Boyd Flinder - The best American sports writing 2014

Copyright 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company

Introduction copyright 2014 by Christopher McDougall

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ISSN 1056-8034

ISBN 978-0-544-14700-3

e ISBN 978-0-544-30197-9
v1.1014

20 Minutes at Rucker Park by Flinder Boyd. First published on SBNation.com, October 15, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Flinder Boyd. Reprinted by permission of the author.

Manti Teos Dead Girlfriend, the Most Heartbreaking and Inspirational Story of the College Football Season, is a Hoax by Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey. First published in Deadspin.com. Copyright 2014 by Gawker Media. Reprinted by permission of Gawker Media.

Raider. QB Crusher. Murderer? by Kathy Dobie. First published in GQ, February, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Kathy Dobie. Reprinted by permission of Kathy Dobie.

The Last Days of Stealhead Joe by Ian Frazier. First published in Outside, September 2013. Copyright 2013 by Ian Frazier. Reprinted by permission of the Wylie Agency, LLC.

Mavericks by Alice Gregory. First published in n+1, October 9, 2013. Copyright 2014 by Alice Gregory. Reprinted by permission of Alice Gregory.

You Can Only Hope to Contain Them by Amanda Hess. First published in ESPN: The Magazine, July 22, 2013. Copyright 2013 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

The Choice by Patrick Hruby. First published on SportsOnEarth.com, November 14, 2013. Copyright 2013 by SportsOnEarth.com. Reprinted by permission of SportsOnEarth.com.

When 772 Pitches Isnt Enough by Chris Jones. First published in ESPN: The Magazine, July 22, 2013. Copyright 2013 by ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

The End and Don King by Jay Caspian Kang. First published in Grantland.com, April 4, 2013. Copyright 2013 ESPN Internet Ventures. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

The Chaos of the Dice by Raffi Khatchadourian. First published in The New Yorker, May 13, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Raffi Khatchadourian. Reprinted by permission of Raffi Khatchadourian.

Li Na, Chinas Tennis Rebel by Brook Larmer. First published in the New York Times Magazine, August 22, 2013. Copyright 2013 by the New York Times Magazine. Reprinted by permission of Brook Larmer.

The Coach Who Exploded by Jonathan Mahler. First published in the New York Times Magazine, November 6, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Jonathan Mahler. Reprinted by permission of Jonathan Mahler.

Elegy of a Race Car Driver by Jeremy Markovich. First published on SBNation.com, July 30, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Jeremy Markovich. Reprinted by permission of Jeremy Markovich.

The Art of Speed by Ben McGrath. First published in The New Yorker, February 4, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Ben McGrath. Reprinted by permission of Ben McGrath.

Heart of Sharkness by Bucky McMahon. First published in GQ, April 2, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Cond Nast. Reprinted by permission.

The One-Legged Wrestler Who Conquered His Sport, Then Left it Behind by David Merrill. First published on Deadspin.com. Copyright 2014 by Gawker Media. Reprinted by permission of Gawker Media.

The Manic Mountain by Nick Paumgarten. First published in The New Yorker, June 3, 2013. Copyright 2013 by Nick Paumgarten. Reprinted by permission of Nick Paumgarten.

The Marathon by Charles P. Pierce. First published on Grantland.com, April 16, 2013. Copyright 2013 ESPN Internet Ventures. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

Tomato Can Blues by Mary Pilon. First published in the New York Times, September 18, 2013. Copyright 2013 the New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited.

The Case Against High School Sports by Amanda Ripley. First published in the Atlantic, October 2013. Copyright 2013 by Amanda Ripley. Reprinted by permission of Amanda Ripley.

Serena the Great by Stephen Rodrick. First published in Rolling Stone, July 418, 2013. Copyright Rolling Stone LLC 2013. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Anybody Who Thinks This Is Porn or Abuse Doesnt Know My Family by Eli Saslow. First published in ESPN: The Magazine, June 10, 2013. Copyright 2013 ESPN, Inc. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

The Last Man Up by Christopher Solomon. First published in Runners World, March 2013. Copyright 2013 by Rodale Inc. Reprinted by permission of Rodale Inc. and Christopher Solomon.

The Gangster in the Huddle by Paul Solotaroff with Ron Borges. First published in Rolling Stone, August 28, 2013. Copyright Rolling Stone LLC 2013. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

The Match Maker by Don Van Natta Jr. First published on ESPN.com, August 25, 2013. Copyright 2013 by ESPN Internet Ventures. Reprinted by permission of ESPN.

T HERE ARE MANY WAYS to measure the impact or success of a book. In these metric-driven times, the temptation is to reduce everything to datasales figures, starred reviews, Facebook shares, etc. Even the fact that this is the 24th edition since the series launched in 1991 says something about its value.

Still, for this book, a collection of stories, perhaps the best measure is the stories inspired by The Best American Sports Writing itself. For me at least, that measure helps justify the work that goes into putting it together every year.

To be clear, I am not referring to the writing the book has inspired, although it is certainly true that it has done so, serving as some motivation for a generation of sportswriters. I mean instead the stories that contributors and readers have told me about the book, the personal stories about the role it has come to play in their lives.

In addition to my duties as series editor of this annual collection and as the author of the occasional book, for the past few years I have also served as editor of the longform journalism page for SBNation.com. As I acquire and then edit stories for the site, I have had the opportunity to talk writing and work with hundreds of writers; I find these interactions incredibly rewarding and gratifyingas much so at times as I find writing myself. At some point, most of these writers tell me what this book has meant to their career or to their development as a writer. Its something that is always nice to hear, and when I speak with the contributors to this book, they often tell me the same thing.

Given that Ive been doing this since 1991, I am older than many contributors and almost all the writers I work with. I have become accustomed to hearing someone say, Ive been reading this book my whole life. Until recently, however, that statement was usually hyperbole.