2012's Best: The best of Began in '96

There's an old quote deriding sportswriting, and it goes something like, "The sports section is the playground of a newspaper." Writing about bats and balls and the people who dedicate their lives to children's games is silly, it's saying, a venture not up to par with the seriousness of the rest of the day's news.

To that, we say: You're absolutely right.

Sports is certainly a playground for writers. It's a place where we get do to big, dumb, stupid things. A place where we can tease someone over his ridiculous haircut, where we can show off and mess around for hours on end. It's fun to write about sports and all of the amazing, outlandish and downright ridiculous things that we witness every day. That fun is why we come out and do it again and again.

But the playground is also where we tend to have our most formative experiences. They're not part of our formal education, but they stick with us nevertheless. The playground is where we make new friends. Where we grapple with injustice and every once in a while gather up the courage to take on the schoolyard bully. It's the playground — it's sports — where things can get messy and put us to the test. We write sports because it's fun. But sometimes we also write because it's necessary.

It's always instrumental to take one last look back before we forge ahead. If we've spent the last two weeks reflecting on the 2012 year in sports, then consider the following a reflection on the 2012 year in us. It's the 10 best stories published at Began in '96 over the last year, as selected by the editors, as well as the five most-read pieces. You'll find an assortment of reflective essays, furious arguments and in-depth analysis; the kind of diversity of subject and style that we think keeps this site strong.

We hope you'll read all of them, but more than that, we hope that at least one will grab you, shake you up and deposit you back in your seat, a little bit of a different person from when you started.

Much gratitude goes to our numerous contributors, whose stories consistently knock us on our ass. Ten stories is far too few to capture all of the great writing that goes on here.

And a thank you beyond words to everyone for reading, for joining us on the playground. Here's to quality sportswriting and quality people.

-- Adam and Joe

2012's Best of Began in '96: Adam

1. Exceptional healing: Johan, the Mets and the ghosts of '06
"The Mets have their milestone. In Santana, they have their hero. And thanks to him, the past no longer stands in the way of the future."

2. RGIII's one-season revolution
"In the NFL, though, change is as fleeting as it is common. The true test of the RGIII revolution is whether it sticks around."

3. Steel city savior
"Thank you Andrew, for reminding us that we’re all winning in the Steel City. That we’re alive."

4. Mayhem on the ice
"When games get chippy, both checking lines hit the ice. Two guys go at it, and that’s the end. That’s how it’s supposed to happen, at least."

5. Lions in the boardroom, lambs on the field
"Samson is a lap dog masquerading as the Alpha dog, wrapped in a Napoleon complex and weighed down by the massive chip on his shoulder."

2012's Best of Began in '96: Joe

1. Thursday with Jerry

"Before long, he's smiling again. It's a Thursday night, and Jerry is a student at the only college he ever wanted to attend."

2. The great stadium hustle

"Most states and cities already can't afford to throw hundreds of millions of dollars toward something that doesn’t grow the surrounding community. When the tradeoff is taking money away from funding for education, road and bridge maintenance, airports and so on, the decision should be easy. But regardless of the mounting evidence, the same thing happens almost every time."

3. Surrounding Yeardley and George, a deafening silence

"In the spring of 2010, Yeardley Love's ex-boyfriend broke into her room, beat her and left her to die. She would spend her final moments face down on her bed in a pool of blood, alone. She was 22 years old."

4. Can't knock the hustle

"Despite all the evidence, we fans still operate under this facade of loyalty. We recognize that sports is just another industry, but we still want our players to feel the same connection to us that we do to them."

5. The First Annual Began in '96 Super Bowl Drinking Game

"Someone tells you the commercials are the best part of the Super Bowl-- drink until you can forgive them"

2012's Most Read at Began in '96

1. Bryce Harper: Man/Child

"It was a man's hit, decisive and direct. Harper read two all the way and pulled into second easily."

2. INFOGRAPHIC: RGIII's dominating performance by the numbers

"We now know this much: Robert Griffin III has world-class speed."

3. At Real Madrid, Mourinho's power fails

"His intense, almost fanatical addiction winning and success made him the most sought-after coach for big clubs needing quick success. But Mourinho burns almost everything he touches."

4. Thursday with Jerry

5. Carlos, I'm sorry

"But worse than all that is the realization that we, as Mets fans, wasted our years with Beltran."


Began in '96 is edited by Adam Cancryn and Joe Schackman, and features contributions from more than 15 writers.