Product Description

As its tenth birthday approaches, THE BEST AMERICAN SPORTS WRITING is at the top of its game. In the past decade, it has been hailed as "a must for any sports fan" and "a venerable institution" and has showcased promising new talents along with Pulitzer Prize winners such as David Halberstam, Richard Ford, and John McPhee. With the 2000 edition, best-selling author and Emmy Award-winning sports journalist Dick Schaap continues this tradition of excellence by bringing together the finest sports writing to appear in the past year. These pieces will delight fans of all athletic endeavors, from football to fishing, from basketball to birdwatching. From more than 350 publications, Schaap has chosen essays that reach beyond the scores to the people and emotions behind the game.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1612670 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-28
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .93" h x 5.52" w x 8.26" l, .91 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Amazon.com
With a solid, self-assured, reliable veteran such as Dick Schaap compiling the lineup, the millennial edition of sports writing's best was bound to be a success, and it also includes a few surprises. You want baseball? Here's Robert Huber's stunning profile of Joe DiMaggio--no, not that Joe DiMaggio, but the troubled son saddled with the same name, but gifted with none of the talent. You want football? Here's former NFL defensive end Pat Toomay's deliciously jaundiced chronicle of working on Oliver Stone's football movie Any Given Sunday. You want eclectic? How about Mark Levine's profile of Tony Hawk, skateboarding's acknowledged grand master; Jeanne Marie Laskas on bull riding; Burkhard Bilger on cockfighting; and Bryan Burrough's harrowing account of the storm that wreaked havoc on the 54th Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race? They all widen the playing field that defines sports and sports writing. Now add to that selections from David Halberstam, Rick Telander, Craig Vetter, and Garrison Keillor, and the annual collection of The Best American Sports Writing finds itself once again leading the league. --Jeff Silverman

From Publishers Weekly
This annual collection of the year's best sports writing contains some extraordinary works, engaging and insightful, varied enough to keep the reader's interest over several pieces. Fans of traditional American sports, however, may be disappointed with the collection's particular subjects, for there are only a few articles about the four major American sports of baseball, basketball, football and hockey. These include two excellent basketball articles, David Halberstam's "He Got a Shot in the NBA and It Went In," and Matt Teague's "Return of the White Man." Most of the other pieces focus on extreme sports such as skateboarding, rock climbing and motorcycle jumping (Allison Glock's Touch of Knievel), or on less popular sports like swimming. Many of the best articles, such as Bryan Burrough's "Storm Warning," about yacht racing, and Jonathan Miles's story about action bowling, may be enjoyed by traditional sports fans because they describe elements, such as competition and athleticism, that are constants in all sports. These same readers, however, might be discouraged by the many articles iconcerning subjects that can be considered sports only marginally, such as cock fighting, professional wrestling and poker. Nonetheless, Americans are always interested in collections of the best, and this one will probably become a popular gift book. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Now in its seventh installment, this anthology of the year's best sports writing, as selected by a guest editor, continues to offer a superb mix of reflective and reportorial prose. Feinstein, this year's editor, finds convincing evidence that high-class sports writing is no longer the province of only Roger Angell in the New Yorker and a small cadre of Sports Illustrated regulars. The collection's highlight, Tom Farrey's "Hard Core Hoops," about the MacNeil Island, Washington, Correction Center basketball team, appeared originally in Pacific magazine, and other selections come from such disparate sources as the Wichita Eagle and Outside. It was an ugly year in sports, and, inevitably, the baseball strike and drug-abusing athletes are among the topics, but these are more than balanced by a host of genuinely inspirational stories. In all, it was a good year for sports writing, and Feinstein does a solid job of showcasing the field. Bill Ott