The Best American Sports Writings 1996

Now in its sixth year and well established as the premier sports anthology, The Best American Sports Writing brings together the finest sportswriting of the past year. Selected from more than 350 American and Canadian newspaper and magazines, the 1996 collection features a wide variety of sports and sports figures in 30 delightfully intriguing pieces.

The 13th round / David Davis —
The savior / Tom Junod —
Polite, feminine, can bench press Dennis Conner / Karen Karbo —
The ultimate prize / Rick Reilly —
The high price of hard living / Tom Verducci —
An utter disaster / Michael Goodman —
The end of the world / Kenny Moore —
Down and out / Joel Reese —
Hard-core hoops / Tom Farrey —
Living with a lie / Michael Bamberger —
Called strike / Roger Angell —
The game’s the thing / Roger Angell —
Back in play / David Remnick —
Jimmy Thompson’s fallen house of cards / Mark Coomes and Pat Forde —
Small colleges, big game / Larry Dorman. A 90’s kind of rivalry / Peter De Jonce —
A shot that resounds in Hoosier hearts / William Gildea —
A team’s true colors / David Aldridge —
Belittled big men / Pat Jordan —
Trouble on the court / Frank Deford —
Big / Jan Reid —
Man of the century / Bill Fields —
What might have been / Greg Couch —
Cal on the verge / Mat Edelson —
A native son’s thoughts / Richard Ben Cramer —
He told it like it was, like only he could / Tony Kornheiser