Washington Sports

Richard Ben Cramer was editor of The Best American Sports Writing 2004.

Glenn Stout made Richard Ben Cramer editor for that year.

Richard Ben Cramer on sports stories

• “But i do contend that, on any given day, sports will offer us stories — the most human stories — in richer supply, and more reliably, than any other branch of endeavor.
• “Stories are how we understand our lives”

Richard Ben Cramer illustrates the epic that we call sports

• “In sports we have heroes — attractive individuals attractive individuals with exemplary talents.   By their grace, dedication, courage, and the luck of the draw, they have a chance to achieve, not just for themselves but for something larger — for their families or fans, their team, their town or the nation, or history.   They must contend, against long odds and serial difficulties — their own human tendency to weakness or error and the villainy of rivals — to the end of the game, the tournament, or the season, where we have for our story clear winners and losers.”

Richard Ben Cramer on picking the stories to put in his edition

• “I tend to like stories that treat a whole life, or atleast the connection between sports and the rest of life.”

Glenn Stout is the series editor for The Best American Sports Writing series.

In 2004 Glenn Stout made Richard Ben Cramer editor for that year.

What Glenn Stout had to say about the sports writers.

• “Sports writers have never had a higher profile”
• The big money that is coming into sports these days helped spawn things like cable channels, Internet sites, and all sports radio, there has been a lot of spill-over for those who write about sports for a living
• There may not be more jobs or more markets but there is unquestionably more opportunity to become famous and make money.

Glenn Stout on the new age of sports journalism.

• “Many of today’s best-known sports writers are not celebrated for the quality of the work on the page, but for the volume of their words spoken on the airwaves.

In today’s day and age there are so many ways to get your thoughts on the airwaves.

• Twitter
• Blogs
• Facebook
• Myspace
• Radio
• Internet
• Podcasts
• Television

How Glenn Stout feels about the new form of sports journalism.

• “They may have become famous and they may have become rich, but very few have become better writers.”

Glenn Stout on being the series editor of the Best American Sports Writing series.

• Every season he reads every issue of hundreds of sports and general interest magazines in search of writing that might merit inclusion in The Best American Sports Writing.
• He also contacts the sports editors of some three hundred newspapers and request their submissions.
• He also encourages writers, readers, and all other interested parties to send him stories they have written or read in the past year that they would like to see reprinted in the series.

Glenn Stout on his choice for editor of the 2004 edition.

• “Richard Ben Cramer approached his duties this year with enthusiasm, and the result is a volume of which we are both justifiably proud.”