Best writing of 2013

What's everyone favorite stories, either news or sports, of the year?

 

This was quite good: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/speedy/?sct=hp_t1t_a2&eref=sihp

 

Got this in my inbox today, nothing for me, but congrats to all the winners from the 2012-13 bkb season:

From a record 179 entries, here are the winners from the 2013 USBWA Best Writing Contest, sponsored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
2013 USBWA Writing Contest Winners
MAGAZINE
1. Dana O'Neil, ESPN.com: Basketball Heaven? It's In Indiana
2. John Akers, Basketball Times: Jimmy V's Courage: Never Forget It
3. Elena Bergeron, ESPN The Magazine, Those Pictures In His Mind
4. Kathy Orton, Washington Post Magazine: Catching Up With Ralph Sampson
5. Todd Dybas, Tacoma News Tribune: Shawn Time Is On Time
GAME COVERAGE/SPOT NEWS
1. Luke Winn, Sports Illustrated: Getting Kevin Ware Home
2. Brendan Prunty, Newark Star-Ledger: His Father's Smile Said It All
3. Nicole Auerbach, USA Today, Beilein's Big Blue Welcome
4. Michael Rothstein, ESPN.com/Wolverine Nation: Burke's Spin, Strip Stuns Sparty
5. Jesse Temple, Fox Sports Wisconsin: Season-Long Blemish Bites Badgers
ENTERPRISE/INVESTIGATIVE
1. John Feinstein, Washington Post: The Coaching Life
2. Joe Rexrode, Detroit Free Press: A Handshake That Changed Everything
3. Curtis Eichelberger, Bloomberg News: Huge NCAA Payday Just A Myth
4. Pete Thamel, The New York Times: 'What Happened To Him?'
5. Joshua Parrott, Basketball Times: Of Doctors, Dunks And 1983 Extravaganza
COLUMN WRITING
1. Tom Archdeacon, Dayton Daily News: Giving The Gift Of Life
2. Luke DeCock, Raleigh News & Observer: NCAA, I Hardly Know Ye
3. Mick McCabe, Detroit Free Press: Fab Five Spoiled The Moment
4. Mike DeCourcy, The Sporting News: Remembering Rick Majerus
5. Bud Withers, Seattle Times: Zags Lurch Into The Sunset
MODERATE LENGTH
1. Jeff Goodman, College Basketball Insider: One Coach's Unimaginable Tragedy
2. Jesse Newell, Lawrence Journal-World: Grandma Grace's Secret
3. Reid Forgrave, FoxSports.com: Wichita State In Tall Cotton
4. Tom Housenick, The Morning Call: B.J. Finds A Family
5. Chris Tomasson, FoxSports.com: Tom Crean To The Rescue

 

Non sports stuff, I highly recommend:

Eli Saslow's piece on Newtown: http://ow.ly/qB8k4
Time's investigation into rising health care costs: http://ow.ly/qB8Q2
Tampa Times profile of a 99-year-old man still working for a living: http://ow.ly/qB6LM

And sports-wise, this Flinder Boyd story is fantastic: http://ow.ly/rqHRX

 

The New York Times's recent series, "The Invisible Child."

 

Anything Eli Saslow has written.

 

Not only is this outstanding writing, but some mighty fine web design as well.

The Disappearance of Small-Town Football, by Dirk Chatelain of the Omaha World-Herald: http://dataomaha.com/media/sports/high-schools/football/the-disappearance-of-high-school-football/

 

Selena Roberts' top 13 long-form stories of the year: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/66161842/.

Patrick Hruby's top 7 long-form: http://therotation.sportsonearthblog.com/seven-more-favorites-of-2013/. He also added his 25 favorite stories from Sports on Earth: http://therotation.sportsonearthblog.com/our-favorite-stories-of-2013/.

 

Non "long-form" need not apply, I see.

 

Point taken.

 

Richard Deitsch named his top 100 pieces of journalism, sports or otherwise, of 2013 at the bottom of this piece: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20131229/media-circus-looking-toward-2014-best-of-journalism-2013/#all