With the rise of Twitter, blogs and on-line sports journalism, it has never been a better time to follow sports on the internet. The amount of great writing out there has been a blessing for lovers of sport. Long-form, short-form, game recaps – you can find anything you want.
Here are my top 5 places to read great writing about sports. These aren’t the only places you should be reading or the only places with great content, but this will be a good starting point in sifting through the world of sports writing. I will break down the top writers per site and show what they do best and what you will like about them.
Sports Illustrated:
Who they are: Sports Illustrated might be the most famous sporting news outlet in the world. For years, it’s been the best place for sports writing and storytelling. Although it may not be as good as it once was, it still features many great writers and coverage for all sports. Sports Illustrated has been producing content since the 1960s and has always been on the cutting edge of writing and content.
What you will like: Sports Illustrated has produced the best sports long-form writing in history. From the works Gary Smith to Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated has consistently delivered. It had strayed from long-form writing for a few years but has begun to bring it back, with about one long-form piece a week on the website. The best part about Sports Illustrated is the army of writers. For each major sport, there will be three or four feature writers who break down the games and the stories around the sports. They also recently introduced SInow, which is their daily video show in which they bring in analysts and former athletes to talk about sports. SI also delivers a lot of content focused on college athletics, featuring NCAA football and basketball prominently. What sets SI apart in one regard, is the storytellers they employ. Sure, they have basic bloggers who run down lots of thing,s but their feature storytellers always put out great work and make each story unique. They seem to have unlimited access to athletes, teams and organizations for better or worse. Top writers to seek out on Sports Illustrated: Gary Smith, though he has no new pieces, is still the pinnacle at SI. He might be the greatest ever storyteller in sports. Of the current crop of feature writers, SL Price and Lee Jenkins stand out. They deliver excellent work on a variety of pieces and are consistently featured in Best American Sportswriters annuals. Peter King is their lead football writer and might have more access to people in the game than anyone in the world.
Notable Stories: The Heart Of Football Beats In Aliquippa: Hope and despair in a Pennsylvania mill town by SL Price; Crime and Punishment by Gary Smith
ESPN:
Who they are: As simple as they say it: “the worldwide leader in sports.” Through the TV channels and website and microsites, ESPN is a massive conglomerate in the sporting world. ESPN.com is the most visited sports website on the planet and continues to grow. ESPN owns sites such as Grantland, FiveThirtyEight, ESPNFC and an upcoming website geared toward minority writers and readers. ESPN covers every sport in depth and has too many writers, analysts and talking heads to count.
What you will like: The vast amounts of stories, game analysis and everything in between. They focus on baseball, football and basketball, but have many writers in all types of sport. The website is also great for second-by-second updates from games. ESPN is also great for its video content. They constantly upload videos, with analysis by legends of sport and their top writers. ESPN may not do as much long-form as other platforms, but it has some of the top writers working today, including Wright Thompson and Don Van Natta Jr. who might be the top two sportswriters working today. They deliver great long-rom and investigative pieces. An up-and-coming writer for ESPN is Pablo S. Torre. Torre is only 29 years old but is getting a reputation for putting out great work. The greatest part of ESPN is the never-ending content. They put up so much content a day it is impossible to keep up. They have so many insiders in the various sports, such as Adam Schefter in football, Buster Ohlney in baseball and Pierre Lebrun in hockey, ESPN has become a trusted source for breaking news in the world of sports.
Notable Stories: Fight on State by Don Van Natta Jr.; Michael Jordan has Not Left the Building by Wright Thompson
Grantland:
Who they are: Grantland is an ESPN owned website which is run by editor-in-chief Bill Simmons. The website blends sports, pop culture and all things in between. Grantland, for all its quirks, features lots of great long-form journalism. The site is also at the forefront of using analytics and advanced stats for its coverage of sports.
Top writers and what you will like: Simmons is known for his columns as he doesn’t make a case for objectivity. He is a fan of Boston sports and he lets you know. He blends comedy, pop culture and irreverence in his columns and his mailbags are some of the most read pieces of sports writing on the internet. Bill Barnwell, lead football columnist, is constantly using innovative ways to analyze players and games, whether it is calculating speed scores for players or using Pythagorean Expectations to figure out which teams are the luckiest and unluckiest over the course of the season. Zach Lowe is the main NBA writer and he blends Youtube clips, gifs, Vines and everything else when he is breaking down teams. He uses an assortment of advanced stats in his columns and writes monster columns, breaking down every facet of the NBA. In short time, he has been one of the go-to writers for NBA coverage. Lead baseball writer is Jonah Keri, who is also frequently on ESPN for its baseball coverage. The main feature of Keri’s columns is the way he combines stats to show why teams are losing and why teams will be better in the years to come. Grantland also employs two great feature writers, in Brian Phillips and Bryan Curtis. They are known for their long-form and historical pieces and deliver more often than not. Grantland doesn’t feature much in the way of hockey (much like other ESPN content) as it is serving an American fanbase. They do have two writers who write frequently about hockey, though, in Katie Baker and Sean Mcindoe.
Notable Stories: Sea of Crises by Brian Phillips; Rocked by Bryan Curtis; Three Man Weave by Chuck Klosterman
Deadspin:
Who they are: Deadspin is the place you go to when you are tired of the normal style of journalism. Deadspin is the place you go to if you want harsh criticism of different facets of sports. Deadspin goes all out in on its commentary. It started out as a small blog but has since turned into one of the top websites for sports content. Though Deadspin doesn’t put out many feature stories, it still has quality writers. Their commentary seems to be almost real-time as they post stories on events as they happen. Deadspin has a humour about it, because it always make fun of people, regardless of who they are, even themselves.
What you will like: The humour. The irreverence. The off-kilter form of writing they use. Deadspin is the best place to find random things about sports all over the world. They upload tons of gifs, Vines, and Youtube clips of great plays, funny moments and everything in between. Another good part of Deadspin is that they have no business partnerships with any of the major sports, unlike other sites. They critique honestly (sometimes a little too honestly) but because they are tied to these business partnerships they can have fair reporting with no agenda coming from higher ups. They consistently deliver entertaining content and have no filter. They also have some terrific writng. Timothy Burke, Drew Magary and Greg Howard deliver some great sportswriting. To be considered integral in the world of sportswriting it takes more than jokes and offbeat content, and those three are many of the reasons why Deadspin has become important. They have become a go to for great sports content and are continuing to grow.
Notable Stories: Can Jason Whitlock Save ESPN’s “Black Grantland” From Himself? By Greg Howard; The Most Heartbreaking And Inspirational Story Of The College Football Season, Is A Hoax by Timothy Burke and Jack Dickey
Bleacher Report:
Who they are: The new kids on the block. Bleacher Report is quickly turning into one of the top websites to follow sports. It is increasing in web traffic every day and has expanded massively. Owned by Turner Sports, Bleacher Report puts out so much content it’s exhausting. With categories in every sport, it has so many stories and so much content that you could read for hours and hours. There are featured columnists for each sport, as well as many non-featured writers. They also provide the chance for anyone to submit an application to work for them.
What you will like: Bleacher Report is the top site for rankings and instant highlights and clips from games. Every day, it releases a new list on something or new rankings of players, games and teams. What Bleacher Report may lack in long-form content, it makes up for in some of the smartest analysis around. Matt Bowen consistently breaks down film on the NFL and shows you why some things happen during games using graphics and coaches tape to break everything down. Mike Freeman, NFL lead writer, has delivered some great content, including some long-form pieces. Bleacher Report also recently signed Howard Beck and Ric Bucher for NBA coverage and they have been welcome additions. BR has great writing on basketball and it is using innovative ways to cover the games. Another great feature of BR is all of the stuff you can read about. They have a lot of tennis coverage, soccer coverage and even wrestling coverage if you would like to read up on that. Bleacher Report also recently signed longtime SI writer Jeff Pearlman. Pearlman has written many books and produces great long-form journalism. His stories are so detailed they produce visceral images. Bleacher Report is always growing and will soon be the number one sports website for fans to flock to.
Notable Stories: Lost and Found: Taj McDavid Today Is More Than an NBA Draft Punch Line by Jeff Pearlman; The Inside Story of How the NFL’s Plan for Its 1st Openly Gay Player Fell Apart by Mike Freeman
