[.ca] Best American Sports Writing 2000 (2000) (ISBN 0618012095)

From Amazon.com:
With a solid, self-assured, reliable veteran such as Dick Schaap compiling the lineup, the millennial edition of sports writing's best was bound to be a success, and it also includes a few surprises. You want baseball? Here's Robert Huber's stunning profile of Joe DiMaggio--no, not that Joe DiMaggio, but the troubled son saddled with the same name, but gifted with none of the talent. You want football? Here's former NFL defensive end Pat Toomay's deliciously jaundiced chronicle of working on Oliver Stone's football movie Any Given Sunday. You want eclectic? How about Mark Levine's profile of Tony Hawk, skateboarding's acknowledged grand master; Jeanne Marie Laskas on bull riding; Burkhard Bilger on cockfighting; and Bryan Burrough's harrowing account of the storm that wreaked havoc on the 54th Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race? They all widen the playing field that defines sports and sports writing. Now add to that selections from David Halberstam, Rick Telander, Craig Vetter, and Garrison Keillor, and the annual collection of The Best American Sports Writing finds itself once again leading the league. --Jeff Silverman

Sour Mash:
Schaap, who worked under Jimmy Breslin and Roger Kahn, could write with neither but he hustled better than either. His credentials: ghost writng and tv pap, sometimes nasty. Stout's work is about as big league as the home town he lists, Uxbridge, Mass. Anyone can pick a couple, three nice pieces, but this should not be done by these fellers. They are semi-qualified, too much on the make. Replace them with, say Bill Dwyre, the great Sports Editor of the LA Times, and John Cherwa, exec sports editor of the Chicago Tribune and Pete Carrey, of SI. Personally -- I am a clinical shrink who loves sports -- I wish professional standards were applied to any collection called best.

Great series that's focusing more on alternative sports:
Many readers may take issue with the fact that this series represents sportswriting at its best. THe editor, Dick SCHaap is really a hack writer, at best. I'm sure there are many other examples of fine sportswriting out there. The series seems to be making efforts to dig up newer, alternative writers who often become as much a part of the story as what they are writing about, though no one will do that better than Hunter THompson! The strength of this series is that its increasingly focusing on lesser known or alternative sports, or just on activities that are beyond our normal view of what constitutes recreation. There are pieces on cockfighting, long-distance swimming, poker playing, bullriding, ultra-running, and guns. In fact, there are only a few pieces of writing on the big 4 sports of football, baseball, hockey and basketball. While this may turn off many a reader who prefers to read about their larger than life heroes, to me its a strength in that we get to read about people who are just as dedicated to their craft (however obscure), perhaps more so, than those athletes in the well known sports. But just when we get comfortable with a new sport, there will be a piece written totally tongue-in-cheek, such as the one by Garirison Keillor. I've read the books in the series going back a number of years and the series seems to be going more and more in this direction. This to me is its appeal, though those of you who are fans of the more conventional sports may take issue. Its not the best of American Sportswriting, but is among the most diverse of American sports writing. Many of the pieces were interesting enough to make me wish there was more to read on the event or sport, or that I could find a longer version of the story by the same author. Looking forward to next year's book.

Best of the series:
A mix of extremely entertaining stories. Much more about life than about sports this book gives an insight into many interesting personalities in obscure sports. In my opinion the best in the series "Best Sports Writing", not so much for excellent writing but the contents of most of the stories.

An American Treasure:
The 2000 edition of "The Best American Sports Writing" has plenty of moments that will enthrall avid sports fans and even those less avid who merely like a good story. The series is a national treasure, which collects the best sports related writing every year and puts it into a single easy-to-read volume. The sports included run the gamut from the traditional team sports of baseball and football to more extreme examples like mountaineering. The main requirement for inclusion is great writing, and that's wht this series delivers consistently. The best articles in the 2000 edition include Jeff Macgreggor's disturbing account of the violence that permeats Candian youth league hockey, Robert Hubert's sad biographical piece on Joe DiMaggio's only son, Michael Finkel's story about the cult of extreme marathoning, Allison Glock's entertaining biography of Robbie Knievel, and Charles Sprawson's tale of the feats of extreme swimmers. As always, the quality of the reporting means that even if you have only a margainal interest in the sport described, you'll still find it entertaining. Overall, another fine entry in an outstanding series.