The Best American Sports Writing 1996

by John Feinstein (Editor)

Now in its sixth year and well established as the premier sports anthology, The Best American Sports Writing brings together the finest sportswriting of the past year with America's best-selling sportswriter in the guest editor's seat. Selected from more than 350 American and Canadian newspapers and magazines, the 1996 collection promises to live up to the standards set by the five popular previous volumes. This year's anthology features a wide variety of sports and sports figures - a hilarious expose of what really goes on at the Dallas Cowboys spring training camp, the sad story of heavyweight boxer Jerry Quarry and his losing battle with pugilistica dementia, a revealing portrait of "wild thing" Dennis Rodman, and an investigation of the incidence of violence committed by athletes against women. Sure to delight both the die-hard sports fan and the general reader alike, these thirty pieces capture the world of sport in all its majesty, humanity, and color.

Genres: Sports

356 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 1996

About the author

John Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator.

Reviews

[Andy Polizzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book almost a quarter-century after its publication was a smile. You forget the headlines of the time and the sports figures who made them. This book was a nice reminder of a simpler time.

[Grant Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the better books that I've read in this series.

Favorites:

The Savior: An encouraging profile of then-rookie Grant Hill, once destined to become the saving power of the NBA, as well as his contrast to Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson.

The End of the World: A touching story about visiting an old track friend -- Mamo Wolde -- then in prison in Ethiopia.

Down and Out: The terrible tragedy of Golden Richards, a man hell-bent on deceiving himself.

Back in Play: The interesting study of Michael Jordan's return to the NBA after his baseball hiatus.

A Native Son's Thoughts: One of two delightful profiles of Cal Ripken Jr., then wildly famous for being about to break Lou Gehrig's ironman streak.

It was very hard to limit my favorites to just five. There were so many great stories in this volume. It's one I would have delight in reading again.