Summary

Most of us will never know what it's like to parachute out of a Cessna, tend goal for the Boston Bruins, burn rubber on a NASCAR track, scale Everest, or quarterback the Detroit Lions. So it's our good fortune when dauntless literary journalists actually play the sports they cover-returning with firsthand tales from "inside the ropes." Here, in the tradition popularized by George Plimpton, is participatory sports writing at its finest and most far-out. Editor Zachary Michael Jack fields a dream team of today's best sports journalists, hotshots, and rising stars in search of the game behind the game.More than three dozen decorated writers take the field. Heir apparents such as Tom Verducci, Jack McCallum, Melissa King, and Sam Walker join veterans Paul Gallico, George Plimpton, Davis Miller, Donald Katz, Tim Cahill, Grace Butcher, and James McManus in swinging for the journalistic fence. Together these thrill-seeking men and women capture the mojo of returning John McEnroe's serve, taking a punch from Ali, paddling Jack London's Alaskan river route, coaching the Suns' Steve Nash, umping Manny Ramirez. Forty eye-popping accounts offer the straight scoop as never before dished-not justinthe field butonit.

Author Biography

Former newspaper sportswriter and editor Zachary Michael Jack is an assistant professor of English at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, where he teaches workshops in literary and participatory journalism. The editor of many essay collections on the environment and outdoor life, Jack also has authored two volumes of poetry.

Contributors: Billy Anderson, Barbara Beckwith, Dan Bishop, Grace Butcher, Tim Cahill, Betsy Crowfoot, Michael Finkel, Steve Friedman, Paul Gallico, Helga Hengge, Leslie Heywood, John Hildebrand, Zachary Michael Jack, Mark Jenkins, Ron C. Judd, James Kaplan, Don Kardong, Donald Katz, Melissa King, Davis Miller [aka Davis Lee], Corey Levitan, Jeff MacGregor, David Mamet, Jack McCallum, Bill McKibben, James McManus, T. Edward Nickens, Nick Paumgarten, George Plimpton, Rodney Rothman Bob Shacochis, Rob Story, Robert Twigger, Tom Verducci, Sam Walker, Dan Washburn, Dana White, and Randy Wayne White.

Full-Court Journalism
Paul Gallico, Fountainhead
The Feel	p. 3
Winter
The Hans Brinker Complex	p. 17
The Deer Hunter	p. 31
Across the Disappearing Finish Line	p. 39
The Backstory	p. 58
Bench Press, or Becoming a Girl Again	p. 64
Flight of Fancy	p. 72
A Ski Mountaineer and a History of Tragedy	p. 80
Hockey	p. 102
Spring
My Trip to the Show (Part II)	p. 115
Foaming at the Mouth	p. 125
Get Somebody Loose!	p. 143
Bad, Brutal Fun	p. 155
Dragon Boat Racing: Unleash the Dragon ... Boats	p. 174
It Isn't a Snap	p. 179
Reaching Her Peak	p. 184
Pickles	p. 195
Fishing with the Shad King	p. 204
Summer
Running Like Hell	p. 217
Marine for a Day	p. 229
Ruffians in the Diamond	p. 234
And in This Corner, the Ghost of Ernest Hemingway	p. 238
It's All in the Game	p. 245
The First Fear Fandango	p. 259
The Master Grappler	p. 271
The Running of the Bulls: He Who Hesitates Is Lunch	p. 280
Fortune's Smile	p. 283
Q: Why Do You Want to Race? A: Because My Name Comes Apart	p. 323
Turning It Up	p. 328
Reading the River	p. 339
Climb Every Molehill	p. 352
Fall
Football	p. 365
Le Tour d'Amour	p. 374
Here the Bear and the Mafia Roam	p. 385
Words Fail Me	p. 404
Tournament-Tough	p. 408
Race a Memorable First for 17th Man	p. 417
Cry Me a River	p. 432
Shuffleboard and The Future of the Sport	p. 443
First Person	p. 459
Source Acknowledgments	p. 463
The Contributors	p. 469
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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