The Best American VICE Sports Writing 2016
J.O. Applegate

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The Best American VICE Sports Writing 2016

Here are sixteen of the best stories we published this past year.

2016 has been a terrible year for fans of universally-beloved pop stars and liberal democracy. But it has also been a pretty good year of 'tent at VICE Sports. Here are 16 of our favorite stories from the last twelve months:

Party Next Door: How the Young Bucks Revolutionized Professional Wrestling

Mike Piellucci

WWE has a larger stranglehold on professional wrestling than ever before. Two brothers found a way to beat the machine, and show how independent wrestlers can succeed on their own terms.

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The Rio Games Were an Unjustifiable Human Disaster, and so are the Olympics

Aaron Gordon

Like the other Olympics before them, Rio 2016 proved that the IOC is blithely indifferent to the waste, corruption, and human wreckage the Games leave in their wake.

Remembering Bruno, the Problem Bear That Overshadowed the 2006 World Cup

Brian Blickenstaff

The first bear on German soil in almost two centuries wandered across the border during the 2006 World Cup. German citizens were divided on what to do with the problembär.

Loser Takes All: The Philadelphia 76ers, the Process, and Belief

David Roth

During the lean years of The Process, the Sixers didn't give their fans much more than faith that things would someday be better. It was more than enough.

Ordinary Bat Touches Greatness, if Only For One Night

Sean Newell

A-Rod vigorously dried off his bat between his legs last night.

Friday Night Lights Out: The Case for Abolishing High School Football

Patrick Hruby

A Nevada school board candidate wants to eliminate high school football, and a handful of others are making a medical, ethical, and financial case against America's favorite prep sport. Their arguments are unpopular. But are they right?

A Girl in the Boy's Locker Room

Katelyn Burns

I don't regret growing up as an athlete. But not everything about sports is healthy, and for me, as a transgender woman, the locker room was toxic.

The House that Built Cam

Eric Nusbaum

The Holy Zion Center of Deliverance church played an integral part in Cam Newton's upbringing. We visited the church, where Cam's father Cecil Newton was a reluctant host.

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How Swing Dancing Faced Its Sexual Assault Scandal

Aaron Gordon

In a blog post last year, one woman accused Steven Mitchell, a living legend in the swing-dancing world, of using his position to prey on women; soon more victims came forward. The allegations shook the community, but have they changed anything?

The Rise and Fall of Gerd Bonk, the World Champion of Doping

Brian Blickenstaff

East German weightlifter Gerd Bonk took the highest documented quantity of anabolic steroids in his quest for a gold medal. He was a victim of the greatest, widest reaching, and most sociopathic scandal in sports history.

I Thought Golf Betrayed Me: A Former Pro Talks About Surviving Childhood Sexual Abuse

Anya Alvarez

Anya Alvarez is a former LPGA golfer and an advocate for victims of child sex abuse. As part of Sexual Abuse Awareness Month, she shared her story with VICE Sports.

Breaking Kayfabe: An Inside Look at the WWE's Business Empire

Ian Frisch

WWE is one of the most unlikely entertainment empires in US history, but CEO Vince McMahon's ambitions and management style have left many wondering if the company can continue to grow.

Throwback Thursday: Cory Lidle's Widow on his Plane Crash and How She Carries On

Mike Piellucci

Ten years after New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle died in an airplane crash, Melanie Lidle-Heyward is doing her best to live the way her husband did.

Unusual Suspect: The Rise and Fall of Owen Hanson, USC Athlete and Alleged Drug Kingpin

Eric Nusbaum

In a decade, Owen Hanson went from playing football and volleyball at USC to being the subject of a major FBI investigation into drug-trafficking, money-laundering, and illegal gambling.

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Kevin Durant Can Do Whatever The Hell He Wants

Sean Newell

Sportswriters are up in arms because they don't like that Kevin Durant did what he wanted.

Four Years a Student-Athlete: The Racial Injustice of Big Time College Sports

Patrick Hruby

While the NCAA's rules governing college athletes are colorblind, the impact of amateurism is anything but—disproportionately costing black football and men's basketball players and benefiting white stakeholders by as much as $2 billion a year.

Also, here is this one:

Some Sports Related Donald Trump Photos for You to Enjoy

David Roth

Some photos of Donald Trump watching various sporting events, and … 10 years since this picture, which is interesting in oh so many ways.

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