small dairy, fruit, and cotton That year the Olympics were held in center, was a good place for the Mathias London, England. The 10 decathlon children. Even though Dr. Mathias events were held within a 2-day peri- was often paid by his patients with od. Late into the night of the eggs, milk, fresh fruits, and second day, on a cold, rain-soaked vegetables during the Great field, Bob Mathias became the Depression of the 1930s, he was youngest person to win the able to build a backyard gymna- Olympic decathlon. Between sium for his four children and events, he wrapped himself those of the neighbors. It includ- with a blanket and fell asleep by ed a hurdle, high jump, parallel relaxing as his mother had taught bars, and shot and discus pit. The him. By doing this, he conserved public school playgrounds, with all his energy and kept his muscles from their equipment and space, were just a few knotting up. That year Bob was also minutes away. awarded the James E. Sullivan Memorial Misfortune hit Bob when he was 11. He Trophy as the best amateur athlete. became sick with anemia, followed by chicken Bob went to Stanford and lead the school’s pox, measles, and whooping cough, one after football team to its first conference title in the other. Bob had difficulty sleeping, so his 12 years. The 1952 Rose Bowl followed, but mother taught him to fall asleep by relaxing Stanford lost to Illinois. That same year, he one body part at a time, beginning with his went to the Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, toes and ending at the top of his head. He and won the decathlon again. No Olympic would often be asleep by the time he got to his athlete had ever done that! arms. His father prescribed rest, vitamins, Hollywood beckoned when Bob returned and much wholesome food. Bob drank a gallon home. He was cast as himself in The Bob of milk a day. He got better and stronger. Mathias Story and starred in a TV series At 16, Bob began winning track meets. called “The Trouble Shooters.” In 1966 Bob His track coach, Virgil Jackson, recognized was elected to the U.S. Congress and served Bob as a potential Olympic champion and for 8 years. suggested that he train for the decathlon, a ten-event sport. Bob had never participated in the javelin throw. In fact, there was no javelin in Tulare, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

66 Athletes of Purpose 3. The Central Valley, also called the Great Reading Valley, in California has two main river systems. The San Joaquin is in the south. 1. Bob Mathias inherited certain character- What is the one in the north? Refer to a istics from his parents. Make a list of physical map of California, if necessary. some of the characteristics you may have inherited from your parents. Sometimes 4. The Great Depression was the worst and you can recognize physical characteristics longest business downturn in modern from pictures of parents when they were times. Who was president during your age. With your parents, discuss ways those years? in which you think you are alike. 2. In a reference book read about the 10 Further Reading decathlon events at the Olympics. List, in order of events, those played the first day Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: and the second day. Describe them to your Childrens Press, 1992. classmates or relatives. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. 3. Read about Olympic track and field Volume 12. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press events. Discuss, with classmates, five Company, 1993. things that surprised you. Merrison, Tim. Field Athletics. New York: 4. Pretend you are permitted to interview Crestwood House, 1991. Bob Mathias. List five things you would ask him. Compare your list with those of Scott, Jim. Bob Mathias: Champion of your classmates. Champions. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1952.

Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New Social Studies York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.

1. Anemia, chicken pox, measles, and Tassin, Myron. Bob Mathias: The Life of the whooping cough afflicted eleven-year-old Olympic Champion. New York: St. Martin’s Bob Mathias. With two or three friends, Press, 1984. read about these diseases in a reference Wright, Gary. Track & Field: A Step-By-Step book. Report on them, as a group, to Guide. Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990. your classmates.

2. Bob Mathias won Olympic gold medals in Zarnowski, Frank. A Basic Guide to Decath- the cities of London, England, and Helsin- lon. Glendale, CA: Griffin Publishing, 1996. ki, Finland. If you flew directly from London to Helsinki, over which European country and which Scandinavian country would you fly? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Bob Mathias 67 Pat McCormick 1930 • Diving

he surfers off the coast of California Although she could not dive, she did swim a T enjoyed being with little Pat Keller. half mile every day until 2 days before her They would throw her into the air from their son, Timothy, was born. That left her with surfboards and she would do somersaults 5 months to get into condition and qualify for and twists before entering the wave they the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. were riding. Pat liked swimming, but diving And qualify she did! was better. In Melbourne, Pat was Pat trained at the Los ahead by 17 points in the three- Angeles Aquatic Club. As a meter springboard. teenager, she practiced her div- Platform diving was another ing six days a week by doing 80 matter. There, she was in to 100 dives a day. In 1947 she fourth place with only one dive came in second at the national left to capture a gold medal. competition. A year later, she The dive she chose was a for- missed going to the Olympics ward one-and-a-half somer- by one point, but she kept com- sault with a full twist. That dive peting and soon had 27 national secured her the gold medal, one diving titles to her credit. of two she received in the 1956 Pat married an airline Olympics. She became the first pilot, Glen McCormick. He not diver in Olympic history, male only encouraged her to continue diving, he or female, to defend gold medals in both plat- also served as her coach and as the coach of form and springboard diving. the U.S. diving team. Pat practiced particu- Many awards came Pat’s way: The Associ- larly difficult dives. In competition, dives are ated Press’s Athlete of the Year (1956) and listed by their degree of difficulty from 0 to the Sullivan Award as the country’s best 10. The highest mark goes to the diver who amateur athlete of the year. Sports Illustrat- does a difficult dive exceptionally well. Pat ed named her their Woman Athlete of the wanted to be the best. year. In 1965 Pat was elected to the Swim- When the 1952 Olympics came around, ming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale. To Pat was ready to go to Helsinki, Finland. At continue her contributions to diving excel- 22, she had maturity and the experience that lence, she organized a diving camp in which her younger teammates did not, as yet, have. young people could learn from her experience. Pat helped them, and they came home from In the opening ceremonies of the 1984 Helsinki with five of six medals for diving. Olympics, Pat was one of those selected to Pat was the first female diver in history to bring the Olympic flag into the Los Angeles win two golds. Coliseum. That year Kelly, her daughter, Before the next Olympics, Pat won gold competed. Kelly made her mother proud of medals in the Pan-American Games. Then her by winning a silver medal in diving. she became pregnant with her first child. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

68 Athletes of Purpose 4. Compare and contrast the lives of Pat Reading McCormick and Gertrude Ederle. In what ways were they alike and in what ways 1. Pat probably has some memories of surf- were they different? ing and flipping into the ocean waves as a small child. What water experiences do you remember when you were younger? Further Reading Share them with your classmates.

2. List several character traits that you Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: noticed when reading Pat McCormick’s Childrens Press, 1992. biography. Compare your list with those The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. of your classmates. Volume 11. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 3. Wander around a swimming pool with a Company, 1993. note pad and pencil. Write down what you Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of see, hear, and feel. Rewrite your notes Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- and read them to your classmates or par- lastic, 1997. ents. Make a poem from what you wrote. Sandelson, Robert. Swimming and Diving. 4. Draw one picture of a diver diving from a New York: Crestwood House, 1991. springboard and one diving from a high platform. Also show them as they enter Verrier, John. Swimming and Diving. Crys- the water. Check a reference book to see tal Lake, IL: Rigby Education, 1996. how accurate you made your drawings. Wilson, Charlie G. Swimming and Diving. Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett Press, 1987. Social Studies Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced 1. In a reference book read about Helsinki, Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Finland, and Melbourne, Australia. Press, 1992. Prepare to tell your classmates what you would see if you had the opportunity to visit them.

2. Springboard and platform diving require different kinds of dives. Research these two types of diving forms with a classmate, and prepare a class presentation on what you learned.

Pat McCormick 69 Shannon Miller 1977 • Gymnastics

hannon Miller was born with leg prob- and Peggy Liddick, the U.S. Olympic coach, Slems. Her pediatrician said she must prepared her for the 1992 Olympic trials. In wear braces for a year and do exercises so her spite of an injured elbow that required sur- feet would not turn inward. Special shoes gery, Shannon recovered quickly and earned attached to a metal bar turned her feet in the a place on the team. right direction. Some months later at a shop- Barcelona, Spain, hosted the summer ping mall, Shannon wandered away from her Olympic Games in 1992. Shannon was the mother. She was found 20 minutes later smallest and shortest of all the U.S. trying on shoes in the men’s shoe athletes participating. She was 4 department. Even with shoes on, feet 6 inches tall and weighed 69 her tiny feet fit right into the pounds. She won two silver and men’s shoes. three bronze medals! The family moved to Returning to the United Edmond, Oklahoma. Five- States, she stopped off in Wash- year-old Shannon and her ington, D.C., with the other U.S. 7-year-old sister, Tessa, decid- Olympians and met President ed they wanted a trampoline for George Bush and Arnold Schwar- Christmas. Their parents, Clau- zenegger. When she returned to dia and Ron, were not sure it was Edmond, Oklahoma, there was a the best thing for them, but their grand- parade for her and a new car—which she mother offered to pay for part of it, and so could not drive because she was only 15. they bought a used one. The two girls Training did not stop, though. The World jumped and flipped and enjoyed it. But Clau- Gymnastics Championship in Birmingham, dia decided it was too dangerous and offered England, was next. She won the world title them gymnastics lessons instead. Shannon there by .007 points. This was followed the found that gymnastics was just what she next year by the World Championships in wanted to do. Brisbane, Australia. Shannon became the When Shannon was eight, the local gym- first American to win back-to-back World nastics club traveled to the Soviet Union to Championships. study the gymnastic program there. The Shannon continued in public school dur- Soviet coaches noted Shannon’s potential and ing this time, making straight As. She was encouraged Claudia to find her special train- named to the National Honor Society for ing. Claudia and Ron found Steve Nunno 4 years in a row. She also continued to train, coaching 45 minutes away in Oklahoma City. and in the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Steve had assisted Bela Karolyi, the former Georgia, Shannon received a gold medal as a coach of Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Ret- member of the U.S. women’s gymnastics ton. Shannon started lessons immediately. team and a gold medal for her individual per- When she was 13, Shannon Miller became formance on the balance beam. a U.S. Olympic team member. Coach Nunno Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

70 Athletes of Purpose 4. Based on the information in the short Reading biography of Shannon Miller, write another biography of what she might be doing 1. A person’s size does not always indicate when she is 40 or 50 years old. how well he or she may do in the Olym- pics or in any other competition. List four other characteristics that are often more Further Reading important than size or strength. Read biographies of other athletes who did not Berke, Art. Gymnastics. New York: Franklin rely on size and strength to become win- Watts, 1988. ners. Bragg, Linda Wallenberg. Fundamental 2. What is the most important word in this Gymnastics. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner biography? Why? What is the most impor- Publications, 1995. tant phrase in this biography? Why? What was the most important city to Durrant, Amanda. My Book of Gymnastics: which Shannon went? Why? Health & Movement. New York: Thomson Learning, 1993. 3. Compare and contrast the lives of Nadia Comaneci and Shannon Miller. Green, Septima. Going for the Gold: Shannon Miller. New York: Avon Books, 1996. 4. Using the picture of Shannon Miller in the biography, write a word portrait of Haycock, Kate. Gymnastics. New York: her in one hundred words or less. Crestwood House, 1991. Jackman, Joan. The Young Gymnast: A Young Enthusiast’s Guide to Gymnastics. Social Studies New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1995.

1. On a map or globe, locate the following Jensen, Julie. Beginning Gymnastics. places where Shannon competed in gym- Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. nastics: Barcelona, Spain; Birmingham, McMane, Fred and Cathrine Wolf. Winning England; Brisbane, Australia; and Atlan- Women. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. ta, Georgia. Quiner, Krista. Shannon Miller: America’s 2. Read about the cities of Barcelona, Bir- Most Decorated Gymnast: A Biography. East mingham, Brisbane, and Atlanta. Why do Hanover, NJ: The Bradford Book Company, you think the Olympic committee chose 1997. them as Olympic sites? Which one holds the most interest for you? Share with your Tames, Richard. The Modern Olympics. classmates three things of interest about Crystal Lake, IL: Rigby Education, 1996. the city you chose.

Shannon Miller 71 Martina Navratilova 1956 • Tennis

artina was born into a family of athletes fried chicken, and pancakes—foods not avail- Min Prague, Czechoslovakia. Her grand- able in Czechoslovakia. She gained weight, mother was an excellent tennis player; her which affected her playing. Her new Ameri- mother, Jana, was a skier, and her father was can friends taught her the importance of diet a ski patrolman. Martina’s mother and father and exercise, which were necessary if she was divorced when she was three. As a child, Mar- to continue playing winning tennis. tina loved soccer, ice skating, bicycle riding, One of Martina’s favorite subjects in and ice hockey. She did well in school was geography. She each of these sports. learned to speak three Europe- Jana later married Mirek an languages. Because she Navratil. Martina and her traveled in the United States, mother now had the last name she learned English too. Marti- of Navratilova, for in Czecho- na’s excellence in tennis took slovakia wives and daughters her to many of the countries she add “ova” after the man’s fami- studied in geography: Tokyo, ly name. Japan; Paris, France; Rome, Mirek loved tennis and Italy; London, England; Syd- taught Martina how to play. ney, Australia; and the United He planted in her mind the States. When she was 18, she thought of playing at Wimble- decided to defect while on a ten- don, the famous tennis competition in nis tour in the United States. This meant she England. By the time she was eight years old, could not go back to her country to live or Martina had won her first tournament. even see her parents. She also had to be care- When she was 11, the Soviet Union, ful when traveling not to go to a country that another communist country, suddenly invad- would allow the Czechoslovakian authorities ed her country. Out of fear, Martina hid in a to take her back. Most of all, she missed her store for several hours until her father found parents. her. The Communist government of Czecho- Some of the money Martina earned play- slovakia gave its people little freedom of ing tennis was used for buying her parents a choice. Life was difficult. The new family home and apple orchard in Czechoslovakia. lived in a small apartment without hot water. The government controlled newspapers and Mirek rode his motorbike to work. Since would not tell about her many tennis champi- Martina had such strength in tennis, the onships. Her telephone bills to her parents government allowed her travel privileges so were often huge. But in 1979, Jana was the rest of the world could see one of Czecho- finally allowed to travel to see her play at slovakia’s best athletes. Wimbledon, where her father had predicted At 16, Martina played in a tennis tourna- she would play. That year her mother saw her ment in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. While win one of several Wimbledon championships. there she fell in love with pizza, hamburgers, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

72 Athletes of Purpose classmates and find out what they say is Reading their favorite. Did you guess correctly?

1. In a reference book, read about the many 4. What countries now border the tennis championships Martina won Czech Republic? throughout the world. Discuss with your friends those you think are most important and why you think so. Further Reading

2. What advice would you give a person who Aaseng, Nathan. Winning Women of Tennis. loved to eat junk food but also wanted to Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1981. excel in athletics? Make a list of healthy foods a person might eat at each meal on Coombs, Charles. Be a Winner in Tennis. New a normal day. York: William Morrow and Company, 1975.

3. Reread the first paragraph of the biogra- Jones, Betty Millsaps. Wonder Women of phy. In order of your preference, list the Sports. New York: Random House, 1981. sports Martina enjoyed as a child. Which Knudson, R. R. Martina Navratilova: Tennis one, if any, would be your first choice? Power. New York: Viking Kestrel, 1986. 4. Fill in the blank: I enjoyed (or did not MacCurdy, Doug and Shawn Tully. Sports enjoy) Martina’s biography because Illustrated Tennis. New York: Harper & Row, ______. 1980.

McMane, Fred and Cathrine Wolf. Winning Social Studies Women. New York: Bantam Books, 1995. Schwabacher, Martin. Superstars of Women’s 1. On a world map or globe use your finger Tennis. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, to locate a few of the many places Martina 1997. went: Tokyo, Japan; Sydney, Australia; Rome, Italy; London, England; and Fort Singleton, Skip. The Junior Tennis Hand- Lauderdale, Florida. In a reference book, book: A Complete Guide to Tennis for Juniors, find the city you know the least about and Parents, and Coaches. Cincinnati, OH: Shoe search for five things of interest that Tree Press, 1991. would make you want to visit there. Share Sullivan, George. Better Tennis for Boys and your findings with your friends. Girls. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 2. The former Czechoslovakia is now two 1987. countries. What are their names? In ______. Great Lives: Sports. New York: which one is Martina’s birthplace located? Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. 3. Which sport do you think is the favorite Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- with the boys and which is the favorite letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced with the girls in your classroom? Write Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx your answer. Now take a survey of your Press, 1992. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

MartinaNavratilova 73 Jesse Owens 1913-1980 • Track and Field

very winter, as a child, James Cleveland The coach at the school, Charles Riley, E(J. C.) Owens had pneumonia. The watched Jesse as he played. One day he Oakville, Alabama, house the family lived in asked Jesse to join the track team after as sharecroppers was drafty, with no running school. Jesse was delighted, but then remem- water or bathroom, and only a fireplace for bered he had three different jobs to do after heating and cooking. Mrs. Owens wrapped school to help support the family. The coach J. C. in cotton sacks to sweat out the illnesses worked with him before school for 45 minutes he caught. When he was six each day. years old, he not only had By the time Jesse was a pneumonia, but he had a bump senior at East Tech High on his leg that got larger and School, he was voted class hurt him when he walked. president and became the There was no doctor avail- captain of the track team. His able, so his mother heated a high school track record was 75 knife and his father and an victories in 79 races. older brother held him down Coach Riley, whom Jesse while she cut open the lump. affectionately called “Pop,” Fortunately, the operation was helped Jesse get into Ohio State successful and he could walk University. There Jesse worked and run again. at three jobs to get through One of his sisters moved to Cleveland, school. On May 25, 1935, he broke five world Ohio, and wrote back to the family that there records and equaled another in just 45 min- was work for black people in that city. The utes! But other big days awaited Jesse. He mule was sold and the money spent on a train qualified for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Ger- ticket for the family to move. They found an many. Adolph Hitler, Germany’s dictator, used apartment with running water and an indoor the Olympics to show off what were called bathroom. In Cleveland there were parks, “Hitler’s Olympics.” He told everyone, espe- stores, the lake, and even a large brick school cially the Germans, that they were a superior with many classrooms. race. Blacks and Jews could never compete Now J. C. could go to school all year long with them, he said. But Jesse won four gold and not have to drop out to help on the farm medals and set three Olympic records. in the spring. The first day of school, he was Jesse Owens came home to his wife, Ruth asked his name. J. C.’s southern drawl was Solomon (whom he had met in his early teens), difficult for the teacher to understand. She and their three girls. He then settled into the thought she heard “Jesse.” He was too ner- hectic life of speaking engagements and radio vous to correct her. The name stuck. He liked shows. He formed his own public relations it and he remained Jesse Owens the rest of company. In 1976 President Gerald Ford his life. awarded him the Medal of Freedom, the highest award given to a U.S. citizen. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

74 Athletes of Purpose ference—in manhood.” What does this Reading quote mean to you? Give some examples in which a person might have to go 1. As a child, Jesse had never been to a city. beyond his or her abilities to succeed. Think about a city you know and pretend you are Jesse. Write about the things you 3. How did Jesse Owens’s performance in see when you visit there and how it affects the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Germany, you after living on a farm. help expose the falseness of Hitler’s racist theories? 2. When Jesse was operated on by his mother, without an anesthetic to relieve the 4. Write a series of questions you would pain, he later realized he could endure a want Jesse to answer if he were alive. lot. This experience helped him through Read them to your classmates and ask other painful experiences in life. Have you them to answer how they think Jesse had a painful experience that made you a would answer. better person? Write in a few sentences how it changed you. Further Reading 3. Read about the various track and field events in which Jesse Owens set records. Adler, David A. A Picture Book of Jesse All his records have been broken now. Owens. New York: Holiday House, 1992. Which ones are the most impressive to you? Why? Discuss your opinions with Gentry, Tony. Jesse Owens: Champion Athlete. your friends or parents. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1990.

4. Jesse held down three jobs so that he Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: could attend college and run track. Think Childrens Press, 1992. of something important that you would Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, like to do. Describe what it is and explain Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). whether you would work three jobs in New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997. order to attain your goal. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 14. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Social Studies Company, 1993. Owens, Jesse with Paul G. Neimark. The Jes- 1. On which of the Great Lakes is Cleveland se Owens Story. New York: G. P. Putnam’s located? In a reference book, read about Sons, 1970. Cleveland and share two interesting facts with your class or friends. Rennert, Rick. Jesse Owens: Champion Athlete. New York: Chelsea Juniors, 1992. 2. Charles Riley, Jesse’s first coach, told him, “Never forget this: There’s bound to Sabin, Francene. Jesse Owens: Olympic Hero. come a time in your life when you’ll be New York: Troll Associates, 1986. asked for more than ability. When that Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New happens, you’ll have to make up the dif- York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Jesse Owens 75 Leroy “Satchel” Paige 1906?-1982 • Baseball

eroy Robert Page was born in Mobile, he began playing for an African American LAlabama, the seventh of eleven children. baseball team, the Mobile Tigers. His mother and father decided to change Satchel had a terrific fast ball and could their last name from Page to Paige by adding put the ball wherever he wanted. Sometimes an i because it would be more stylish. he would line up 10 soda bottles at home When Leroy was seven, he got a job at the plate and knock down each one in order. He railroad station carrying baggage for the also practiced by throwing a baseball through passengers. Since he was paid a hole—the size of a man’s a dime for each piece he car- hat—in a wooden fence. ried, he took a stick and rope For years he traveled around and tied the luggage and satch- the country playing in the els on it so he could carry more Negro Leagues. The teams for across his back. His friends which he played won the Negro began to call him “satchel tree.” League championships year The name Satchel stuck with after year. In the off-season he him. Later he got a job cleaning went south to the Dominican around the grandstand at the Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, ballpark. Playing baseball soon and Venezuela to play. He became all he wanted to do. He made good money but did not couldn’t afford a baseball, so he spend it wisely and saved none threw rocks and found he was very accurate. of it. He bought cars, shotguns, and dogs. In His mother asked him to kill a chicken for 1947 he married Lahoma Brown, and they dinner, so he threw a rock and killed it with a had five children over the next 12 years. blow to its head. What he wanted most was to play in the School was not his favorite place. He major leagues. It wasn’t until Jackie Robin- played hooky a lot and ran around with the son broke the color barrier that he was to wrong crowd. When he was 12, he saw toy receive his chance. In July 1948, Satchel rings in a store window, so he snatched them signed with the Cleveland Indians. He was up and ran. But the owner caught him and the oldest “rookie” at about 42 years of age. called the police. In a day or so he was sent to That year he won six games and only lost one. the Industrial School for Negro Children and Cleveland won the American League Cham- stayed there until he was 17. pionship and the 1948 World Series, making He later commented that this turned out him the first African American pitcher in a to be the best place for him. He had to go to World Series. Later, Satchel would be the school, he ate well, and he could now play first African American inducted into the baseball. He grew to 6 feet 3 inches tall and Baseball Hall of Fame. weighed 140 pounds. He was tall and thin, which earned him another nickname, “The Crane.” When he left reform school in 1923, Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

76 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Read a biography of Jackie Robinson. Brashler, William. The Story of Negro League Compare and contrast Jackie and Satchel. Baseball. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994.

2. Read another biography of Satchel Paige Cooper, Michael L. Playing America’s Game: from the Further Reading List. Discuss The Story of Negro League Baseball. New three things about him that were not York: Lodestar Books, 1993. brought out or explained fully in Dunnahoo, Terry Janson and Herma Silver- this biography. stein. Baseball Hall of Fame. New York: 3. Satchel Paige often spoke with humor. Crestwood House, 1994. One of his lines was “Don’t look back. Geng, Don. Fundamental Baseball. Something may be gaining on you.” Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. What does that mean to you? Share your interpretation of that remark with Kalb, Jonah. How to Play Baseball Better your friends. Than You Did Last Season. New York: Mac- millan Publishing Co., 1974. Social Studies The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 14. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. 1. During the off-season in baseball (winter in the United States), Satchel played in Macht, Norman L. Satchel Paige. New York: the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Chelsea House Publishers, 1991. Rico, and Venezuela. Find these countries McKissack, Patricia and Fredrick. Satchel on a map or globe. Which one is a com- Paige: The Best Arm in Baseball. Hillside, NJ: monwealth of the United States? Enslow Publishers, 1992. 2. What are the two professional major Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of leagues in the United States? Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- 3. Pretend Satchel Paige arrived in one of lastic, 1997. his automobiles to spend the afternoon Shirley, David. Satchel Paige: Baseball Great. with you. Where would you suggest you New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1993. go together in your community? Discuss your answer with your classmates.

4. You have just entered your school classroom or the living room of your home. Satchel looks up and smiles at you and asks if you have any questions you would like to ask him. List the first three questions that come to your mind. Discuss them with your friends or parents. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Leroy “Satchel” Paige 77 Pelé 1940 • Soccer

he little boy born in a village in Brazil “national treasure.” By law he could not play Thad more than one name. His parents for anyone else. called him Edson Arantes do Nascinmento Outside the United States many countries and nicknamed him Dico. When he was eight, call soccer “football.” About ten times more his playmates called him Pelé. No one knows people in the world watch soccer’s World Cup where that name came from, but it stayed than watch the Super Bowl. At one time, in with him. the African country of Nigeria, there was a When he was a child, Pelé kicked a civil war going on between Nigeria and ball of rags, a sock filled with news- Biafra (a part of the country trying papers, or a grapefruit. He grew to establish its own government). up wanting to be a soccer player Since Pelé was on a team com- like his father, Dindinho. Dind- ing to play there, the warring inho played professionally until factions declared a truce for an injury sidelined him. But he two or three days so the people taught Pelé well. on both sides could see him Money was scarce in the play. After the teams played, family. Pelé quit school in the the war began anew. fourth grade to work part-time and When Pelé scored his thou- help the family as well as to play soc- sandth goal, the people stood and cer. He learned to pass the ball to the cheered him for 11 minutes. In the other players, use his head to punch the ball course of his soccer career, he scored 1,281 into the net, and even bounce the ball off the goals in 1,363 games. legs of his opponents! After he retired, Pelé accepted an invita- Part of Pelé’s ability was his peripheral tion to come to the United States and play vision as he raced down the field. He could see for the New York Cosmos for three years. By to his right and left, even though his eyes playing for the Cosmos, he encouraged U.S. focused ahead. Pelé controlled the ball with citizens, especially children, to pursue the his feet. He was also intelligent. Even though game. By doing so, he gave soccer a big boost. he dropped out of school, he later continued Pelé was careful to be a role model for his education through high school and college, young people. He wrote in his autobiography: learned to speak five languages, played the “I never endorsed a product I did not believe guitar, and had a number of songs published. in or use, and I never endorsed any product Brazil selected Pelé to be on its World that had any connection with tobacco or Cup team. The World Cup is an international liquor of any type.” competition held every four years. Brazil won the Cup in 1958, 1962, and 1970. The country wanted to make sure Pelé never played for another country’s team before he retired, so in 1972 the government declared Pelé a Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

78 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. In order of importance, make a list of Arnold, Caroline. Pelé: The King of Soccer. three character traits you think Pelé pos- New York: Franklin Watts, 1992. sesses. Compare your list with those of _____. Soccer: From Neighborhood Play to the your classmates. World Cup. New York: Franklin Watts, 1991. 2. Write a sentence using 13 different words Brodman, Jonathon, editor. Athletes. Volume and tell something you learned about 2. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1996. Pelé. Exchange your sentence with friends. Coleman, Lori. Fundamental Soccer. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1995. 3. In your opinion, what other male athlete is or was most like Pelé? In what way? Gutman, Bill. Pelé. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1976. 4. What one thing impressed you most about Pelé? Compare your answer with the Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, answers of your classmates. Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997. Social Studies The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 14. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 1. What is the official language of Brazil? Company, 1993. 2. Read about the World Cup in a reference Marshall, David. Soccer. Crystal Lake, IL: book. Which country has won the World Rigby Interactive Library, 1997. Cup the most number of times? Has the United States ever won? Jot down two Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New other interesting facts you find out from York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. your reading. Wilner, Barry. Soccer: How to Play the 3. How do you feel about well-known person- All-Star Way. Austin, TX: Raintree alities advertising products they do not Steck-Vaughn, 1994. use? Would you? Under what circum- stances?

Pelé 79 Richard Petty 1937 • Automobile Racing

n the summer of 1942, in Level Cross, North The number of his father’s car was 42. Rich- ICarolina, five-year-old Richard Petty could ard chose number 43 for his car. In Richard’s not believe his ears. His Uncle Bob asked him first race, he came in sixth. to drive the old Ford truck through the hay In 1959 Richard married a girl from his field while the men tossed the hay bales on it. high school. They had a son and three daugh- He couldn’t wait to get behind the wheel! ters. Soon Richard was winning more races, The Pettys were poor, as were most of the even beating his father at times. In 1961 Lee people in the area south of injured his leg in a crash and Greensboro. No one thought later retired. Richard’s pit crew, too much about their lack of who kept his car running dur- electricity, running water, or ing a race, consisted of his telephone. They worked hard, brother, Maurice, his father, went to church on Sunday, and and other relatives. ate well at the house of one set By the end of the 1960s, of grandparents in the after- stock-car racing had increased noon and at the house of the in popularity. Cars raced 170 other on Sunday evening. miles per hour on the NASCAR Richard’s father, Lee Pet- tracks. Safety became impor- ty, drove a delivery truck for a tant, for more and more drivers living. When he was 35, he were becoming seriously began to race cars. About that time an orga- injured at these high speeds. The improve- nization called NASCAR (the National ments in race cars were put into passenger Association of Stock Car Auto Racing) was cars as well. created. Lee quit the delivery business and When Richard was 30, he had his best started a machine shop. When Richard and year. He won 27 races and came in second in his brother, Maurice, were older, they seven others. Seventy-seven percent of the worked for their dad as mechanics and time he won or placed second! Sportswriters became his pit crew on weekends. called him “The King.” Richard knew what he wanted to do: race Richard suffered many injuries; broken cars. But his dad sternly said he must wait bones, broken ribs, a broken neck, a fractured until he was 21. Richard remained quiet shoulder, and the loss of some of his hearing. about racing and pursued three sports in high In 1991, at age 54, he retired after a 35-year school: football, basketball, and baseball. He career. He had won 200 races. He won the did well in each. When he graduated from Daytona 500 seven times, and his earnings high school, he worked full-time for Petty totaled $7,757,064. In 1992 he received the Enterprises, the name of his father’s business. Medal of Freedom, the highest award given At 21, he asked his father again if he a U.S. civilian. could race. Lee gave him a used 1957 Oldsmobile to fix up and take to the track. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

80 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Of the five major kinds of automobile rac- Burchard, Marshall and Sue. Sports Hero: es (Formula One, sports car, Indy car, Richard Petty. New York: G. P. Putnam’s stock car, and drag), which one is most Sons, 1974. interesting to you? Explain to your class- De Vere, Charles. Let’s Look Up Racing Cars. mates why you chose the one you did. New York: Gloucester Press, 1992. 2. Write a dialogue with a race car you are Dolan, Edward F. Jr. Great Moments in the driving at the Daytona 500 or Indianapo- Indy 500. New York: Franklin Watts, 1982. lis 500. What would you say to each other as you see the checkered flag being raised Frankel, Ron. Richard Petty. New York: Chel- and you come down the track together? sea House Publishers, 1996.

3. Make a list of the pluses and minuses of Krishef, Robert K. The Indianapolis 500. automobile car racing. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1974.

4. Draw a picture of the race car of the The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. future. Give the race car a name. Volume 14. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. Social Studies Murphy, Jim. The Indy 500. New York: Clarion Books, 1983.

1. Two famous races in the United States Olney, Ross R. Super Champions of Auto are the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona Racing. New York: Clarion Books, 1984. 500. Read about them in a reference book and relate to your classmates two or three facts that you found interesting.

2. Locate the places on a map or globe where the above races are held. Which one is closest and farthest from your home?

3. Compare and contrast the sport of automobile racing with that of thoroughbred horse racing.

Richard Petty 81 Mary Lou Retton 1968 • Gymnastics

airmont, West Virginia, a coal mining sacrifices, too, such as her schooling. She Findustrial town, is 90 miles south of dropped out of school and took a correspon- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, along the Monon- dence course to finish high school. She gahela River. Mary Lou Retton was born missed her family, but her mother wrote her there. Her father, Ronnie, played shortstop every day. Mary Lou gained confidence and for a New York Yankees farm team for a few skill during these months of intense Olympic years. Her mother, Lois, noticed that Mary preparation. Lou not only walked at nine months of Then, just six weeks before the Olym- age, but she did it without stum- pics, Mary Lou injured her right leg. bling or falling. Cartilage fragments caught in the With three older brothers knee and she was unable to bend and a sister, all with athletic it. Arthroscopic surgery was per- ability, Mary Lou was constant- formed. The doctors thought she ly involved in physical exercise. could not heal in time for the The running and tumbling Olympic games, but within a few around the house finally led days she was back practicing Lois to send Mary Lou and her harder than ever. sister to dancing school for ballet, The 23rd Olympic Games were tap dancing, and acrobatics. Stocky held in Los Angeles in the summer and short by her own admission, Mary of 1984. Whether Mary Lou would win a Lou turned to gymnastics when she was five. gold medal depended on her last event, the At age 13, she won the all-around interna- vault. She had two chances. The best score of tional gymnastics competition. the two would determine her success. On her Mary Lou realized she needed more first try, she got a perfect 10. She did it again, intensive training if she were to become an just to show she could, and got the same Olympic medal winner. Finally, after months score. Mary Lou won her gold medal by just of pleading and discussion, her parents .05 of allowed her to train with Bela Karolyi. He and a point against a Romanian competitor! Alto- his wife had defected from Romania to the gether, she won five medals in gymnastics: United States and opened a gymnastic train- one gold, two silver, and two bronze. ing center in Houston, Texas. Bela had The people in Fairmont were ecstatic. trained Nadia Comeneci, a gold-medal winner Someone even stole the Retton mailbox for a in the 1976 Olympics. Not yet 15, Mary Lou souvenir. Others dug plots of grass from the began training for the 1984 Olympic Games. yard. Mary Lou received so much fan mail Seven days a week, training in the morn- that it was put in large plastic bags, waiting ing and evening, Mary Lou learned new for her to find time to answer. To top it off, techniques and unlearned bad ones she had her picture on a Wheaties™ cereal box was a developed. Her social life was put on hold, for first for a female athlete. she had no time for dating. There were other Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

82 Athletes of Purpose 4. In an almanac, or some other reference, Reading find the location of the next Summer and Winter Olympic Games. Learn sev- 1. Are there any incidents in the life of Mary eral things of interest about each place Lou Retton that remind you of something and share the information with your that has happened in your life? If so, classmates. what? Share with your classmates.

2. What is the most important word, phrase, or sentence in the biography of Mary Lou Further Reading Retton? Explain to your classmates why you chose it. Berke, Art. Gymnastics. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988. 3. Read biographies of Olga Korbut and Nadia Comeneci. Compare and contrast Cohen, Joel H. Super Stars of Women’s their lives with Mary Lou’s. How do you Gymnastics. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea think they are alike and different? House Publishers, 1997.

4. Famous people, especially athletes, have Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: little privacy when they are in public set- Childrens Press, 1992. tings. How do you think you would act if The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. you were seated close to a celebrity in a Volume 15. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press restaurant? Discuss your views with Company, 1993. friends. Retton, Mary Lou and Bela Karolyi with John Powers. Mary Lou: Creating an Olympic Social Studies Champion. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1986.

1. On a physical map trace the Monongahela Silverstein, Herma. Mary Lou Retton and the River from Fairmont, West Virginia, New Gymnasts. New York: Franklin Watts, through Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and to 1985. the sea. Into what two rivers and large body of water does it flow? Sullivan, George. Mary Lou Retton. New York: Julian Messner, 1984. 2. Read about West Virginia in a reference book. Make a list of the five most interest- Washington, Rosemary G. Mary Lou Retton: ing things you learned. Compare them Power Gymnast. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner with those things your classmates found. Publications, 1985.

3. Read about arthroscopy in a reference Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- book. Explain how doctors use it to help letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced their patients who have shoulder, elbow, Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx hip, and knee joint problems. Press, 1992. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Mary Lou Retton 83 Jack “Jackie” Robinson 1919-1972 • Baseball

ackie was 16 months old when his mother own leagues. Jackie joined the Kansas City Jtook him, three brothers, and one sister Monarchs of the Negro Baseball League. on the long train ride from Cairo, Georgia, Branch Rickey was made president of the to Pasadena, California. They went there to Brooklyn Dodgers in 1943. He planned to live in a three-room apartment with an break the color barrier, an invisible wall that uncle’s family. Jackie’s father had deserted kept African Americans and other players of them. Jackie’s mother, Mallie, did laundry color out of the major leagues. He learned to earn money and saved enough to about Jackie Robinson and called him to purchase a home for her children. his office in New York City. They Often they ate day-old bread talked for nearly three hours. At soaked in sugar water. the end, Jackie promised not to Because Jackie’s mother show anger and fight back when worked long hours to support he was verbally abused by the her family, Jackie went to fans and other teams on or off school with his sister when he the field. Mr. Rickey told him, “I was 4 years old. He played in want a man with guts enough the sandbox outside the school not to fight back.” until she was finished for the day. He spent the first year playing Then they went home together. with the Dodgers’ farm team, the All of the Robinson children did well Montreal Royals in Canada. Jackie and in athletic activities. Jackie’s brother, Mack, the Royals won their championship. He won an Olympic silver medal in Berlin, moved up to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 Germany, when he came in second in the and became the first African American to 200-meter dash. The winner was another play in modern major league baseball. African American, Jesse Owens. Jackie did so well with the Dodgers that Jackie went to Pasadena Junior College he was named the National League Rookie of for two years. On one particular day he set a the Year. His running and base stealing record in the broad jump (25 feet 6 inches) made him a favorite of many fans. By 1949, and then was driven 40 miles to help the he won the National League’s Most Valuable baseball team win a championship! Player award and the league’s batting cham- The next two years he went to UCLA and pionship with a .342 average. On July 23, became the first athlete in the school’s history 1962, he was elected to the National Baseball to win letters in four sports: football, basket- Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Ten ball, baseball, and track. Jackie was drafted years later, at the age of 53, he died of diabe- into the army in World War II and became an tes and heart problems. officer. When discharged in 1945, he decided to play professional baseball. African Ameri- cans were not permitted to play on the white professional teams, so they organized their Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

84 Athletes of Purpose what is happening as you show the pic- Reading tures to your classmates.

1. Which paragraph is the most important 4. Create a book jacket for Jackie Robinson’s one in the biography? Defend your choice biography. Use the information in this before your classmates. and other biographies to create a cover that captures Jackie’s life and career. 2. Discuss Branch Rickey’s statement: “I want a man with guts enough not to fight back.” Why did he make that statement Further Reading and what did he mean by it?

3. Write three titles for this biography. Bennett, William J. The Children’s Book of Arrange them in order of importance. Heroes. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997.

4. With a classmate, write a “conversation- Brashler, William. The Story of Negro League about Jackie.” First, each of you write a Baseball. New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1994. statement about him. Next, exchange Coombs, Karen Mueller. Jackie Robinson: statements and write your replies. Do Baseball’s Civil Rights Legend. Springfield, this three or four times. Then discuss NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1997. what both of you wrote. Grabowski, John. Jackie Robinson. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1991.

Social Studies Greene, Carol. Jackie Robinson: Baseball’s First Black Major-Leaguer. Chicago, IL: 1. On a map, place a ruler to show a straight Childrens Press, 1990. line from Cairo, Georgia, to Pasadena, California. List the states Mallie Robin- Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, son and her children may have traveled Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). through by train to get to the West Coast. New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997.

2. As the first African American to break The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. baseball’s color barrier, Jackie had to Volume 15. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press endure taunting from his opponents, Company, 1993. heckling from fans and even hate mail Reiser, Howard. Jackie Robinson: Baseball and death threats. How do you think he Pioneer. New York: Franklin Watts, 1992. managed to keep his cool and focus on baseball? How would you have responded Sanford, William R. and Carl R. Greene. under that kind of pressure? Jackie Robinson. New York: Crestwood House, 1992. 3. Draw several pictures of Jackie Robinson at different places and times as a young Santella, Andrew. Jackie Robinson Breaks the person and baseball player. Label each Color Line. New York: Childrens Press, 1996. picture with a caption telling where the Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New scene is located and what it is about. Tell York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Jack “Jackie” Robinson 85 Wilma Rudolph 1940-1994 • Track and Field

ilma was born weighing 41/2 pounds. not always easy. Illness, a pulled muscle, and WWhen she was four years old, she con- a tonsillectomy affected her performance. tracted double pneumonia and scarlet fever. Wilma persevered. She set a world record in If that was not enough, polio affected one of the 200-meter dash of 22.9 seconds as she her legs to the point where she needed a prepared for the Rome Olympics. At 20 years brace to walk. of age, she went to the 1960 Olympics in Ita- Her mother, Blanche, took her by bus ly. The 100-degree heat was oppressive to the to a medical college some 50 miles away athletes. Fortunately, her coach, Ed twice a week. There therapists Temple, was named as the coach of worked to help strengthen her leg. the track and field team. He At home, her mother and her decided the women should do many brothers and sisters mas- light workouts. As Wilma and saged the leg. Then one Sunday the others ran in the grass morning, unknown to her fami- among the cooling lawn sprin- ly, she took off her brace. klers, Wilma stepped into a Ten-year-old Wilma then hole and sprained her ankle. walked down the center aisle of Immediately ice was applied to the church to sit with her family! stop the swelling. The next day By the next year the brace was her foot held up and she qualified for packed and sent back to the hospital. the 100-meter dash. The following day Ed Temple, the track coach at Tennessee she won a gold medal in the race. Then she State University, refereed high school basket- won the 200-meter race with a time of 23.3 ball in Tennessee. He was always on the seconds, an Olympic record. Later, as anchor lookout for budding track stars and saw such in the 400-meter race, Wilma came from potential in Wilma. He encouraged her family behind to set another record and win three to allow Wilma to attend his summer pro- gold medals. She was the first woman athlete gram for high school runners in 1956. She ever to accomplish this. was so fast that she was invited to try out for Wilma Rudolph was known as the fastest the Olympics. In Melbourne, she earned a woman in the world. She returned to college, bronze medal as a member of the 400-meter graduated, became an elementary school relay team. teacher, married, and later wrote her autobi- Wilma came back to her high school. By ography, which became a TV movie. She now she was a 6-foot, barely 90-pound hero- established the Wilma Rudolph Foundation, ine. She was so quick on the basketball court an organization that helps young people to that her coach nicknamed her “Skeeter” become dedicated athletes and citizens. because she resembled a mosquito buzzing around. Averaging around 32 points a game, she looked forward to the 1960 Olympics. Even so, going to college as an athlete was Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

86 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Act out the scene where Wilma walks Biracree, Tom. Wilma Rudolph. New York: down the church aisle without her brace. Chelsea House Publishers, 1988. Ask your friends to take the parts of Wil- Coffey, Wayne. Wilma Rudolph. Woodridge, ma, her mother, her father, and the CT: Blackbirch Press, 1993. preacher. What do they say and do? Jones, Betty Millsaps. Wonder Women of 2. Who is the fastest runner in your class? Sports. New York: Random House, 1981. Ask your teacher to set up races to find out. Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1992. 3. How are you most like and unlike Wilma Rudolph? How do your times in the Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, 100-meter and 200-meter races compare Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). to Wilma’s? New York: Harcourt, Brace & Company, 1997. 4. Write a diary page telling what Wilma might have written after practicing four ______. Wilma Unlimited: How Wilma years for the 1960 Olympics, only to Rudolph Became the World’s Fastest Woman. sprain her ankle hours before the races. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace & Company, How would she feel? What would 1996. she write? The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 15. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Social Studies Company, 1993. O’Connor, Jim. Comeback: Four True Stories. 1. On a map or globe find the locations of New York: Random House, 1992. the Melbourne, Australia and Rome, Ita- Rudolph, Wilma with Martin Ralbovsky. Wil- ly, Olympics. Read about these cities in a ma. New York: New American Library, 1977. reference book. Find things of interest about these two places and discuss what Sherrow, Victoria. Wilma Rudolph: Olympic you found with your classmates. Champion. New York: Chelsea Juniors, 1995.

2. What is the medical name for polio? Wickham, Martha. Superstars of Women’s What is now given to children to prevent Track and Field. New York: Chelsea House this disease? Publishers, 1997.

3. Talk to some older adults about the fast- Woolum, Janet. Outstanding Women Ath- est runners they remember. Take notes. letes: Who They Are and How They Influenced Discuss them with your classmates. Sports in America. Phoenix, AZ: The Oryx Press, 1992. 4. What was the most serious disease you had as a small child? How does it compare to those Wilma had? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Wilma Rudolph 87 Gale Sayers 1943 • Football

ernice Sayers wanted her second child to football field, plus a regimen of year-round Bbe a girl. She chose Gail as a name for exercise training, turned him into an All- the new baby. When she and her husband, American on the football field in 1963 and Roger, had a boy, they named him “Gale,” 1964. More importantly, his grades bounced with a masculine spelling. up to a B average in his senior year of college. By the time Gale was eight, the family George Halas, the owner and coach of the had moved from Wichita, Kansas, to Omaha, Chicago Bears, persuaded Gale to play for Nebraska. There was never enough Chicago. In his rookie season, he led money to pay the bills, so Gale the league in points scored (132), helped out by delivering news- number of touchdowns (22), and papers. Because chicken feet total offensive yards (2,275). Not were inexpensive, the family ate only that, Gale was an excellent them often, fried and stewed. kick returner, pass receiver Gale’s BB gun accounted for and running back. But it was sparrows and catbirds, which on December 12, 1965, that he became part of the family’s diet. tied the National Football Gale slept in the hallway League record when he scored near the kitchen because of lack of six touchdowns in one game! He room. They used the kitchen stove as was named Rookie of the Year. a source of heat. Just outside was an Gale’s roommate on the Bears was alley nearly the length of a football field. It Brian Piccolo. Brian became ill with lung can- was there Gale spent much of his time, even cer. When the Pro Football writers gave Gale into the dark, playing football. It became his their award for “the most courageous player,” passion. Gale announced he was giving the award the His first year at Omaha Central High next day to his good friend, Brian. Soon after, School, practice began at 6:30 in the morning. Brian died. The memory of their close friend- Gale loved it. Track in the spring rounded out ship was kept alive by the made-for-TV film his year as an athlete. High school classes Brian’s Song. were not nearly as exciting and his grades Four operations on his knees compelled reflected his disinterest. English was espe- Gale to stop competing on the football field. cially troublesome. He then studied for and passed a stockbro- Gale was offered football scholarships to ker’s exam. Gale went on to work at various college. He decided to play for the University colleges and helped students solve their of Kansas. When he went home on weekends problems. In 1977 Gale Sayers was inducted to visit his family, and especially his girl- into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in friend, Linda, he cried knowing he had to Canton, Ohio. return to campus. In 1962 he and Linda married, and she helped him to settle down and study. Hard work in his studies and on the Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

88 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. In other references or books, read the list Cox, Ted. Football. Crystal Lake, IL: Rigby of records Gale set. To you, which one is Interactive Library, 1996. most important? Why? Hahn, James and Lynn. Sayers! The Sports 2. What kind of person does Gale Sayers Career of Gale Sayers. Mankato, MN: appear to be? Would you like him for a Crestwood House, 1981. friend? Why or why not? Italia, Bob. The Chicago Bears. Edina, MN: 3. Gale Sayers tied the number of touch- Abdo & Daughters, 1996. downs (6) scored in a single game in pro ______. 100 Unforgettable Moments in Pro football. In a reference book, find out what Football. 100 Unforgettable Moments in Red Grange did in a 1925 college game, as Sports. Edina, MN: Abdo & Daughters, 1996. a running back, when the University of Illinois played against Michigan. Share The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. what you find with your classmates. Volume 12. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993. Social Studies Madden, John. The First Book of Football. New York: Crown Publishers, 1988.

1. Read about the history of U.S. football in May, Julian. Gale Sayers: Star Running a reference book. Prepare five facts to Back. Mankato, MN: Crestwood House, 1975. share with your classmates. Raffo, Dave. Football: How to Play the 2. Wichita, Kansas; Omaha, Nebraska; and All-Star Way. Austin, TX: Raintree Chicago, Illinois, are three places Gale Steck-Vaughn, Publishers, 1994. Sayers called home. Prepare three inter- Sullivan, George. All About Football. New esting facts about each place and report to York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1987. your classmates what you learned. Find each place on a U.S. map. Which of the cities is nearest you?

3. Which high school, college, and/or professional football players are your favorites? Share your selections with your classmates. Do they agree with you? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Gale Sayers 89 Arnold Schwarzenegger 1947 • Body Building

rnold was born in a little country village an Junior Olympics championship. In the Aoutside of Graz, Austria. He was frail 1960s, he won the Mr. Universe contest during much of his childhood. His father, five years in a row. But all this did not satisfy Gustav, encouraged him and his older broth- Arnold’s desire for success. As part of his er, Meinhart, to do squats and situps for master plan, he focused on becoming the best 15 minutes before breakfast each morning. body builder ever, learning perfect English, As a hobby, the father lifted weights and investing in real estate, becoming a movie invited his sons to do the same. star, and making a fortune. He also stimulated the mental At the height of his processes of his sons by making body-building career, Arnold them write ten-page essays weighed 240 pounds, was 6 after their Sunday afternoon feet 2 inches tall, had a chest excursions to a museum or measurement of 57 inches, a park. The next morning, he 31-inch waist, 22-inch biceps, would correct the papers. If 28-inch thighs, and 20-inch there were errors, the boys calves. He came to the United would have to correct and, States and turned professional often, rewrite them. and won many titles. By the age of 15, Arnold His goal of becoming a became quite interested in movie star was reached when bodybuilding. He worked out daily at the he appeared in action movies such as Conan Athletic Union. One Monday morning, the the Barbarian, The Terminator, and caretaker of the building found a window Commando. He also did comedies such as smashed on the second floor. Arnold con- Kindergarten Cop and Twins, the latter fessed to breaking into the building on the making more than $100 million in less than weekend so he could train seven days a week! a month. That helped him considerably with Arnold enjoyed other sports, too, besides his goal of making a fortune! lifting weights. He played soccer, skied, Arnold married Maria Shriver, a television boxed, and did curling. At 15 he weighed 160 broadcaster, and became a father. Maria’s pounds. At 18 he was in the Austrian army mother, Eunice, was the sister of John, Robert, driving a tank. In the army he continued his and Teddy Kennedy. Arnold and Maria named weight training and was able to eat more their first baby Katherine Eunice. food, especially meat. At one point he went In 1990 Arnold was made chairman of the absent without leave to enter the Junior Mr. President’s Council of Physical Fitness and Europe contest in Germany. He won but had Sports, touring America and talking to boys to spend several days as a prisoner on his and girls about keeping physically fit. return to duty. His bodybuilding friends nicknamed him “the Austrian Oak.” At 18 he won the Austri- Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

90 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Arnold was quite good at the sport of curl- Conklin, Thomas. Meet Arnold ing as a youngster. Read about curling in Schwarzenegger. New York: Random House, a dictionary or reference book and tell 1994. your classmates or friends what you The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. learned about the sport. Is it played in Volume 16. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press your state? Company, 1993. 2. Read about Maria’s uncles, John, Robert, Lipsyte, Robert. Arnold Schwarzenegger: and Ted Kennedy, in a reference book. Hercules in America. New York: HarperCol- What positions of influence did they have? linsPublishers, 1993. 3. With a cloth tape measure, compare and Lund, Bill. Weight Lifting. Mankato, MN: contrast your body measurements with Capstone Press, 1996. those of Arnold’s. Meeks, Christopher. Arnold Schwarzenegger: 4. Arnold’s body building friends nicknamed Hard Work Brought Success. Vero Beach, FL: him “the Austrian oak.” Why do you think The Rourke Corporation, 1993. they chose that term? What would you like to be called as an athlete? North, Jack. Arnold Schwarzenegger. New York: Dillon Press, 1994. Social Studies Schwarzenegger, Arnold with Charles Gaines. Arnold’s Fitness for Kids ages 6–10: A Guide to Health, Exercise, and Nutrition. 1. Find Graz, Austria, on a map or globe: New York: Doubleday, 1993. latitude 47° 5 N; longitude 15° 22 E. Schwarzenegger, Arnold with Charles 2. What is the greatest need, in terms of Gaines. Arnold’s Fitness for Kids ages 11–14: fitness, for the boys and girls in your A Guide to Health, Exercise, and Nutrition. community? Discuss this need in New York: Doubleday, 1993. your class.

3. Arnold had a “master plan” worked out for his life. Make a list of the goals you would like to achieve in the future. Keep it some place where you can review it from time to time. What can you do this week to work toward accomplishing your goals? Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Arnold Schwarzenegger 91 Bill Shoemaker 1931 • Thoroughbred Horse Racing

ill was born small. The doctor who deliv- smiling a lot. He thought capping was a good 1 Bered him didn’t expect the 2 /2-pound investment. baby to make it through the night. But his One time when he rode in the Kentucky grandma warmed the oven, tucked him into Derby, Bill made a big mistake. He thought some pillows on the stove door, and sat with he had crossed the finish line, so he started to him throughout the night. His aunt thought stand up in the stirrups of his horse. But he looked like a rat with his long black hair. there was still a little distance to go. His horse When he was four or five, he was left lost by just a few inches. Bill made a alone for a few moments. It was public apology for his mistake. Nev- enough time for him to climb a ertheless, he was suspended from fence and jump on a nearby racing for 15 days. horse. Bill gave it a kick and There were two times Bill walked the horse around the was seriously hurt as a jockey. corral. His mother and a few Once he fell with his horse in a relatives panicked. race. The horse hit him in the Bill enjoyed boxing and right thigh, breaking the long wrestling in school. A girl sug- bone, the femur. In the chil- gested that, because he was so dren’s department at the hospital, small, he should consider becoming the doctors found a metal rod that fit a jockey. Since he liked horses, he got a the hollow parts of the break and held it job feeding and exercising the horses and together. After his dismissal from the hospi- cleaning stalls. He also washed, combed, and tal, he lifted weights, rode a stationary brushed the animals. This was the life he bicycle, and ran. He was out of racing for wanted to pursue, so he dropped out of school more than a year, but the first day back he to become a jockey. won three races. Jockeys need to be small to race thorough- Another time, he was trapped under a bred horses. Bill was built for the job. For horse before a race. His pelvis bone splintered most of his life he weighed 97 pounds. On the in five places. He also had a ruptured bladder day of a race the stewards added lead weights and a paralyzed leg. But he came back again. on his saddle so his weight compared to the When Bill retired in 1990, he had ridden other jockeys who were racing. Once when he 8,883 winners in more than 40,000 races. He vacationed in Acapulco, Mexico, he did rode Kentucky Derby winning horses in four increase his weight to 103 pounds! different years, his last win when he was 54 As Bill began to win races, sportswriters years old, the oldest jockey to win the Derby. gave him various nicknames: “Wee Willie,” Unfortunately, in 1991 a car accident left him “Willie the Shoe,” and “Silent Shoe.” Bill’s paralyzed and in a wheelchair. Undaunted, front teeth were a bit crooked, so he often Bill writes horse-racing mystery novels. kept silent during interviews. Later a dentist capped his teeth for $10,000 and he began Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

92 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. How did your understanding of the biog- Forbis, Judith E. Hoofbeats Along the Tigris. raphy change your feeling about race Mena, AR: Ansata Publications, 1990. horse jockeys? Share your thoughts with Harris, Jack C. The Kentucky Derby. your classmates. Mankato, MN: Creative Education, 1990. 2. Write three questions you would like Bill Johnson, Neil. Born to Run: A Racehorse Shoemaker to answer. Read them aloud Grows Up. New York: Scholastic, 1988. to your classmates and let them tell you what answers Bill might give. The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 16. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 3. In a reference book, find the dates Bill Company, 1993. won the Kentucky Derby. List the years and the names of the horses. In your McFarland, Cynthia. Hoofbeats: The Story of mind, which horse had the most interest- a Thoroughbred. New York: Atheneum, 1993. ing name? Why? Phillips, Louis. Willie Shoemaker. Mankato, MN: Crestwood House, 1988. Social Studies Stone, Lynn M. Bluegrass Country. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Corporation, 1993. 1. Bill publicly admitted a mistake he made when riding in the Kentucky Derby. Have you ever made a mistake for which you took responsibility? How did you feel?

2. Find Acapulco, Mexico, on a map. What body of water does it border?

3. From a reference book, read about the many records Bill Shoemaker set as a jockey. Which two are most important in your mind? Discuss this with your classmates or parents.

Bill Shoemaker 93 Amos Alonzo Stagg 1862-1965 • Football

mos Alonzo Stagg was the fifth child in a Amos played on Yale’s baseball team. He Afamily of eight children. He never drank pitched for five championship games. In a alcoholic beverages, smoked, nor swore. Each game against the professional Boston Nation- November, his father butchered two pigs. The als, Amos beat them 2 to 1. In the ninth pigs made, among other things, the sausage inning, he struck out their best hitter, Ten- that went with the daily breakfast of buck- Thousand-Dollar Kelly, the Babe Ruth of 1887. wheat cakes. Amos asked his father for the Amos also played right end for the 1888 Yale pigs’ bladders and blew them football team. They outscored up for footballs. their opponents 698 points to 0! In Amos’s day, not many After a year in Yale’s boys, nor girls, went to high divinity school, Amos left school. Because he had to help because he felt he could not at home, Amos didn’t begin the express himself well enough to eighth grade until he was 18 be a minister. He went to the but finished his public school- newly created University of ing three years later. The Chicago as coach and head of assistant principal suggested its physical culture depart- college to Amos. Amos decided ment. There, at 31, he met a on Yale but could not pass the freshman student, Stella Rob- entrance exam. On the advice erston, and they married. In of a friend, Amos went to a preparatory acade- the press box, she charted plays for him. That my. His friend gave him one of his suits, since first year, as coach, he even played with the Amos had none. Amos wanted no more help. team because they were short of players. When his Presbyterian minister bid him fare- Amos coached at Chicago from 1892 well, he held out his hand to shake Amos’s through 1932. He invented the tackling dum- hand. Amos saw money in the minister’s my and introduced the T-formation, onside hand, so he put out his other hand and kick, and double-reverse. When the forward wouldn’t take the money. At the preparatory pass became legal in 1906, Amos created more school he took the needed courses, pitched for than 60 plays for using it. the baseball team, and passed his Yale When he was 70, the University of Chi- entrance exams. cago asked him to retire and be an advisor. At 22 years old with only $32, Amos Instead, he coached at the University of the entered Yale. He set a budget for himself: $1 Pacific, in California, until he was 81. He a week for a drafty room and 20 cents a day joined his son, Amos Jr., in Pennsylvania as for food. He became ill with malnutrition. A an offensive coordinator until he was 90. He doctor ordered him to drop the “nickel- and- then took an advisory position at Stockton dime-meal nonsense.” Amos got a job waiting Junior College. And at 98, after 71 years of tables in a student dining room where he coaching, it was “time to stop.” He lived to could eat well. be 102. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

94 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. What are the five most interesting facts Allen, James. Football: Play Like a Pro. in the biography of Amos Alonzo Stagg? Mahwah, NJ: Troll Associates, 1990. Compare your list with those of your Anderson, Dave. The Story of Football. New classmates. York: William Morrow and Company, 1997. 2. Read a biography of Bear Bryant, Vince Lloyd, Bryant. Football: Rules of the Game. Lombardi, or Knute Rockne from the Fur- Vero Beach, FL: The Rourke Book Company, ther Reading list. Compare and contrast Inc., 1997. it with what you learned from your reading of Amos Alonzo Stagg’s biography. Madden, John. The First Book of Football. New York: Crown Publishers, 1988. 3. What is your belief on mandatory retirement from a profession at a specific age? Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of Should a person be forced to retire at a set Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- age? Why? Discuss your opinions with lastic, 1997. your classmates. Riper, Guernsey V., Jr. Knute Rockne: Young 4. Read the biography of Amos Alonzo Stagg Athlete. Childhood of New York: Macmillan to a senior citizen or older relative or Publishing Co., 1986. friend. Take notes on his or her reactions Smith, E. S. Bear Bryant: Football’s Winning and discuss them with your classmates. Coach. New York: Walker and Company, 1984.

Sullivan, George. All About Football. New Social Studies York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1987. Wukovits, John. Vince Lombardi. Philadel- 1. Name the wars in which the United phia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997. States was engaged in the year Amos Alonzo Stagg was born (1862) and the year he died (1965).

2. Read about malnutrition in a reference book. Discuss with your classmates its effects on the human body.

3. Create a television commercial featuring Amos Alonzo Stagg at 98 years of age. What products would he most likely promote? Which ones would he not promote?

Amos Alonzo Stagg 95 Jim Thorpe 1887-1953 • Football,Baseball,Track and Field

im and Charlie were twins born in a cabin promoted to the football team. Jin Oklahoma. Jim was husky and enjoyed Jim Thorpe went on to break records in adventure; Charlie was quiet and thoughtful. football and track at Carlisle. In the summer, The two boys of the Sac and Fox Indian tribe he played baseball in the South. Jim entered were good for each other. Charlie helped Jim the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, in school; Jim protected Charlie. But at eight, Sweden. There he won the decathlon and Charlie died of pneumonia, leaving Jim pentathlon track and field events. When King broken-hearted. Gustav presented Jim his medals, the School was not Jim’s favorite King said, “Sir, you are the greatest place, for it was 20 miles or so athlete in the world.” Jim humbly from the family and farm. One said, “Thanks, King.” day Jim left school, running all A few months later the news- the way home. His father papers reported that Jim had promptly put him in a wagon accepted small amounts of mon- and took him back. By the time ey playing summer baseball. his father returned home, Jim This made him a professional had left again and was waiting and, therefore, ineligible to com- for him! pete at the previous Olympics. He Jim finally realized that school had to return his awards. was the best place for him, so in 1904 he Jim went on to play professional entered Carlisle Institute in Pennsylvania, a football for the Canton Bulldogs and baseball school for Native American young people. for the Cleveland Indians, New York Giants, Football attracted Jim but he was too and Chicago Cardinals. small for such a rough game. One day as he In 1950 the nation’s press named him for watched the older boys on the track team fail two awards: the greatest athlete and the to clear the high jump bar in practice, he greatest football player of the half-century. In asked if he could try. They laughed, but said 1963 Jim was inducted as a charter member sure. Jim did it in his school clothes on his of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, first try and broke the school record. Ohio. Every year the National Football “Pop” Warner, the coach, heard of his feat League honors its most valuable player with and put him on the track squad. But Jim the Jim Thorpe Trophy. The International wanted to play football, too. Finally, the coach Olympic Committee restored his Olympic said he would use him for varsity tackling records in 1982 and returned his medals to practice. Jim began to run from the far end of his family. the field toward the varsity players, eluding them all. Moments later he was alone at the other end. Pop could not believe it and told him to do it again. And Jim did. Jim mut- tered, “Nobody is going to tackle Jim.” He was Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

96 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. What would you have said if you were Jim Anderson, Dave. The Story of Football. New and had just been told by a king that you York: William Morrow and Company, 1997. were the greatest athlete in the world? ______. The Story of the Olympics. New 2. Who do you think is the greatest athlete York: William Morrow and Company, 1996. of the second half century? The greatest Bernotas, Bob. Jim Thorpe: Sac and Fox football player? Compare your choices Athlete. New York: Chelsea House Publish- with those of your friends. ers, 1992. 3. The decathlon, heptathlon, and pentath- Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: lon are combined competitions lasting one Childrens Press, 1992. or two days. To win, the athlete must have a total score better than that of his Knight, Theodore. The Olympic Games. San or her competitors. With a friend, read Diego, CA: Lucent Books, 1991. about these competitions from a reference Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, book. In which competition or event would Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). you perform best? New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997. 4. Because Jim had earned $15 a week The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. playing baseball early in his career, his Volume 18. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Olympic Gold medals were taken away. Company, 1993. Pretend you are Jim Thorpe. Write a journal entry that describes your thoughts Lipsyte, Robert. Jim Thorpe: 20th-Century and feelings upon finding out that the Jock. New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, Olympic Committee wants you to turn 1993. over your gold medals. Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- Social Studies lastic, 1997. Richards, Gregory. Jim Thorpe: World’s 1. Find Stockholm, Sweden, site of the 1912 Greatest Athlete. Chicago, IL: Childrens Olympic Games, on a map or globe. Press, 1984.

2. To your class or friends, report about the Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New Sac (also spelled Sauk and Sak) and Fox York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988. Indians. Who was their famous chief in Updyke, Rosemary, K. Jim Thorpe: The the 1832 war? Legend Remembered. Gretna, LA: Pelican 3. Debate the issue: Athletes who have Publishing Company, 1997. earned money competing in their sport should or should not be able to compete in the Olympics. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Jim Thorpe 97 Kristi Yamaguchi 1971 • Figure Skating

risti was quite small at birth: 5 pounds start all over again the next day. K15 ounces. She was born with clubfeet, a In preparation for the Olympics, Kristi condition where her toes turned inward. This finally decided to concentrate on singles affected her walking, so she had to wear cor- skating. Her coach, Christy Kjarsgaard-Ness, rective shoes, take physical therapy, and had just married and moved to Edmonton, wear a special brace at night, which was Alberta, Canada. Kristi moved there, too, so painful. she could continue training with Christy. At The little California girl was four this time, she had grown to 5 feet tall years old when she and her mother and weighed 93 pounds. stopped to watch the ice skaters at In the 1991 World Champion- a shopping mall ice rink. Kristi ships in Munich, Germany, she was entranced and begged her won the gold medal. Two other mother to allow her to skate. Americans won, also. This was Yes, her mother promised, a first for any country to win all when you go to first grade. three medals in one contest: Kristi’s mother, who is of Tonya Harding, silver medal; Japanese descent, was born in a Nancy Kerrigan, bronze medal. relocation camp. At the beginning The next big event was the of World War II, after the Japanese 1992 Olympic Winter Games in the bombed Pearl Harbor, an American French Alps. The games were held in naval base in Hawaii, 120,000 Japanese 650 square miles of mountains around Americans were imprisoned in camps in the Albertville, France. More than 2,000 athletes United States. Kristi’s father spent time in from 65 countries entered. Kristi’s parents the camps too. and sister, her coach, and 9,000 spectators By age six Kristi was ice skating. Her watched as she gracefully went through her model was Dorothy Hamill, a gold-medal skating routines to win the Olympic figure winner in figure skating at the 1976 Winter skating gold medal. Olympics. The next year Kristi entered a local On her return home, Kristi was given a skating contest and began taking private les- tremendous welcome. Soon she signed con- sons. At 12, Kristi joined Rudi Galindo as tracts to endorse bottled water, sunglasses, a pairs partner in competition. They became contact lenses, and cream cheese. She even pairs champions at the Nationals on Long had her picture on cereal boxes and modeled Island, New York, with their “mirror” skating. clothing for widely read magazines. Practice took up much of Kristi’s day. Her After the Olympic Games, Kristi decided mother woke her at 4 o’clock in the mornings to turn professional and signed a contract to and drove her to 5 o’clock practices at the ice skate for Stars on Ice. Now she appears on rink. Then at 10 a.m. she went to school. In television and in ice skating shows around the evenings there were more practices and the country. study and then an early bedtime so she could Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

98 Athletes of Purpose 4. Kristi was very particular about the Reading products she endorsed. If you were in her position, what products would you 1. Kristi spent several hours a day, six days endorse or not endorse? Why? a week practicing figure skating. What does this tell you about her?

2. Make a list of three personal characteris- Further Reading tics Kristi possesses. Share your list with a friend. How are the lists the same? Donohue, Shibhan. Kristi Yamaguchi: Artist different? on Ice. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner Publications, 1994. 3. Draw a picture of Kristi receiving her Olympic gold medal. In a balloon above Gutman, Dan. Ice Skating: From Axels to her, write what you think she was saying. Zambonis. New York: Viking, 1995.

4. Pretend you are a reporter interviewing Hilgers, Laura. Great Skates. Boston, MA: Kristi. What three questions will you Little, Brown and Company, 1991. ask her? Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1992. Social Studies The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Volume 14. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press 1. Dorothy Hamill was Kristi’s model as a Company, 1993. child. Do you have a person you want to Lindop, Laurie. Athletes. New York: Henry model after? Share information with your Holt and Company, 1996. classmates or a friend and tell why you would like to be like him or her. MacLean, Norman. Ice Skating Basics. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1984. 2. Like Kristi’s mother, thousands of Japa- nese Americans were placed in relocation Ryan, Margaret. Figure Skating. New York: camps during World War II. In a refer- Franklin Watts, 1987. ence source, read about the camps. Then Savage, Jeff. Kristi Yamaguchi: Pure Gold. write a paragraph that gives your opinion New York: Dillon Press, 1993. of the policy of placing citizens in relocation camps during wartime. Smith, Pohla. Superstars of Women’s Figure Skating. Philadelphia: Chelsea House 3. In a reference book, read about the Euro- Publishers, 1997. pean Alps. What makes them the ideal place to hold the Winter Olympics? What Yamaguchi, Kristi with Greg Brown. Always are some of the countries that are included Dream. Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing in the Alps region? Company, 1998. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Kristi Yamaguchi 99 Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias 1911-1956 • Basketball, Track and Field, Golf

ne afternoon, Mildred’s mother sent her at the Olympic Games, she won two gold Oto the grocery store to purchase ground medals and one silver. meat for dinner. On the way home she Babe was a natural athlete. She was good stopped to play baseball for just a moment in bowling, skating, billiards, soccer, and ten- and laid her package on a bench. Time flew nis. Although she did not play football, she by and Mildred saw her mother running onto could pass the ball nearly 50 yards and punt the field. “Where’s the meat? It’s time for long distances. Once she split the lip of a pro- supper.” There on the bench a fessional boxing champion as hungry dog was devouring the they were sparring. And she last of it! even played the harmonica well. Mildred Ella Didrikson During the 1930s, Babe gained the nickname “Babe” turned to golf. She practiced till after baseball slugger Babe her hands bled, then bandaged Ruth. Baseball was only one of them and practiced some more. the sports in which Babe By the 1940s, she put together excelled. She beat the boys in a record-breaking winning marbles and won the school streak of 17 straight golf tour- tournament in sixth grade. naments. The Scottish people Babe even convinced her neigh- became very interested in bors to cut their hedges lower Babe, for golf was the national so she could jump them. Later, Babe would game in Scotland. Babe participated in the say that jumping hedges gave her the prac- British Women’s Amateur Championship golf tice she needed to jump the hurdles in the tournament in 1947. track and field meets she entered. During practice, Babe chipped a bone in Babe played basketball in high school and her thumb. She wore a glove over it and told her team never lost after she started. Her no one. She won the event anyway! goal was “to be the greatest athlete that ever She fell in love with George Zaharias, a lived.” wrestler, and they married in 1938. In 1950 An insurance company offered her a job if the Associated Press named her the Out- she would play on its girls’ basketball team. standing Woman Athlete of the Half Century. The company sent her to Evanston, Illinois, Three years later she had surgery for cancer in 1932 as their one-person track and field but battled back in the next year to win five team. She won the 80-meter hurdles, the major tournaments. In 1956 the cancer shot-put, the long jump, the javelin throw, returned, and Babe died. and the baseball throw. Babe scored more points than the 23 women on the second-place team. This meet qualified her for the Los Angeles Olympic Games, which were to take place in a few weeks. In the space of 3 hours Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

100 Athletes of Purpose Reading Further Reading

1. Why do you suppose Mildred was nick- Anderson, Dave. The Story of the Olympics. named “Babe” by her friends? New York: William Morrow and Company, 1996. 2. List from the biography the names of the sports in which Babe played. Read from Hahn, James. Zaharias! The Sports Career of other references to add more to your list. Mildred Zaharias. Mankato, MN: Crestwood House, 1981. 3. What incidents in the biography make you believe that athletics were her Kent, Zachary. U.S. Olympians. Chicago, IL: major interest? Childrens Press, 1992.

4. Read more about “Babe” Zaharias. Do you Krull, Kathleen. Lives of the Athletes: Thrills, think she should rank as “the greatest Spills (and What the Neighbors Thought). athlete who ever lived”? New York: Harcourt Brace & Company, 1997.

The Lincoln Library of Sports Champions. Social Studies Volume 19. Columbus, OH: Frontier Press Company, 1993.

1. What are the three medals given at the Lynn, Elizabeth A. Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Olympic Games? New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1989.

2. Read about the history of golf in a refer- Osborn, Kevin. Scholastic Encyclopedia of ence book and take notes so you can tell Sports in the United States. New York: Scho- your class or friends where golf began. lastic, 1997.

3. Who is your favorite professional golfer— Smith, Beatrice S. The Babe: Mildred past or present? Didrikson Zaharias. Milwaukee, WI: Raintree Publishers Limited, 1976. 4. Find Scotland on a map. If you flew to London, England, what direction would Sullivan, George. Great Lives: Sports. New you travel to get to a Scottish golf course? York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1988.

Wilner, Barry. Superstars of Women’s Golf. Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 1997.

Mildred “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias 101 Answer Key

“Hank” Aaron Nadia Comeneci Social Studies Social Studies 1. Cooperstown, New York 3. 1990 2. He broke Babe Ruth’s career home-run record of 714. Gertrude Ederle 4. South Williamsport, Pennsylvania Social Studies 1. Staten Island Roger Bannister 2. North Sea and Atlantic Ocean Social Studies 3. Dover, England, and Calais, France 1. West 2. West; Finnish and Swedish Chris Evert Social Studies Bonnie Blair 2. Collier, Broward, Dade, and Monroe coun- Social Studies ties; Key West; Everglades National Park 1. Canada: North America; France and Norway: Europe Lou Gehrig 3. Ronald Reagan; Jimmy Carter; Reading George Bush 3. 30; 300 4. My bonnie lies over the sea, Social Studies My bonnie lies over the ocean, 1. Rare, incurable nerve disease; Lou O bring back my bonnie to me. Gehrig’s disease 2. Rochester, Minnesota Susan Butcher 4. Cal Ripken, Jr.; Baltimore Orioles Social Studies 1. Mt. McKinley Steffi Graf 2. Russia Reading 4. Northwest 3. A serve that one’s opponent fails to return and results in a point for the server Roberto Clemente Social Studies Social Studies 1. Neckar and Rhine rivers 2. Honduras; Costa Rica; Caribbean Sea; 2. Australia, France, England, and the Pacific Ocean United States 3. Faulting Wayne Gretzsky Social Studies 3. Stanley Cup Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

102 Athletes of Purpose Florence Griffith Joyner Julie Krone Social Studies Social Studies 1. West 3. Kentucky Derby—Churchill Downs; 4. 38° north latitude Preakness—Pimlico; Belmont Stakes— Belmont Park.

Sir Edmund Hillary Reading Nancy Lopez 2. Sears Tower; Chicago, IL Reading 3. 10,560 feet; 27,545 feet 1. par—number of golf strokes necessary to Social Studies complete a hole; birdie—a score of one 2. North Island and South Island; under par on a hole; bogey—a score of one North Island above par on a hole; eagle—a score of two 3. 5 miles above sea level under par on a hole; ace—hitting the golf 4. Lines of longitude ball off the tee into the hole in one shot— also called a hole-in-one (Note: Nancy hit Michael Jordan four holes-in-one in the same year when Reading she was fifteen!) 2. NCAA—National Collegiate Athletic 2. Sunday; Monday—lunes; Tuesday— Association; NBA—National Basketball martes; Wednesday—miercoles; Association Thursday—jueves; Friday—viernes; Social Studies Saturday—sabado; Sunday—domingo 2. Durham; Raleigh Social Studies 1. Southeast section

Joan Joyce Social Studies Joe Louis 1. Chapman University, Orange, California, Reading 1861; Florida Atlantic University, Boca 2. A farmer who gives a share of his crops, Raton, Florida, 1961 rather than rent money, to the person who owns the land.

Jean-Claude Killy Social Studies Alice Marble 2. Paris, flat; Grenoble, mountainous Reading 2. singles—two people play; doubles—four people play (generally men against men Olga Korbut and women against women); mixed-dou- Social Studies bles—a man and woman play on each side. 2. Minsk; east Social Studies 1. Switzerland was neutral. Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

Answer Key 103 Bob Mathias Wilma Rudolph Reading Social Studies 2. 2. Poliomyelitis or infantile paralysis; Decathlon First Day Decathlon Second Day vaccination 100-Meter Dash 110-Meter Hurdles Long Jump Discus Throw Gale Sayers Shot Put Pole Vault Reading 400-Meter Dash 1,500-Meter Run 4. Red Grange scored a touchdown the four Social Studies times he carried the ball against 2. Denmark; Sweden Michigan. 3. Sacramento 4. Franklin D. Roosevelt Bill Shoemaker Reading Martina Navratilova 3. 1955: Swaps; 1959: Tomy Lee; 1965: Social Studies Lucky Debonair; 1986: Ferdinand 2. Czech Republic; Slovakia; Prague, Social Studies Czech Republic 2. Pacific Ocean 4. Germany, Austria, Slovakia, and Poland

Amos Alonzo Stagg Jesse Owens Social Studies Social Studies 1. Civil War and Vietnam War 1. Lake Erie

Jim Thorpe “Satchel” Paige Social Studies Social Studies 2. Black Hawk 1. Puerto Rico 2. National and American Leagues Kristi Yamaguchi Social Studies Pelé 3. Austria, France, northern Italy, Liechten- Social Studies stein, Slovenia, Switzerland, and 1. Portuguese southern Germany 2. Brazil has won the World Cup more times that any other country (three times). The United States has never won the World “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias Reading Cup. 1. Like baseball player Babe Ruth, she hit many home runs. Mary Lou Retton Social Studies Social Studies 1. Gold, silver, bronze 1. Ohio River; Mississippi River; Gulf of 4. North Mexico Copyright © Good Year Books Year Good © Copyright

104 Athletes of Purpose Index

Automobile Racing Diving Mario Andretti 8 Pat McCormick 68

Richard Petty 80 Figure Skating Dorothy Hamill 38, 98 Baseball Hank Aaron 2 Sonja Henie 40

Roberto Clemente 18 Kristi Yamaguchi 98

Ty Cobb 20 Football

Lou Gehrig 28 Gale Sayers 88

Leroy “Satchel” Paige 76 Amos Alonzo Stagg 94

Jack “Jackie” Robinson 84 Jim Thorpe 96

Basketball Golf Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 4 Althea Gibson 30

Michael Jordan 44 Joan Joyce 46

“Babe” Didrikson Zaharias 100 Nancy Lopez 60

“Babe” Didrikson Zaharias 100 Body Building Arnold Schwarzenegger 90 Gymnastics Nadia Comaneci 22, 70, 82 Boxing Muhammad Ali 6 Olga Korbut 22, 54

Joe Louis 62 Shannon Miller 70

Index 105 Index

Hockey Billie Jean King 52 Wayne Gretzky 34 Alice Marble 30, 52, 64

Mountain Climbing Martina Navratilova 72 Sir Edmund Hillary 42 Thoroughbred Horse Racing Skiing Julie Krone 56 Jean-Claude Killy 50 Bill Shoemaker 92

Sled Dog Racing Track and Field Susan Butcher 14 Roger Bannister 10

Soccer Florence Griffith Joyner 36 Pelé 78 Jackie Joyner-Kersee 48 Softball Carl Lewis 58 Joan Joyce 46 Bob Mathias 66 Speed Skating Jesse Owens 58, 74, 84 Bonnie Blair 12

Wilma Rudolph 86 Swimming Gertrude Ederle 24 Jim Thorpe 96

Tennis Mildred "Babe” Didrikson Zaharias 100 Jennifer Capriati 16

Chris Evert 14, 26

Althea Gibson 30, 64

106 Athletes of Purpose