{"product_id":"the-way-it-looks-from-here-isbn-9780676973525","title":"The Way It Looks from Here","description":"In the first ever anthology of its kind, one of Canada’s premier sportswriters brings together the best writing on sport in this country, with a strong contemporary  flavour.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e It’s all here: classic reports on Canada’s great sporting triumphs, from  Joe Carter’s World Series--winning home run for the Toronto Blue Jays in 1993 to the  excitement of the back-to-back men’s and women’s hockey gold medals in Salt Lake  City. Stephen Brunt gives an entire section to writers who, unlike those covering  other beats, must work tightly by the clock, submitting their stories just as soon  as the action for the day is over. But he has also chosen our best writers’ more  thoughtful pieces on our national obsessions--such as Ed Willes on the WHA’s seven  tumultuous years and Wayne Johnston on the Original Six--and a good sampling of  the great sportswriters such as Trent Frayne, Peter Gzowski and Milt Dunnell. The  net effect is an examination of the deep role sport plays in our lives and imaginations,  in our sense of self and nationhood.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stephen Brunt has cast his net widely. He includes  superb stories of lower profile Canadian sports such as wrestling and horse racing,  even Monster Truck battles, and allows space for his own unequalled and unforgettable  profiles of Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson, as well as his post-mortem on Ben Johnson’ s fall from grace.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Full of triumph and heartbreak, great writing and great passions  — and a few wonderful surprises — this book will be essential reading for every serious  sports fan.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eIncluding:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e • Ian Brown on the stud-horse business\u003cbr\u003e • Christie Blatchford  on the 2003 Women’s Olympic Hockey Gold\u003cbr\u003e • Rosie DiManno on the Men’s\u003cbr\u003e • James Christie  on Ben Johnson’s 1988 Olympic triumph in Seoul\u003cbr\u003e • Michael Faber on Pat Burns\u003cbr\u003e • Red  Fisher on Lemieux and Gretzky at the 1987 Canada Cup\u003cbr\u003e • Trent Frayne on Canadian Open  golf champ Ken Green deciding to play Sun City during apartheid\u003cbr\u003e • Bruce Grierson  on Canada’s best squash player\u003cbr\u003e • Peter Gzowski on the Oilers with Gretzky\u003cbr\u003e • Tom Hawthorn  on John Brophy’s last brawl\u003cbr\u003e • Brian Hutchinson on Owen Hart’s widow’s revenge\u003cbr\u003e • Wayne  Johnston on the Montreal Canadiens\u003cbr\u003e • Guy Lawson on curling\u003cbr\u003e • Allan Maki on the 1989  Hamilton–Saskatchewan Grey Cup\u003cbr\u003e • Dave Perkins on the biggest home run in World Series  history\u003cbr\u003e • Mordecai Richler on snooker’s Cliff Thorburn\u003cbr\u003e • Steve Simmons on Donovan  Bailey\u003cbr\u003e • Mike Ulmer on Cujo’s charm\u003cbr\u003e and more…Introduction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBaseball\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eRaines Beats $1000-a-Week Habit\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael Farber — \u003ci\u003eThe Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e (Montreal)\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eCarter’s No Ordinary Joe after Series-Winning Blast\u003c\/i\u003e, Dave Perkins — \u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eWalker Worthy Target for Jays\u003c\/i\u003e, Milt Dunnell — \u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eAugust 7, 1921\u003c\/i\u003e, Steven Hayward — From \u003cb\u003eBuddha Stevens and Other Stories\u003c\/b\u003e, fiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBasketball\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eWhite Rules\u003c\/i\u003e, Gare Joyce — \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBoxing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003ePart of the Game\u003c\/i\u003e, Allen Abel — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eDiscord Works in Tyson’s Favour\u003c\/i\u003e, Milt Dunnell — \u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eBoxing the Greatest at Ali’s Farm\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephen Brunt — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eGoing the Distance from Reality\u003c\/i\u003e, Chris Jones — \u003ci\u003eNational Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eThe Trouble with Tyson\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephen Brunt — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCurling\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eMerv Curls Lead\u003c\/i\u003e, Guy Lawson — \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFootball\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eDestiny Finally Arrives for Long-Suffering Franchise\u003c\/i\u003e, Allan Maki — \u003ci\u003eCalgary Herald\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eGarry Sawatzky: Uncaged Lion\u003c\/i\u003e, Jim Taylor — \u003ci\u003eSports Only\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eOut of Africa\u003c\/i\u003e, Jack Todd — \u003ci\u003eThe Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e (Montreal)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eGolf\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eRough Stuff in the Rain\u003c\/i\u003e, Cam Cole — \u003ci\u003eNational Post,\u003c\/i\u003e deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eIssue Black and White, but Green Sees Only the Colour of Money\u003c\/i\u003e, Trent Frayne — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eWeir Wins in Canadian Style\u003c\/i\u003e, Cam Cole — \u003ci\u003eNational Post\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHockey\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eLemieux, Gretzky Team for Winner: Oh, Canada!\u003c\/i\u003e, Red Fisher — \u003ci\u003eThe Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e (Montreal), deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003ePat Burns Goes Home\u003c\/i\u003e, Michael Farber — \u003ci\u003eThe Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e (Montreal)\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eReal-Life Slap Shot\u003c\/i\u003e, Tom Hawthorn — \u003ci\u003eToronto Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eMogilny\u003c\/i\u003e, Iain MacIntyre — \u003ci\u003eThe Vancouver Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eThe Montreal Canadiens\u003c\/i\u003e, Wayne Johnston — From \u003cb\u003eOriginal Six: True Stories from Hockey’s Classic Era\u003c\/b\u003e, fiction\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eThe WHA Revisited\u003c\/i\u003e, Ed Willes — \u003ci\u003eOttawa Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eCurtis’s Charm\u003c\/i\u003e, Mike Ulmer — \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eThe Best in the World\u003c\/i\u003e, Peter Gzowski — \u003ci\u003eMaclean’s\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eStill Scrapping After All These Years\u003c\/i\u003e, Dave Feschuk — \u003ci\u003eNational Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eA Win When It Counts\u003c\/i\u003e, Christie Blatchford — \u003ci\u003eNational Post\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eGretzky’s Gang Beats U.S. 5–2 — and Keeps the Faith for a Desperate Nation\u003c\/i\u003e, Rosie DiManno — \u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eSaving the Game\u003c\/i\u003e, Ken Dryden — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eOrr’s Left Knee Gone for Good\u003c\/i\u003e, Damien Cox — \u003ci\u003eToronto Star\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eGoaltender Suite (iii) “One of You”; Things in Our Day; Desperate Moves\u003c\/i\u003e, Randall Maggs — From \u003cb\u003eThe Sawchuk Poems\u003c\/b\u003e, unpublished\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eHorse Racing\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eThe Flood\u003c\/i\u003e, Jim Coleman — \u003ci\u003eToronto Telegram\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eFront Page Girl\u003c\/i\u003e, Archie McDonald — \u003ci\u003eThe Vancouver Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eRacing’s Other Plate\u003c\/i\u003e, Beverley Smith — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eA Stud Is Born\u003c\/i\u003e, Ian Brown — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eSilent Cruise\u003c\/i\u003e, Timothy Taylor — From \u003cb\u003eSilent Cruise: Stories\u003c\/b\u003e, fiction\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eMonster Trucks\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eReturn of the Battle of the Monster Trucks\u003c\/i\u003e, Tom Hawthorn — \u003ci\u003eThis Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePool\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eMr. Iceberg\u003c\/i\u003e, Stan Dragland — From \u003cb\u003eStormy Weather: Foursomes\u003c\/b\u003e, unpublished\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSnooker\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• From \u003cb\u003eOn Snooker: The Game and the Characters Who Play It\u003c\/b\u003e, Mordecai Richler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSquash\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eCourt Jester\u003c\/i\u003e, Bruce Grierson — \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSwimming\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eOlympic Pressure Takes Personal Toll\u003c\/i\u003e, James Christie — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrack\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eWorld’s Fastest Man Even Faster\u003c\/i\u003e, James Christie — \u003ci\u003eThe Globe and Mail\u003c\/i\u003e, deadline writing\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eSimply the Best\u003c\/i\u003e, Steve Simmons — \u003ci\u003eThe Toronto Sun\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eUnforgiven\u003c\/i\u003e, Stephen Brunt — \u003ci\u003eToronto Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWrestling\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e• \u003ci\u003eThe Widow’s Revenge\u003c\/i\u003e, Brian Hutchinson — \u003ci\u003eSaturday Night\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003ePermissions\"What drives a Bobby Orr to push  along on wrecked knees? How was Wayne Gretzky able to see patterns opening up on  a rush before they did? Why did Tim Raines risk all his potential on cocaine? Not  all of the answers are to be found in this eclectic and intentionally quirky collection  of exceptional Canadian sports reportage, but the questions are posed frankly and  with no ulterior motive beyond sincere curiosity.\" \u003ci\u003eOttawa Citizen\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\"The way it looks from here is pretty darn good. With Mordecai Richler writing on  former world snooker champion Cliff Thorburn of Victoria, Peter Gzowski on Gretzky,  Ken Dryden on saving hockey and Stephen Brunt on the still unforgiven Ben Johnson,  how can it not be?... These varied and mostly well-chosen pieces reflect [the Canadian]  understated yet sometimes surprisingly feisty national sporting character.\" \u003ci\u003eThe  Times-Colonist\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"[Brunt] has assembled an eclectic and intentionally quirky  collection of exceptional Canadian sports reportage.... As a whole, [the selections]  explore what it is about sports that captivates so many of us.... Questions are  posed frankly and with no ulterior motive beyond sincere curiosity.\" \u003ci\u003eThe Gazette\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \"Skillfully selected.… Sure to take readers back to a more innocent time--when Wayne Gretzky was the world’s greatest hockey player, not a Hockey Canada  executive, Ben Johnson was the world’s fastest human, not a drug cheat, and the Montreal  Expos and Toronto Blue Jays were at the top of the baseball world and had more than  a few thousand fans in the stands per game to witness it.\" \u003ci\u003eWinnipeg Free Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003eStephen Brunt is one of Canada’s premier sportswriters and commentators. He lives in Hamilton, Ontario, and in Winterhouse Brook, Newfoundland.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIntroduction\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnyone who has written about sport for a living has received the letter, or e-mail or phone call, that always begins with the same few, stinging words: “I don’t know what game you were watching . . .” What invariably follows are great waves of outrage. The correspondent has missed a flagrant foul against the fan’s favourite team, or erred by pointing out some hero’s sin; he or she has overlooked a great coaching blunder, been oblivious to the key contribution of an unsung star, thought the wrong guy won the fight, and in general couldn’t see the forest for the trees.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSometimes, any or all of that is true, or at least true for one set of eyes, because perspective matters so much. The way it looks from here is not the way it looks from elsewhere because of the life experience and passion and need and cultural baggage we all bring to the table. What’s great and powerful about spectator sport, the reason the athletes and owners make all those millions, is that it can be anything you want it to be, from light background noise to all-consuming obsession, from empty spectacle to full-blown belief system. Unlike the movies or the theatre, sport requires a real commitment from its audience, a sense of identification with the competitors, a rooting interest that extends beyond the final whistle or the last out. That continuing relationship can originate in community identification, or family history, in forging a bond with a single star, in riding high with a great team, or suffering along with a hopeless underdog. Always, though, it’s personal, and in some way unique.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis collection, a very subjectively assembled cross-section of some of the best Canadian writing on sport, is the product of two, commingled “heres.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe first is the press box — a place where people who have seen too much, who have told the same story too often, who have witnessed the sports gods at both their best and worst and so can’t help but be a bit cynical — still rise to the occasion night after night, capturing the moment in words. There remains the notion that the sports section is the toy department of newspapers, a place not known for journalistic heavy lifting, but where tall tales are spun out of facts. Once upon a time, there was some truth to that, but the contemporary sports writer often faces a far more complex task than do confreres in the parliamentary press gallery or at a corporate annual meeting. A touch of artistry is a given: the sports pages have always been and always will be a place where good writing truly matters. But sports reporters and columnists have been forced to adapt to a world in which it pays to have some knowledge of economics and labour law, of the ins and outs of a criminal prosecution and the machinations of the stock market, of racial politics and government fiscal policy and, of course, the infield fly rule. Even the fantasy part has become more complex, since any fan can see any game at any time. Thanks to the double-edged miracle of the five-hundred-channel universe, the writer no long enjoys free rein as the lone witness to an otherwise mysterious event. It’s not good enough merely to describe, and perhaps even embellish just a little, what people have already seen for themselves (and seen over and over again, in the replays and highlights). And in some ways, they know too much. Readers now harbour doubts about their athletic heroes, and aren’t always willing to suspend disbelief.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo the challenge for the ink-stained wretch is to spin the event and the personalities involved into a neat little story, with insight, with wit, with insider knowledge, to know when to go with the emotion, to be a fan, and when to stand at arm’s length and deconstruct, chipping away at the myth’s foundation. And do all of that in about twenty minutes, or less.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDeadline writing is rapidly becoming a lost art in the business. So much of what fills the pages in the news, the business, the arts sections of any paper, are forms of institutional reporting and analysis, easily collected and written during a nine-to-five day, long before the presses run for what are now all morning newspapers. (The Internet, obviously, is a different animal, with its perpetual deadlines. So far, though, in terms of sport, it’s a medium that is sensational in providing raw information instantly, but that delivers little or nothing of literary value.) Sportswriters are among the last of a dying breed, called upon to think and write very quickly, to watch an event, to analyze what’s taken place, to turn some aspect of that into an easily digestible tale suitable for a saucy T\u0026amp;A\u0026amp;Sports tabloid, or a mass-market broadsheet, or a gray, super-serious, business-driven rag. The selections contained here come from all of the above, and there are gems to be found in every genre. Stories written to deadline, by definition, aren’t as polished as newspaper features that are fretted over for days, or magazine pieces that are fretted over for weeks, or books that are fretted over for years. It’s a literature made up entirely of first drafts. But there’s also an immediacy to it, something raw, in the moment. The images are still fresh in the writers’ minds; the crowd’s roar still rings in their ears. To have started typing seconds after Ben Johnson crossed the finish line, or after Joe Carter’s home run sailed over the left field fence in SkyDome, or after Mario Lemieux’s goal won the Canada Cup at Copps Coliseum, is different than mulling over the event months later. When it’s done well, a little bit of life and blood and sweat and joy makes its way right on to the page.","brand":"Vintage Canada","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303081988325,"sku":"NP9780676973525","price":14.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780676973525.jpg?v=1767742148","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-way-it-looks-from-here-isbn-9780676973525","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}