Longform's Best of 2011

Sports

Welcome to the Far Eastern Conference
Wells Tower • GQ
Stephon Marbury's career in China.
Punched Out
John Branch • New York Times
The life and death of a hockey enforcer.

Part 1: Learning to Brawl

Part 2: Blood on Ice

Part 3: A Brain 'Going Bad'

A Major-League Divorce
Vanessa Grigoriadis • Vanity Fair
A failed marriage and a sullied franchise.

What Was He Thinking?
Chris Ballard • Sports Illustrated
Why Jake Plummer left the NFL in his prime to play handball.

The Shame of College Sports
Taylor Branch • The Atlantic
The case for paying college athletes.

Dave Duerson’s Secret Life and Tragic End
Gus Garcia-Roberts • Miami New Times
A football player's demise.

Blindsided: The Jerry Joseph High School Basketball Scandal
Michael J. Mooney • GQ
A star who wasn't.

Renegade Miami Football Booster Spells Out Illicit Benefits to Players
Charles Robinson • Yahoo! Sports
A booster comes clean.

The Confidence Man
Samanth Subramanian • The Caravan
On a cricket mogul in India.

Immigrant Misappropriations: The Importance of Ichiro
Jay Caspian Kang • Grantland
The cultural impact of a breakthrough ballplayer.