Best American Sports Writing 2020 (The Best American Series ®)

I was very skeptical when I read, in Jackie MacMullan's introduction, that not a single story included in this edition would be that of a major professional athlete or team. How could a sports anthology not include anything from professional football, baseball, basketball, etc.? Not far into the book I realized that there is plenty out there from less-heard-of sports that could hold my interest as well as any story from these more traditional sports. And what a ride this edition is, covering stories that I could not believe eluded me when they were first published. Some of my favorites included that of an alleged Olympic fraud who performed not a single trick in her halfpipe routine in the 2018 Olympics; the Olympic-level physical training and diet of World Class chess players; a high school baseball coach sued for instructing a player to perform a most common skill in a most common situation; a former Olympic cycling hopeful who pulled off some of the most bizarre bank robberies in U.S. history, caught only because of his get-away bike; inmate-focused abuse in the most bizarre rodeo contests I have ever heard of; and the everybody-for-himself mentality rampant at the Earth's highest peak.Included in this issue is what I have come to expect in this series: stories focusing on concussions, sexual assault, and suicide. Stories that need to be heard but nonetheless have dampened the mood of this series and its focus on one of the most sacred of spaces in America and the world. And I was absolutely shocked to read in the opening words of the foreword written by series editor Glenn Stout that this would be the last edition of the Best American Sports Writing. As an academic who teaches classes in sport science with a focus on psychological aspects of sports, my career has evolved alongside this series from when I started college in the first year of its run 30 years ago. I am left to wonder where I will find off-the-path nuggets I can use as required reading in my courses, and, while I would hope this series would never end, I think it is doing so one year early. Imagine the stories that could have been included in next year's edition, all of which would have been written and published during the strangest period in the history of sports, when the sports world stopped because of COVIV-19.I would personally like to thank Glenn Stout and all of the series editors for providing me (and thousands others) with a collection of stories that I grew up with and helped form my own view of the world. It has been a tremendous honor to be the recipient of untold thousands of hours of compiling the stories that have defined my generation.

Sorry to hear that this may be the end of the 4th Quarter for this wonderful series. I have managed to gather all the editions from the beginning up to this one. A wonderful slice of life away from politics. Thank You Glenn Stout and all your wonderful collaborators. I was fortunate to grow up in Los Angles when the LA Times had the great Jim Murray. And this series always seemed to me to carry on that beautiful word smithing tradition. Thanks.

..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.

great writing from great reporters and authors...have all of the last 20 years or so...sorry to see it ending

Great series of books. So sad this is the last one. There are many great stories that I would not normally read in this series.

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.

book has copied a collection of stories that almost all have some type of "drama / soap opera" feel to them. IN some cases the story revolves around the authors actions and feelings while attending a sporting event. First of the series I have ever read but can't say as I'll be chomping at the bit to download another one from earlier years.