Sports Illustrated (Reggie Bush cover)

It probably passed the point of being actively interesting on a consistent basis 10 or 15 years ago.

After that, I simply resubscribed out of inertia -- and also, because it was a gift my dad had given me.

It's just been in the last few years that the magazine got shitalicious enough, consistently enough, for me to make the proactive decision to dump it. I don't have 5-7 minutes a week to waste on that shit any more.

 

LJB and Starman,

Notwithstanding a couple of the general statements you've both made about SI's decline over the years, I'll ask you the same question that I asked of DyeP: What, exactly, has gone wrong?

Is it the writing? The packaging? The pictures? The sensibility? The fact that it's been overtaken by so many other media?

If either of you has the time or inclination, I'm genuinely curious. And would be genuinely grateful for your thoughts.

 

I don't give a shit what the journalism community is wringing its hands about. My point was that SI writers are working under different conditions than they were 20 years ago. There was a time when all they had to worry about was the weekly magazine. That's no longer the case, and it's one of many factors that may have diluted the overall quality of the magazine. I'm not asking anyone to shed any tears for them. Jesus. Is it possible for anyone to respond without some wiseass, sarcastic comment?

 

Sounds like they are working under the same conditions the rest of the community faces.

Are you now saying the quality of the magazine has been diluted?

 

The answer to your last question seems to be no. Unfortunately.

We at SportsJournalists.com seem to be in more of war mode than Israel-Hezbollah.

 

SI has a lot of guys who are trying to turn water into wine. Just write the story. The readers aren't stupid. This industry has a really fucking bad habit of looking down on its good, long-paying customers. They don't always want filet mignon when a filling burger will do just as good. This remains a very simple idea that has been expressed here many, many times.

SI has too many people jumping up and down on the page like Daffy Fucking Duck, hollering "Hey, LOOK AT ME!" Too few people at SI willing to impact the sports culture in a meaningful way. Name the last SI guy who stroke a blow for he people's journalism? For good or bad, that was Jeff Pearlman. And it was damn near 10 years ago.

 

Fair enough. Thanks.

 

Except the rest of the community isn't being held up to the standards of SI at its finest.

If you look back at my previous posts, you'll see that I said SI has its problems. I'm not contradicting myself by saying the quality of the magazine has been diluted. Most of the stuff in the front of the magazine, like SI Players and The Beat, is fan magazine bullshit that I could do without. But the stories are still pretty goddamn good for the most part.

 

Dude, save the patronizing for the company suite, if you please. You asked for an honest opinion.

 

There you go again, showing your obvious bias.

I think they've gone downhill in the last 15 to 20 years. We have now argued in a circle back to the original point.

 

I intentionally placed one strawman next to another (viz., AP) as an example. So they could hold hands.

I have not been personally disrespectful during this discourse. If that's what you want, we can do that.

 

Lee, dude, you've been looking for excuses to be pissed off lately.

"Fair enough. Thanks." Gosh, you're right. Can't believe jgmacg is being such a prick.