The Best American Sports Writing

Brief Description: For fans of sports and just plain great writing, this absorbing collection, featuring twenty-eight of the finest pieces from the past year, has something for everyone. Guest editor David Maraniss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author, has assembled a fresh crop of the people and stories that dominated the sports world in 2006. Michael Lewis gives a behind-the-scenes look at the legendary football coach Bill Parcells. Bob Hohler delves in the murky waters of modern amateur basketball, where teams blatantly dole out cash to players and shoe companies set their sights on prospects as young as twelve. William Rhoden traces the fate of an unknown filly injured on the racetrack. Jeff MacGregor describes the unforgettable Friars Club roast of boxing's provocative promoter Don King. Daniel Coyle follows a forty-year-old Slovene soldier who might be the world's best ultra-endurance athlete. L. Jon Wertheim tells of a young pro-basketball player who found himself wrestling the shoe bomber Richard Reid to the ground during a transatlantic flight. And Derek Zumsteg provides a hilarious and utterly original in-depth account of the baseball career of Bugs Bunny, "the greatest banned player ever." These pieces and many more go beyond the spotlight, revealing the people and issues that make sports so relevant and important to all of us. Table of Contents: Contents Foreword xi Introduction by David Maraniss xvii Larry Brown. The White Coon 1 from Field & Stream Derek Zumsteg. Bugs Bunny, Greatest Banned Player Ever 7 from USS Mariner.com Oscar Casares. Ready for Some Futbol? 22 from Texas Monthly Chris Ballard. The Game of the Year 28 from Sports Illustrated Dave Hyde. Filling in the Pieces of Jake Scott 42 from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel Wright Thompson. Fading Away 54 from ESPN.com John Klima. Deal of the Century 63 from The (Torrance, California) Daily Breeze William C. Rhoden. An Unknown Filly Dies, and the Crowd Just Shrugs 81 from The New York Times Jeff MacGregor. Let Us Now Raze Famous Men 84 from Sports Illustrated Sally Jenkins. Only Medal for Bode Is Fool's Gold 104 from The Washington Post Daniel Coyle. That Which Does Not Kill Me Makes Me Stranger 107 from The New York Times Play Magazine Mimi Swartz. Polite When in Neutral 120 from The New York Times Play Magazine Ian Frazier. Snook 131 from The New Yorker William Finnegan. Blank Monday 144 from The New Yorker Michael Lewis. What Keeps Bill Parcells Awake at Night 159 from The New York Times Play Magazine Robert Huber. The Madness of John Chaney 181 from Philadelphia Magazine Michael Wilbon. The Real Deal in So Many Ways 192 from The Washington Post Bob Hohler. $neaker War 196 from The Boston Globe Sara Corbett. Baseball for Life 225 from The New York Times Play Magazine Eli Saslow. A New Game Plan 240 from The Washington Post Magazine Eric Neel. The Saturday Game 261 from ESPN.com Bryan Smith. Playing 4 Keeps 282 from Chicago Magazine L. Jon Wertheim. The Ultimate Assist 293 from SI.com Bruce Wallace. In Iraq, Soccer Field Is No Longer a Refuge 304 from The Los Angeles Times Steve Friedman. A Moment of Silence 309 from Runner's World John Brant. Team Hoyt Starts Again 322 from Runner's World Paul Cullum. The Big Show by Little People 337 from The Los Angeles Times Magazine Bill Buford. Talking Turkey 346 from The New Yorker Contributors' Notes 359 Notable Sports Writing of 2006 365 Review Citations:

Booklist 10/01/2007 pg. 14 (EAN 9780618751150, Hardcover)

Library Journal 09/24/2007 (EAN 9780618751150, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Maraniss, David David Maraniss is the author of critically acclaimed bestselling books on Bill Clinton, Vince Lombardi, Vietnam and the sixties, Roberto Clemente, and the 1960 Rome Olympics. He won the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of Clinton, was part of a Post" team that won the 2007 Pulitzer for coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy, and has been a Pulitzer finalist three other times. Contributor Bio:  Stout, Glenn GLENN STOUT is the author of Young Woman and the Sea and Fenway 1912.