The Best American Sports Writing 2012

The Best American Series® First, Best, and Best-Selling The Best American series is the premier annual showcase for the country’s finest short fiction and nonfiction. Each volume’s series editor selects notable works from hundreds of magazines, journals, and websites. A special guest editor, a leading writer in the field, then chooses the best twenty or so pieces to publish. This unique system has made the Best American series the most respected — and most popular — of its kind. The Best American Sports Writing 2012 includes PAUL SOLOTAROFF JEANNE MARIE LASKAS WELLS TOWER WRIGHT THOMPSON S. L. PRICE DAVE SHEININ JON MOOALLEM and others Selected by guest editor Michael Wilbon, this year’s collection goes beyond the box score to explore the human stories that define the game: Investigative Sports Journalism: Explore the human cost of contact sports, from John Branch’s groundbreaking piece on the life and death of a hockey enforcer to Jeanne Marie Laskas’s harrowing look at the effects of CTE on an NFL veteran. Unforgettable Athlete Profiles: Witness the stunning fall from grace of NBA superstar Allen Iverson and the tragic, untold story of a Super Bowl champion’s final days. The Corruption in College Sports: Read Taylor Branch’s explosive exposé, ‘The Shame of College Sports,’ an unflinching look at the hypocrisy and exploitation at the heart of the NCAA. Masterful Storytelling: Discover why you should care about cricket with Wright Thompson and uncover the surprising history of the high five in a collection of essays that showcases the power of sportswriting.