Here’s a look back on the year’s top read contributions at The Sports Column.
The intent at TSC is to democratize sportswriting, that is, to enable everyone, anywhere to write about sports. Once a year we look back to those contributions that generated the highest number of views.
Of the 650+ articles published in 2018, here are six stories that topped the viewership list.
Inspiring Story Of Caroline Found And The Iowa City West Volleyball Team
Matthew Paris
Iowa West high school lost their team captain, volleyball player Caroline Found, in a moped accident. The team rallied and repeated as state champions. Matthew Paris wrote about it all, a scenario that also inspired the film, The Miracle Season.
Zaur Aliyev
In one of the longest pieces we published in 2018, Zaur Aliyev offers his rendition of the history of football in Azerbaijan. Zaur describes, often using painful language, how the team has persisted under challenging situations. What comes through is pride for his team and unshakable commitment to his country.
Pratima Sherpa, Nepal’s 1-in-30 Million Golfer
Frank Fear
In a country (Nepal) where few men play golf, there stands Pratima Sherpa, a young woman seeking to become the country’s first woman pro. With the help of her father (a greenskeeper at one of the country’s few courses) and others–including supporters in the U.S., Tiger Woods among them–Sherpa crafts her game and becomes a rising star. Her story is the topic of an ESPN feature.
My Bucket List: Top Sporting Events, 2019
Caitlin Purvis
“If only I could be there!” Well, we can dream, can’t we? That’s what Caitlin Purvis did in an article that captured readers’ imagination (and delight)–from the unusual (Monaco Grand Prix) to the unsurprising (Super Bowl 53). Pick one and just do it!
Why The Yankees Didn’t Advance
Chris Marquez
Chris Marquez put pen to paper shortly after the New York Yankees were beaten by the Red Sox in the Divisional Round of the AL playoffs. He describes what he believes went wrong and what the Bronx Bombers need to do to get things right.
Amid Tiger Roars, A Quiet Conversation Explained It All
Kevin Schultz
St. Louis fan, Kevin Schultz, never thought he’d experience a sports moment as personally meaningful as David Freese’s performance in the 2011 World Series. But he did– courtesy of a stranger he met on the course who knew very little about the sport she was observing–golf. But she did know about the provocateur of her enthusiasm, Tiger Woods. What she knew speaks volumes about the value of sports.
***Here’s to another year of great sports writing!
