Audiobooks by Wayne Coffey

My Greatest Save: The Brave, Barrier-Breaking Journey of a World Champion Goalkeeper

A deeply moving and painfully honest memoir from the trailblazing, World Cup–winning, Olympic gold medalist, and US Women’s soccer goalie Briana Scurry Briana Scurry was a pioneer on the US Women’s National Team. She won gold in Atlanta in 1996, the first time women’s soccer was ever played in the Olympics. She was a key part of the fabled “99ers,” making an epic save in the decisive penalty-kick shootout in the final. Scurry captured her second Olympic gold in 2004, cementing her status as one of the premier players in the world. She was the only Black player on the team, and she was also the first player to be openly gay. It was a singularly amazing ride, one that Scurry handled with her trademark generosity and class—qualities that made her one of the most popular players ever to wear a US jersey. But Scurry’s storybook career ended in 2010 when a knee to the head left her with severe head trauma. She was labeled “temporarily totally disabled,” and the reality was even worse. She spiraled into depression, debt, and endured such pain that she closed out her closest friends and soccer soulmates. She pawned her gold medals. She walked to the edge of a waterfall and contemplated suicide. It seemed like the only way out until Scurry made her greatest save of all. A memoir of startling candor, My Greatest Save is a story of triumph, tragedy, and redemption from a woman who has broken through barriers her entire life.

Briana Scurry, Wayne Coffey (Author), Briana Scurry (Narrator)

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They Said It Couldn't Be Done: The '69 Mets, New York City, and the Most Astounding Season in Baseba

'A masterpiece.' -GARY COHEN, Emmy Award-winning Mets broadcaster for SportsNet New York The astonishing story of the 1969 Miracle Mets, the most improbable World Series champions in baseball history, from Wayne Coffey, the best-selling author of The Boys of Winter. Here is an iconic season brought back to riveting life on its 50th anniversary. Gracefully told with unprecedented depth and detail and set against the roiling backdrop of the Vietnam War, the wonder of the moon landing and the music-filled mayhem of Woodstock, They Said It Couldn't Be Done is the finely wrought, uplifting chronicle of a brilliant manager, Gil Hodges, and his overachieving roster of heroes, who together produced a triumph for the ages. The story of the 1969 New York Mets' season has long since entered sports lore as one of the most remarkable of all time. But beyond the "miracle" is a compelling narrative of an unlikely collection of players and the hallowed manager who inspired them to greatness. Future Hall of Fame ace Tom Seaver snagged the biggest headlines, but the enduring richness of the story lies in the core of a team comprised of untested youngsters, lightly regarded veterans, and four Southern-born African-American stalwarts who came of age in the shadow of Jackie Robinson. Most of the Mets regulars were improbable candidates for baseball stardom. The number two starting pitcher, Jerry Koosman, grew up on a Minnesota farm, never played high-school ball, and was only discovered because of a tip from a Mets' usher. Outfielder Ron Swoboda was known for long home runs and piles of strikeouts, until he turned into a glove wizard when it mattered most. All of these men were galvanized by their manager: the sainted former Brooklyn Dodger Gil Hodges, whose fundamental belief in the power of every man on the roster, no matter his stats, helped backup players like Al Weis and J.C. Martin become October heroes. As the Mets powered through the season to reach a World Series against the best-in-a-generation Baltimore Orioles, Hodges's steady hand guided a team that had very recently been the league laughingstock to an improbable, electrifying shot at sports immortality. In these pages, bestselling author Wayne Coffey has captured the voices of players and fans, reporters and umpires, to bring to life a moment when a championship could descend on a city like magic, and when a baseball legend was authored one inning at a time.

Wayne Coffey (Author), Gary Cohen (Narrator)

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The Boys of Winter: The Untold Story of a Coach, a Dream, and the 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey Team

Once upon a time, they taught us to believe. They were the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, a blue-collar bunch led by an unconventional coach, and they engineered perhaps the greatest sports moment of the twentieth century. Their "Miracle on Ice" has become a national fairy tale, but the real Cinderella story is even more remarkable. It is a legacy of hope, hard work, and homegrown triumph. It is a chronicle of everyday heroes who just wanted to play hockey happily ever after. It is still unbelievable. The Boys of Winter is an evocative account of the improbable American adventure in Lake Placid, New York. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews, Wayne Coffey explores the untold stories of the U.S. upstarts, their Soviet opponents, and the forces that brought them together.

Wayne Coffey (Author), Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

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All Heart: My Dedication and Determination to Become One of Soccer's Best

In the summer of 2015, the U.S. women's national soccer team won the World Cup behind an epic performance by Carli Lloyd. Carli, a midfielder, scored three goals in the first sixteen minutes--the greatest goal-scoring effort in the history of World Cup finals. But there was a time when Carli almost quit soccer. She struggled with doubts and low confidence. InAll Heart, adapted from When Nobody Was Watching specifically for younger readers, Carli tells the full inspiring story of her journey to the top of the soccer world--an honest, action-packed account that takes readers inside the mind of a hardworking athlete.

Carli Lloyd, Wayne Coffey (Author), Lynde Houck (Narrator)

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When Nobody Was Watching: My Hard-Fought Journey to the Top of the Soccer World

From the celebrated star of the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team, an inspiring, uplifting, and candid memoir of how she got thereIn 2015, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team won its first FIFA championship in sixteen years, culminating in an epic final game that electrified soccer fans around the world. It featured a gutsy, brilliant performance by team captain and midfielder Carli Lloyd, who made history that day, scoring a hat trick three goals in one game during the first sixteen minutes. But there was a time when Carli almost quit the sport. In 2003 she was struggling, her soccer career at a crossroads. Then she found a trusted trainer, James Galanis, who saw in Carli a player with raw talent, skill, and a great dedication to the game. What Carli lacked were fitness, mental toughness, and character. Together they set to work, training day and night, fighting, grinding it out. No one worked harder than Carli. And no one believed in her more than James. Despite all the naysayers, the times she was benched, moments when her self-confidence took a nosedive, she succeeded in becoming one of the best players in the world. This candid reflection on a remarkable turnaround will take listeners inside the women's national team and inside the head of an athlete who willed herself to perform at the highest levels of competition. With the Author's Note and Prologue read by the Author

Carli Lloyd, Wayne Coffey (Author), Carli Lloyd, Lynde Houck (Narrator)

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Above the Line: Lessons in Leadership and Life from a Championship Season

Lessons on leadership and team-building from Ohio State's head football coach, drawing heavily on the 2014 season and his team's remarkable run to the championship in the face of adversity Since he took over at Bowling Green fourteen years ago, Urban Frank Meyer III has established himself as one of the elite coaches in the annals of college football. With three national championships and a record of 142-26, he has achieved remarkable results with many teams. But it is Meyer's recent work at The Ohio State University that has elevated him into the realm of such iconic coaching names as Paul (Bear) Bryant, Knute Rockne and OSU's own Woody Hayes. Never was that work more successful than in the 2014 season, which ended with Meyer's Buckeyes capturing the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship with a 42-20 victory over Oregon. That the triumph came with a third-string quarterback at the helm-and after OSU had suffered a brutal early-season loss and endured the tragic loss of a teammate-only made the achievement that much more extraordinary. How did Ohio State, a school many thought did not even deserve to be in the playoffs, end up at the summit of college football? In Above the Line, Urban Meyer answers this question and many more. Pulling back the curtain on the high-profile, high-pressure world he operates in, he offers readers a groundbreaking game plan for creating a culture of success that engages and inspires the people around them - the very game plan he followed every day in the Buckeyes' historic 2014 season. A student of psychology long before he became a coach, Meyer believes that trust is the bedrock of great achievements and healthy relationships, and explains how to build it, step by step-whether in a team, a family, or a Fortune 500 company. With trust in place, a deep bond unites us in common purpose, and cultivates what he calls "above the line" behavior-a learned, empowered response to the challenges we face every day. Writing with his customary candor and humility, Meyer delivers insights both practical and profound-and applicable far beyond the football field. Packed with real-life examples from a storied season, Above the Line offers wisdom and inspiration for taking control and turning setbacks into victories.

Urban Meyer, Wayne Coffey (Author), Jason Culp (Narrator)

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The Closer

The greatest relief pitcher of all time shares his extraordinary story of survival, love, and baseball. Mariano Rivera, the man who intimidated thousands of batters merely by opening a bullpen door, began his incredible journey as the son of a poor Panamanian fisherman. When first scouted by the Yankees, he didn't even own his own glove. He thought he might make a good mechanic. When discovered, he had never flown in an airplane, had never heard of Babe Ruth, spoke no English, and couldn't imagine Tampa, the city where he was headed to begin a career that would become one of baseball's most iconic. What he did know: that he loved his family and his then girlfriend, Clara, that he could trust in the Lord to guide him, and that he could throw a baseball exactly where he wanted to, every time. With astonishing candor, Rivera tells the story of the championships, the bosses (including The Boss), the rivalries, and the struggles of being a Latino baseball player in the United States and of maintaining Christian values in professional athletics. The thirteen-time All-Star discusses his drive to win; the secrets behind his legendary composure; the story of how he discovered his cut fastball; the untold, pitch-by-pitch account of the ninth inning of Game 7 in the 2001 World Series; and why the lowest moment of his career became one of his greatest blessings. In The Closer, Rivera takes readers into the Yankee clubhouse, where his teammates are his brothers. But he also takes us on that jog from the bullpen to the mound, where the game -- or the season -- rests squarely on his shoulders. We come to understand the laserlike focus that is his hallmark, and how his faith and his family kept his feet firmly on the pitching rubber. Many of the tools he used so consistently and gracefully came from what was inside him for a very long time -- his deep passion for life; his enduring commitment to Clara, whom he met in kindergarten; and his innate sense for getting out of a jam. When Rivera retired, the whole world watched -- and cheered. In The Closer, we come to an even greater appreciation of a legend built from the ground up.

Mariano Rivera, Wayne Coffey (Author), Marvin L. Michael Kay, Michael Kay (Narrator)

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Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball

The Glass Castle meets Ball Four as Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey weaves searing honesty and baseball insight in this memoir about his unlikely journey to the big leagues. An English Lit major at the University of Tennessee, Dickey is as articulate and thoughtful as any professional athlete in any sport-and proves it page after page, as he provides fresh and honest insight into baseball and a career unlike any other. Fourteen years ago, Dickey was a heralded No. 1 draft choice of the Texas Rangers, only to have an $810,000 signing bonus, and his lifelong dream, ripped away by an X- ray-and the discovery that he did not have an ulna collateral ligament in his right elbow. Five years ago, he gave up a record six home runs in three innings to the Detroit Tigers-and was effectively consigned to the baseball scrap heap. Sustained by his profound Christian faith, the love of his wife and children, and a relentless quest for self-awareness and authenticity, the immensely likable Dickey details his transformation from a reckless, risk-taking loner to a grounded, life-affirming big leaguer. He emerged as one of the premier pitchers in the National League in 2010-and the knuckleballing embodiment of the wonders that perseverance and human wisdom can produce. Dickey views his story as one of redemption. Readers will come to see it as something more-a uniquely American story of beating back demons, listening to your heart, and overcoming extraordinary odds.

R. A. Dickey, Wayne Coffey (Author), Ben Hunter (Narrator)

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