{"title":"Mike Sielski","description":"Mike Sielski is a sports journalist and author. Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and raised just outside Philadelphia, Mike holds degrees from La Salle University of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has been a sports columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer since 2013 and was named the top sports columnist in America by the Sports Editors of the Associated Press. He is the author of Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields of Honor and the coauthor of How to Be Like Jackie Robinson: Life Lessons from Baseball's Greatest Hero.","products":[{"product_id":"fading-echoes-a-true-story-of-rivalry-and-brotherhood-from-the-football-field-to-the-fields-ofhonor-paperback","title":"Fading Echoes: A True Story of Rivalry and Brotherhood from the Football Field to the Fields ofHonor - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e Now in paperback-a true story of hometown heroes.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In a state that prides itself on hard-hitting gridiron epics, Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was home to the greatest high school football rivalry: the Central Bucks West, captained by senior fullback\/linebacker Bryan Buckley, versus the Central Bucks East, led by senior lineman Colby Umbrell. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Bryan and Colby would meet each other as opponents on the game field, but their dreams and devotion to their country led each of them to the conflict in the Middle East-Colby as an Army Ranger, and Bryan as a Marine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Only one would make it back to Doylestown. And nothing about them, their families, or their hometown's connection to football would ever be the same","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51368460681439,"sku":"9780425234532","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/0OyvXF1Mk39780425234532.webp?v=1789128463"},{"product_id":"magic-in-the-air-the-myth-the-mystery-and-the-soul-of-the-slam-dunk-hardcover","title":"Magic in the Air: The Myth, the Mystery, and the Soul of the Slam Dunk - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Who doesn't wanna read an entire book about the slam dunk? I love basketball.\" - Ann Patchett \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The definitive dunking dissertation.\" - Jack McCallum, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom the author of the bestselling Kobe Bryant biography \u003ci\u003eThe Rise \u003c\/i\u003ecomes the legend of the most powerful shot in basketball: the slam dunk. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe evolution of basketball, and much of the social and cultural change in America, can be traced through one powerful act on the court: the slam dunk. The dunk's history is the story of a sport and a country changed by the most dominant act in basketball, and it makes \u003ci\u003eMagic in the Air\u003c\/i\u003e a rollicking and insightful piece of narrative history and a surefire classic of sports literature. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen basketball was the province of white men, the dunk acted as a revolutionary agent, a tool for players like Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell to transform the sport into a Black man's game. The dunk has since been an expression of Black culture amid the righteous upheaval of the civil-rights movement, of the threat that Black people were considered to be to the establishment. It was banned from college basketball for nearly a decade--an attempt to squash the individual expression and athleticism that characterized the sport in America's cities and on its playgrounds. The dunk nevertheless bubbled up to basketball's highest levels. From Julius Erving to Michael Jordan to the high flyers of the 21st century, the dunk has been a key mechanism for growing the NBA into a global goliath. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eDrawing on deep reporting and dozens of interviews with players, coaches, and other hoops experts, \u003ci\u003eMagic in the Air \u003c\/i\u003ebrings to life the tale of the dunk while balancing sharp socio-racial history and commentary with a romp through American sports and culture. There's never been a basketball book quite like it.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51381346369759,"sku":"9781250287526","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/8nBCsmkbo89781250287526.webp?v=1789282969"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/mike-sielski.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}