Competitive sports can mean professional and financial success — if they don’t compromise your mental health first. ‘Cheer’ and ‘Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez’ show how athletics can hurt as much as they can heal.
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Powerful On the Beam or Off
Aly Raisman is a six-time Olympic medalist. She’s a survivor of abuse at the hands of Larry Nassar. And now, she’s an activist.
Little League, Revisited
Adam Kuhlmann was outmatched at the 1993 Little League World Series. His 11-year-old nephew helps him to learn from his errors.
The NHL’s Lacrosse Takeover
How two kids from London, Ontario birthed the most unique goal in hockey’s history.
How to Ruin the Scripps Spelling Bee in Four Letters: E-S-P-N
At the Scripps Spelling Bee, no one asks for whom the bell tolls. It’s glaringly, if painfully obvious.
Longreads Best of 2018: Sports Writing
We asked writers and editors to choose some of their favorite stories of the year in various categories. Here is the best in sports writing.
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
This week, we’re sharing stories from Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Laurie Penny, Mina Kimes, Skip Hollandsworth, and David Marchese.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game: A Baseball Reading List
Jacqueline Alnes mines personal memory as she examines baseball’s culture, its hidden histories, and the gender and disparities in the game today.
The Gymnast’s Position
Aimee Trepanier was proud to showcase the pose that started her 1993 gymnastics floor routine in a billboard ad off I-15 in Salt Lake City. But when Utahns looked up, that’s not what they saw.
Is The Scripps National Spelling Bee Evil?
Back in 2013, for Deadspin, Drew Magary attended the annual Scripps Spelling Bee, in which 11 million kids spell off across America in a bid to become the brainy few who land onstage for the final round, and learns how such a simple contest has been sullied by the need to keep the event exciting […]

