Building the Perfect Star: Changing the Trajectory of Sports and the People in Them

Dr. Bob Ward was born on the Fourth of July, the some of a World War 1 veteran. Ward became a self-made man and one of the most important players in the evolution of professional sports. A former small college All-American, Ward learned by doing. He trained. He played. He coached.Ward earned his Doctor of Physical Education from Indiana University and studied sports science at it's infancy with the U.S. Olympic team. He took that education and went on to implement it with the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-70s where he joined Tom Landry's coaching staff as the NFL's first full-time conditioning coach.Ward believed in analytics long before it became a part of sports vernacular. What strength and performance coaches, and the athletes themselves, do today to prepare can be traced back to Dr. Bob Ward.Mac Engel is a sports columnist with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. This is his third book. He has covered the Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars, Dallas Mavericks, and Dallas Cowboys as well as multiple Super Bowls, Olympics, NBA Finals, Rose Bowls, and college football championships.His blog, "The Big Mac Blog," was named the Best Blog in Texas according to the Associated Press in 2012. It finished third in 2014.Engel has served as an adjunct professor of journalism at TCU Shieffer School of Journalism and currently serves as an on-air personality and contributor to CBS KRLD The Fan in Dallas.