PAUL SOLOTAROFF is the author of The Body Shop, Group, and House of Purple Hearts. A contributing editor at Men's Journal and Rolling Stone, he has written features for Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue, and the New York Times Magazine. This is his sixth appearance in The Best American Sports Writing. He lives in New York.
WRIGHT THOMPSON is a senior writer for ESPN.com. He and his wife, Sonia, live in Oxford, Mississippi. This is his sixth appearance in The Best American Sports Writing.
WELLS TOWER, a native of Vancouver, grew up in North Carolina. He received a BA in anthropology and sociology from Wesleyan University and an MFA in fiction writing from Columbia University. He is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes, the 2002 Plimpton (Discovery) Prize from the Paris Review, and a Henfield Foundation Award. Tower's first short story collection, Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, was published in 2009.
CRAIG VETTER is a freelance writer living in Chicago. He is currently finishing a second novel.
Notable Sports Writing of 2010
Selected by Glenn Stout
KENT BAAB
Boxer's Death Was Blow to KC. Kansas City Star, May 30, 2010
TODD BALF
Desperate Measures. Runner's World, August 2010
CHRIS BALLARD
The Magical Season of the Macon Ironmen. Sports Illustrated, June 28, 2010
BRUCE BARCOTT
Mind Games. Runner's World, March 2010
RICK BASS
Wild at Heart. Texas Monthly, July 2010
KEN BERGER
Determined Grant Eyes Future While Battling Relentless Opponent. CBSSports.com, January 28, 2010
LENNY BERNSTEIN
A Dreamer's Run. The Washington Post Magazine, May 2, 2010
SAM BORDEN
Frankie Scafone: Unexpected Master with a Black Belt. The Journal News, February 21, 2010
PETER J. BOYER
Changing Lanes. The New Yorker, February 8, 2010
JOHN BRANT
Liberty and Justice. Runner's World, September 2010
JAMIE BRISICK
The Rosey Resurrection. The Surfer's Journal, Summer 2010
CHIP BROWN
What the Hell Happened to David Duval. Men's Journal, June-July 2010
PAUL BURKA
Mister Bridge. Texas Monthly, May 2010
ERIC CALDERWOOD
Waiting for a Goal. The American Scholar, Autumn 2010
JIM CAPLE
Johnny Weir Is a Real Man. ESPN. com, January 14, 2010
GED CARBONE
The Great Race. Rhode Island Monthly, May 2010
DIRK CHATELAIN
The Legend of Bubba. The Omaha World-Herald, December 26, 2010
PETER CHILSON
Sporting Lives: Travels with My Brother. Ascent, December 2010
ROBIN CHOTZINOFF
The Ride of Their Lives. Bicycling, March 2010
The Unstompable Roach. Playboy, October 10, 2010
ANDREW CORSELLO
The Biggest Little Man in the World. GQ, April 2010
RON CURRIE JR.
How I Became a Yankees Fan. The Southern Review, Spring 2010
BRYAN CURTIS
Arms Race. Texas Monthly, September 2010
NICHOLAS DAWIDOFF
Rex Ryan: Bringing It Big. The New York Times Magazine, September 8, 2010
JOSH DEAN
The Great Santino. GQ, May 2010
MARK DENT
Speaking About the Rucker. The Brew House, July 19, 2010
TOM DINARD
The Finish Line. Flipcollective.com, April 26, 2010
TYLER DUNNE
Sting of Tragedies Can't Shake Lumberton High Coach's Bond with Players. The Fayetteville Observer, October 10, 2010
JASON FAGONE
May the Best Nerd Win. Wired, December 2010
DAVID FLEMING
As Easy as 1, 2, 3 ... 756, 757, 758. ESPN The Magazine, April 19, 2010
ASHLEY FOX
Reid's Ordeal. The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 18, 2010
STEVE FRIEDMAN
The Race of His Life. Runner's World, November 2010
TOM FRIEND
Fifth and Goal. ESPN.com, December 7, 2010
ALISON GLOCK
Unforgiven. ESPN The Magazine, September 6, 2010
KARL TARO GREENFELD
Genetic Engineering for the Preteen Set. The New York Observer, April 5, 2010
SEAN GREGORY
Struck Out by Beisbol. Time, July 26, 2010
S. C. GWYNNE
Head Case. Texas Monthly, April 2010
MICHAEL HALL
About a Boy. Texas Monthly, September 2010
BENJAMIN HOCHMAN
George Karl's Cancer Fight. The Denver Post, April 4, 2010
PAT JORDAN
The Babe. The Southern Review, Spring 2010
JONAH KERI
A Not-So-Brief History of Pitching Injuries Starring Nolan Ryan and the Texas Rangers. Jonahkeri.com, September 13, 2010
The Longest Haul. Sierra, May 2010
MICHAEL LEAHY
Kicked Around. The Washington Post Magazine, December 12, 2010
JAY LESANDRINI
Waiting on Deck. Sport Literate, Fall 2010
JOSH LEVIN
The Other Blind Sides. Slate.com, October 14, 2010
LAURENCE LOWE
The Justin Bieber of Bullfighting. Details, December 2010
DAVE MCKENNA
The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder. Washington City Paper, November 19, 2010
MANISH MEHTA
U.S. Olympic Hockey Player Bobby Ryan Reveals a Dark Family Secret. The Star-Ledger, February 21, 2010
ELIZABETH MERRILL
The Woman Forever Tied to Steve McNair. ESPN.com, July 4, 2010
J. R. MOEHRINGER
In It to Win It. GQ, March 2010
MICHAEL J. MOONEY
Friday Night Tights. The Miami New Times, March 11—17, 2010
KENNY MOORE
Bernard LeGat Is Not Done Yet. Runner's World, February 2010
TITO MORALES
Shalane Flanagan: The Runner's Daughter. Marathon and Beyond, September-October 2010
JAMES NESTOR
Tasty Freeze. Outside, January-February 2010
IAN O'CONNOR
Boss' Kindness Kept Olympian Afloat. ESPNNewYork.com, December 31, 2010
DANNY O'NEIL
Searching for the Boz. The Seattle Times, August 15, 2010
NICK PAUMGARTEN
The Ski Gods. The New Yorker, March 15, 2010
CHARLES P. PIERCE
The Calmest Man in the Clubhouse. The Boston Globe Magazine, May 23, 2010
JOE POSNANSKI
Where Are They Now: Stan Musial. Sports Illustrated, August 2, 2010
ERIC PRISBELL
Love and Basketball. The Washington Post, June 20, 2010
ANNIE PROULX
A Year of Birds. Harper's Magazine, December 2010
BILL REITER
Toughest Player in "Real Life." The Kansas City Star, January 17, 2010
KURT RHEINHEIMER
Ty Cobb: Death in the Dark. Blue Ridge Country, June 2010
Brett Favre in Overtime. Men's Journal, August 2010
RICHARD SANDOMIR
At 1:42, Woods (Gasp!) Tees Off. The New York Times, April 9, 2010
GARY SMITH
The Unexpected Hero. Sports Illustrated, July 26, 2010
TOBY SMITH
It's Time to Move On from the Latest Cliché. The Albuquerque Journal, April 20, 2010
MICHAEL SOKOLOVE
From Boys to Pros. The New York Times Magazine, June 6, 2010
KEITH SPILLETT
On Losing. Tyrannyoftradition. wordpress.com, December 3, 2010
JON STYF
The Final Score. The Beaumont Enterprise, September 26, 2010
NEIL SWIDEY
What We
Lose When Everybody Wins. The Boston Globe Magazine, August 22, 2010
MARK SYNOTT
Borneo's Forbidden Chasm. Men's Journal, March 2010
RICK TELANDER
What Football Did for Us ... and What Football Did to Us. The Chicago Sun-Times, June 29—July 5, 2010
RACHEL TOOR
The Colossal Crack. Running Times, June 2010
JAMES TRAUB
Mariano Rivera, King of the Closers. The New York Times Magazine, June 28, 2010
ERIC WEINBERGER
The Skiing Life. The New Haven Review, Winter 2010
L. JON WERTHEIM
The Amazing Race. Sports Illustrated, September 20, 2010
JASON WOLF
Breaking the Cycle. The Danville Register and Bee, March 7, 2010
ALEXANDER WOLFF
The Hero Who Vanished. Sports Illustrated, March 8, 2010
JOHN YARGO
Stick and Move. The Ring, June 2010
NED ZEMAN
Higher, Colder, Deadlier. Vanity Fair, November 2010
Footnotes
Recreated from interviews, court filings, and police reports, and told through the eyes of Robert Nixon.
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