World Famous Comics: The Best American Sports Writing 2008
The Best American Sports Writing 2008
From: Mariner Books Publisher: Mariner Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Mariner Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 448 Publication Date: October 08, 2008
In this exciting new collection, William Nack, veteran sportswriter and author of the classic Secretariat, honors the year’s 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 you’ll find Paul Solotaroff’s excellent and uncompromising take on the neglect that a growing number of crippled NFL players continually face from the NFL players’ union. Jeanne Marie Laskas’s “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 country’s 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 Saslow’s captivating article about an obscure seventeenth-century sport, similar to a giant rugby scrum, carried out in the streets of Kirkwall, Scotland, stands Franz Lidz’s “scoop of the year,” a controversial and rare look into the life of George Steinbrenner, baseball’s largest but recently most enigmatic figure. This year’s 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.
Your Father's Sports Anthology I'm not a big sports fan but I do appreciate good writing and so I look at each year's Best American Sports Writing. The Best American Sports Writing 2006 (The Best American Series) guest edited by Michael Lewis, was outstanding and so I can't help but compare subsequent collections to that one. It contained well-written stories about unusual sports (the Paris-Dakar Rally, women's boxing, gay rodeo) and addressed some serious issues, such as the high incidence of brain injuries mong football players at all levels.
This year's edition, guest edited by William Nack, is not quite as excellent as 2006's, but it's still worth your time. The range of sports is more traditional, with football, baseball, and basketball taking center court. It's overwhelmingly male, with all but one of the stories written by men. This IS your father's sports anthology.
A few entries stand out in the collection. Jeanne Marie Laskas, not usually known for sports writing, profiles the Cincinnati Ben Gals, the cheerleading squad for the pro football team. They're not quite what you'd expect, and it's a great article.
There are two pieces about former pro football players who are suffering from the long-term effects of violent injuries. These stories are disturbing for several reasons. That there should be so many preventable head injuries is one. Football hasn't always been as violent as it is today. Another unsettling aspect of these stories is that well-paid football players become destitute after they become ill. Did they spend all their money and not save any? Or are health care expenses that expensive? Either way, a frightening thought. And finally, the pro football players' union refuses to help the former players. Apparently the union has funds set aside for such events, but is incredibly stingy when it comes to letting go of the money.
Among the other worthwhile entries are two profiles of Bo Jackson, a big enough character to warrant these two side-by-side essays. The profile of Kobe Bryant is also interesting.
All in all, a respectable addition to the Best American Series, especially for traditional sports fans.
New Sportswriting Anthology The editor, William Nack did a good job of foraging for the best sports stories of the year. I enjoyed it and have adopted the book in my Sports Writing class.
Top Sports Book of the Year This collection delivers in every way. Covering a vast array of personalities and across all sports, it will not soon be rivalled.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
