Our issue on human play chronicles the thrills of victory, the agonies of defeat, and the luck that makes all the difference. Among the contributors: Pindar, Vince Lombardi, A.J. Liebling, Annie Dillard, Ovid, Vladimir Nabokov, Andre Agassi, Abul-Fazl, Nick Hornby, George Plimpton, Damon Runyon, Beryl Markham, A.E. Housman.