Synopses & Reviews
In this exciting new collection, William Nack, veteran sportswriter and author of the classic Secretariat, honors the years finest sports journalism and thus upholds the tradition that began seventeen years ago, with David Halberstam at the helm. In these pages, you will find the most provocative, compelling, tragic, and triumphant moments in sports from 2007, captured by the knights of the keyboard who make sports come alive for us day after day, week after week, year after year.
Here youll find Paul Solotaroffs excellent and uncompromising take on the neglect that a growing number of crippled NFL players continually face from the NFL players union. Jeanne Marie Laskass G-L-O-R-Y!” offers a rousing inside look at the pregame rituals of the Cincinnati Bengals cheerleaders. A riveting online diary by Wright Thompson reveals a bleak and merciless landscape in China, which that countrys government would rather not have the world see during preparations for the Olympics.
Nack finds a place for the fascinating offbeat story as well as the sensational. Alongside Eli Saslows captivating article about an obscure seventeenth-century sport, similar to a giant rugby scrum, carried out in the streets of Kirkwall, Scotland, stands Franz Lidzs scoop of the year,” a controversial and rare look into the life of George Steinbrenner, baseballs largest but recently most enigmatic figure.
This years collection marks another wonderful addition to one of the most consistently satisfying titles in the Best American series” (Booklist).
Contributors include Scott Price, Rick Bragg, Gary Smith, J.R. Moehringer, and others.
Contributors include Scott Price, Rick Bragg, Gary Smith, J.R. Moehringer, and others.
Review
"The emotional richness of the pieces selected by Moehringer and Stout defines this frequently riveting collection." -- Publishers Weekly "Excellent . . . A no-brainer pickup for the sports collection." -- Booklist "An affirmation of the strong state of American sportswriting." -- Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
For fans of sports and just plain great writing, this absorbing collection, featuring twenty-eight of the finest pieces from the past year, has something for everyone. Guest editor David Maraniss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, has assembled a fresh crop of the people and stories that dominated the sports world in 2006.
Michael Lewis gives a behind-the-scenes look at the legendary football coach Bill Parcells. Bob Hohler delves in the murky waters of modern amateur basketball, where teams blatantly dole out cash to players and shoe companies set their sights on prospects as young as twelve. William Rhoden traces the fate of an unknown filly injured on the racetrack. Jeff MacGregor describes the unforgettable Friars Club roast of boxing's provocative promoter Don King. Daniel Coyle follows a forty-year-old Slovene soldier who might be the worlds best ultra-endurance athlete. L. Jon Wertheim tells of a young pro-basketball player who found himself wrestling the shoe bomber Richard Reid to the ground during a transatlantic flight. And Derek Zumsteg provides a hilarious and utterly original in-depth account of the baseball career of Bugs Bunny, the greatest banned player ever.”
These pieces and many more go beyond the spotlight, revealing the people and issues that make sports so relevant and important to all of us.
Synopsis
The Best American series has been the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction since 1915. Each volume's series editor selects notable works from hundreds of periodicals. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the very best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected--and most popular--of its kind.
The Best American Sports Writing 2005 includes
Michael Lewis Gary Smith Steve Coll Tom Verducci Ira Berkow Bill Plaschke Linda Robertson Michael Bamberger L. Jon Wertheim Thomas McGuane John Brant Pat Jordan David DiBenedetto and more
Mike Lupica, guest editor, has been a columnist for the New York Daily News since 1977 and is the best-selling author of numerous books, including most recently Travel Team, a number-one New York Times bestseller.
Synopsis
On any given day, sports will offer us stories the most human stories in richer supply, and more reliably, than any other branch of endeavor . . . When someone does write how it was, or how it is, it thrills us with the same exultation that we feel when a fellow being excels on the field, the court, the course, or the track . . . I dont think its stretching things to say that the writers in this book show, in their field, the same sort of hyper-acuity that athletic heroes show in their games.” from the introduction by Richard Ben Cramer
Not just for readers of the sports pages, these selections bring together the finest writing on sports from the past year. Richard Ben Cramer assembles a fascinating look at the sporting world, showcasing the triumphs and heartaches of human endeavor and covering all aspects of sport.
Lynne Cox chronicles her extraordinary swim in the Arctic Ocean. Gary Smith provides rare insight into the complexities of Mia Hamm. Michael Leahy details the final days of the Michael Jordan Wizards. Susan Orlean takes the definition of sport in a different direction with an insiders look at the World Taxidermy Championships. Greg Couch and Lisa Olson both offer a glimpse of sports underbelly as a professional baseball team scalps its own tickets and as women single-mindedly pursue million-dollar athletes. Carlton Stowers follows a six-man high school football team as they strive for success, and Michael Hall chronicles a mans escape from death and his journey of renewal through running.
With Cramer at the helm, this years selections embrace the world of sports in all its drama, humanity, and excitement.
Synopsis
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected and most popular of its kind.
Cracker-jack writing from some of the countrys best-known sports journalists.” Publishers Weekly
With Richard Ben Cramer at the helm, this years selections embrace the world of sports in all its drama, humanity, and excitement, from swimming the Arctic Ocean to high school football. Todays foremost journalists shed light on Mia Hamm, Amare Stoudemire, and on sports underbelly as a professional baseball team scalps its own tickets and as women single-mindedly pursue million-dollar athletes. We witness the World Taxidermy Championships, the final days of the Michael Jordan Wizards, and much more.
Synopsis
The latest addition to the acclaimed series showcasing the best sports writing from the past year.
Synopsis
The Best American Sports Writing gathers the very best from sports journalists from the past year.
Synopsis
“Excellent . . . A no-brainer pickup for the sports collection.” — Booklist
“An affirmation of the strong state of American sportswriting.” — Kirkus Reviews
From more than 350 national, regional, and specialty publications and, increasingly, the top sports blogs, Christopher McDougall, best-selling author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen, hand-selected the very best sports journalism of the past year.
Synopsis
The latest addition to the acclaimed series showcasing the best sports writing from the past year For nearly twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the past year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Wright Thompson, a senior writer for ESPN.com and ESPN: The Magazine, proves more than up to the task by curating this truly exceptional collection. The only shared trait among all these diverse stories is the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, but collectively they tap into the pure passion that can only come from sports.
Synopsis
A collection of the year's best sportswriting
Synopsis
The Best American Series®
First, Best, and Best-Selling
The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the countrys finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volumes series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected—and most popular—of its kind.
The Best American Sports Writing 2011 includes
Paul Solotaroff, Sally Jenkins, Wells Tower, John McPhee, David Dobbs, Wright Thompson, P. J. ORourke, Selena Roberts, and others
Synopsis
Peter Gammons selects the year's best in sports writing.
Synopsis
Well established as the premier sports anthology, The Best American Sports Writing brings together the finest writing on sports to appear in the past year. Edited by the award-winning Peter Gammons, the pieces in this volume embrace the world of sports in all its drama, humanity, and excitement.
Synopsis
J. R. Moehringer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning feature writer and the author of The Tender Bar, has selected the best in sports writing from the past year. Chosen from more than 350 national, regional, and specialty publications and, increasingly, the top sports blogs, this collection showcases those journalists who are at the top of their game.
Synopsis
For twenty-five years,
The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the past year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Wright Thompson, many times included in this volume over the years, takes his turn at the helm by curating this exceptional collection. The only shared trait among these diverse pieces is the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, but collectively they tap into the pure passion that can only come from sports. And for all aspiring sports writers, says Thompson, “these selections are both road map and compass.”
The Best American Sports Writing 2015 includes
Don Van Natta Jr., Chris Ballard, Katie Baker, Christopher Beam, Wells Tower, Seth Wickersham, Ariel Levy
and others
WRIGHT THOMPSON, guest editor, started his sports writing career as a student at the University of Missouri, where he covered sports for the Columbia Missourian. He interned at the Times-Picayune in New Orleans and worked as the LSU beat writer. He then moved to the Kansas City Star, where he covered a wide variety of sports. In 2006 he joined ESPN.com and ESPN: The Magazine as a senior writer. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.
GLENN STOUT, series editor for The Best American Sports Writing since its inception, is the author of Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912. He serves as the long-form editor for SB Nation and lives in Alburgh, Vermont.
About the Author
PETER GAMMONS is currently an analyst and writer for the MLB network and makes regular appearances on MLB Tonight. Gammons began his career at the Boston Globe and also worked for Sports Illustrated. He was a long-time analyst for ESPN and regularly contributed to Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter, and ESPN, the Magazine. He was voted National Sportswriter of the Year for 1989, 1990, and 1993, and in 2004, he was awarded the J. G. Taylor Spink Award at the Baseball Hall of Fame for outstanding baseball writing.GLENN STOUT is the author of Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912.
Table of Contents
Contents
Foreword xi Introduction by Mike Lupica xvii
Gary Smith. Running for Their Lives 1 from Sports Illustrated
Bill Plaschke. Phat Chants 20 from The Los Angeles Times
Mark Zeigler. Fatal Errors 26 from The San Diego Union-Tribune
Michael Lewis. The Eli Experiment 41 from The New York Times Magazine
Mark Fainaru-Wada. Dreams, Steroids, Death A Ballplayers Downfall 62 from The San Francisco Chronicle
Pam Belluck. How to Catch Fish in Vermont 74 from The New York Times
Thomas McGuane. Seeing Snook 78 from Sports Illustrated
Ira Berkow. Making Contact 88 from Chicago Magazine
Sean Flynn. The Memorial 97 from Golf Magazine
David Shields. The Wound and the Bow 102 from The Believer
Richard Sandomir. Five-Second Delay Cant Mute Old Voice 116 from The New York Times
Pat Jordan. The Lion in Late, Late Autumn 119 from The New York Times Magazine
David Dibenedetto. The Biggest Fish Story Ever Told 129 from Mens Journal
Andrew Miller. Field of Broken Dreams 140 from The Pitch
John Brant. Duel in the Sun 152 from Runners World
Mark Kram, Jr. A Lethal Catch 169 from The Philadelphia Daily News
Linda Robertson. A Great Day for Arab Women” 178 from The Miami Herald Steve Coll. Barrage of Bullets Drowned Out Cries of Comrades 181 from The Washington Post
L. Jon Wertheim. Outside Looking In 199 from Sports Illustrated
Wright Thompson. A Man Who Made Good 214 from The Kansas City Star
Travis Haney. More Than Skin Deep 224 from The Anderson Independent-Mail
Michael Hall. The Duke of Dunbar 232 from Texas Monthly
Michael Bamberger. The Pride of Peabody 247 from Sports Illustrated
Chris Jones. The Man in the Ice 264 from Esquire
Kevin Van Valkenburg. Raynas Second Season 273 from The Baltimore Sun
Katy Vine. Alive and Kicking 305 from Texas Monthly
Michael Rosenberg. Why We Must Listen 313 from The Detroit Free Press
Tom Verducci. Sportsmen of the Year 326 from Sports Illustrated
Bill Reynolds. Spectacular but Sad 343 from The Providence Journal
Biographical Notes 349 Notable Sports Writing of 2004 354 Contents ix