The men on magic carpets : searching for the superhuman sports star / Ed Hawkins.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Hawkins, Ed (Journalist), author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sports--Psychological aspects--Popular works.

Sports.

Sports--Psychological aspects.

Genre:

Popular works.

Physical Description:

296 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

London : Bloomsbury Sport, 2019.

Summary:

A Jedi-wannabe and sports nut, Ed Hawkins pondered: what if a coach or athlete had tried to harness such mysterious powers? They would be unstoppable. This set Ed off on an extraordinary adventure across the West Coast of America in search of a superhuman sports star. He discovers cosmic thinkers who, back in their 1960s heyday, believed that through the power of thought alone a superhuman could be created. One that could see into the future, slow down time and control minds. So successful were their tactics that they attracted the attention of the US government. Meanwhile in Russia their Soviet counterparts were employing equally bewildering brain power. Their goal? To win the Cold War. And so from the 1970s and into the Eighties the underground free-thinking movement became a fully-funded state secret in an `inner space race' between the US and the Soviet Union. Both sides attempting to create the perfect human killing machine. It worked. Sort of. Instead of building a super soldier, the mystics from both sides came together to preach peace and love to their political paymasters. After the thaw, the search for the superhuman sports star began again and continues to this day. In The Men on Magic Carpets Ed goes deep into a secret network of supernatural sages and is told about a mysterious American football coach who made it to the top by teaching his players The Force. But can he be found? Will he admit to what he truly believes? And how does our intrepid author cope with his own brush with the Dark Side as the shadowy military once again attempt to use the mystical powers for ill.

Contents:

1 Voodoo games

2 Back from the dead

3 Hidden human reserves

4 Darth Vader can't hit a seven iron

5 Big red

6 The geat wild man

7 Sports and comic forces

8 I am the matador

9 The secret tapes

10 Zen playbook

11 Monkey brain

12 Beaming out the mojo

13 The doc that won the Super Bowl

14 Trophies don't go with you

15 Yoda taught Michael Jordan how to jump

16 The dark side

17 Back to the future

18 Mind control!

19 The greatest

20 Whammy time

Epilogue: Are you a superhuman?

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

Index.

ISBN:

1472942639

9781472942630

9781472942593

1472942590

OCLC:

1049813805