REVIEW: The Best American Sports Writing - "Taking Play Seriously"

Review by Mike Gange

The Best American Sports Writing (2010)
Ed. By Peter Gammons
Mariner Books, $18.95, 411 pages

There are many valid criticisms of present day sports writing: too much emphasis on winners and losers, with winners being celebrated and losers being made out to be the goats; not enough analysis of issues such as gender or racial equality or personal development; and very little insight into the games within the games. It is true; sports writing can be cliché-filled and shallow. Some sports writing just does not provide the scrutiny and inspection the largest area of our common popular culture deserves. Still, despite the downturn in fortunes of the journalism field, sports sections continue to make money for the publishers. Sports fans who like to read good quality sports writing often have to search long and hard to find in-depth articles that enlighten and satisfy.

Sports readers now can put all of those generalities behind them as they read The Best American Sports Writing (2010). This version is the 20^th edition, and like those that came earlier in the series, it is filled with sports stories that probe deeply into sports events. As editor Peter Gammon points out, this is a book you can love for the writing, and not merely because it is about sports.

The Best American Sports Writing (2010) is made up of 26 lengthy journalism pieces that investigate and analyze the sporting life. The publication series dictates that authors have to be Canadian or American, and the work has to be published in a newspaper, a magazine or on-line in North America. The 26 stories here have appeared in publications such as Sports Illustrated, Runner’s World, The New Yorker, GQ or Esquire.

These are not the pieces readers used to find in the old version of Field and Stream; these aren’t stories about the beauty of a frozen pond, or about shooting partridge on the old farm road. These are stories with real depth and investigation into the moral and ethical decisions athletes make, or about how a game is played in the little ways that come up as athletes joust with other athletes.

To be sure, there are some stories that readers will not like because of the topic, treatment or voice. However, there are some gems so insightful they are worth reading and re-reading. For example, Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball and The Blind Side brings his analytical writing skills to “The No-Stats All-Star.” This is the story of Shane Battier, an NBA player with the Houston Rockets who plays nearly 30 minutes in every game, but rarely scores in double figures. What Battier does so well, however, is shut down the headliners of opposition teams, frustrating them into taking fouls or attempting shots where they are not usually successful. Lewis’ story shows the intensity of Battier in game situations, as he shadows Kobe Bryant of the Lakers so closely that Kobe complains to the refs that Battier is, in some underhanded and sneaky way, fouling the star to get him off his game. Battier also has words for the refs, saying he is playing Kobe honest and straight. Later in the story, Lewis shows us the shyness of Battier, who will not even watch game films of himself with the writer in the room. Lewis’ writing is so good you can almost smell the popcorn in the stands when he is describing action from court side.

Part of the appeal of this book is the diversity of sports that are presented. Stories about baseball, football, hockey, basketball, boxing and softball are all here. And part of the appeal has to be the various writers – males and females – from all over North America, all writing for a variety of publications. It has been said that the great thing about sports writing is that one can be fan of the event, without taking sides, in a way that a writer of politics could never imagine or acknowledge. There may be no cheering in the press boxes, but in this book, there is an obvious appreciation for the beauty of the event that shines through in every story.

The danger of compiling a book called “The Best of….” is that some readers are going to have other opinions about the choices in the collection. However, if these are the best or at least among the best of sports stories, then they counter-balance all of the negative generalizations about sports journalism. These are sports stories for the thinking person.

The Best American Sports Writing (2010) gives us something to cheer for: fine writers who take a serious look at our play time and pastimes.

REVIEW: The Best American Sports Writing - "Taking Play Seriously"

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