ESPN’s Van Natta’s Sunday Long Reads: 10 great pieces curated weekly

Pretty soon we’re going to start seeing lists of the best sportswriting of 2014, and I’ll try to collect them on the B/R Blog so you and I can make sure we catch up on any great writing we’ve missed.

One way to get a pile of great writing every week year-round is to follow ESPN senior writer Don Van Natta Jr.’s Sunday Long Reads. It’s a list of 10 great pieces of long-form journalism chosen by Van Natta and Jacob Feldman, a Harvard undergraduate who writes for the Crimson.

This week’s list includes three sports stories, if you count pro wrestling as a sport. Either way, The Legend of Panther Girl, by Jeff Maysh in Victory Journal, has the top spot. The other two sports pieces are Jordan Ritter Conn’s Grantland profile of Tommy Gaines, a basketball legend turned drug addict, and Seth Wickersham’s ESPN story about Scot McCloughan, a wildly successful NFL talent evaluator who’s out of the business.

Other pieces cited cover ISIS, neonaticide, the mess at The New Republic and more.

You can subscribe to an email newsletter of the weekly list or just check Van Natta’s Twitter feed every Sunday.

A good first goal would be to read all 10 stories every week. A good second goal would be to make the list. Good luck.