Best American Sports Writing of 2014

[boundforboston]

BASW of 2014 released here: http://indiepro.com/glenn/best-american-sports-writing-2012/

PAUL SOLOTAROFF with RON BORGES. The Gangster in the Huddle
from Rolling Stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/feature/the-gangster-in-the-huddle

DAVID MERRILL. The One-Legged Wrestler Who Conquered His Sport, Then Left It Behind
from Deadspin.com
http://deadspin.com/the-one-legged-wrestler-who-conquered-his-sport-then-l-452888181

CHRIS JONES. When 772 Pitches Isn’t Enough
from ESPN: The Magazine
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/9452014/pitcher-tomohiro-anraku-future-japanese-baseball-espn-magazine

FLINDER BOYD. 20 Minutes at Rucker Park
from SBNation.com
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/10/15/4837064/rucker-park-basketball-new-york-city-cross-country-journey

AMANDA RIPLEY. The Case Against High School Sports
from The Atlantic
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2013/10/the-case-against-high-school-sports/309447/

PATRICK HRUBY. The Choice
from SportsOnEarth.com
http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/63895452/#!bs1qZt

TIMOTHY BURKE and JACK DICKEY. Manti Te’os’ Dead Girlfriend, The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax
from Deadspin.com
http://deadspin.com/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-an-5976517

DON VAN NATTA JR. The Match Maker
from ESPN.com
http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/9589625/the-match-maker

MARY PILON. Tomato Can Blues
from The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/tomato-can-blues/

JAY CASPIAN KANG. The End and Don King
from Grantland.com
http://grantland.com/features/don-king-faces-end-career/

IAN FRAZIER. The Last Days of Stealhead Joe
from Outside
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/water-activities/fishing/fly-fishing/The-One-That-Got-Away-Stealhead-Joe.html

JEREMY MARKOVICH. Elegy of a Race Car Driver
from SBNation.com
http://www.sbnation.com/longform/2013/7/30/4567960/****-trickle-suicide-nascar-profile

STEPHEN RODRICK. The Great One
from Rolling Stone
http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/serena-williams-the-great-one-20130618

BROOK LARMER. La Ni, China’s Tennis Rebel
from The New York Times Magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/25/magazine/li-na-chinas-tennis-rebel.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

AMANDA HESS. You Can Only Hope To Contain Them
from ESPN: The Magazine
http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/9451835/female-athletes-biggest-opponents-their-own-breasts-espn-magazine

ELI SASLOW. Anybody Who Thinks This Is Porn or Abuse Doesn’t Know Me or My Family
from ESPN: The Magazine
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/9308806/minnesota-state-mankato-coach-todd-hoffner-career-was-ruined-child-porn-allegation-espn-magazine

JONATHAN MAHLER. The Coach Who Exploded
from The New York Times Magazine
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/the-coach-who-exploded.html?pagewanted=all

BEN MCGRATH. The Art of Speed
from The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/02/04/the-art-of-speed

NICK PAUMGARTEN. The Manic Mountain
from The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/06/03/the-manic-mountain

BUCKY MCMAHON. Heart of Sharkness
from GQ
http://www.gq.com/news-politics/newsmakers/201304/sharks-attacking-surfers-reunion-island?printable=true

ALICE GREGORY. Mavericks
from n + 1
https://nplusonemag.com/issue-17/essays/mavericks-surf/

RAFFI KHATCHADOURIAN. The Chaos of the Dice
from The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/05/13/the-chaos-of-the-dice

KATHY DOBIE. Raider. QB Crusher. Murderer?
from GQ
http://www.gq.com/sports/profiles/201302/nfl-anthony-smith-oakland-raiders-murder

CHRISTOPHER SOLOMON. The Last Man Up
from Runner’s World
http://www.runnersworld.com/runners-stories/last-man?page=single

CHARLES P. PIERCE. The Marathon
from Grantland.com
http://grantland.com/features/boston-marathon-explosion/

 

[Dick Whitman]

The Chris Jones story must be about the plight of the free-lancer.

Eli Saslow seems to be gunning for the EGOT this year.

 

[JackReacher]

Eli Saslow is the truth.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

Great to see Hruby, Saslow and Jones on that list.

 

[Versatile]

Great to see Hruby, Saslow and Jones on that list.

Yeah, these recognitions mean the most to people with dozens of them.

 

[CD Boogie]

Great to see Hruby, Saslow and Jones on that list.

Just glad Jones is on there so we don't have to hear him ***** about not being on there.

 

[Songbird]

Mazel tov to everyone! Everyone deserved the accolades!

 

[Inky_Wretch]

I always feel guilty about missing some of these the first time around. Just read that piece on the backgammon player by Khatchadourian, for example.

 

[boundforboston]

So no Wright Thompson on that list despite the Jordan story being pretty darn good and Manziel receiving some notice. Thoughts?

 

[Songbird]

What was the cutoff date for this edition? Van Valkenburg's Muema story should've been in this considering there are a ton of '13 stories.

 

[Dick Whitman]

What was the cutoff date for this edition? Van Valkenburg's Muema story should've been in this considering there are a ton of '13 stories.

12/31/2013.

We talked a lot about the Atlantic high school sports piece on here. It was thought-provoking, but not particularly well argued whatsoever.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

One is from a newspaper.

 

[Dick Whitman]

One is from a newspaper.

That's always been the case in these anthologies, though.

 

[ringer]

The ESPN Mag piece on wrestling legend Dan Gable was phenomenally well-done -- and resonant.

Can't believe that didn't make the cut.

ICYMI:

http://espn.go.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/Dan-Gable/the-losses-dan-gable

 

[Double Down]

I don't think you could go wrong picking Wright on Jordan, Dan Gable or Johnny Manziel for this, but whatever. It's subjective, based on the tastes of one person, and that person is different each year.

Congrats to all those picked. Good sportswritng is fun to read no matter where it appears.

 

[ringer]

Anyone know who the guest editor was this year?

 

[Double Down]

Chris McDougall, who wrote the book Born To Run.

 

[Della9250]

Has SI ever been shut out before?

 

[JackReacher]

I don't think you could go wrong picking Wright on Jordan, Dan Gable or Johnny Manziel for this, but whatever. It's subjective, based on the tastes of one person, and that person is different each year.

Congrats to all those picked. Good sportswritng is fun to read no matter where it appears.

Good post.

 

[CD Boogie]

SBNation getting two nods. Glenn Stout, who I think still heads up the long form for them, is the series editor for BASW.

Just saying.

Glad to see the Deadspin Mante Teo piece got a nod. Might have been the craziest, most convoluted sports story in recent memory, and they did a great job of sifting through the crap