Sports Illustrated -- The Magazine

I came across Sports Illustrated The Magazine back when I was in elementary school. To be more precise, I first came across it as I was sitting in a doctor's office waiting to be checked up on one of my many mishaps as a child. I was really getting into the Seattle Mariners at the time, and I remember seeing the picture of a baseball player on the front and being instantly excited. I had now joined the rest of the world in knowing about what was the best Sports magazine on the market. Sports Illustrated has been around for years, and I am here to tell you that it is one of those magazines that endures the test of time. It is able to do that through its presentation, and the quality with which it is put together.

Sports Illustrated is a magazine that mainly deals with sports; everything and anything that has to do with them. For the most part, the magazine devotes a lot of attention to baseball, basketball, football, and hockey. It is a rarer occasion where you are able to find the likes of a golfer, tennis player, or a race-car driver gracing the cover. That is not to say that it does not happen, but that people tend to follow one of those four main sports, and that is who the magazine is trying to cater too. Often the cover photo will be someone that is in the news or has been doing very well in their respective sport or game. An example of that would recently be Lance Armstrong. Recently he won the Tour de France, and now he is on the cover of the magazine.

The main selling point of the magazine is that it is fresh and up-to-date, so you can always expect stories that are new to everyone. I like this, because often I can pick up the magazine and learn about some behind the scenes story that I had not known about until I started reading. Along with the stories that they do, they often have interviews with people who are of interest at a given time. These interviews usually get the athletes at a good time, when they are able to give good answers to thorough questions. I really like this as well, because you can actually seem like you are in the discussion with the reporter and the athlete.

Another great asset that the magazine has to offer, are its real-life photographs. The people working for the magazine try to make sure that you have photos that show the athletes in action. They are not all photos of people posing for the camera, but rather dramatic shots that help to show what really happened. Usually towards the front where the table of contents is, they will put a couple of full-page photos about something exciting that has taken place in the prior week. This can range from a close play at home plate in a baseball game, to a soaring slam-dunk in a basketball game. Their intent is to show the true excitement of that given moment, and they always succeed in doing that. My personal favorite is when they are able to show a picture of a moment in a sporting event that I watched but is captured in time through the magazine. This would be something like the super bowl, which would then be a picture of something spectacular that happened within the game itself.

When you are a subscriber to Sports Illustrated, you received the magazine on a weekly basis. You also receive a special swimsuit issue with that subscription. This issue is the top moneymaker for the magazine, and it always becomes a national event when that issue comes out. But, if you are a subscriber, you just wait for it to arrive in the mail. The magazine has also become a collectible as people have clamored to own the cover with their favorite sports icon on the front. I will admit that I have kept a few of them over the years, and that I do plan on collecting more of them if certain sports stars ever grace the cover.

This is by no means a cheap magazine to order though. If you were to pay cover price for all the issues, you would be at about $164.45 for the year. There are places online that you can get it for as low as $49.95 though, and I would recommend doing that. Normally when you subscribe they give you a gift of some sort. Recently that gift was a video about the Los Angeles Lakers and their championship run this year. The subscription is well worth the cost though, because this is one of those magazines that not only gives great stories, but can be trusted. They use reliable sources for their information, and they make sure that they only present the sporting facts of anything. I highly recommend this magazine to anyone that is either into sports, or into a specific sport. If it is the latter, then you can just pick up an issue at your local grocery store when you see an interesting cover story :)