The Best American Sports Writing 2002

by Reilly, Rick

• ISBN13: 9780618086276
• ISBN10: 0618086277
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-15
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Summary

The series has garnered wide acclaim for its stellar writing and topnotch editors; now Reilly, Sports Illustrated"s "Life of Reilly" columnist, continues that tradition with his choices for the year"s best sports journalism. Voted National Sportswriter of the Year six times, Reilly has also written several books, including the best-selling autobiography of the Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth. His most recent book is The Life of Reilly.

Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword x
Introduction by Rick Reilly xv

Bill Plaschke. Her Blue Haven 1
from The Los Angeles Times

Frank Deford. Almost a Hero 10
from Sports Illustrated

Eugene Robinson. The Cuban Ali 23
from The Washington Post Magazine

Bob Norman. Backyard Bloodbath 39
from New Times Broward–Palm Beach

Juliet Macur. “Please Let Me Die” 58
from The Dallas Morning News

William Nack. A Name on the Wall 77
from Sports Illustrated

Mark Kram, Jr. Joe’s Gift 93
from The Philadelphia Daily News

Karl Taro Greenfeld. Blind to Failure 106
from Time

Michael Leahy. Transition Game 116
from The Washington Post

Mike Lupica. Recalling Brother’s Bravest Hour 124
from The New York Daily News

Mike Bianchi. Nightmare Is Real for Mourners 128
from The Orlando Sentinel

Gene Wojciechowski. Last Call 130
from ESPN.com

Adam Schefter. Seeing the Light 133
from The Denver Post

Rick Telander. Making Their Points 138
from The Chicago Sun-Times

Art Thiel. No Angst in All-Star Ichiro 141
from The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Scott Ostler. Don’t Go All Rasheed About This 146
from The San Francisco Chronicle

Steve Hummer. We All Have Some Inner Daly, but Most of Us Suppress It
149
from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Steve Rushin. Cold Comfort 151
from Sports Illustrated

Dan Neil. Big Night in Bithlo 154
from Car and Driver

Dan Le Batard. Detour 159
from ESPN: The Magazine

Peter Richmond. Flesh and Blood 169
from GQ

Gary Smith. Higher Education 182
from Sports Illustrated

Elizabeth Gilbert. Near Death in the Afternoon 203
from GQ

Tom Scocca. Blood Sport 219
from Baltimore City Paper

Steve Friedman. “It’s Gonna Suck to Be You” 223
from Outside

Skip Hollandsworth. The Killing of Alydar 237
from Texas Monthly

Joshua Harris Prager. Giants’ 1951 Comeback Wasn’t
All It Seemed 259
from The Wall Street Journal

Jeanne Marie Laskas. The Enlightened Man 271
from Esquire

Biographical Notes 287
Notable Sports Writing of 2001 291

Excerpts

Foreword The readers of this book are a unique constituency. For many, I suspect that The Best American Sports Writing makes a more or less regular appearance in their hands sometime between Labor Day and Christmas. It is something of a no-brainer for certain fans of sports and writing, an instant gift happily received. The annual migration of this book from bookstore to bookshelf can be calculated almost to the day, as if inspired by discreet and distant urgings buried deep in the DNA, a kind of seasonal response to diminishing light. This kind of anticipation, like waiting for the first good snow, creates an exacting level of expectation in many readers. Over time they have developed a great sense of ownership over the final product, as well they should. After all, books cease to belong to the author - or in this case, the editors - as soon as readers turn to the first page. Their experience is all that matters, and when they start reading, the book becomes more theirs than its creators'. Many writers, particularly those in daily journalism, know exactly what I mean. The Los Angeles Times's Bill Plaschke, whose story "Her Blue Haven" leads off this collection, makes use of a similar situation as the basis for his story; regular readers of our work feel they have a stake in each and every word. They take us seriously, even when we don't always take ourselves that way. That doesn't mean that the readers of the books in this series are so slavishly devoted that they are above criticism. Quite the opposite. The readers of this series who contact me are rarely shy about expressing themselves. My name on the book jacket gives them that right. Over the years they have made it clear to me that although they enjoy the fluctuations of the menu each year, at the end of the meal they want to feel satisfyingly full. A book like this requires the investment of several hours of readers'time, and it is their right to feel they have used that time well. Fortunately, most do, at least among those who contact me. Of those who do complain, most are concerned with a kind of scorekeeping, as in, "There were too many newspaper stories," or not enough newspaper stories, or too much football, or not enough hockey. Or too many famous writers, columns, men, women, curse words, adjectives, consonants, etc., etc., etc. - or not enough of those same items. One reader even calculated the annual cost per page of his purchase since the beginning of the series. For the record, we are holding our own against inflation. I tend to measure how well I do my job by the way these complaints inevitably even out over the year. Most couch their criticism between compliments anyway, and when readers argue from the opposite sides of the same fence, I figure I must be doing something right. Each year I invite readers to take part in this series, to send me stories they think might merit inclusion in the book. And they do, often with an eye at least as accurate and discerning as my own. For some reason, authors remain somewhat reticent about submitting their own material, and despite my repeated efforts, some editors I contact each year asking for submissions, particularly in the newspaper field, don't always do so. Fortunately, the readers take up the slack. Several sent me Plaschke's story, and there is at least one other story that made its way into this volume that I would not have seen had a reader not clipped it, stuck it in an envelope, and sent it off to me. So keep it up. In addition to those complaints and suggestions, a few missives stand out each year for one reason or another. One reader writes me each and every year asking when the book will be published