BASW 2012 Contents, 2013 Guest Editor announced

It's all right here: www.glennstout.net

 

Here's the direct link: http://indiepro.com/glenn/best-american-sports-writing-2012/

 

I'm so ready for this to come out. It's a solid line-up, and, as an Indian, seeing Thompson's Tendulkar piece on there makes me quite happy.

 

To save people clicks, J.R. Moehringer is guest editing for 2013 and here is Michael Wilbon's list for 2012:

DAVE SHEININ. The Phenomenal Son
from The Washington Post Magazine

WRIGHT THOMPSON. In Tendulkar Country
from ESPN.com

ROBERT HUBER. Allen Iverson: Fallen Star
from Philadelphia

THOMAS LAKE. Bad Nights in the NFL
from Sports Illustrated

JOHN BRANCH. Punched Out
from The New York Times

PAUL SOLOTAROFF with RICK TELANDER. The Ferocious Life and Tragic Death of a Super Bowl Star
from Men’s Journal

JEANNE MARIE LASKAS. The People V Football
from GQ

S.L. PRICE. The Heart of Football Beats in Aliquippa
from Sports Illustrated

JOHN BRANT. Franks’ Story
from Runner’s World

BILL DONAHUE. Fixing Diane’s Brain
from Runner’s World

MICHAEL MOONEY. He Do What He Do
from D. Magazine

TIM LAYDEN. The Forgotten Hero
from Sports Illustrated

ALEX BELTH. The Two-Fisted, One-Eyed Misadventures of Sportswriting’s Last Badass
from Deadspin.com

TOMMY TOMLINSON. Something Went Very Wrong at Toomer’s Corner
from Sports Illustrated

TAYLOR BRANCH. The Shame of College Sports
from The Atlantic Monthly

S.L. PRICE. Staring Down History
from Sports Illustrated

JERE LONGMAN. Boy Genius
from The New York Times

BEN MCGRATH. Queen of the “D” League
from The New Yorker

WELLS TOWER. Welcome to the Far Eastern Conference
from GQ

JON MOOALLEM. The History and the Mystery of the High Five
from ESPN: The Magazine

 

There are three omissions that stand out to me: Sally Jenkins on Pat Summitt, Gary Smith on Team Hoyt and Lars Anderson on the Tuscaloosa tornado. That said, I can't fault any of the entries. Thomas Lake on Darrent Williams' death was my favorite story of the year.

Grantland's exclusion is noticeable. Michael Weinreb wrote at least three pieces last year worthy of consideration, and there were a few other standouts in the first year. I'm sure Glenn Stout and Michael Wilbon did consider a few Grantland pieces, but I'd bet Bill Simmons, an advocate for Best American Sports Writing, was hoping for an entry or two.

 

Kind of surprised there was nothing on the Paterno story, unless I missed something. I understand it's the best writing rather than the biggest sports story, but there were a few articles/columns that really helped explain how something like that could have happened in an environment like that.

 

I think a lot of the best 2011 work on that case was breaking news reporting, which pretty much never gets a spot in BASW.

 

Sally Jenkins on Pat Summit seemed worthy to me, as well.

 

Glad the Taylor Branch story made it.