The Best American Sports Writing 2003

Bissinger gathers together stellar prose on a dizzying array of sporting endeavors: triathlon, tennis, wrestling, bookmaking, basketball, boxing, chess, golf . . . Any reader's favorite game can be found in these pages. But every piece here transcends its subject; every piece crystallizes the emotions all great competitions evoke -- joy, fear, heartache, affection, surprise -- in both players and fans. David Grann weighs the burden of superstardom with Barry Bonds. Susy Buchanan explores demolition derby, possibly the most Darwinian sport in America. Gary Smith examines the baseball that ignited a lawsuit. Josh Sens tees up with the ultimate Zen golfer, a Tibetan lama. S. L. Price looks back at Pancho Gonzalez, one of the greatest, and likely the most irascible, tennis player ever. Michael Agovino recalls life with a bookmaking father. Stephen J. Dubner hangs out with NFL draftees at their league-mandated "rookie symposium," a mix of "motivational seminar, boot camp, and Scared Straight." These pieces and many more delve beneath the stats and the hype to unveil the raw, compelling essence of sport. Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. "This American sportswriting series is a venerable institution." -- Boston Globe Buzz Bissinger selects the very best writing on a vast variety of competitive endeavors, from baseball to weightlifting, skating to demolition derby. Herein today's foremost journalists throw revealing light on a pantheon of stars: Shaquille O'Neal, Bobby Fischer, Mike Tyson, the San Diego Chicken, and more. Rene Chun Stephen J. Dubner Elizabeth Gilbert Mark Kram Jr. Rebecca Mead Bill Plaschke S. L. Price Gary Smith