Longreads Best of 2018: Sports Writing
Mirin FaderWriter-at-large for Bleacher Report’s B/R Mag.
Mirin Fader Bleacher Report 的 B/R Mag 特约撰稿人。
## Most Dominating Athlete of 2018: Simone Biles (Danyel Smith, ESPN the Magazine)
## 2018 年最具统治力的运动员：西蒙·拜尔斯（丹尼尔·史密斯，ESPN 杂志）
Danyel Smith’s ESPN the Magazine cover story of Simone Biles was one of the most impactful pieces of sports writing I read this year.
丹尼尔·史密斯 (Danyel Smith) 为《ESPN》杂志撰写的西蒙·拜尔斯 (Simone Biles) 的封面故事是我今年读到的最有影响力的体育写作文章之一。
After I finished it, I felt like I knew Biles.
完成后，我感觉我认识了拜尔斯。
Smith got Biles to open up, to even admit the fear she feels while competing on bars (what Olympic gold-medal winning athlete readily admits fear?), which is a kudos to Smith’s skills as a reporter.
史密斯让拜尔斯敞开心扉，甚至承认她在酒吧比赛时感受到的恐惧（哪个奥运会金牌获得者会轻易承认恐惧？），这是对史密斯作为记者技能的赞扬。
Although I don’t know Smith personally, I felt like I could hear her voice throughout the piece.
虽然我个人并不认识史密斯，但我觉得我可以在整首作品中听到她的声音。
She seamlessly interwove history and culture and context and sport to put together one of the most versatile sports profiles I’ve ever read.
她将历史、文化、背景和体育无缝地交织在一起，形成了我读过的最多才多艺的体育简介之一。
My favorite paragraph really sums up Smith’s brilliance as a journalist, and Biles’ genius as a gymnast: “But no matter how sparkly her leotard, she’s a killer as stone cold as David Ortiz or Robert Horry ever was.
我最喜欢的一段确实总结了史密斯作为记者的才华和拜尔斯作为体操运动员的天才：“但无论她的紧身衣多么闪亮，她都是一个像大卫·奥尔蒂斯或罗伯特·霍里一样冷酷的杀手。
She creates each time she competes.
她每次比赛都会创造。
Plus, Biles will run the score up on you with a red cheer bow on a ponytail pulled higher than J-Lo’s.”
另外，拜尔斯还会把马尾辫扎得比 J-Lo 的高，头上系着一个红色的欢呼蝴蝶结，以此来给你加分。”
Louisa ThomasContributor for The New Yorker.
路易莎·托马斯《纽约客》撰稿人。
## Juan Martín del Potro Strikes Back (Chloe Cooper Jones, GQ)
## 胡安·马丁·德尔·波特罗的反击（克洛伊·库珀·琼斯，《GQ》）
Juan Martín del Potro is one of tennis’s most popular — and inspiring and tragic — figures.
胡安·马丁·德尔·波特罗是网球界最受欢迎、鼓舞人心、悲剧性的人物之一。
Del Potro won the U.S. Open in 2009, beating Roger Federer, and then his wrists began to fray.
德尔波特罗在 2009 年击败罗杰·费德勒赢得美国公开赛冠军，然后他的手腕开始磨损。
Cooper Jones tells the story of his long journey back.
库珀·琼斯讲述了他漫长的归来之旅的故事。
This is a beautifully written profile, an insightful portrait of the player on the court and the person off it — but it is also, most movingly, a meditation on pain.
这是一篇写得很漂亮的简介，对球场上的球员和球场外的人进行了深刻的描绘——但最动人的是，它也是对痛苦的沉思。
## Drew Brees is Hiding in Plain Sight (Greg Bishop, Sports Illustrated)
## 德鲁·布里斯躲在众目睽睽之下（格雷格·毕肖普，《体育画报》）
Bishop tackles the age-old question of what makes greatness — or even the greatest — and why it can be so easy to overlook.
毕肖普解决了一个古老的问题：什么造就了伟大——甚至是最伟大的——以及为什么它如此容易被忽视。
Take Drew Brees, the subject of this piece.
以本文的主题德鲁·布里斯 (Drew Brees) 为例。
At the same time, without being didactic, Bishop reminds us of something else: as seriously as we take all the records, sports are fun.
与此同时，毕肖普并没有说教，他提醒我们另一件事：尽管我们认真对待所有记录，但体育运动很有趣。
And so is this story.
这个故事也是如此。
## Everyone Believed Larry Nassar (Kerry Howley, The Cut)
## 每个人都相信拉里·纳萨尔（Kerry Howley，The Cut）
A thoroughly reported, devastating reconstruction of what might be the most important sports story in recent history: how Larry Nassar sexually abused hundreds of young women and not only got away with it, but thrived in the gymnastics community.
对近代历史上最重要的体育故事进行了彻底的、毁灭性的报道：拉里·纳萨尔如何性虐待数百名年轻女性，不仅逍遥法外，而且在体操界蓬勃发展。
Joel AndersonSenior writer for ESPN the Magazine.
乔尔·安德森 (Joel Anderson) ESPN 杂志的资深撰稿人。
## The Search for Jackie Wallace (Ted Jackson, The Times-Picayune)
## 寻找杰基·华莱士（泰德·杰克逊，《时代-Picayune》）
On the Friday before the Super Bowl, The Times-Picayune dropped this tremendous profile of former NFL player and New Orleans native Jackie Wallace and his heartrending — and apparently ongoing — struggle with homelessness and drug abuse.
在超级碗比赛前的周五，《皮卡尤恩时报》刊登了前 NFL 球员、新奥尔良本地人杰基·华莱士的精彩报道，以及他与无家可归和吸毒问题的令人心碎的（而且显然仍在继续）斗争。
The story got its start in 1990, when photographer Ted Jackson came across Wallace living in a camp underneath Interstate 10.
这个故事始于 1990 年，当时摄影师泰德·杰克逊 (Ted Jackson) 偶然发现华莱士住在 10 号州际公路下方的一个营地里。
Jackson photographed him for a story that ran that year, which seemed to lead to Wallace being rescued from the streets and addiction.
杰克逊为他拍摄了当年的一篇报道，这似乎使华莱士摆脱了街头和毒瘾。
But this is where the story begins, as Jackson loses touch with Wallace over the years and details his search for him over the next couple of decades.
但这就是故事的开始，杰克逊多年来与华莱士失去联系，并详细描述了他在接下来的几十年里寻找华莱士的过程。
There’s so much to love here, starting with the care Jackson and the Times-Picayune put into showing how drugs can unravel a life and into asserting the fundamental humanity of Wallace.
这里有很多值得喜爱的地方，首先是杰克逊和《皮卡尤恩时报》在展示毒品如何破坏生活以及维护华莱士的基本人性方面所付出的努力。
Jackson also subtly shows there’s more to his relationship with Wallace — a reminder that reporting doesn’t have to be merely transactional — and much more to Wallace than his troubles.
杰克逊还巧妙地表明，他与华莱士的关系还有更多内容——提醒人们报道不一定只是交易——对华莱士来说，这不仅仅是他的麻烦。
It’s surprising in all sorts of ways, but especially in how humanizing it is of Wallace.
这在各个方面都令人惊讶，尤其是华莱士的人性化程度。
## Everyone Believed Larry Nassar (Kerry Howley, The Cut)
## 每个人都相信拉里·纳萨尔（Kerry Howley，The Cut）
In excruciating detail, Kerry Howley showed here how Larry Nassar — the unassuming and relentlessly charming USA Gymnastics national team doctor — wormed his way into the homes and hearts of hundreds of young female gymnasts and their families en route to becoming one of the most notorious child sex abusers in modern history.
克里·豪利在这里以令人痛苦的细节向我们展示了拉里·纳萨尔——一位谦逊而又迷人的美国体操国家队队医——如何潜入数百名年轻女体操运动员及其家人的家庭和心灵，最终成为现代历史上最臭名昭著的儿童性虐待者之一。
It’d be irresponsible not to credit the herculean investigative efforts of the Indianapolis Star in breaking the case against Nassar and USA Gymnastics — and the many other reporters and media outlets who tracked the developments through Nassar’s sentencing in federal and state court — but Howley’s exhaustive story illuminates exactly how and why Nassar was able to escape detection for so long.
如果不相信《印第安纳波利斯星报》为破获针对纳萨尔和美国体操队的案件所做的艰巨调查努力，以及通过联邦和州法院对纳萨尔的判决跟踪事态发展的许多其他记者和媒体机构，那就是不负责任的，但豪利的详尽故事准确地说明了纳萨尔如何以及为何能够这么长时间逃脱侦查。
It wasn’t because his victims were silent.
这并不是因为他的受害者保持沉默。
Far from it, in fact.
事实上，远非如此。
It wasn’t because Nassar was particularly discreet.
这并不是因为纳萨尔特别谨慎。
No, Howley writes, it was because Nassar “was good at this.” Two scenes from Howley’s story show this best.
不，豪利写道，这是因为纳萨尔“擅长于此”。豪利故事中的两个场景最能说明这一点。
The first is told from the vantage point of a 9-year-old girl, who was digitally penetrated by Nassar with her mother sitting only a few feet away in his living room in 1990.
第一个故事以一名 9 岁女孩的视角讲述，1990 年，纳萨尔对她进行了数字渗透，而她的母亲就坐在离纳萨尔几英尺远的客厅里。
The second comes near the end of the story, when one of his victims manages to make him cry during his sentencing hearing and she feels briefly triumphant.
第二次发生在故事接近尾声时，他的一名受害者在量刑听证会上设法让他哭泣，她感到短暂的胜利。
I won’t spoil the final line for you but it’s an unforgettable close that couldn’t have been more perfect, or haunting.
我不会剧透最后一句台词，但这是一个令人难忘的结尾，完美得不能再完美，令人难以忘怀。
Natalie WeinerStaff writer for SB Nation.
娜塔莉·维纳 (Natalie Weiner) SB Nation 的特约撰稿人。
## The Children of Central City (Jonathan Bullington and Richard A.
## 中心城的孩子们（乔纳森·布林顿和理查德·A.
Webster, The Times-Picayune)
韦伯斯特、《泰晤士报-Picayune》）
## They Are the Champions (Katie Barnes, ESPN the Magazine)
## 他们是冠军（凯蒂·巴恩斯，ESPN 杂志）
Both of these stories are extraordinary examples of my favorite kind of sportswriting — the kind that uses sports’ near-universal appeal and reach to illuminate social and political issues.
这两个故事都是我最喜欢的体育写作的杰出例子——利用体育近乎普遍的吸引力和影响力来阐明社会和政治问题。
“The Children of Central City” uses the lens of one youth football team in New Orleans to examine violence in one of the city’s most dangerous neighborhoods; as its former coach explains early in the multi-part series, he’s had 28 former players be shot and killed over a 14 year span.
《中心城的孩子们》利用新奥尔良一支青年足球队的镜头来审视该市最危险的社区之一的暴力行为；正如其前教练在这部多部分系列节目的开头所解释的那样，在 14 年的时间里，他已经让 28 名前球员被枪杀。
The football team is a jumping off point through which the authors (and director — there’s a corresponding documentary) can explore how the trauma that comes from growing up surrounded by violence impacts kids’ lives, and how football is an escape, if an imperfect one.
足球队是一个起点，作者（和导演——有一部相应的纪录片）可以通过这个起点来探索在暴力环境中成长所带来的创伤如何影响孩子们的生活，以及足球如何成为一种逃避，即使是一种不完美的逃避。
It’s a thoughtful, empathetic take on a story that’s too often left unexamined because it’s wrongly perceived as inevitable.
这是对一个故事的深思熟虑、富有同理心的理解，但这个故事经常被忽视，因为它被错误地认为是不可避免的。
In “They Are the Champions,” two very different kids growing up in very different parts of the country share one thing: they are transgender.
在《他们是冠军》中，两个在全国不同地区长大的截然不同的孩子有一个共同点：他们都是跨性别者。
Their stories are pressing not only because LGBTQ perspectives are grossly underrepresented in media as a whole, but also because they show that sports is the battleground where the very core of how we understand gender will be determined — a statement that sounds like hyperbole, but when you’re in the middle of Barnes’ story parsing the various ways people rationalize dividing sports by gender, quickly becomes self-evident.
他们的故事之所以引人注目，不仅是因为 LGBTQ 观点在整个媒体中的代表性严重不足，还因为它们表明体育是一个战场，我们理解性别的核心方式将由这里决定——这种说法听起来有些夸张，但当你在巴恩斯的故事中解析人们合理化按性别划分体育运动的各种方式时，很快就会变得不言而喻。
Mack Beggs and Andraya Yearwood just want to compete, and the world is going to have to catch up.
麦克·贝格斯（Mack Beggs）和安德拉亚·耶尔伍德（Andraya Yearwood）只是想竞争，而世界必须迎头赶上。
Matt GilesEditor and head of fact-checking, Longreads.
马特·吉尔斯 (Matt Giles) 编辑兼事实核查负责人，Longreads。
## Alone at Sea (Elizabeth Weil, New York Times Magazine)
## 独自在海上（伊丽莎白·韦尔，纽约时报杂志）
Aleksander Doba has kayaked the Atlantic Ocean three times, and each crossing has been more dangerous than the last.
亚历山大·多巴 (Aleksander Doba) 曾三次划皮划艇穿越大西洋，每次穿越都比上一次更加危险。
Weil’s profile of the Polish native is an engrossing read of his trans-Atlantic trips, and why the 71 year old continues to push his body and psyche to such extreme limits.
韦尔对这位波兰人的简介是对他跨大西洋旅行的引人入胜的解读，以及为什么这位 71 岁的老人继续将自己的身体和心理推向如此极端的极限。
As he explains his reasoning to Weil, “I do not want to be a little gray man.”
当他向韦尔解释他的理由时，“我不想成为一个小灰人。”