An All-Star Lineup - Sports Illustrated Magazine

“Athletes are nothing but a bunch of spoiled, overpaid crybabies!” Those words—or variations of those words—are overheard somewhere in the United States on a daily basis. While they might be at least partially true, let’s face it: sports, and the high demand for them, aren’t going away anytime soon. As sports fans, we tend to plan entire weeks, or months and years even, around sporting events. We scour very possible service for news stories and facts about our favorite teams and jocks. Sports Illustrated magazine is one such source, and they’ve been providing outstanding coverage since 1954.

As a sports magazine, Sports Illustrated performs its specialty—covering sports—very well. However, there are a few limitations. You won’t find the latest box scores from last week’s Yankees/Red Sox series, for instance, but in recent issues you would have learned that former Yankees first baseman Jason Giambi, upon his return to the Oakland A’s, has brought a fun-filled, loosey-goosey atmosphere to the Oakland clubhouse. Another issue got in-depth with San Francisco Giants pitcher Randy Johnson as he neared 300 career victories. You might have found it humorous to discover that when Johnson pitched in Seattle, an umpire convinced Mariners catcher Dave Valle to let him (the umpire) call all of Johnson’s pitches one night, his reasoning being that Johnson was so good that anyone could call the game for him. The ump whispered every pitch into Valle’s ear, and Johnson ended the evening with a complete game victory.

In other words, you get a lot of interesting, behind-the-scenes coverage from Sports Illustrated. Their March 2, 2009 issue reported on the returns of Lance Armstrong to cycling and Tiger Woods to golf. However, each article dealt largely with the impact both athletes had on their respective sports. For Armstrong, that means another rise in viewership and popularity for his oft-neglected sport—about two million fans lined California roads to watch his participation in this year’s Tour of California, vs. 1.6 million last year. The increased interest means more money for everyone. As German racer Jens Voigt put it: “When Lance is here, we get bigger crowds, more TV coverage, which makes the sponsors happy. In his slipstream we live well.”

Sports Illustrated has several monthly features, some of which have been around for decades. Their “Leading Off” section features dazzling sports photography. The Lance/Tiger issue shows a gnarly pic of Italian skier Omar Longhi crashing during a recent World Cup giant slalom run. As snow explodes around him, the skier’s goggles are flying off his head as if they’ve been snatched away by some invisible giant. The April 13, 2009 issue has a groovy photo of a British steeplechase, in which a horse has lost its rider but still jumps the obstacle. The photographer (Julian Finney) captured thousands of pine tree needles flying in the air all around the horse—it’s quite a stunning photo.

Then there’s the “Faces in the Crowd” segment, which has been around for longer than I can remember. “Faces” gives ink-time to the normal, everyday athlete and their recent accomplishments. While it’s mainly devoted to high school and college athletes (both male and female,) a recent “Faces” segment featured Tony Young, a 46-year-old man who is the world’s top middle distance runner in his age group.

The writing in Sports Illustrated is top-notch and features such heavyweights as Peter King and Tom Verducci. Sometimes, the prose borders on the poetic, often, it’s of a somewhat humorous bent. Check out this bit of regional self-deprecation from Joe Posdnek in an article about Cleveland’s sports woes: “We watched the Cavaliers dominate the Hawks in a playoff game, watched LeBron James rise to the stratosphere and take us with him. And now we’re back in Cleveland, back in a building named after an online lending company, and we’re watching Frisbee Dog, who can’t catch Frisbees…please catch a damn Frisbee. Please don’t turn this whole night into a joke.”

Sports Illustrated is published weekly, with extra issues in December and February, and they combine two issues each July and at the end of the year. As of May 25, 2009, subscription rates run $89.04 for 50 issues (although you might be able to find it cheaper through a subscription service.) That might sound pricey, but it’s well worth it for weekly in-depth sports coverage.

Oh yeah…they also put out an annual swimsuit issue full of sexy, scantily clad babes, in case you haven’t heard.