ESPN The Mag Getting Overhaul

From what I heard, the ultimatum of a Bristol move led to a thinning of the herd on the magazine staff.

 

The "overcaffeinated graphics" are exactly the reason that I canceled my subscription to "The Mag" 8 years ago next month. And frankly, it took no time at all to get over the fact that it ceased to arrive in the mail...

 

I've been getting it for about the last 6 months--cashed in some useless air miles that were about to expire and well short of a flight voucher---and it takes me about 10-15 minutes to read anything that looks interesting. And that's not good for a magazine.

I like the columns in front written by anonymous pro athletes talking about what their life is really like, but none of the features have much surface appeal to me. Good writing about a topic of no interest if of no interest to me.

ESPN The Mag has always struck me as trying too hard to showcase itself as something for the Slacker/Y folks. It comes across a bit off the mark, almost like me (over-50) trying to get a laugh out of my teenage son. Even when I succeed, it creeps him out a bit.

 

Clutch, I don't have much faith in any "anonymous" anythings in that magazine.

The Derrick Rose hubbub during the playoffs was a great example of why that publication cannot be trusted. Rose was "quoted" allegedly citing PEDs as a big problem in the NBA. Except the question was badly framed, the answer seemed to be out of context and the interview had been done months earlier without generating a headline at the time or an ESPN investigation or anything at all.

Turns out it was an out-of-town stringer asking the question and, very likely, turning in quotes that got goosed in the editing/publishing process. A writer from CBSSports.com even blogged something about how, when he was such a stringer for ESPN The Mag, the quotes he would submit would get altered and sexy-ed up.

ESPN The Mag never did name the stringer or get to the bottom of the D-Rose misrepresentation.

It's junk. Busy junk. Perfect for that recycling pile.

 

The only reason I got it was because someone sent me a gift subscription. I called ESPNMag to ask about it and they gave me the name of the person who was the gifter. It was a name I'd never heard before. Never did read an issue. The jump-out-at-you graphics on the cover made me afraid of what was going to spill out if I opened the magazine.

 

I picked one up while my car was getting new tires the other day, and if it's possible, it has gotten worse since I dropped it several years back. Of course, this was some "Hand it to the Jocks" issue where they let athletes "produce" the issue or some such joke.

 

Chad Millman took over as editor-in-chief a few weeks ago. One of my favorite guests on Simmons podcast.