From Publishers Weekly
Sports Illustrated veteran Dan Jenkins (Semi-Tough) guest-edits this collection, the fifth installment in a series that has been gaining momentum and respect since 1991. This year's edition offers a fine sampling of high-quality sports journalism covering the unsung heroes, the fallen stars, the greed, racism, sexism, and media feeding frenzies that have dominated headlines in recent months. O.J. Simpson, Tonya Harding, and the baseball strike make their obligatory appearances, as do the less scandalous subjects of fly-fishing and world-record mile runners. Some pieces, such as David Kindred's cliche-ridden profile of Ted Williams, "A Hitter First, A Hitter Always," are less about newsworthy events than they are about the author's own need to hear himself talk. (Yes, himself?of 28 contributors, only three are women.) On the other hand, Steve Rushin's "1954-1994: How We Got Here" is an important contribution and deserves to be read widely. Flawlessly written and painstakingly researched, his five-part essay examines key events and people in American culture through their contributions to sports: how through television, for example, we got from instant replay to the demand for instant gratification; how the first domed stadium led to the Mall of America in Bloomington, Ill., where there are two dozen stores in which you can buy a Starter jacket but only two bookstores. Rushin and the other writers featured in this collection have given us not only some of the best sports writing of the year but also some of the best all-around journalism.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
This is the single most necessary annual addition to any self-respecting general sports collection. Selected from more than 350 American and Canadian newspapers and magazines, the essays represent the very best in a field that has become stronger each year. The sports page isn't always the toy department of journalism. Anyone who doubts that statement should read Joan Ryan's moving exposeof female figure skating's obsession with slimness. Or Dave Kindred's poignant profile of baseball star Ted Williams' autumn years. Or crime novelist James Ellroy's hard-hitting analysis of the O. J. Simpson murder case. There are lighter selections, too.
Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Verdi invokes the spirits of Abbott and Costello to make his point regarding the baseball strike, and J. A. Adande has a little fun with football's end-zone celebrations. The wide world of sports in print.
Wes Lukowsky
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
