The Water Boy: From the Sidelines to the Owner's Box: Inside the CFL, the XFL, and the NFL - Hardcover

Ackles, Bob; Mulgrew, Ian

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0470153458 ISBN 13: 9780470153451

Verlag: Wiley, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

Praise for The Water Boy

"From league to league, from country to country, from small towns to big cities, Bob has seen it all! His football tales and football travels are fascinating. Bob Ackles has literally gone all the way!"
—Chris Berman, ESPN

"I have known Bobby Ackles since he was the Water Boy. Now he is the Wonder Boy! Bobby Ackles didn’t put the BC Lions on the map once. He put them on the map twice! Bobby has done more for the game of football than anyone I know. And he isn’t stopping yet. Go, Bobby, go!"
—Allan Fotheringham, Author

"Bob Ackles is in the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He is also a charter member of the ‘Nice Guys Hall of Fame.’ I’m honored to call Bob a friend. He is one of the most accomplished executives in all of sports and his story will be must reading for any sports fan."
—Bill Pollian, President of the Indianapolis Colts

"Bob and Kay Ackles have experienced ultimate highs and lows in every level of professional football in two countries. In the years Bob worked for me both with the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins he was a loyal, tireless worker. He was always upbeat and positive. Bob and Kay are wonderful people who have some great stories about their experiences."
—Jimmy Johnson, Former Head Coach of the Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys

"Bobby Ackles is truly a living legend in British Columbia. He proves that nice guys can win! They don’t make ’em any better than Bobby!"
—Jim Pattison, President, the Pattison Group

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Bobby Ackles is President and CEO of the BC Lions Football Club and has been an integral part of the team for over 50 years. From his earliest days as the team’s first Water Boy, Bob rose through the ranks to become Director of Football Development, Assistant General Manager, and was the Lions’ General Manager for 11 years. After 34 years with the Lions, Ackles joined the Dallas Cowboys as Vice President of Pro Personnel and then Vice President of Player Personnel. He has also been an executive with the Phoenix Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Miami Dolphins of the NFL, as well as Vice President and General Manager of the Las Vegas Outlaws. This put Bob in the history books as the only man to hold executive positions in the CFL, NFL and XFL. He rejoined the BC Lions in 2002, promising to deliver another Grey Cup within five years. This promise was fulfilled a year early when the Lions captured the Cup in 2006. Ackles is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the BC Sports Hall of Fame. He has been honoured with the Jack Diamond Award by the Jewish Community Centre as Sportsman of the Year and is a Schenley Award of Excellence winner. He sits on the board of directors for the Vancouver YMCA, and he was presented the President’s Award for Excellence for his fundraising work for Nanook House. Bob and his wife, Kay, live in Vancouver.

Ian Mulgrew is currently a senior feature writer and legal affairs columnist for The Vancouver Sun. Ian’s work is regularly featured in national magazines, and several film and television companies have optioned his stories. He has co-produced and hosted numerous television programs ranging from current affairs to music. He is the author, co-author, or ghostwriter of six other books.

Aus dem Klappentext

In 1953, Bobby Ackles became the first water boy in the BC Lions Football Club. Today he is the team’s President and CEO. His star rose quickly, taking him from lowly Water Boy to Equipment Manager, Director of Football Development, Assistant General Manager, then General Manager—and eventually to the top job and three Grey Cup championships. An integral member of the Lions’ organization for over 50 years, Bobby Ackles has seen and done it all in the extraordinary world of professional football.

The Water Boy is Bob Ackles’ engaging memoir, a candid, personal account of his life and his more than 50 years in the game of football. From his humble beginnings, personally and professionally, Ackles has risen to become one of the most respected executives in football and in sports in general, both in Canada and the United States.

Not only did he go from the sidelines to the executive suite in the CFL, but after 34 years with the Lions, he was recruited by then-president and general manager Tex Schramm to the NFL to join the Dallas Cowboys as their Vice President of Pro Personnel; he then became Vice President of Player Personnel, remaining with Dallas for six seasons and helping to assemble the mighty team that would go on to win Super Bowls in 1993, 1994 and 1996.

Ackles’ fifteen years in the NFL took him not only to Dallas, but also the Arizona Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Miami Dolphins—and he even served a brief stint in the short-lived XFL as Vice President and General Manager of the Las Vegas Outlaws. As the only man to hold executive positions in all three professional leagues, Ackles offers up a unique perspective on pro football in North America.

More than that, he gives us a fascinating account of over 50 years in the game. He reveals an insider’s insight on the sports and business cultures in both Canada and the US, and recounts frank and entertaining stories about many characters in the game: owners, coaches, and players, such as Jerry Jones, Vince McMahon, Tom Landry, Jimmy Johnson, Adam Rita, Don Matthews, Wally Buono, and many more.

With veteran journalist Ian Mulgrew, Ackles shares his rich, expansive life openly, with humour and amazing insights into the sport of football and its personalities, his long-running love affair with his wife Kay, his grasp on leadership and running a successful business. The Water Boy is a fascinating look inside the locker rooms and the owners’ boxes of the football world in North America, and an engaging telling of a life lived to its fullest.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Wiley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2007
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0470153458
• ISBN 13: 9780470153451
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar