S.I. knows "J"

I read just two weekly magazines in the traditional print format; Bloomberg Business Week and Sports Illustrated. Both are my "End of the day, curl up and read cover to cover before lights out" pleasures. As long as they continue to publish, I'll subscribe and read.

My focus today is on the extraordinary journalism delivered each week in Sports Illustrated. The current issue featuring Sportsman of the Year Drew Brees is a perfect example. Inside there's a fascinating dissection of Syney Crosby's goal that led Team Canada to a win over Team USA in the Olympic Hockey Final. S.I. and writer Michael Farber committed 8 pages to the 8 second sequence of how the play developed with the resulting score. Slow-mo in print.

Then there's the piece by Thomas Lake on the death of High School Football player Max Gilpin, one of at least 665 kids to die playing the sport since 1931. No tidy ending to this story, just a well documented account of something that shouldn't have happened.

A few weeks ago in the November 15 issue, S.I. thoroughly documented what a farce the current BCS system is, and where the money really goes. (It's not the teams despite what the BCS Cartel claims.) I was surprised, make that shocked and angry by the time I read the article. The kind of emotions good journalism should and must create.

S.I. over course is also digital, and various incarnations are available on the Internet and as apps for your iPad.

But in this case, I'm going to savor the pleasure of holding a terrific print publication in my hand, to enjoy turning each page to read brilliant and responsible sports journalism.

And the Swimsuit Edition.

Brian Olson
Conversation Starters LLC
"We start the conversation about you"