Is Muhammad Ali as intelligent as Einstein, or Bobby Orr as bright as Beethoven? That comparison is not entirely far-fetched when you consider different kinds of intelligence. This book examines the bodily kinesthetic intelligence of those creative athletes who transformed their sports. It does not deal with those who could jump higher or run faster or throw a ball harder or score more goals just because they were better athletes. The creative athletes, like Michael Jordan, Roger Bannister, Willie Pepp, Dick Frosbury and Toller Cranston infused their sports with a new language, new concepts, new moves or new approaches.

Who were the bright stars who revolutionized boxing, baseball, high jumping, football, the mile footrace, basketball, figure skating, soccer, swimming, hockey, Olympic wrestling, golf and tennis? You'll recognize some of the names, but may be surprised by the others.

Some excerpts:

But most original was (Bill) Russell's conception of the game. He did not view basketball in terms of vertical patterns where someone 6 feet to 7 feet tall found ways of shooting the ball vertically into a basket. Instead Russell conceived it primarily in horizontal terms, in which the court was made up of points, lines and distances...

One of the most creative and unusual pitches… was the eephus ball, a soft blooper or lob that rose 25 feet before sinking as it crossed the plate. Its inventor was right-hander Rip Sewell…. The only batter to hit an eephus ball for a home run was Ted Williams...

Now, because of coaching driven by research, swimming has come to be understood in a rigorous, scientific manner. Every element, from water resistance to body mechanics, from the fluid mechanics of the water to the motivation of the swimmer, is analyzed and related to performance.

Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr, Michael Jordan… debates over who is the greatest athlete of all time take place frequently, over a few drinks after work or on an "experts panel" on a sports talk show…. I did not have the nerve to call in and suggest names like Dan Gable, Arsen Fadzaev, Sergey Belaglazov and Valentin Jordanov.

By introducing the forward pass, Knut Rockne and Gus Dorais changed football radically... The roles of quarterbacks, ends and linesmen were seen differently and the positions played differently.

But Bannister's major strength as an intelligent runner was his understanding of the elements contributing to the speed of the runner and the application of those elements in his running…. Trained in medicine, he focused on physiological factors during his training and came up with principles followed by many of today's top-level runners.

The number of people watching games directly or on TV is staggering. It is estimated that the total audience for the 2002 World Cup of soccer was 40 billion...

Price $24.95
softcover
ISBN 1-894601-07-6