Great work, Mark. Not only about the old days of SI but today's version of the mag and the worst choice for sports person of the year it has ever made -- a fake coach with a fake mission.
This is a brilliant and inspired take that opens with a brilliant and inspired lede (applause). Deion, whom I respect in many ways, was a sham choice. O'Bannon is the Curt Flood of college sports, the guy who changed the landscape. And SI as a broader narrative is a sad exemplary of the failures on journalism writ large. Great, great piece -- but you missed Ron Fimrite, I think, and another trend-setter, in Melissa Ludtke (then Lincoln).
Great column indeed! I cancelled my SI subscription some years ago when it became apparent that the new owners were your stereotypical venture capitalist vultures. On a tangent - though I didn’t (and still don’t) know all the facts, I was inclined to cut Joe Paterno some slack. If you have a long-time friend whom you think you know, it can be easy to fool yourself into believing that he wasn’t capable of doing the things of which he was accused, that his actions must have been misinterpreted.
I could have listed 30 or so others.
What a walk down memory lane. Deion is a travesty. But he and CU are just the reductio ad absurdum of where D1 sports have been going.
Great work, Mark. Not only about the old days of SI but today's version of the mag and the worst choice for sports person of the year it has ever made -- a fake coach with a fake mission.
Prrfect in every thought and word, especially Santos as Time’s icon.
May be your best column ever!
This is a brilliant and inspired take that opens with a brilliant and inspired lede (applause). Deion, whom I respect in many ways, was a sham choice. O'Bannon is the Curt Flood of college sports, the guy who changed the landscape. And SI as a broader narrative is a sad exemplary of the failures on journalism writ large. Great, great piece -- but you missed Ron Fimrite, I think, and another trend-setter, in Melissa Ludtke (then Lincoln).
Still have boxes of old issues of SI in my attic.
An excellent column (and some good comments too)!
Great column indeed! I cancelled my SI subscription some years ago when it became apparent that the new owners were your stereotypical venture capitalist vultures. On a tangent - though I didn’t (and still don’t) know all the facts, I was inclined to cut Joe Paterno some slack. If you have a long-time friend whom you think you know, it can be easy to fool yourself into believing that he wasn’t capable of doing the things of which he was accused, that his actions must have been misinterpreted.
Kudos‼️;SI is irrelevant & so is NeonDeon
I agree with Allan...it could be your best column ever
Nice piece. Maybe you can take mantle from here