The Best American Sports Writing 2006

by Michael Lewis (Editor), Glenn Stout (Series Editor)

For fans of sports and just plain great writing, this collection of twenty-seven of the finest pieces from the past year features "outstanding sports reporting on a wealth of different topics" (Booklist). Guest editor Michael Lewis, the best-selling author of Moneyball and Coach, has assembled a compelling look at the sports stories and issues that dominated 2005.

Pamela Colloff reports from the politically and sexually charged world of competitive cheerleading in Texas. Paul Solotaroff meets the star of the University of Georgia wrestling team, a nineteen-year-old world-record weightlifter who was born with no arms or legs. Ben Paynter travels the gay rodeo circuit. Pat Jordan profiles the world's greatest poker player, a boyish thirty-year-old whose mom still packs him a brown bag lunch. Jeff Duncan travels to Florida, where a New Orleans high school and its football program are picking up the pieces in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. We also discover Linda Robertson reporting on the supersizing of NFL players. S. L. Price profiles the most famous U.S. Paraolympian. Katy Vine introduces a girl who can dunk -- in eighth grade -- and more.

The pieces in this outstanding volume show the true reach and impact of sports, its importance often extending far beyond the playing field. As Lewis writes in his introduction, "What's reassuring about great sports writing is what's reassuring about great sports facing opposition, and often against the odds, someone, at last, did something right."

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Essays

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads' database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Soccer columnist and sports writer

Reviews

[Chris Heim · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third edition in the collection that I read (2001 and 2003 were the previous two.) I'm not sure how to attribute my relative lack of enthusiasm for this particular collection. I did find myself drifting away during a number of the short stories. Maybe it had been so long since I'd read short stories that I found it difficult to sustain interest? Or maybe the breadth of the topics in these essays was just too much for an admitted mainstream sports enthusiast. Certainly, there were some gems in this collection, but overall, I found it "okay."

[Brian McDonnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth it to read Kurt Streeter's "The Girl" alone. Hands down one of the most powerful and provocative stories I have read. Still remember reading it on a Sunday morning as a young high schooler and being transported to the streets of East LA to the sweaty gyms and the sounds of leather hitting pads.

[Pete Iseppi · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume in the annual anthology was not that great. A few home runs, and single or two, and quite a few groundouts.

[Bryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are extraordinary stories here. They first appeared in very mundane places, Outside Magazine, a local Texas lifestyle rag, daily newspapers. They carry a power that surprised me. Sports writing, when well done, provides such a fertile ground for asking the question, How should one live? What is glorious about them is that they are able to deal with blood, guts, and conflict in a way that accessible and universal. This is why I love sport. Two standouts are Kurt Streeter's tale of a boxing timekeeper and James Brown's story about the intersection of coaching and parenting.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some really great essays on sports and gender, as well as essays on odd sports like poaching from golf course water traps (there are some lunkers in them thar holes apparently).

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

interesting and fun.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This anthology was not nearly as diverse as other editions that I have read.