The Best American Sports Writing 2019 (The Best American Series ®)

Not every story is worth reading, but there are plenty of stories that are definitely worth reading, even if you aren't a sports fan.

I was quite critical of last year's edition of this collection for being too repetitively focused on stories of concussion, suicide, and other aspects of the dark side of sports. I will repeat that I am very much interested in such stories in moderation, but wish that collections like these could be more balanced. The 2019 edition was much more so. While it did include stories of Larry Nassar (convicted serial child molester), University of Maryland football, Aaron Hernandez (yet again), and Luke Heimlick (who was convicted of sexual molestation of his niece), it also featured lighter stories on the Rubik's Cube National Championships (yes, it exists), a scavenger hunt at Super Bowl LII (with the challenge of taking a selfie with Bradley Cooper with a bonus point of following it up with, "Thank you, Mr. McConaughy"), and the insanity of the Golden Globe Race (a solo, around-the-world sailing contest in its 50th year). I think I am prepared to see this annual release less as a collection of stories about the world of sports and more as a collection of stories about athlete mental health, social justice, and sport culture. Which is in and of itself not a bad thing, but something that has to be accepted to really enjoy this series.

This was a gift for my grandson.

My husband loves this book every year

Perfect gift!

I have bought this book every year and this is the first one I disliked, very sad and negative stories, none of the joy we find in sports

I enjoyed this again. There are definitely some stories of the dark side of sports but they do mirror the actual world we live in. It satisfied my one short story a day quite well for 24 days.

My son is grown, married, and hard to buy for. These annual sports anthologies are the ONLY thing that I know that he will be glad to see. My daughter-in-law made sure to remind me this year and I immediately got online to buy it.The selections are always well chosen by great sports writers.

I have every addition since 1991 and have noticed the articles each year reflect in many ways our changing society.Sport is as always a metaphor for life from the highs of success to the lows of despair.Already looking forward to 2020 edition.