The Golden Football: Tom Palalma on the University of Texas’ bad example. To ESPN's Seth Wickersham, sportswriting is a pursuit to be perfected, much like his subjects' efforts to throw a perfect spiral or build a better football team. From Bookforum, Clay Risen reviews Real NASCAR: White Lightning, Red Clay, and Big Bill France by Daniel S. Pierce and and He Crashed Me so I Crashed Him Back: The True Story of the Year the King, Jaws, Earnhardt, and the Rest of NASCAR's Feudin', Fightin' Good Ol' Boys Put Stock Car Racing on the Map by Mark Bechtel (and more); and literary authors have always been drawn to boxing, and many have written beautifully about the sport; over the past half century and more, talented writers have chronicled its appeal while dissecting its ugliness. From Curator, an essay on football as art. Despite the dangers, hockey's old-school, rough justice is essential to its appeal. A review of The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy by Bill Simmons. An excerpt from Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession by Dave Jamieson. There will come a time, inevitably, where nearly every fan will find themselves backing a loser. A look at the 5 most badass (and possibly insane) athletes of all-time. Keep your team out of my book: Joe Queenan simply refuses to read any books whose authors or characters have any affiliation with the Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys or the Duke University men’s basketball team. Tim Tebow is the Virgin King in the Land of Strangelove: Given that we will no doubt continue to read about future scandals to come, might we hold out future hope for a positive sexual role model among our athletes? Andrei Markovits on the last legitimate bastion of "separate but equal". An interview with Mike Huber on sabermetrics.
