The Best American sports writing

1991: Pure heart / William Nack

Bo knows fiction / David Racine

The sports fan / Peter Richmond

Pride and poison / Linda Robertson

Let the games begin / Duane Noriyuki

The fight of his life / Gary Smith

Wild and crazy hombres / Franz Lidz

Ten days of torture in Junction / Kevin Sherrington

Thieves of time / Charles P. Pierce

Running the table / Frank Conroy

The comrades of summer / Glenn Nelson

The making of a goon / Johnette Howard

The right call / Jeff Coplon

A fling and a prayer / Paul Pekin

The unnatural / Peter O. Whitmer

Fly away home / Florence Shinkle

Tell me a story / Roger Angell

Going the distance / Neil Donnelly

Death of a cowboy / Peter Richmond

The hands and eye of Texas Billy Mays / Brian Woolley

On the bunny trail / Jack Smith

An american tragedy / Shelby Strother

Personal best / Richard Cohen

Head down / Stephen King.

1992: Shadow of a nation / Gary Smith

Muhammad Ali, the Mongoose, and me / George Plimpton

Rodeo / Thomas Mallon

They shoot heroes, don't they? / David Von Drehle

Center of gravity / Timothy Dwyer

A painter on a planet of blind people / Michael Disend

Stealth bomber / Joe Sexton

A winter grouse / Sydney Lea

For Ali, greatness takes another form / William Gildea

Glory denied / Bryan Woolley

The throes of tossing a baseball / Peter Gammons

O unlucky man / William Nack

Mountain spirits / James Kilgo

The power and the gory / Paul Solotaroff

Bird-to-bird combat / Karen Uhlenhuth

Indy visible / Mike Kupper

Donfire of the vanities / Mike Lupica

What made Bobby run? / Linda Robertson

The man in the mask / John Marchese

Citizen Ryan / Leigh Montville

A hero for the wired world / David Halberstam

The hustler / Donna St. George

Armed and considered dangerous / Jan Reid

Alone across the burn / Craig Medred

Why the NBA isn't as offensive as you think / Dave Barry.

1993: Tangled up in blue / P. Richmond

Blunder road / Roy Blount, Jr.

The year of living raucously / M. Bamberger

White men can't run / A. Burfoot

A simple game / B. Joravsky

Early innings / R. Angell

My life in the locker room / J. Briggs

Free fallin' / C. Johnson

Not your average ice queen / E.M. Swift

The amazing Madigan / R. Fimrite

The wit and wisdom of the White Rat / P. Jordan

The master grappler / D. Katz

The art of the sprint / H. Kohn

No pain, no game / M. Kram

The old ball game / D. Barry

The next superstar / C. Pierce

What is the Citadel? / R. Reilly

Playing back a bear attack / C. Medred

Basketball season / D. Tartt

A scream and a prayer / K. Moore

A mountain of trouble / D. Roberts

A tragedy too easy to ignore / M. Albom

True to his words / W. Nack

Asphalt junkie / S. Raab

A fan again, after all these years / M. Litt

1994: Lips gets smacked / Bruce Buschel

Concrete Charlie / John Schulian

Triumph on sacred ground / Leigh Montville

Cherry bombs / Leigh Montville

As time runs out / Gary Smith

Get a load of me! / John Ed Bradley

Boxing grieves loss of 5th Street Gym / Bud Collins

Weight bench warriors / S. L. Price

Walking away, while he still can / Ira Berkow

For Jenkins, another tragic twist in the road / Ira Berkow

The world is her cloister / Mark Kram, Jr.

Home for pheasants / John Hewitt

Fishing on the FDR / George Plimpton

Alaska : the land duke forgot / Dave Parmenter

Swingtime / Roger Angell

At the wide-open open / Martin Amis

Arthur Ashe remembered / John McPhee

The zen of Muhammad Ali / Davis Miller

Shoot the moon / Susan Orlean

The magic act / Charles P. Pierce

She's no jockette / Martha Weinman Lear

The rock / William Nack

The old man the the tee / Gary Cartwright

They might be giants / John Paul Newport

Running man / Frank Deford.

1995: Baseball's troubles could play out to be no routine comedy / Bob Verdi

A hitter first, a hitter always / Dave Kindred

1954-1994:How we got here / Steve Rushin

Sex, glitz, and greed:The seduction of O. J. Simpson / James Ellroy

The sorry state of tennis / Sally Jenkins

Game is too young to die / Jim Murray

National pastime, past my bedtime / Tony Kornheiser

Baseball strike:Who feels the most pain? / Blackie Sherrod

An exclusive club / Gary Smith

A furor follows in Deion's steps / J. A. Adande

Omaha Beach has a golf course now / Dave Anderson - - Montana fading out / Tom Junod

The second time around for Jennifer Capriati / Robin Finn

Whatever happened to Ronnie Littleton? / Skip Hollandsworth

How Swede it is! / Tom Callahan

Winning isn't color- coded / Michael Wilbon

Look out for the bull / Rick Reilly

No pain, no game / Peter Andrews

Vain glory / Gary Cartwright

Behind the icy glare / Pat Jordan

Bully ball / Mark Kram

Can golf survive John Daly? / Jerry Tarde

This ex-voter has had enough Heisman hype / Furman Bisher

Wampus cats & oyster toads / Robert F. Jones

Worth more dead than alive / Jay Searcy

The survivor won't let time slip by / George Vecsey - - The cold wars:inside the secret world of figure skating / Joan Ryan

This could be the start of a really big career / Ian Thomsen.

1996: The 13th round / David Davis

The savior / Tom Junod

Polite, feminine, can bench press Dennis Conner / Karen Karbo

The ultimate prize / Rick Reilly

The high price of hard living / Tom Verducci

An utter disaster / Michael Goodman

The end of the world / Kenny Moore

Down and out / Joel Reese

Hard-core hoops / Tom Farrey

Living with a lie / Michael Bamberger

Called strike / Roger Angell

The game's the thing / Roger Angell

Back in play / David Remnick

Jimmy Thompson's fallen house of cards / Mark Coomes and Pat Forde

Small colleges, big game / Larry Dorman. A 90's kind of rivalry / Peter De Jonce

A shot that resounds in Hoosier hearts / William Gildea

A team's true colors / David Aldridge

Belittled big men / Pat Jordan

Trouble on the court / Frank Deford

Big / Jan Reid

Man of the century / Bill Fields

What might have been / Greg Couch

Cal on the verge / Mat Edelson

A native son's thoughts / Richard Ben Cramer

He told it like it was, like only he could / Tony Kornheiser.

1997: Into thin air / Jon Krakauer --

Grappling with a giant / Padgett Powell --

Man and bull / Tony Hendra --

Hunting with my wife / Richard Ford --

Master strokes / Rick Reilly --

Conic projection / Roger Angell --

Controlling force / Tom Boswell --

Raging bull : Dennis Rodman and the sports confessional / David Remnick --

Anatomy of a champion / David Halberstam --

Platform Pitfalls / Linda Robertson --

Way Home / Thomas McGuane --

Heaven help Marge Schott / Rick Reilly --

Guts and glory / Ken Fuson --

Man who loves basketball too much : exquisite torment of Jerry West / Jeff Coplon --

Ali in heaven / Gay Talese --

Tiger king / Mark Kram --

Big fish, little fish / Ian Frazier --

Dog days / Steve Rushin --

String theory / David Foster Wallace --

Ace Venture / Jack McCallum --

Chosen one / Gary Smith.

1998: Blonde and sand / Tony Hendra

Asphalt legends / Rick Telander

Bird-watching as a blood sport / David James Duncan

Resurrecting the champ / J.R. Moehringer

On planet Venus / Linda Robertson

Cale registering on a hook / Robert Cole

Over the hill, my ass! / Rick Telander

My body, my weapon, my shame / Elwood Reid

"Uno

dos

tres

urrrrggghhh!" / Tad Friend

Golf's saving grace / David Finkel

The Man. Amen / Charles P. Pierce

The case against golf / Bruce McCall

A big game / Charles P. Pierce

The hustle / Tim Layden

Far beyond a mere marathon / David Ferrell

A delicate balance / Gary Smith

Goofy golf / Thomas Korosec

Tackling the competition / John Seabrook

Coming of age on the 50-yard line / Robert Andrew Powell

Fallen star "Goose" Ligon is looking for a miracle / Pat Forde

Late Boomer / Tom Boswell

The hit king / Scott Raab

Kid Dynamite blows up / David Remnick

Betrayal of trust / Johnette Howard ; Lester Munsion

A man's appreciation for women athletes / Steve Marantz

The soccer parents / Susan Sterling.

1999: The silent season of a hero / Gay Talese

The last American hero / Tom Wolfe

What do you think of Ted Williams now? / Richard Ben Cramer

The day Bobby blew it / Brad Darrach

Sport for art's sake / Heywood Broun

The Olympic army / Westbrook Pegler

Louis knocks out Schmeling / Bob Considine

Game called / Grandland Rice

All the way to the grave / Frank Graham

Next to godliness ; Miracle of Coogan's Bluff ; Jim and his baubles ; The Baby was always a boy

one of a kind ; And all Dizzy's yesterdays / Red Smith

One strike is out / Stanley Woodward

Sal Maglie

a gracious man / Murray Kempton

Obit on the Dodgers / Dick Young

If you're expecting one-liners / Jim Murray

Oh, no! Not another boring interview with Steve Carlton / Diane K. Shah

The LaMotta nuptials / Ira Berkow

"A very solid book" / Mike Royko

Eckie / Ring Lardner

Lethal lightning / Jimmy Cannon

Brownsville bum / W.C. Heinz

Mr. Rickey and the game / Gerald Holland

The rocky road of Pistol Pete ; The ghost of the gridiron / W.C. Heinz

Lone wolf of tennis / Dick Schaap

"The Haig": rowdy rebel of the fairways / John Lardner

Racing's angriest young man / Jimmy Breslin

Hub fans bid kid adieu / John Updike

The fight to live / Al Stump

A rough time on the road / Stan Fischler

The longest silence / Thomas McGuane

The Kentucky Derby is decadent and depraved / Hunter S. Thompson

Centre court / John McPhee

Butkus / Arthur Kretchmer

Gone for good / Roger Angell

There was only one Casey / Wells Twombley

Pain ; No mas / Tom Boswell

Medora goes to the game / George Plimpton

The rabbit hunter ; The boxer and the blonde / Frank Deford

The September song of Mr. October / David Remnick

A brother's keeper / Mike Lupica

Pure heart / William Nack

The making of a goon / Johnette Howard

The power and the glory / Paul Solotaroff

Tangled up in blue / Peter Richmond

The chosen one / Gary Smith

Into thin air / Jon Krakauer

Resurrecting the champ / J.R. Moehringer

The champ and the chump / Murray Kempton

Muhammad Ali then and now / Dick Schaap

Ego / Norman Mailer

Weird site for a fight / Jim Murray

"Lawdy, lawdy, he's great" / Mark Kram

My dinner with Ali / Davis Miller.

2000: Foreword / by Glenn Stout

Introduction / by Dick Schaap

Storm warning / Bryan Burrough from Vanity Fair

Enter the chicken / Burkhard Bilger from Harper's magazine

How I won the Minnesota statehouse, by Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente as told to Garrison Keillor / Garrison Keillor from the New York Times Magazine

Bottom of the ninth / Charles P. Pierce from Esquire

His love never dies / Rick Telander from the Chicago Sun-Times

He got a shot in the NBA

and it went in / David Halberstam from the Los Angeles Times

America is a bull / Jeanne Marie Laskas from Esquire

The birdman / Mark Levine from the New Yorker

Less than murder / Jeff MacGregor from Sports Illustrated

Touch of Knievel / Allison Glock from GQ

Joe DiMaggio would appreciate it very much if you'd leave him the hell alone / Robert Huber from Esquire

Up from the gutter / Steve Friedman from Esquire

Ay caramba! the fish drink tequila like goatsuckers! / Jonathan Miles from Sports Afield

Peerless / Daniel Coyle from Outside

Running like hell / Michael Finkel from Women's Sports and Fitness

Poker face / James Hibberd from the Phoenix New Times

Blown away / Stephen Roderick from GQ

Swimming with sharks / Charles Sprawson from the New Yorker

Terminal velocity / Craig Vetter from Outside

Clotheslined / Pat Toomay from SportsJones

The return of the white man / Matt Teague from Esquire

Soul survivor / David Wharton from the Los Angeles Times

Merv curls lead / Guy Lawson from Saturday Night.

2001: The marvel / Will Blythe

Shot through the heart / Doug Most

Everest at the bottom of the sea / Bucky McMahon

The blessed fisherman of Prosper, Texas / Charles P. Pierce

Can Riddick Bowe answer the bell? / Stephen Rodrick

For love of DiMaggio / Buzz Bissinger

Swing shift / Michael Leahy

The chosen one / David Owen

The natural / Tom Friend

Fortune's smile / James McManus

Bang for the Bucs / William Nack

Beach boy / Ian Whitcomb

A stud's life / Kevin Conley

The double life of Laura Shaw / Geoffrey Douglas

Gate crasher / Dave Kindred

Fear of falling / Greg Child

Deer Prudence / Michael Dileo

Kurt is my co-pilot / Toure

Pumping irony / Robert Draper

Tough guy / Pete Kotz

Toughest miler ever / Woody Woodburn

Olympics dream end in agony / Vahe Gregorian

Losing : an American tradition / Charles M. Young

The ex-sportswriter / Gene Collier

Starting over / Jim Harrison

Playing for keeps / Beth Kephart

The biggest play of his life / Rick Reilly.

2002: Her blue haven / Bill Plaschke

Almost a hero / Frank Deford

The Cuban Ali / Eugene Robinson

Backyard bloodbath / Bob Norman

"Please let me die" / Juliet Macur

A name on the wall / Willian Nack

Joe's gift / Mark Kram, Jr.

Blind to failure / Karl Taro Greenfeld

Transition game / Michael Leahy

Recalling her brother's bravest hour / Mike Lupica

Nightmare is real for mourners / Mike Bianchi

Last call / Gene Wojciechowski

Seeing the light / Adam Schefter

Making their points / Rick Telander

No angst in all-star Ichio / Art Thiel

Don't go all rashed about this / Scott Ostler

We all have some inner Daly, but most of us suppress it / Steve Hummer

Cold comfort / Steve Rushin

Big night in Bithlo / Dan Neil

Detour / Dan Le Batard

Flesh and blood / Peter Richmond

Higher education / Gary Smith

Near death in the afternoon / Elizabeth Gilbert

Blood sport / Tom Scocca

"It's gonna suck to be you" / Steve Friedman

The killing of Alydar / Skip Hollandsworth

Giants' 1951 comeback wasn't all it seemed / Joshua Harris Prager

The enlightened man / Jeanne Marie Laskas.

2003: Lucky Jim / Elizabeth Gilbert

Fowled away / Bill Plaschke

The ball / Gary Smith

Baseball without metaphor / David Grann

The Lone Wolf / S. L. Price

Bobby Fischer's pathetic endgame / Rene Chun

When the terror began / Alexander Wolff with Don Yaeger

Power pact / Juliet Macur

End of the run / Bill Donahue

Veteran finds greens peace / Bill Plaschke

Good Karma, bad golf / Josh Sens

Servant of the cause / Elizabeth Kaye

A man-child in lotusland / Rebecca Mead

Playing for Jud / James McKean

Race a memorable first for seventeenth man / Ron C. Judd

Appetite for destruction / Susy Buchanan

Life is a contact sport / Stephen J. Dubner

Rulon Gardner wants a third helping / Peter Richmond

Gambling man / Michael Leahy

"I want to kill him" / Mark Kram Jr.

Out of control / Bruce Feldman

My dad, the bookie / Michael Agovino

The birds at Oriole park / Ted Levin

His role on team is beyond words / Terry Pluto

Of sound and ice / Beth Kephart.

2004: Introduction by Richard Ben Cramer

Dusting off home / Joe Posnanski

Lifelike / Susan Orlean

The race of truth / Steve Friedman

Swimming to Antarctica / Lynne Cox

Beauty in the beast /Robert Draper

The secret life of Mia Hamm / Gary Smith

Growing up Mantle / Paul Solotaroff

Home and away / Peter Hessler

All the king's men: why the team that Jordan built fell to pieces / Michael Leahy

The leap of his life / Peter de Jonge

Making a play for players / Lisa Olson

Friday night lite / Carlton Stowers

Black Sunday / Charles P. Pierce

A runaway win Cubs fans won't appreciate / Greg Couch

Misery has more company / Bob Ryan

An unconventional tradition of success / Ira Berkow

Trying to find yourself in the toughest times / Mitch Albom

A long strange trip / Stephen Rodrick

Fishing the mainstream / Tommy Craggs

Getting slammed / Guy Martin

"No, not again!" / William Nack

Galarraga steals base, stops time / Joan Ryan

Playing against the clock / Rick Telander

The fright stuff / Any Meisler

Running for his life / Michael Hall

At ease, at last / Bill Plaschke

Biographical notes

Notable sports writing of 2003.

2005: Introduction / Mike Lupica

Running for their lives / Gary Smith

Phat chants / Bill Plaschke

Fatal errors / Mark Zeigler

Eli experiment / Michael Lewis

Dreams, steroids, death : a ballplayer's downfall / Mark Fainaru-Wada

How to catch fish in Vermont / Pam Belluck

Seeing snook / Thomas McGuane

Making contact / Ira Berkow

Memorial / Sean Flynn

Wound and the bow / David Shields

Five-second delay can't mute old voice / Richard Sandomir

Lion in late, late autumn / Pat Jordan

Biggest fish story ever told / David DiBenedetto

Field of broken dreams / Andrew Miller

Duel in the sun / John Brant

Lethal catch / Mark Kram

Great day for Arab Women / Linda Robertson

Barrage of bullets drowned out cries of comrades / Steve Coll

Outside looking in / L. Jon Wertheim

Man who made good / Wright Thompson

More than skin deep / Travis Haney

Duke of Dunbar / Michael Hall

Pride of Peabody / Michael Bamberger

Man in the ice / Chris Jones

Rayna's second season / Kevin Van Valkenburg

Alive and kicking / Katy Vine

Why we must listen / Michael Rosenberg

Sportsmen of the year / Tom Verducci

Spectacular, but sad / Bill Reynolds

Biographical notes

Notable sports writing of 2004.

2006: There is nothing special about Kyle Maynard (from Men's Journal) / Paul Solotaroff

Desire without end (from the New Orleans Times-Picayune) / Jeff Duncan

The girl (from The Los Angeles Times) / Kurt Streeter

Flipping out (from Texas Monthly) / Pamela Colloff

Dirty moves (from The Los Angeles Times Magazine) / James Brown

Driving lessons (from Travel and Leisure Golf) / Steve Friedman

Card stud (from The New York Times Magazine) / Pat Jordan

A tormented soul (from ESPN.com) / Greg Garber

Stealing time (from The New Yorker) / David Grann

Standing still (from Bicycling) / Dan Koeppel

Fallen angel (from Los Angeles) / Steve Oney

The sprinter (from Sports Illustrated) / S.L. Price

Saved by sports (from Sports Illustrated) / L. Jon Wertheim

The unnatural natural (from The Los Angeles Times Magazine) / J.R. Moehringer

The cult of the general manager (from Slate.com) / Neal Pollack

What goes ninety-five miles per hour for seventeen days straight through mud, sand, high-speed smashups, and marauding bandits (from Men's Journal) / Jonathan Miles

The shadow boxer (from Sports Illustrated) / Gary Smith

She's here she's queer she's fired (from Sports Illustrated) / Pamela Colloff

So you wanna be a cowboy (from The Pitch) / Ben Paynter

Mom's the word (from Newsday) / Jeff Pearlman

XXL (from The Miami Herald) / Linda Robertson

Clang (from The New York Times Magazine) / Michael Sokolove

Brooklyn Heights (from Texas Monthly) / Katy Vine

The magician (from The Atlantic Monthly) / Pat Jordan

Making the time count (from The Los Angeles Times) / Kurt Streeter

Raising the dead (from Outside) / Tim Zimmermann

A (fishing) hole in one (from The Los Angeles Times Magazine) / Charlie Schroeder.

2007: The white coon / Larry Brown

Bugs Bunny, greatest banned player ever / Derek Zumsteg

Ready for some fútbol? / Oscar Casares

The game of the year / Chris Ballard

Filling in the pieces of Jake Scott / Dave Hyde

Fading away / Wright Thompson

Deal of the century / John Klima

An unknown filly dies, and the crowd just shrugs / William C. Rhoden

Let us now raze famous men / Jeff MacGregor

Only medal for Bode is fool's gold / Sally Jenkins

That which does not kill me makes me stranger / Daniel Coyle

Polite when in neutral / Mimi Swartz

Snook / Ian Frazier

Blank Monday / William Finnegan

What keeps Bill Parcells awake at night / Michael Lewis

The madness of John Chaney / Robert Huber

The real deal in so many ways / Michael Wilbon

$neaker war / Bob Hohler

Baseball for life / Sara Corbett

A new game plan / Eli Saslow

The Saturday game / Eric Neel

Playing 4 keeps / Bryan Smith

The ultimate assist / L. Jon Wertheim

In Iraq, soccer field is no longer a refuge / Bruce Wallace

A moment of silence / Steve Friedman

Team Hoyt starts again / John Brant

The big show by little people / Paul Cullum

Talking turkey / Bill Buford.

2008: Introduction / William Nack

A death in the baseball family / S.L. Price

GLORY / Jeanne Marie Laskas

Forgive some sinner / Mark Kram, Jr.

Above and beyond / Tom Clynes

Dogged / Steve Friedman

Following Terry Fox / John Brant

The legend of Bo / Joe Posnanski

Bo knows best / Michael Weiner

Kick it up and it's a career killer / Michael Lewis

Causualties in the NFL / Paul Solotaroff

Atkins as study in pride and pain / Rick Telander

Hammering on Hank / Tommy Craggs

The rocket's descent / Thomas Boswell

Family carries on after tragic day at Rose Bowl / T.J. Simmers

Getting a second wind / Rick Reilly

Golf in Geezerdom / Dan Jenkins

Joining the club / Mark Lucius

The old ba' game / Eli Saslow

Behind the bamboo curtain / Wright Thompson

Murder by cricket / Patrick Rhuby

Go speed flier go / Tim Neville

No obstacles / Alec Wilkinson

Run like fire once more / Sam Shaw

Scito hoc super omnia / Mike Sager

No finish line / Alexander Wolff

No to get too mystical about it / Chip Brown

In the nick of time / Rick Bragg

Baseball after the boss / Franz Lidz

Twenty three reasons why a profile of Pete Carroll does not appear in this space / J.R. Moehringer.

2009: Introduction / Leigh Montville

Life and limb / Bruce Barcott

The things we forget / Chris Jones

Alive and kicking / Gary Smith

Inside the mind of a

genius? / Matthew Teague

Father Bear / Wright Thompson

The free agent adjusts his truss / Bryan Curtis

Running scared / Amby Burfoot

2 on 5 / Thomas Lake

The ball that just won't die / David Fleming

Commie ball / Michael Lewis

Breaking the bank / Jon Wertheim

Dropped / Alan Prendergast

Searching for answers to a painful question / Mike Wise

The source of all things / Tracy Ross

Quarterbacks built here / Paul Solotaroff

Spartan warriors in the YouTube age, or, The legend of legend, spider, and science / Stephen Rodrick

Men who love goons / Patrick Hruby

Royal flushed / Michael j. Mooney

Untitled Mike Flynt Project / John Spong

Russian revolution / Ian Thomsen

LeBron Jame's magnum-sized, ultrashiny, Nike-powered lawn mower to the next century / Lisa Taddeo

Where there's smoke / Mike Guy

Rough water / David McGlynn

Memories are forever / Todd Drew.

2010: The way it should be / Thomas Lake

Shadow boxing / Wright Thompson

Offensive play / Malcolm Gladwell

The impossible redemption of Jonathan Boyer / Steve Friedman

Whatever happened to Greg LeMond? / Mike Magnuson

Ripped. (Or Torn Up?) / Cynthia Gorney

The ghost course / David Owen

Flat / Jennifer Kahn

Close to home / John Brant

(Still) Life / Skip Hollandsworth

The NFL's Jackie Robinson / Alexander Wolff

NBA leads this race / Bob Ryan

Allonzo Trier is in the game / Michael Sokolove

Failing our athletes / Bob Hohler

The no-stats all-star / Michael Lewis

This is your brain on football / Jeanne Marie Laskas

This is Ted Johnson's brain / Robert Sanchez

Scout's honor / Bill Plaschke

Stay in the moment (with Doctor Baseball) / Karl Taro Greenfield

The death of a pitcher / Eric Nusbaum

Dream derailed / Mike Sielski

The revolutionary / Richard Hoffer

The ever elusive, always inscrutable, and still incomparable Bobby Orr / S.L. Price

Life throws Bernie Kosar for a loss / Dan Le Batard

The man who never was / Mike Sager

Chasing Jose / Pat Jordan.

2011: Risks, danger always in play / John Powers

Breathless / Chris Jones

The surfing savant / Paul Solotaroff

School of fight : learning to brawl with the hockey goons of tomorrow / Jake Bogoch

The franchise / Patrick Hruby

Eight seconds / Michael Farber

ABC news investigation : USA swimming coaches molested, secretly taped dozens of teen swimmers / Megan Churchmach and Avni Patel

Own goal / Wells tower

Culture of silence gives free rein to male athletes / Sally Jenkins

High school dissonance / Selena Roberts

Gentling Cheatgrass / Sterry Butcher

Pride of a nation / S.L. Price

The crash / Robert Sanchez

The patch / John McPhee

Fetch daddy a drink / P.J. O'Rourke

Trick plays / Yoni Brenner

The short history of an ear / Mark Pearson

If you think it, they will win / Bill Shaikin

The dirtiest player / Jason Fagone

Old college try / Tom Friend

Dusty Baker a symbol of perseverance / Howard Bryant

Icarus 2010 / Craig Vetter

Danny Way and the gift of fear / Bret Anthony Johnston

The tight collar / David Dobbs

Life goes on / Mark Kram Jr.

The courage of Jill Costello / Chris Ballard

Above and beyond / Wright Thompson

A gift that opens him up / Bill Plaschke

New Mike, old Christine / Nancy Hass.

2012: Foreword

Introduction

The phenomenal son / Dave Sheinin

Why you should care about cricket / Wright Thompson

Allen Iverson: fallen star / Robert Huber

Bad nights in the NFL / Thomas Lake

The ferocious life and tragic death of a Super Bowl star / Paul Solotaroff with Rick Telander

The People v. Football / Jeanne Marie Laskas

The heart of football beats in Aliquippa / S.L. Price

Frank's story / John Brant

Fixing Diane's brain / Bill Donahue

He do what he do / Michael Mooney

The forgotten hero / Tim Layden

The two-fisted, one-eyed misadventures of sportswriting's last badass / Alex Belth

Something went very wrong at Toomer's Corner / Tommy Tomlinson

The shame of college sports / Taylor Branch

Staring down history / S.L. Price

Boy genius / Jere Longman

Queen of the D-League / Ben McGrath

Welcome to the Far Eastern Conference / Wells Tower

The history (and mystery) of the high five / Jon Mooallem

Notable sports writing of 2011.

2013: Foreword / Glenn Stout

Introduction / J.R. Moehringer

The blind faith of the one-eyed matador / Karen Russell

The most amazing bowling story ever / Michael J. Mooney

The legacy of Wes Leonard / Thomas Lake

Mourning glory / Chris Ballard

The gym at Third and Ross / Bill Littlefield

Arrowhead anxiety / Kent Babb

End game / Jason Schwartz

It's not about the lab rats / Bill Gifford

Eddie is gone / Nicole Pasulka

The game of his life / Jonathan Segura

The making of "Homer at the bat", the episode that conquered prime time 20 years ago tonight / Erik Malinowski

At swim, two girls : a memoir / Bridget Quinn

At the corner of love and basketball / Allison Glock

Special team / Rick Reilly

The strongest man in the world / Burkhard Bilger

Caballo Blanco's last run / Barry Bearak

Marathon man / Mark Singer

Redemption of the running man / Dan Koeppel

Running / Cinthia Ritchie

Goal to go / Charles Siebert

Fear the bird / David Simon

Why don't more athletes take a stand? / Gary Smith

Did football kill Austin Tenum / Patrick Hruby

Urban Meyer will be home for dinner / Wright Thompson

The NFL's secret drug problem / Paul Solotaroff

Waiting for Goodell / Jeff MacGregor

Contributors' notes

Notable sports writing of 2012.

2014: The gangster in the huddle / Paul Solotaroff with Ron Borges

The one-legged wrestler who conquered his sport, then left it behind / David Merrill

When 772 pitches isn't enough / Chris Jones

20 minutes at Rucker Park / Flinder Boyd

The case against high school sports / Amanda Ripley

The choice / Patrick Hruby

Manti Te'o's dead girlfriend, the most heartbeaking and inspirational story of the college football season, is a hoax / Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey

The match maker / Don Van Natta, Jr.

Tomato can blues / Mary Pilon

The end and Don King / Jay Caspian Kang

The last days of Stealhead Joe / Ian Frazier

Elegy of a race car driver / Jeremy Markovich

Serena the Great / Stephen Rodrick

Li Na, China's tennis rebel / Brook Larmer

You can only hope to contain them / Amanda Hess

"Anybody who thinks this is porn or abuse doesn't know my family" / Eli Saslow

The coach who exploded / Jonathan Mahler

The art of speed / Ben McGrath

The Manic Mountain / Nick Paumgarten

Heart of sharkness / Bucky McMahon

Mavericks / Alice Gregory

The chaos of the dice / Raffi Khatchadourian

Raider. QB crusher. Murderer? / Kathy Dobie

The last man up / Christopher Solomon

The marathon / Charles P. Pierce.

2015: Foreword / by Glenn Stout

Introduction / by Wright Thompson

Awakening the giant / Seth Wickersham

One thousand two hundred and fifty-eight pounds of sons / Chris Jones

The two Michael Sams / Joel Anderson

Thirteen ways of looking at Greg Maddux / Jeremy Collins

Being Tommy Morrison's son / Elizabeth Merrill

Money in the bank / Dan O'Sullivan

The rage of the squat king / Rick Bass

Haverford hoops / Chris Ballard

Precious memories / Tommy Tomlinson

Jerry Football / Don Van Natta Jr.

Broke and broken / Tim Graham

Sins of the preacher / Greg Hanlon

Run and gun / Flinder Boyd

Those Kansas City blues: a family history / Katie Baker

The sea of crises / Brian Phillips

In deep / Burkhard Bilger

Who wants to shoot an elephant? / Wells Tower

Breaking the waves / Ariel Levy

The year of the pigskin / Christopher Beam

No one walks off the island / Scott Eden

Peyton Manning leaves crushing Super Bowl loss with reputation intact / Dan Wetzel.

2016: Foreword : Glenn Stout; Introduction : Rick Telander; It's only a few words, but it's motivation from Lynch; Matt Calkins: Follow the white ball / Sam Knight; Revenge of the Nerds: Chris Ballard; Spun: Steve Friedman; The king of tides: Kim Cross ; "Why him, why me?": Eli Saslow; Her decision, their life : Eric Moskowitz; Board in the Florida suburbs: Chris Wiewiora; Learn to dunk : Michael McKnight; Going home: Chris van Leuven; Zilong Wang and the cosmic tale of the white dragon horse and the karmic moonbeams of destiny that restored all faith in humanity: John Brant; A long walk's end : William Browning; The high life and fast times of Jim Dent: Michael J. Mooney; Smack epidemic : L. Jon Wertheim and Ken Rodriguez; The most dangerous man in football :Steve Fainaru and Mark Fainaru-Wada; Meet Mago, former heavyweight : Dan Berry; He's the last boxer to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr., and he so regrets it : Sam Borden; Stopping the fight : Brett Popplewell; A woman fell from a stadium : Michael Rosenberg; Hold on, boys: John Branch; American hustle: Alexandra Starr; Ruck and roll : Steve Rushin; There's somebody ruthless on the way: Chris Jones; The greatest hitter who ever lived on: Wright Thompson; The Patriot way : Don van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham; Rotten ice: Gretel Ehrlich; About winning: Henley O'Brien.

2017: William Perry / Rick Telander

Barry Switzer laughs last / Pat Jordan

A wonderful life / Dave Sheinin

The outsized life of Muhammad Ali / David Remnick

The spirit of a legend / Kurt Streeter

26.2 to life / Jesse Katz

Lost in America / Luke Cyphers and Teri Thompson

The away team / Alexis Okeowo

Too fast to be female / Ruth Padawer

The longest run / S. L. Price

Why Steve Kerr sees life beyond the court / John Branch

Four years student-athlete / Patrick Hruby

Kaepernick is asking for justice, not peace / Bomani Jones

Andrew Cuomo would have blacklisted Muhammad Ali / Dave Zirin

Some very dirty tricks / John Colapinto

Welcome to the big time / Don Van Natta Jr.

Hooked for life / George Dohrmann

The most successful female Everest climber of all time is a housekeeper in Hartford, Connecticut / Grayson Schaffer

(Long) gone girl / Jon Billman

The secret history of Tiger Woods / Wright Thompson

Today, her whole life is a free skate / Terrence McCoy

The shooter and the saint / Sean Flynn

Sucker punch / Tim Elfrink

Why one woman pretended to be a high-school cheerleader / Jeff Maysh

Hit man / Dan Barry

Serena Williams, Andy Murray and a political Wimbledon / Louisa Thomas

Almost there / Roger Angell.

2018. The greatest, at rest / Tom Junod --

Serena, Venus, and the Williams Movement / Howard Bryant --

The concussion diaries: one high school football player's secret struggle with CTE / Reid Forgrave --

"You can't give in": Monty Williams on life after tragedy / Chris Ballard --

Should stop. Must stop. Can't stop / Steve Friedman --

Still running / Jane Bernstein --

Cheers on a soccer field, far from Las Vegas / John Branch --

Pat Riley's final test / Wright Thompson --

Manning adds some meaning to a final game without much / Sally Jenkins --

The death of a teenage quarterback / Lars Anderson --

There's nowhere to run / Kent Babb --

Downward spiral / David Roth --

There is no escape from politics / Tyler Tynes --

Eternal champions / Sam Borden --

There are hundreds of baseball journeymen, but only one Cody Decker / Tim Brown --

The ballad of Ed "Bad Boy" Brown / Bryan Smith --

Don't try to change Jimmy Butler / Lee Jenkins --

Dante Pettis' reading list: defenses, and then the definitive works / Chantel Jennings --

Born to be a VandyBoy / Michael Lananna --

Cincinnati Bengals great Tim Krumrie's brain: a work in progress / Jim Owczarski --

Rebecca Lobo's incredible journey to basketball royalty / Steve Rushin --

Name of the father / Tim Struby --

Michael Brooks and the son who barely knew him / Mike Sielski --

Mikaela Shiffrin does not have time for a beer / Elizabeth Weil --

The case for Lefty Driesell / Dave Kindred.

2019. When winter never ends / Wright Thompson --

The aging curve / Sam Miller --

When making the NBA isn't a cure-all: mental health and black athletes / Jackie MacMullan --

A terror way beyond falling / Christopher Solomon --

Children of the cube / John Branch --

Holding her own / Bonnie D. Ford --

Game plan / Louisa Thomas --

Everyone believed Larry Nassar / Kerry Howley --

Winning at the cost of silence / Beth Davies-Stofka --

The inside story of a toxic culture at Maryland football / Heather Dinich, Adam Rittenberg, and Tom VaHaaren --

The lost cause / Virginia Ottley Craighill --

My magial quest to destroy Tom Brady and win a Philadelphia Eagles mini-fridge at Super Bowl LII / Caity Weaver --

Taming the lionfish / Jeff MacGregor --

Joel Embid is seven feet tall and rising / Clay Skipper --

A killing still unresolved / Nathan Fenno --

Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football, Inc., part one: the secrets behind the smile / Bob Hohler and Patricia Wen --

Is Kilian Jornet for real? / Nick Heil --

Is this man a victim? / Kathryn Miles --

What the Arlee Warriors were playing for / Abe Streep --

Fists of fury / Tim Layden --

The redemption of Artis Monroe / Kim Cross --

Who's lookin' for a fight? / John M. Glionna --

Another voyage for madmen (and, this time, one woman) / Maggie Shipstead --

Paradox of paradise / Jeff Jackson.