Thanks GW Mayhem! Truly an inspired remembrance.

Growing up I used to get The Sporting News and SI and while I didn't have as long to enjoy SI as you did, it's a true loss. Pouring one out tonight.

First post of my GW Hoops fanboard career and I want to give a special thanks to all of you for your posts and to Barry, who I had the pleasure to work with at the Charles E. You all make me laugh, cry, think, and yearn for the next game. I found you all in the early part of COVID and I want to thank you all so so deeply. Onto Richmond!! Raise High!

Well done Gwmayhem!  Started reading SI in my pediatrician's office and had a subscription beginning at 10 or 11 years old.  When I finally gave it up some 40-50 years later, it was like breaking up with a longtime girlfriend where it took several years to fully let go.    

For the historical record, I'll add one GW SI non-highlight in June 1996 relating to the recruitment of Richie Parker.  
 

Well written post.  Wasn’t SI the original “Sidd Finch” April Fools article?  As a Mets fan, they had me fooled for sure.

PKGW wrote:

Well written post.  Wasn’t SI the original “Sidd Finch” April Fools article?  As a Mets fan, they had me fooled for sure.

 Sidd Finch was Plimpton's opus magnum for SI.
Got a subscription as a bar mitzvah gift and kept it until I fled the US and into exile after graduating. Great photography, outstanding writing, broad coverage. From an era when being the first to yell nonsense loudly was not a valued trait.

Last edited by GW Alum Abroad (1/23/2024 4:40 pm)

Gwmayhem wrote:

The likely scenario is that if you are in your 30's or younger, you don't have much idea as to the enormous impact that Sports Illustrated had on sports journalism, and really on journalism in general.  If you are in your 40's, you may have some idea and if you're in your 50's or are older, you fully get it.  Like you got the magazine in the mail, most every Thursday, and woe be unto the letter carrier for being a day late or God forbid, missing an occasional issue altogether.  The magazine's reputation was crafted upon its exceptional photography but soon, the country's most talented sportswriters lined up to write for the publication.  Frank Deford.  Rick Reilly (the younger, very entertaining version).  Curry Kirkpatrick.  Peter King.  Steve Rushin.  Richard Deitsch (if you like the sports media stuff which I do), Dan Jenkins, Peter Gammons, Dr. Z, Alexander Wolff, Jack McCallum, Rick Telander, the occasional first-person piece by George Plimpton, and the "give yourself 30 minutes to read" essay from arguably the best of all of them, Gary Smith.

The bad news surrounding SI came well before Friday's announcement that the publication is on life support.  Frankly, it has felt this way for years.  Ownership changed hands and as happens way too often in business, maximizing profits became far more important than putting out a superior product.  Proofreaders and editors were let go.  Writers got their resumes together.  Reader habits turned to digital where SI was agonizingly slow to adapt.  The magazine changed it's schedule to every other week,  followed by some indecipherable schedule where you might get the magazine once or twice per month contingent upon the month, and then finally, to a monthly schedule. 

As a weekly publication, SI was never about providing a summary of the game; that's what newspapers were for.  But SI could walk you through what led up to a big game to the reactions given after the game was played.  That was now gone.  The bi-monthy and monthy SI was limited to features and season previews.  Perhaps even more importantly, the quality of the writing deteriorated significantly.  There have been recent reports of AI-generated articles and before that, under-qualified writers hired to skim costs.  No matter how often the magazine was publishing, it hardly mattered.  SI had become The New Coke, a product that nobody ever asked for or wanted.

Let's close with some of the GW highlights over the years in SI.  In December of 1975, "Siblings, But Nary a Rivalry" discussed both father-son and brother-brother coach-player relationships in the college game, which included Bob Tallent coaching his younger brother Pat.  Pat said that the two engaged in two-on-two games frequently as kids, important training for Pat as he understood exactly how Bob wanted him to play.  In April, 1984, "From Russia With Love" chronicled GW's recruitment of Max Blank.  Max chose GW over Temple (interestingly, GW had both a Jewish coach in Gerry Gimelstob and Jewish Athletic Director Steve Bilsky at the time) and the article cites Bilsky being on the receiving end of antisemitic remarks from a Temple athletic administration official at that time.)  

Here is a passage regarding Yinka and the Sweet 16 team, along with a Mike Jarvis anecdote that I assume we all did not know or were willing to forget about:



Dare (pronounced dar-AY), the Colonials' 7-foot freshman center from Nigeria, can't shoot beyond 10 feet, which makes every one of his free throws an adventure. But he's agile and active, and he responds to cheers of "Hip, hip, Dare!" from the George Washington band. The Colonials share a city and a first syllable with a much more storied program, and coach Mike Jarvis cannot tell a lie: "One time I was giving a pregame talk. It was my best, most inspiring stuff. I ended by saying, 'Now let's go out and win one for Georgetown. I mean, George Washington.' It happens."

Finally, there is the infamous photograph of Shawnta Rogers standing side by side with Alexander Koul.  That received a ton of publicity.

RIP Sports Illustrated.  I appreciate the magnificent run.


 

AMEN GWMAYHEM  AMEN

Gwmayhem wrote:

The likely scenario is that if you are in your 30's or younger, you don't have much idea as to the enormous impact that Sports Illustrated had on sports journalism, and really on journalism in general.  If you are in your 40's, you may have some idea and if you're in your 50's or are older, you fully get it.  Like you got the magazine in the mail, most every Thursday, and woe be unto the letter carrier for being a day late or God forbid, missing an occasional issue altogether.  The magazine's reputation was crafted upon its exceptional photography but soon, the country's most talented sportswriters lined up to write for the publication.  Frank Deford.  Rick Reilly (the younger, very entertaining version).  Curry Kirkpatrick.  Peter King.  Steve Rushin.  Richard Deitsch (if you like the sports media stuff which I do), Dan Jenkins, Peter Gammons, Dr. Z, Alexander Wolff, Jack McCallum, Rick Telander, the occasional first-person piece by George Plimpton, and the "give yourself 30 minutes to read" essay from arguably the best of all of them, Gary Smith.

The bad news surrounding SI came well before Friday's announcement that the publication is on life support.  Frankly, it has felt this way for years.  Ownership changed hands and as happens way too often in business, maximizing profits became far more important than putting out a superior product.  Proofreaders and editors were let go.  Writers got their resumes together.  Reader habits turned to digital where SI was agonizingly slow to adapt.  The magazine changed it's schedule to every other week,  followed by some indecipherable schedule where you might get the magazine once or twice per month contingent upon the month, and then finally, to a monthly schedule. 

As a weekly publication, SI was never about providing a summary of the game; that's what newspapers were for.  But SI could walk you through what led up to a big game to the reactions given after the game was played.  That was now gone.  The bi-monthy and monthy SI was limited to features and season previews.  Perhaps even more importantly, the quality of the writing deteriorated significantly.  There have been recent reports of AI-generated articles and before that, under-qualified writers hired to skim costs.  No matter how often the magazine was publishing, it hardly mattered.  SI had become The New Coke, a product that nobody ever asked for or wanted.

Let's close with some of the GW highlights over the years in SI.  In December of 1975, "Siblings, But Nary a Rivalry" discussed both father-son and brother-brother coach-player relationships in the college game, which included Bob Tallent coaching his younger brother Pat.  Pat said that the two engaged in two-on-two games frequently as kids, important training for Pat as he understood exactly how Bob wanted him to play.  In April, 1984, "From Russia With Love" chronicled GW's recruitment of Max Blank.  Max chose GW over Temple (interestingly, GW had both a Jewish coach in Gerry Gimelstob and Jewish Athletic Director Steve Bilsky at the time) and the article cites Bilsky being on the receiving end of antisemitic remarks from a Temple athletic administration official at that time.)  

Here is a passage regarding Yinka and the Sweet 16 team, along with a Mike Jarvis anecdote that I assume we all did not know or were willing to forget about:



Dare (pronounced dar-AY), the Colonials' 7-foot freshman center from Nigeria, can't shoot beyond 10 feet, which makes every one of his free throws an adventure. But he's agile and active, and he responds to cheers of "Hip, hip, Dare!" from the George Washington band. The Colonials share a city and a first syllable with a much more storied program, and coach Mike Jarvis cannot tell a lie: "One time I was giving a pregame talk. It was my best, most inspiring stuff. I ended by saying, 'Now let's go out and win one for Georgetown. I mean, George Washington.' It happens."

Finally, there is the infamous photograph of Shawnta Rogers standing side by side with Alexander Koul.  That received a ton of publicity.

RIP Sports Illustrated.  I appreciate the magnificent run.


 

GWmayhem, just catching up on things and came across your post which I very much appreciate. The great David Halberstam, may he rest in peace, is another amazing writer that sometimes wrote for SI.  I got rid of my subscription years ago, when they cut way back, but I loved getting that magazine every week.