Category: Sports and Society

Sports Illustrated Vault – Top Sports and Event Covers

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Are you a sports enthusiast looking for a way to take a walk down memory lane?

Sports Illustrated has just the ticket – the SI Vault – Your Link to Sports History(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/). The website includes a database that allows sports enthusiasts to conduct searches on SI articles, covers, galleries, and swimsuit issues. These searches provide an interesting perspective on what has been important in sports since SI began publishing in 1954.

In December I conducted a couple of searches in the database to answer the following questions:
• Which of 15 sports was featured most often on the cover?
• Which of 3 major sporting events was featured most frequently on the cover?
• Which of a group of 7 topics was most frequently discussed in SI?
As well, the purpose of this study was to also provide a moderately rigorous analysis of the SI database to identify interesting trends, i.e. the process is not rigorous enough to publish in an academic journal.

The analysis methodology was simple. The category names listed in the charts below were placed in the advanced search engine (exact phrase). Note that slightly different frequencies may result by placing the category names in the general search box.

The results shows that football has been featured on the front cover most often. Although baseball is our national pastIn fact, it ended up second, slightly ahead of basketball.

After the top three, the numbers drop off quickly. Golf, boxing, and hockey were 4th, 5th and 6th, followed by track, tennis, and horse racing. Although track, hockey, soccer, and tennis fall below boxing in the number of covers they had a greater number of articles written about them.

The World Series and Super Bowl had essentially the same number of covers; however, the World Series has been in existence for much longer than the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl will likely become the major sporting event that most frequently graces the SI covers. The Final Four was a distant third. The gap between the number of SI covers for it and the World Series will probably be narrowed in the years ahead.

Both the Super Bowl and World Series had a similar number of articles written about them as the sports of hockey, soccer, and tennis. That illustrates the importance of these 3 athletic/entertainment events.

A sample of 7 topics was selected to try to understand the extent to which SI covered the darker side of sports and athletics. Scandals made the cover 5 times and drugs made it 4 times. Although betting and politics did not make the cover, they received significant coverage in the articles.

With the end of the football season on the horizon, the SI Vault may provide a way to spend Sunday afternoons until the golf course gets open.  Give it a try.

(Analysis of the SI Vault database is included in the December 2, 8, and 20 blog posts. The three discussions identify the sports, major sporting events, male athletes, and female athletes to most frequently adorn the front cover.)

Out of Their League – A Game Changer

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The world of sports was much different 50 years ago. Professional athletes were not paid well, they did not receive benefits, and for the most part they were exploited by the owners. They were expected to display their talents on the field and not draw attention to themselves in the media.

There were a limited number of books about sports; most were either statistical overviews of past seasons or feel-good biographies about the most popular stars in the game. At that time athletes were heroes and role models and parents wanted their sons to be a gentleman like Lou Gehrig.

But the innocence surrounding the world of sports and athletics changed at the hands of Curt Flood and Dave Meggyesy.

In 1969, Curt Flood, centerfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, refused to be traded and his claim ended up in the U.S. Supreme Court. He lost his case, but his actions unified baseball players in their fight against the reserve clause, which ultimately resulted in free agency.

In 1970, Dave Meggyesy, linebacker for the St. Louis Cardinal football team, penned the book Out of Their League. It was a disturbing, but necessary commentary about the dark side of football.

These gentlemen exposed sports and athletics as big business with a closet full of skeletons. Flood showed how athletes were taken advantage of financially. As a result of free agency the salaries of athletes have risen. As well, high-priced television contracts and payrolls, lockouts, and work stoppages have become too common. The bargaining table has become as important as the playing field and the scoreboard.

At the time, it was taboo to talk about the issues Meggyesy brought out in the open. Specifically he discussed the hypocrisy of college sports, racism, drugs and substance abuse, and brutality associated with football.

The following bullet points briefly touch on changes that have occurred in these areas since the release of Out of Their League.

• Hypocrisy of college sports – Over the years the NCAA has dictated that college programs have a greater focus on academics; proper physical and mental training; addressing drug and substance abuse; and injury prevention and care. Athletes are no longer dropped from programs if they become injured during their careers and tutoring is available when they need help in classes. The scandals of the past 10 years are testimony that college programs are drowning in hypocrisy, despite the best intentions of the NCAA. Genuine concern is shown for athletes, yet the unwritten goal of most programs is to win – fans and alumni don’t buy tickets or sponsorships to watch losing teams.

• Racism – Racism, as it existed among athletes during the 1960s, has declined significantly. Today, discussions about racism are more centered on discrimination, particularly the need for athletic programs to hire more minorities and women in the coaching and administrative ranks. Progress will continue to be made in hiring women and minorities.

• Drugs and substance abuse – As long as the scoreboard is lit and winners are rewarded, athletes will search for ways to legally or illegally improve their performance. Today athletes are tested for use of illegal and performance enhancing drugs. Although the process is not perfect, it has deterred some athletes from making poor choices.

• Brutality – Athletes have gotten bigger, stronger, and faster. As a result, the chances of severe injuries in football have increased. At the same time, greater attention has been given to proper training, drug prevention, improved equipment, and the care of injuries. As well, rules governing practice and the way the game is played have been changed to reduce injuries. Within the past decade former NFL players have drawn attention to the long-term problems associated with concussions and other injuries. As a result, concussion awareness and treatment programs have been put in place that benefit athletes in all sports at all levels.

Meggyesy’s book and Flood’s court case altered the way athletic teams and programs are financed and managed. As well, their actions brought about changes that cause fans to view their favorite teams and athletes much differently than fans viewed them 50 years ago.