SI cover

The cover hed on Sports Illustrated, the (presumably) most exalted and widely read publication in the world of sports journalism, this week:

"Ohio State"

No verb. No point. No nothing.

Look back on the covers in the past year or two of SI, and you'll see that about half the time, they're not even trying anymore. Would it kill them to spend three or four minutes on a cover hed? Or am I picking nits and nobody cares about such things?

 

I love SI, and have defended it here numerous times, but I will agree that the cover headline writing has seriously slipped in the last five years. This week might be a new low.

 

If it said "The Ohio State" - then I could kinda take it as a joke

 

One of my problems with SI these days is it seems to be going the way of ESPN-type coverage with 40 little items about goofy stuff. It just doesn't seem to have nearly as much substance as in the past.

 

I've been one of SI's staunchest defenders . . . but I've always thought their cover heads were among the weakest part of the magazine.

And "Ohio State" . . . is simply unacceptable.

 

At least they spelled out Ohio State. Could have gone with Ohio St. ...

 

I too noticed it is going a little more with the flashy boxes and graphics.

ESPN magazine is gorgeous, but I can't read anything in it. How do u know the difference between a story and an ad. They look the same.

It is like some designer is on steroids with these magazine's sometimes.

 

Personally, I was enthralled by this photo caption.

"As the season has gone on, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has become more of a deep threat at the plate."

You don't say?

 

I saw that cover and couldn't believe it either. I'm expecting this weeks headline to be a photo of an NFL player, with the headline "Football"

 

I think ESPN The Magazine is a train wreck to look at. I have a hard time determining which are the stories and which are the ads.

 

It's easy.

The display type in the ads is usually pretty easy to read.

The display type headlining the stories, however, is all over the place. Sometimes they'll have a four-word headline with the four letters spaced out all over the page.

Then you throw in a series of concentric circles and squiggly lines on the page because . . . well, we have computers that can do this shit so we might as well use it.

They call me every so often because my subscription has run out (it ran out two years ago).

I tell them: "I'm 45. When you market your magazine to 45-year-olds instead of 15-year-olds, give me a call."