Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough
The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough
The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough
Ebook315 pages7 hours

The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

()

Read preview

About this ebook

What makes some men drive themselves to succeed in their chosen sport, no matter how daunting the odds? And what are the struggles that victory almost inevitably brings? Meet the swiftest and saddest cyclist of his time, a man whose craving for speed was outstripped by a terrible urge toward self-annihilation. Try to understand the most accomplished high-school runner in American history, whose long-distance records still astound and who, a few years later, abruptly abandoned his wife and three small children. Read of the briefly glorious life of the leading scorer in Division I college basketball, one of the inner city’s great success stories . . . while it lasted. 
This superbly written, insightful book follows the paths of thirteen ravaged champions in solitary crafts such as cycling and running, bowling and boxing, hiking and golf. These men work at and master their sports, driven only by a burning need to prove themselves. Movingly detailed here are their painful journeys to grace and their eventual realization that no victory brings lasting happiness. In short, here is the human experience, told in seconds and miles, scorecards and records.
LanguageEnglish
PublisherArcade
Release dateJun 1, 2012
ISBN9781628722789
The Agony of Victory: When Winning Isn't Enough
Author

Steve Friedman

STEVE FRIEDMAN is the author of Lost on Treasure Island, Driving Lessons, and The Agony of Victory and co-author of the New York Times bestseller Loose Balls. His work has appeared numerous times in The Best American Sports Writing. His website is stevefriedman.net.

Read more from Steve Friedman

Related to The Agony of Victory

Related ebooks

Sports & Recreation For You

View More

Related articles

Related categories

Reviews for The Agony of Victory

Rating: 3.4 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

5 ratings0 reviews

What did you think?

Tap to rate

Review must be at least 10 words

    Book preview

    The Agony of Victory - Steve Friedman

    cbook_preview_excerpt.html}rƖ`NtLU9CDZ" )kdUD0`3?џ_2k (;b&N ̝;?lzq&{kvwyuz{q_߹P>]M/-_zu}vn9dwfm=㥧fDzd\]O|U->[ <7MS0. >{*|C?w]5?, k=,w-8l1wkw}VY]<|/m;>UU]<{:=tfg/=> 5X,pZU-o٭{IvdYcLeVUslη]S /8dWC]..v>lߕ},oVU[ܷ}} n\(k12Ie*5]!yIYCBLw0XW Or IP[LNzȠyYeț֘HpElյMzmuUZu\4laxS =}Qbp@yDBXO,|J-w-dzFS-vX/ir.?^8=öoǧ͎_+dPQؔgᒝKwGCx̩r{QȸĿ@Ws 1~bCH?gwٷ?gd_g_e_fߕa`g[Yə]l0eY/5L[~4nU8l]V~ϟ\~~` [^/վ.G _[zQKw~dcYd0]cn]Sׇ't6JiVu?!ŇcF1;٠N{Dy'K׿/eVץhvvs}~}76zՋcWPC\c.^Qk5ϳ77owgo:w>Y^492{Z졆\|y}ק=by{ ¾L+9gF}.i [ u˾gׯ7_a:z h7|p|7ywٻ7wwkR;>\{wyzuwMߏя|\qpz}v庰us\x_\'Gg+ sz>pɍl׈+`9- 7WG6 롢wN*X(϶ٖA7 6xA9Z "X7zCuEV7wys]ԩZz;P) >upKYjWب.[ p j{aB.%^>r!HtJLQzXAe&o(l3T-BB2Pmiҫ3"Sw{^WteKM9?"4s| u^ #GL^ֳ+iIr!y#.WB3 GJVwL.'6ƬKzDǂxj" ǒ/(]jb8U *`9;p 5PKh!i٢lMQ*G~ ![R$ ŽX]m\nE ri)nS N );@^ebɃ_G1l%=˶ -ىfP*{M%Ȳ?ic~ ;!SWϵD ؈u6EaO= PVloM|]"a]('VsDVK):Pfǔn:X3#F$,2# ۔z9Ep9`vkC FVHɀɀC!-ޣ*Fa&X _IpC>L!3g/&7<\c ұQ4EŲmSIvBÅ벸zB^ٛrNi 9Kɧ7(W&~F+ zBTLL.] :!ўd@@ICi!CCw*9kCSs6 +;E^ߕݏ?FD)1%s,a3; d&P_fE)M2Tao|D!ѠA{Etf:i7xKfuw{^@An ï3q=$Wc7虫]ƚ>`sjBnsa Z!`=&QZ,{ .(5IALП2ZݰaqIacVz`] cdԃ ttEv;!GϞ3M+`gCi~8-Ix~Čhv0M EX!=dвTB;3t#+A_FX(.iU^4Q) Eꠋ\"3[G)u^ȃ"[H#r"<dHP0bײx1îX#BFzG^5eOa|^dlW f]LP>Cu+]mn7鸴aSpϰ@ He{ϟGsIҡu_^!wZ,DLKG 4r #n't3|wb%B-]NؙnlqIF# "Ey.0 Qu3Hw(?D p|͋Ptm=e,b=3RTo͎FO0y!\_%@,KZvnyEH!u]scD} iLj! )^eEQ0`><|fhԾS\q^*W0Yʟm*WNqc Ҵ|#UfEd;}6[}N=Wʤ01=e}yid2F~ZW8z5 mC;+GG"?F|r 1`UxjCMй?d|yQ3%s_;.UTb\%Y$cA]&&3s L!'sV%ѧ( 5J1}TC ׳$o⡱SM,UT:gQk,k{[aX7j"ۦJ &+u?{BS2G9u6~͂pBdP]>ܳCJj2rKLC=o +ZNdiIKibئغ s1mc5OּFBA,F,ay(pl+WRa"V*ʮ:%",*Z& !@, kLTŖ`ЙҺ#}fFflk xfd ͦOŏpijLY08x?(UiaT{fb lׄn4TU'`Ջ?k0==:n^ޞ/_]ݏⳋ;}y^g7Oai,~9R#:ÈD5H h#}`Kzܺ*iS^}dltՏX`wf,`,Ilt4|*()E"KES=qY+wmHeԁE+ŅH/Sra)Np{f X+[;klZ bg,)ɘ*[DaSMi5!}bA$RR |X"[F-fź:",y,U@?gYWvqn;쩒װͷuƣвzC2faŶ!ϝB ֽpU0 !9lVK5X N(g?Q2X,a "v]ձע\֕qR?BƭI0XC^LG*3n 1Vu βR[ĀY}YO=R@x+cn8*-U+zx;v$Uε_ 䙲ΩCDAeU%O몝0HIZX_om1%&.KD7cV#d͠R3'f֓cյ(6A#sI_RnA} oo]")ڱY&Z]ܢJ Va:?%p"Ӄ#oae0'ٓ:[\\!~L{PpK%;ՍQG%J7ƾ]%7LSm_T BBxQalfO #WƂBZ&rE'7 [KG9nQOF/zYC<>6`D 6V5ļvYBb?qz"!1]1{q{))ՐpE86G$Z.FOyvS, [v*JnQ9$EbI/TW)=zGO${i* IZvtP]#bP:ߎF,I},$%F$bsB8h"61[Mn@ѱOԖP ~2Ѯ F,)q%¢8^fRHPPnTBR)qZ9v!4>.9ܺR: %ce-IIJaxBn%f6}d`MQ* a%b2f1>Ua0p*0ڂd5(p2FA&!-%~f{ ?k;d?3NԡW +HW)Kρ'ϥ" Z7]Z%xܱ;0ηG~B=IeY*=B3j5r S#̧&l;:36tC5ݠ ҩR!"$,ypn@(MY0N_l ׿ib.ǎ܆"xiaܕc9臲֎Otq?:K` 2b=ܤm]t)f弯rS*4iV^N_ SB`[j#5 ̾vcId~ehrUT=D/=z-ej-Dː>9˘+3+BJx'p- :z苒OKI?QQl{+"Ix0Z "%PMb .YQُʣ≯8]S[|ĈRV6=t IinIU.>85Fk=Xʎ~٬jɖgbh \gϸӶwmuY(eaAqۨu_ K<@;]|݀ Ed_uL;dZ5C!cN}/IIjUĶ!wx0cw~ڑ&2)YٳI6A%nmjuYҰ~E 5OH+`>h 7cGFufNփZfx$N}R/ż&`ٵh:B*^ċ">Q{۲ow+W}W 5N5X/g6Gt iT-|}f0j` YBMX+Xnq1r0L}"ޔB4v!BTet{uW̮7Q>7롶*΂;:uNu PHMjlB%6α烝DrM)J`y*$/;gk0j2SnBۘ.{Q-B;|.`AsM\$M40qn%Qp˗g3ѕʷ2Ոڶl$q7f$̦T{H0Bg=)c(KBuʸSSmٸ_=aٗc|C*4cS\PVũDrYOlM,nndwp+P@bؘ):ZnP1YK"[*ABO1NoN͔XD"u2VΠHXK3_ ؓu]1<ޣt1aA4lc{rdZsDNf:Y4jwQ4XHbvfP6͋ Jޓ쮉)64t,M U9:J"S}:48u8a+!mkKg{B`\zCFAXMf&%F6k*Gj/Ġmv. ȃ5,lcQ1gur>pne캰%/gj36٭/֥K`:޳'vUօѩT +s M1,f;K{b8OnH'8tZWc6vXA[+Pתui{OM GSK'l+MړW<@&gz]JmwUm0=6P* ʼ *:}Jf%OWpOCBi  SgKn\O]H7 *OYTa)V3SJ;: /xR̸S!bNH{:)c>& wk+mgHvz}|SvDc hK ~겡Ғ0JJ{v1sUC,-3vAa{I0a]CM8tyN09WiHBk3L4׌K3AU_:;k?Ajb2kuv"vuFǂ٩v!*(g!};DS=rL#-<Āy $RgJ#" JtjG˹f@TPzÝ&NT&mP{ 9`LIEa>jDQau}>j6`3(7O=~ˤU/4~K8o~9YLGfqTd4j\N䣼7?14lөI2mkNŜv_Ga^,o HYÚk eCw4D TĆ84v"x1Pw<8_H J3Esʹ âLഭ۪㞼:ɿ0v9ip28HGk} 5:M_ s0m=* o~ &q]ةsGbɳQ2WjJG54ݙz %kTv ֳ3t`u-C:|7cJDFfaR>٬ZtFIy_Mi_+[n!M ĆQyF-ݔ Yi^ł1_OjDGM1Qe6;O~v)cCXc #j Og!i7-O+ Z‹o.5ihɾ9ˇfB.ڃ`:2OK+m1l#2t.g㰞úäk;++W4z1R~>5MpܧA`z2]4WHys(>{sVMZڄO..C6`| ಝʻO9V*SŴ=1P[?b$6c{vkTaIГ53l N`Y;{,uV2iYv-W*!feZMv+>]6*6̷pD5vTR a7Dwl3 ux:Z `} ,nٞM0{=߅On6BYAȸ+p 5MllbnrTWa }cU)9k$ۜtZyR4>hFԩpj70qzmfIj)>blRmwXTl}1TrkKm֝+x0x«&ӆKm^ʨQ\G\gYkVNm4b/(mF!+I&v6Ozbsf8jWDN|'=)NWOBbJ6ͦMB @;Ru1HIcb< ׻[vRT^&)\ܪe xLbT9mVU{rL`-wsNJpktf^tme针hAXje3fǖ:,z荟@iܡC-E:It?ϼ\ +f2.4@ótDU1^97
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1