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SI archives now available online

Okay, I think this is really cool, though I don't know if anyone else will care: Sports Illustrated has made its archives available online, and as far as I can tell they're complete.

The site was up last week, technically, but I couldn't actually get to very many articles. They seem to have ironed out whatever problems they were having and if you have some free time, I recommend you check it out.

Two articles have already caught my eye: this one, about Michael Jordan's struggles in professional baseball, and Rick Reilly's fantastic tour-de-force he wrote on John Elway late in Elway's career.

If I recall correctly, the Jordan piece led to his not speaking with the magazine for several years, which SI must have regretted when he returned to the NBA. I'm not sure I blame him, either: the article is chock-full of cheap shots, and the writer and several people quoted find a shameless glee in his struggles, which is kind of hilarious, considering how their professional accomplishments look next to Jordan's. (I especially love the Astro who wouldn't even go on the record, and whose cutdown sucked anyway. Also, Randy Johnson's "I'd like to see how much air time he'd get on one of my inside pitches" line calls to mind Arnold Schwarzenegger's performance as Mr. Freeze in Batman & Robin, but only if you capitalize AIR TIME. "I'd like to see how much AIR TIME His AIR-NESS will find in this AT-MOS-PHERE...HUH HOO HA HA...MY HEART IS COLD.")

As for the Elway piece, it was reprinted in one of those "Your team just won the championship of the world!" special edition magazines, which I have and cherish to this day.

Go ahead and give it a look-see. Who knows? You might even learn something!

Comments

John said…
Reilly's piece about the Duke is classic, as was the Duke himself. Winning Super Bowls behind the greatest player ever - those were the days. Not quite like slipping (or not) on a McDonald's wrapper and falling through an entertainment center.

What about the Frank DeFord what the NFL will look like in 2000 piece? I used to think that guy was a legit journalist.
7:31 AM
Mike said…
If anyone (else reads this site &) missed it, John's referring to this article, some excerpts of which ended up on Deadspin and another blog...Fan IQ or something.

First off, Frank Deford is the absolute man, and when I used to hit up the library on my lunch break to read old SIs, I especially enjoyed checking out his articles on the '60s Celtics. So I've been a fan for forty years. But the article is pretty funny, especially when you get around to the crazy-sounding guy who invented the flak jacket football players wear.
8:54 AM
Anonymous said…
Punchy,
That article you linked to on John Elway was awesome! Thanks for the great blog . . .
DG
8:48 AM
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