Best American Sports Writing 2020

by Jackie MacMullan (Editor), Glenn Stout (Editor)

The latest addition to the acclaimed series showcasing the best sports writing from the past year.

For over twenty-five years, The Best American Sports Writing has built a solid reputation by showcasing the greatest sports journalism of the previous year, culled from hundreds of national, regional, and specialty print and digital publications. Each year, the series editor and guest editor curate a truly exceptional collection. The only shared traits among all these diverse styles, voices, and stories are the extraordinarily high caliber of writing, and the pure passion they tap into that can only come from sports.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

Published November 3, 2020

Reviews

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apparently, this is the last of the series. It's a shame because I've enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately, it doesn't go out at the top of its game. While there a few good articles, there are several strange selections and clunkers, and even those that are chosen are not well-written, though they cover interesting angles on topics.

First, the good. I liked the first essay about baseball helping people with Alzheimer's; sweet and concise. I liked, "The Believer," which looked at one of those people who is nowhere near true Olympic caliber but gets into the Olympics by 'gaming' the system by competing in an obscure sport for a country that has nobody else who pursues that sport. But instead of laughing at or hating this person, the author shows you why this person's dedication is real and should be respected. A story about a lawsuit over a baseball player injured while sliding is one of those only-in-America litigation pieces. And it's nice to see Venus Williams get her due in a lengthy profile.

On the other hand, the rest is forgettable, and sometimes worse. I have no idea why this ridiculously long piece by a person who says she knows nothing about tennis is in there; it's such a cliche to have an outsider drop into a major sporting event and write about how it's a strange environment, but then transcendent when you see an athlete's grace. It's been done a thousand times, and most often much better. Same thing with a piece on a bunch of people dying while trying to climb Mt. Everest. There's been a tremendous magazine article, book and even movie about similar events 15 years earlier. Why do we need a replay that tells us nothing new?

I guess there had to be something about sex abuse, as it's continued to be a sporting shame. But we've had them in the last few books as well, and this story doesn't shed any new light. Same for something about how steroids messed up someone's life, though the story about how VP Mike Pence almost held a photo-op with an opioid pusher was a moderately interesting piece.

There are a bunch of other crime pieces, and they're only peripherally about sports and not very interesting. Robert Kraft, owner of the Patriots, and his massage parlor adventures is an ok entry because it reminds us of the double standard for rich white guys and immigrant women. The author's brief reference to being solicited herself as an unaccompanied Asian woman at a bar in Palm Beach, Florida, is a lingering, icky image.

But the one about a former bicycle racer who became a bank robber, blah. Same for the one about an NBA executive who embezzled a bunch of money. I'd rather have something uplifting than those 3 stories (or at least drop any 2 of them).

In sum, this book is ok, but it focuses a lot more on the dirtiness of sports as a business and the dirtiness that comes with competing in sports at all levels than it does on anything ennobling or even fun about sports. And in a year in which fun was hard to find, it's a shame that a book about sports pre-COVID (all articles from 2019) couldn't deliver on the release from life that we've come to enjoy.

[Emma Strawbridge · Rating 2 out of 5]

maybe i would have liked a great american sports writing that was an anthology not limited by the year. this mostly contained stories of heinous crimes and deeply depressing stories of suicide. i felt like in many cases sports actually took a backseat to the story, or the presence of “sports” was really more of a presence of celebrity and fame.

[Doug Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great collection of sports stories and excellent writing. Sad to see this wonderful series discontinued. Looked forward to reading these stories every year.

[Edward Guo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series was never about just sports. Over its lifespan, it has shown, time and time again, the power of good stories. This year's edition is no exception. As always, it forces one to reflect on all aspects of one's lived experience and life: hope, despair, dedication, luck, persistence, failure, death, and being reborn (in some ways). It shows the best and the worst of what we are capable of, and all the coincidences in between.

While it's sad to see the series end, I don't think there should be much regret. Just look at the fruits of its life.

Personal Favorites:
The Symptoms, Gritty All Day Long, Champion Moves, The Bicycle Thief, The Exiled and the Devil's Sideshow, Olympic Cyclist Catlin Was Driven to the End, The Champion Who Picked a Date to Die

[Joshua Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best sports writing isn’t for sports fans, it crosses cultural lines and goes beyond scores and statistics. These are stories framed in sports but are impactful even if you no nothing of rules, positions and plays.

My favorites:

The Bicycle Thief
Chaos at the Top of the World
Champion Moves
How NBA executive Jeff David Stole $13 Million from the Sacramento Kings
Whatever Happened to Villanova Basketball Star Shelley Pennefather?

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pleasure as always. So bummed to read that they're discontinuing this series for next year. I truly hope that some other version takes its place.

Standout stories include "Chaos at the Top of the World", "So I made this deal with God" and "The Bicycle Thief".

[arthur nakata]

This is the last year they are publishing this collection after 30 yrs. Its a good one!

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

A series that after 30 years I am going to miss considerably.

[Frodo · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first exposure to the series of amazing sports related stories. Truly outstanding episodes. Stories of triumph and disappointment in many avenues of sports.

[Doug Stotland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this version (I’ve read all 30 of them). The selections are a little different which I found wonderful and especially appropriate for the final of the series. I don’t know if it’s the Covid or Jackie MacMullan’s sensibilities, but I loved it as much as any of the other 29.

Merrill’s work up of Shelly Pennefather was an especially genius (or fortunate stroke of luck) last writing of the last volume. Not that Glenn Stout is pulling a Shelly Pennefather but he is a legend who is zagging at the peak of his powers. Also fun for me was to finish this within a week or 2 of TB12 calling it a career.

Thanks so much to Glenn Stout and all the sublimely thoughtful and articulate editors these last 30 years. I looked forward to this every year, was always exhilarated by what I read and felt a little more connected to my species when I was done.

Fingers crossed that “The Year’s Best Sports Writing” series is at least half as good; that would still make it a worthy read each year.

[Joe Desmond · Rating 2 out of 5]

This final edition of the series was very disappointing. With a few exceptions, the overall tone of the selections was dark. For a number of the stories, sports was an afterthought. It almost seems as if the editor had an agenda. I’ve read most of the books in this series and this one was, by far, the least enjoyable. It’s hard to believe that these features represented the best of American Sports Writing for 2019. I’ve noticed more downbeat articles in the last few editions. If this is indeed the direction of this series, it is time to pull the plug. Sad.

[Joanne Lannin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jackie MacMullan is one of the best storytellers in sports journalism and so, when I saw that she had chosen the stories for this edition oe Best American Sports Writing, I was excited to order a copy. It did not disappoint. MacMullan chose many stories that expand upon significant news events in the world of sports and show off superb reporting and research. Yet they are also stories full of drama and character revelation. My favorite is probably The Bicycle Thief. When you read it, you'll see why.

[Chris Heim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was really sad to read, in the introduction, that this great series is ending after about 30 years. I've probably read five of the books in this series, and each time I am wowed by the storytelling by the chosen writers. These stories are not "about" sports, per se. While sports (both popular and, more often, less popular) is the common threat throughout the book, the narratives themselves are much more about humanity than they are about games and competitions. I highly recommend this book, and really, any in the series.

[Katlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

so i planned to read this series in reverse order, starting with the last published in 2020, except there’s actually a continuation with a slightly different name. so really i’m committing to a true chaos order.

i really, really enjoyed this! i’ll do a longer review that mentions my favorites later. i’m also committing to a spreadsheet tracking which sports appear and author gender and race.

[Ethan Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Five favs:

- Chaos at the top of the world (Joshua Hammer/GQ)
- Patriot Act (May Jeong/Vanity Fair)
- The Exiled and the Devil's Sideshow (John Griswold/The Common Reader)
- Olympic Cyclist Catlin was driven to the end (tw//suicide) (Kent Babb/Washington Post)
- A Second Chance (Emily Giambalvo/Washington Post)

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I admired the writing...

..I didn’t find these stories tremendously uplifting. But it did inspire me to check out some stories that didn’t make the cut. I’m sad to see this series come to an end.

[Michael Romero · Rating 4 out of 5]

Much more than writing about sports or athletes

I was very pleasantly surprised by the stories included. I expected athlete profiles or game summaries but it was stories about interesting characters and the writing was top-notch in most cases.

[Yusuf Zakkar]

This book is a very good book if you are into sports as a whole. It has so many different stories that are all very different but all very interesting. I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoys sports book in general.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection. Loved every story.

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Better title: "Mostly OK stories kind of related to sports 2020"

[Nate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good one for the anthology

[Jen McGovern · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have long appreciated this series and I’m sad that this is the last edition. A lot of great , thought provoking stories

[Joshua Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great collection of sports stories. I loved that they didn't focus on the main sports and went to more obscure stories from around the world.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The usual mastery from the last edition. Every parent needs to read Kent Babb's obituary for Kelly Catlin. Parenting excellence through forced perfectionism is not the way.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compared to my recollection of the 2019 collection, I wasn't super stoked by 2020. Perhaps intentionally for a pandemic year, many essays featured death as a theme; though poignant and individually well-written, they didn't necessarily capture the warmth and light that so many people associate with sports (maybe I'm just a sucker for heartwarming sports stories and that's my bias).

Of the pieces, these stood out the most to me:
- Joshua Hammer's "Chaos at the Top of the World" for GQ about recent craziness at Everest. I can totally see (feel?) the desire to summit Everest;
- Bill Plaschke's "For People Suffering from Alzheimer's and Dementia, Baseball Brings Back Fun Memories" for the Los Angeles Times ;
- Elizabeth Weil's "Did Venus Williams Ever Get Her Due" in the New York Times Magazine ;
- Aishwarya Kumar's "The Grandmaster Diet" for ESPN about the physical toll of world-class chess matches (crazy!), though it wasn't as well-envisioned/constructed as I'd expect something in this volume;
- Chloé Cooper Jones' "Champion Moves" for Racquet about Roger Federer. Though disjointed as an essay, one description in particular stood out: "For German philosopher Immanuel Kant, a genius was someone capable of showing the rest of us the upper limits of human ability. And here was Federer exploring them right in front of me — the limits of perceptual processing, of movement, of harmonious interplay of mind and body. And that was awe-inspiring. A genius, said Kant, could create something that displayed the furthest edge of our humanity and, by doing so, give us a sense of what might lie beyond. Genius was the liminal space where God came into contact with man."

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. This anthology was not what I expected it to be. Somehow I decided to try this series in its final year of existence. And what I found wasn’t how I would have understood “sports writing” before I picked up this book. They were mostly really good journalistic features, each with a sports aspect. Despite being a sports fan, I felt like the best pieces in this collection had the least sports in them: when they showed athletes’ lives outside of the field of play.

I know of a new series that, to my understanding, seeks to pick up where the Best American Sports Writing series left off. I don’t know if it will be an every-year purchase for me, but I’d be very willing to give it another try (even if it’s not quite the same series as this)

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great collection of stories written in 2020. There were 25 stories in total. The range of the stories was considerable. The first story was how baseball helped Alzheimer's patients to the last story of a great woman basketball player choosing a life after college and a few years of professional basketball in a cloistered monastery. In between there was a story of how an NBA executive stole $13 million from his team and a great Paralympian choosing euthanasia to end her life. This is an exceptional collection of writing.

[Jim Blessing · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were some interesting articles in this book. However, I skipped over many of the other articles.