OREGON SPORTS ILLUSTRATED COVERS AND MORE

Oregon sports didn’t begin with Steve Prefontaine, but he was the first Oregonian on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

At least that’s what the smart-guy talent online say.

Sports Illustrated and I were born the same year.

With the end of the magazine this week everyone is sad.

I’m sad even though my subscription lapsed a few years back.

I remember as a kid being surprised to learn about sports in a magazine.

Back then it was SPORT magazine I found first and liked.

The first copy I read had a hockey article feathering Chicago Black Hawk legend Bobby Hull and Detroit Red Wing defender Ted Green.

I’d never heard of hockey, but the writer included this and got me hooked.

“What is the best way to guard Bobby Hull?”

“First, don’t let an opponent see him with his shirt off so they don’t start off being frightened.”

From The Sports Gallery:

 

The formula was simple: combine terrific editorial features written by the greatest writers of the time with generous presentations of photography, particularly Rockwell-like, full-page color imagery.

It was born as a novel idea and grew into a cultural icon in the league of Life and Look and the Saturday Evening Post.

If imitation is indeed the greatest form of flattery, then SPORT received the ultimate compliment with the birth of Sports Illustrated in 1954.

Time Inc. tried unsuccessfully to purchase the name SPORT but was rebuffed and instead launched Sports Illustrated, copying many of the mainstays that had made SPORT a cultural icon.

 

What Killed Sports Illustrated

 

From Front Office Sports:

 

Authentic’s move to terminate Arena’s license and Arena’s eliminating SI’s staff signals a shift in the company that operates SI, weeks after Manoj Bhargava, the founder of 5-Hour Energy, introduced himself to employees of Arena, including SI, as their new leader.

 

So a new leader comes in, a payment goes unpaid, and everyone gets their pink slip? That’s not leadership from the new leader.

But there’s more to the story than a labyrinth of failed ownership and licensing agreements.

 

Authentic acquired SI from Meredith in May 2019. The Arena Group—operating as Maven, before changing its name in 2021—then paid Authentic $45 million up front as part of a 10-year licensing agreement.

 

Does it sound more like a hatchet man with one too many chugs of 5-Hour Energy?

Now another herd of bitter writers will clog reading time with better stories than the rest of us can possible match with their connections.

 

What Happens Next For Oregon Sports

Maybe the writers take up with regional sports networks like Oregon Sports News.

 

Are you a journalist or a columnist? Are you a blogger or a message board junkie? Are you a true Oregon sports fan?

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you can write for Oregon Sports News. Because of the popularity of the website, your columns will be seen by literally thousands of sports fans around this great state.

We also have partnered with several media websites, including 750 The Game and KGW.

 

My youth reading included authors John Devaney, Al Hirshberg, and Dan Jenkins.

Click the links to see their books.

These three sports writing greats were current at the time, and added historical context to individual lives.

Histories, biographies, and novels round out the line up for the guys.

They wrote about underdogs coming through, great teams doing great things, all of which played out on the driveway hoop of my childhood home where I was undefeated against my friends. (Hey Rob.)

I took my game into adulthood with varying degrees of success.

During one memorable game at my pal’s house hoop I put up a spinning pivot fake-hook-step-through like Michael Jordan and got dizzy and boxed out so hard I nearly fell over.

Luckily there was a boat nearby for me to head-butt. It was a tough win on a tricky home court. (Hey, Jerry)

 

Justin Herbert was the last Oregon cover on Sports Illustrated.

Where will he show up after he leads his team to a Super Bowl?

It won’t be Sport magazine, but maybe Sports Illustrated if they get their affairs untangled.

If that happens I may tip a 5-Hour Energy as a toast. It would be my first one.

And I’d buy a copy like a little kid and plan where to hang it after framing the cover.

My wife always has supportive decorating advice for my ideas.

It starts with, “I think there’s a place in the garage next to the VooDoo Duck.”