The Tragedy Of Sports Illustrated + What SI Meant To Me
Some musings on the impending death of a magazine that brought me so much joy over so many years. Plus, I reveal my all-time favorite SI Covers...
The heartbreaking obituaries keep on flooding in for Sports Illustrated, with the iconic magazine’s ultimate demise seemingly all but sealed.
It has been, to be frank, absolutely crushing to digest the slew of tributes to a storied journalism outpost that isn’t dead yet, but is clearly on its way to a brutal and gruesome end.
Think back to that iconic scene in the first Lord Of The Rings when Boromir is being impaled with arrow after arrow, using whatever life he had left in order to try and save Frodo and the gang from the evil clutches of the Uruk-hai. Boromir would, of course, eventually meet a grisly end despite putting up one hell of a fight because, let’s face it, nobody could survive that many arrows being plunged into them.
I reference that bit of movie magic to make the point that, just like Boromir, Sports Illustrated is also dying a slow and excruciatingly painful death, one that is becoming just as hard and just as heart-rending to watch play out.
Now, I’m a little late to the party on this due to being laid up with a couple of health issues, but the issue at hand is still topical given that the untimely end of an iconic institution is being played out before our very eyes. The downfall of SI will continue to be drawn out, and it’s going to be bloody.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about - although if you don’t then I’m impressed because this story has been plastered and covered everywhere - Sports Illustrated is currently imploding from the inside out in spectacular and heartbreaking fashion. Due to a licensing issue between Authentic Brands, which owns SI, and Arena Group, which publishes SI after licensing the brand from Authentic Brands (yeah, it’s complicated, I know), Sports Illustrated laid off pretty much its entire staff after a missed payment by Arena Group effectively set the licensing agreement on fire. Now, there are still staff contracted to the magazine - for now - and SI is still being published - also for now - but the future of the storied franchise remains uncertain to say the very least. Whatever happens, I think we can say with absolute confidence that the Sports Illustrated we loved and grew up with is dead, and that it died an ugly death a long, long time ago. Even if SI does haul itself off the canvas and lives to fight another day, it will be a shadow of its former hallowed self and the glory days will remain a distant relic of the past.
I think it is long past time to mourn the magazine that meant so much to so many because, let’s face it, this precipitous decline has been in the offing for years and any potential future incarnation of SI just won’t be the same. It breaks my heart to say it, but it’s over.
What an absolute tragedy.
I’m going to delve into what Sports Illustrated means to me - I’ll also share some of my favorite covers from my time religiously devouring the magazine over the years - but, first, I want to take a quick moment to riff on what’s been another tragic week for sports journalism.
If an absolute heavyweight like SI sinking faster than the Titanic wasn’t enough, an already beaten and bruised industry that is on its knees and facing an eight count suffered yet more crushing body blows with other titans announcing mass layoffs. Almost as if they weren’t willing to let Sports Illustrated die on its own, the LA Times fired over 100 employers (including a couple of excellent baseball reporters in Jack Harris and Sarah Valenzuela, who would be an asset to any baseball beat in the country). If that wasn’t bad enough, Business Insider and Pitchfork also both announced huge cuts to its staff, while hundreds upon hundreds of staff at outlets like Forbes and The New York Daily News staged historic walkouts in order to protest planned cuts.
On a side note, it seems absolutely crazy to me that a storied franchise such as the LA Times won’t have a dedicated Dodgers beat reporter in 2024. That’s insane in any universe, but especially in one where the star-studded, juggernaut Dodgers will be led by Shohei Ohtani this season and will consistently be one of the most compelling stories in sports. If that doesn’t underline just how much trouble sports journalism is in right now, then I don’t know what does.
It is just a brutal, brutal time to be a journalist right now, and you can’t help but wonder if the industry is truly ever going to recover. I mean, considering the current outlook, it feels as if though journalism is just one more lethal arrow away from meeting the same horrifying death as Boromir.
I’ve consumed so much media this week alone on the dark days of sports journalism, and I’ve read and listened to so much more content from established and older sports writers basically warning all up-and-comers to stay the hell out of dodge and pick new career paths. I mean, when you hear legendary former Sports Illustrated managing editor Mark Mulvoy tell former esteemed SI writer Jeff Pearlman, on his excellent ‘Two Writers Slinging Yang’ podcast, that he would essentially advise wannabe sports writers to pick a different career path, then you begin to grasp the harsh and distressing reality of the situation at hand.
As a 30-year-old sports writer still battling to carve out a piece of real estate in the sports journalism world in America, who isn’t from the United States and who still has more than half of my working career out ahead of me, the demise of Sports Illustrated and the death by a thousand cuts fate that has befallen the industry as a whole is depressing, to be brutally honest. I do have moments late at night when I’m alone at my laptop trying to churn out another story, where I wonder if this is all worth it, if I’m being stupid and holding on too long before folding and investing too much hope into an industry that may be beyond saving at this point. I can’t help but calculate that with each round of brutal cuts, I fall farther down the list of candidates competing for the same jobs in an already uber-competitive market. Selfish, I know, but with more and more established and elite journalists / writers losing their jobs by the day, the opportunities for young writers looking for their first big break suddenly vanish. It is a vicious circle, and one that keeps me up at night.
However, I always come back to the same conclusion: I’ve poured blood, sweat and tears into just getting to this point, and I’ll be dammed if I’m about to give up now. Is journalism currently hanging on for dear life having been subjected to a million deep and savage axe cuts? Yes. Is sports journalism on its knees, waiting for the sword to come down and put it out of its misery at long last? It sure seems that way. But, but, but, I firmly believe that most things in life are cyclical, and that as a result sports journalism will live on in some way shape or form and a new era will be ushered in. Will that new era resemble the glory days of yesteryear? I’d wager no. In saying that, all I’ve ever wanted to be is a sports writer, and it has been my dream for the longest time to carve my name on the Mount Rushmore of some of the greatest American sports writers who have ever lived. That lofty dream still lives on and, call me stupid or deluded - or both - but I soldier on in hope that I can be part of a new generation of sports writers that help to make real reporting and real journalism matter again. These are dark days for all of us right now, but I have faith that the world will always need talented and hard-working sports writers who care passionately about their craft and the sports they cover. It is that sentiment that acts as the driving force behind my relentless drive to put my all into this website every single day. I’m not ready to give up on my dream. Not yet. And nor should any aspiring writer or journalist out there. Keep hanging on in there - it will be worth it in the end.
What SI Meant To A Kid In England
So, as many of you will be well aware of by now, I’m not American. I was born and raised in England, meaning that I wasn’t exposed to the charm and prestige of Sports Illustrated like most kids in the United States were growing up. I wasn’t raised on the beauty of the written word, powered by majestic heavyweights such as Peter King, Tom Verducci, the late, great Grant Wahl, Jenny Vrentas, Stephanie Apstein, Michael Farber, Tim Layden, Jeff Pearlman, S.L. Price, Paul Zimmerman and L. Jon Wertheim. The list goes on and on and on.
Instead, I stumbled across Sports Illustrated on my own volition later on in life. I have regaled you before with tales of how my love affair with American sports first began, so I won’t bore you with the same old stories again, but it was that newfound passion from which my obsession with SI first started.
Craving any opportunity to digest more information on Sidney Crosby, who quickly assumed the mantle of my favorite hockey player shortly after I was first introduced to the wonders of the National Hockey League, I went in hopeless search of any kind of publication that featured even the faintest whiff of hockey or American sports coverage. Trying to find a magazine that focused on the NHL in England was like trying to find a needle in the Atlantic Ocean, nevermind a haystack.
That was in 2010, roughly. It wasn’t until much later, May 2013 to be more precise, when I stumbled upon actual gold. I’m talking about the May 13, 2013 issue of Sports Illustrated which featured Sid The Kid on the front, complete with the headline ‘The Most Amazing Thing About The Most Amazing Player.’ I remember snatching that magazine off the shelves from my local news store, carefully placing it in a carrier bag and then into my backpack as if it were some precious, ancient artifact that needed protecting at all costs. I rushed home and devoured every single word of Michael Rosenberg’s stellar feature story on Crosby, before being caught in a state of absolute awe as I flicked through the rest of the magazine, struggling to grasp the significance and cultural importance of the 68 page sports bible that I had clenched in a firm grip. I was mesmerized and hooked all at once.
It was overwhelming just how much compelling content was beautifully assembled in one magazine. I was drawn in by the ‘Hot-Not’ section, a simple half-page feature that picked out two athletes in the world of sports who were hot, and two who were not quite so hot. I became obsessed with tracking the young studs featured in the hugely popular ‘Faces In The Crowd,’ wondering to myself if one day I’d see one of the up-and-coming faces of the future plastered on a Sports Illustrated cover. I was absolutely captivated by the breathtaking photography featured throughout the glossy pages of SI, and I’d spend literal hours just staring at the array of stunning imagery that really did set the magazine apart from its competitors. And, of course, the Crosby issue exposed me to the elite, top-of-the-market, groundbreaking, in-depth storytelling that ensured Sports Illustrated was the absolute gold standard for sports journalism. From the Crosby feature, to Thomas Lake’s heartbreaking story on athletes on drink driving, and Ben Reiter’s wonderful deep-dive into the Oakland Athletics taking a punt on slugger Yoenis Céspedes - and it working - never before had I come across a mesmerizing collection of Hall of Fame worthy writers and reporters all in one place. Reading SI for the very first time truly changed the trajectory of my career, and indeed my life.
At this point, I was coming to the realization that I was destined to end up in America somehow, someway. I just knew in my heart that I was born to cover sports on the other side of the Atlantic, and consuming SI every single week helped to fuel the dream. Already a diehard hockey fan, I soon fell for the old-school, romantic charms of baseball and the in-your-face, violent thrills of the NFL. It was then that I got extra excited every time I saw a Peter King or Tom Verducci cover. When that happened, my entire week was made. Peter King in particular has become my biggest idol and inspiration, and his work has been a constant in my life as I’ve worked tirelessly to carve out a name for myself in the very same industry he has dominated for decades now. The creation of The MMQB - a SI owned site that really took coverage of the NFL to the next level - was an absolute game-changer, and consuming every single word of Peter’s legendary MMQB columns on Monday mornings was my version of going to church and worshipping. Even though he is now at NBC, I don’t miss a Peter King column and I have him to largely thank for my obsession with American sports and my resolute pursuit of becoming the best sports writer I can possibly be.
One thing was certain; Sports Illustrated was the bible for sports fans and I knew that I never wanted to miss another issue. Thus, a years-long passion and obsession was born.
I can remember the exact point at which I started to buy Sports Illustrated every single week. Looking back through the plethora of iconic covers over at SI Vault - man, that museum full of historical greatness could have been so much better - I’m pretty sure that I purchased issues of SI on an occasional basis from that Crosby issue through to around 2014, 2015, before diving fully in and not missing a single edition from the end of 2015 through to the present day. Even now, with Sports Illustrated long ago pivoting from a weekly publication to a monthly one, and the overall quality of the product plummeting sharply, I make sure I pick up a copy of the latest SI fresh off the newsstand every single month without fail. It is almost muscle memory at this point.
While the magazine is a shadow of its former self, and has been for the longest time, you can still find elite storytelling within those pages. The likes of Greg Bishop, Albert Breer, Conor Orr, Matt Verderame, Michael Rosenberg, Chris Mannix, Mitch Goldich and Stephanie Apstein, and so many others, are responsible for keeping afloat what has been a sinking ship for quite some time now. Even in its dying days, Sports Illustrated is still the destination for all-time writing and reporting thanks to those aforementioned names who are all absolute wizards with the written word.
I mean, it really is quite alarming just how bad SI has become over the years. Once renowned for being the final word on any major sporting event, in addition to shining the light on lesser-known or lesser-covered sports, the magazine now seems to take an half-assed approach to most things and only features coverage on things that will bring in advertisement dollars. For instance, you used to be able to bank on one great NHL feature in most, if not all, issues. Now you are lucky if hockey even gets a mention in a passing sentence. I don’t think I’ve seen a tangible story on the National Hockey League inside a Sports Illustrated issue for well over a year. It never used to be like that.
The Steele Sports Bar can only grow and be successful thanks to your support. There are no corporate overlords here.
This newsletter is 100000000% reader-supported. If you’re willing and able, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
By becoming a paid subscriber, you will play a direct role in helping this site grow and become bigger and better. We remain independent because of you.
All funds will go towards keeping this website totally independent, as well as covering expenses and other related costs involved in taking the newsletter to the next level. This will include hitting the road to as many different ballparks as we can in 2024!
As always, thank you for so much for your time and investment!
Back in February 2019, I was on a freezing morning run around Central Park, taking in the sheer beauty of my surroundings while trying to maintain a decent pace in order not to freeze my ass off. About halfway round my loop of the park, and in a desperate attempt to try and distract my mind from the blazing pain that was inflicting my legs and my lungs, I took a glance at the myriad of notifications on my phone when I noticed an alert from Sports Illustrated. The message was drawing attention to a feature on Tampa Bay Lightning Head Coach Jon Cooper, written by the excellent Alex Prewitt who did a masterful job of covering hockey for the mag. After taking note that the behind-the-scenes look at the brains behind the Lightning’s success was a feature story in that week’s magazine, I gleefully finished my run with a sprint to the nearest newsstand, picking up a copy of the brand new SI - and a bottle of Cool Blue Gatorade - before rushing back home and absolutely devouring the Tampa Bay story and the rest of the magazine, including Greg Bishop’s excellent breakdown of yet another Super Bowl win for the New England Patriots. Even as recently as 2019, Sports Illustrated was still an absolute powerhouse and I dearly miss the days when I could buy a magazine and read feature-length pieces on baseball, hockey, football, basketball and some random sport or historical event all in the same issue. Those were the true glory days. I also miss the look and the feel of the old weekly issues, and the fact that the timely content acted as the perfect and essential companion to the sporting event you just consumed days before. Now, the monthly editions are largely a mess and a far cry from the cornerstone of great sportswriting that took pride in intricate detail, heart, love, passion and ultimate craftsmanship.
I have a stack of Sports Illustrated magazines, dating back a couple of years, sat in my book cupboard. I’m still trying to work through them and catch up and, as I mentioned previously, there are still a bunch of elite writers producing special work for the magazine. However, whenever I pick up a recent magazine to read, it acts as a heartbreaking reminder as to how far a once towering giant has fallen. But, as sad as it makes me reading a very watered down version of greatness, I will continue to do so because I fear that, very soon, I won’t have the luxury or the pleasure of being able to go to the newsstand to buy Sports Illustrated anymore. And that is the saddest and most tragic aspect of this whole sorry mess.
My Favorite Sports Illustrated Covers
This has been a pretty depressing article to write, so I thought I’d finish on a high note by sharing some of my favorite Sports Illustrated Covers.
Now, there’s a caveat here: the covers you are about to see are personal to me and are the ones I enjoyed the most from my time reading the magazine. In other words, don’t expect to see some of the all-time greats featured here.
Okay, here goes…
July 29, 2013
Not only does the lime green on the white background jump out, but this was an issue I absolutely craved because it had my idol Peter King on the cover. This was the magazine that announced the launch of The MMQB, and any issue of Sports Illustrated was always better if it featured a Peter King masterpiece inside.
October 06, 2014
Baseball and Ice Hockey on the cover? Yes please. Covers like this is what made SI so, so great for so many years, and I used to cherish the joint MLB / NHL season previews where I could consume in-depth feature after in-depth feature on my two favorite sports. Sadly, those days are long gone and you would think the NHL doesn’t exist anymore given its lack of coverage in the modern-day version of the magazine.
October 12, 2015
For me, one of the best baseball covers ever produced by Sports Illustrated. This was the era of MLB I fell in love with, and that was a fun Toronto team to watch absolutely mash on a daily basis.
February 08, 2016
This cover always sticks in my mind. Okay, the mish-mash of the different faces is enough to give you nightmares, but I just remember at the time thinking that this was a really cool cover. I also remember this time fondly because it was around the time I watched Friday Night Lights for the first time - the TV show, obviously - and decided there and then that America was where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I was becoming more and more obsessed with the NFL as a direct result, and I just lived for these types of features in the magazine.
May 16, 2016
The late, great Vin Scully was the voice of baseball and Tom Verducci’s story on an absolute icon was breathtakingly beautiful. I miss Vin Scully calling baseball games with that unmistakable voice of his.
May 01, 2017
Sports Illustrated was elite when it came to carrying out in-depth profiles on potential stars of the future. This one, an intricate look at Hunter Greene, who signed a six-year $53 million extension with the Reds last year, was no different.
June 18, 2018
It wasn’t often hockey was featured on the cover of SI but, when it was, it was an absolute beauty. I watched the Capitals slay their Stanley Cup demons in a bar in Toronto, before making sure I picked up this issue to read all about it from the brilliant perspective of Alex Prewitt, who was one hell of a hockey writer for the mag.
May 21, 2018
There were few outlets who covered the tough sports stories in such harrowing detail as Sports Illustrated. This jaw-dropping feature on Luke Heimlich by the esteemed S.L. Price had a profound impact on everyone who read it. The cover helped to hammer home the seriousness of the story, too.
August 26, 2019
I’m including this eye-catching cover because I almost forgot OBJ playing for the Browns was an actual thing. Plus, those uniforms were sick and it made for a freaking kick-ass cover.
April 22, 2019
I’m no golf fan. But, hey, you can’t argue that this was an all-timer of a cover for SI. This is the very definition of the old adage that a picture speaks a thousand words. In this case, no words were needed. One of Sports Illustrated’s most iconic and impactful covers, and a true throwback to when the magazine was at the peak of its powers.
March 11, 2019
This cover absolutely stopped me in my tracks. This was just a heartbreaking tribute to the victims of the Humboldt tragedy, and a shining example of why SI was the gold standard in real and meaningful sports writing for so many decades. I shed actual tears reading Greg Bishop’s emotional and heartfelt story, and it is a piece that still impacts me to this day. Also, notice the two bylines at the top? That was the last real time SI featured in-depth features on both the NHL and NBA within the same issue. I’d say 2019 was the last really good year for this storied franchise before things fell of a cliff.
April 2021
I’ll finish with this one. At this stage, SI had gone to a monthly schedule and red flags pertaining to the once great magazine’s decline were starting to pop up everywhere. However, I’ll always remember this cover as a Mets fan because we were still basking in the glow of Steve Cohen buying the franchise and then going out to trade for a legit superstar in Francisco Lindor. Success hasn’t exactly followed for the Mets since then, but seeing our smily new star on the cover of Sports Illustrated was a joy nonetheless.
This newsletter is 100000% reader-supported. If you are willing and able, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Your support will ensure this website remains totally independent. Thank you for your time and investment - AS.