Also in this week’s Sports Illustrated: Peter King’s divisional round predictions, disproving the myth that Michael Jordan was cut from his high school team and the reemergence of Indiana basketball
Posted: January 11, 2012 Filed under: Ben Reiter, Damon Hack, Jim Trotter, Jon Werthiem, NFL Playoffs, Peter King, Thomas Lake, Weekly Issue | Tags: houston texans, indiana basketball, metta world peace, michael jordan high school coach, new orleans saints, New York Giants, nfl playoffs divisional round, pop herring michael jordan, ron artest name change, tim tebow, tom crean Comments Off
You have already seen our cover featuring the BCS champion Alabama Crimson Tide. Here is what else awaits in this week’s Jan. 16 issue.
AFC AND NFC DIVISIONAL-ROUND FORECASTS – PETER KING (@SI_PeterKing)
Patriots 30, Broncos 16: “I can’t see Denver covering the Pats’ tight ends well—meaning the Broncos’ season will not end well.”
Ravens 30, Texans 20: “Ray Rice versus Arian Foster. Who wins? The rested Rice because he has a better QB to threaten the opposing secondary.”
Saints 24, 49ers 19: “Darren Sproles plays at a different speed from everyone else, even the lightning-fast San Francisco linebackers.”
Packers 24, Giants 23: “In the end Aaron Rodgers will make the plays in the fourth quarter to win the best game of the playoff weekend.”
On the Tablets: Peter King’s guest on his weekly podcast interview is Texans G.M. Rick Smith. Plus, King’s “Last Word on the NFL” heading into the divisional round of the playoffs.
Also in this week’s Sports Illustrated: Tim Tebow’s wild ride, Tony Stewart’s comeback for the ages and a possible end for the Kansas-Mizzou Border War
Posted: November 23, 2011 Filed under: Alan Shipnuck, Austin Murphy, Grant Wahl, Lars Anderson, Peter King, Phil Taylor, Weekly Issue | Tags: david beckham galaxy, denver broncos, detroit lions, george plimpton paper lion, kansas mizzou border war, mls cup, nascar awards, taylor plimpton, tim tebow, tony stewart sprint cup Comments Off
You’ve read about Terry McDonell’s cover story on “Sport in America” in both his Editor’s Letter and the Nov. 28 cover story. Here’s what else readers can expect in this week’s issue, on newsstands today.
TIM TEBOW’S WILD RIDE – ALAN SHIPNUCK (@AlanShipnuck)
Over the last two months Tim Tebow has been showered with love, doubt, praise, ridicule and awe. Starting with the Broncos’ Oct. 9 game against the Chargers, in which Tebow replaced an ineffective Kyle Orton, senior writer Alan Shipnuck sifts through the widely divergent opinions that have surfaced. All of which might be best summed up by Denver running back Lance Ball (page 44): “Tebow this, Tebow that…. You know what? Tim Tebow is great for football, man. Love him or hate him, everybody has an opinion. And I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be talking about him for a really long time.”
Senior writer Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) asks whether Denver is willing to make the option its offensive staple for the long term. Even if they don’t and opt to draft a pro-style quarterback, King sees a future for Tebow. He writes: “Smart teams maximize their players’ skills. Offensive coordinator Mike McCoy stopped forcing a square peg into a round hole when he made Denver option-centric. There’s no reason he can’t stay with the option in 2012, whether Tebow’s the starter or merely the league’s most compelling relief pitcher.”
On the Tablets: Photographic highlights of Tebow’s career, starting with his freshman season at Florida. Plus, Shipnuck discusses his story on the Broncos signal-caller in a podcast interview.
SI’s Article Outtakes: Additional quotes from Phil Taylor’s interview with Doug Flutie on Tim Tebow
Posted: October 21, 2011 Filed under: Weekly Issue, Phil Taylor, NFL, Point After | Tags: tim tebow, doug flutie, heisman trophy winners, denver broncos, nfl quarterbacks, bernie kosar, dan marino, randall cunningham Comments Off
For his Point After column on Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, senior writer Phil Taylor talked to another former Heisman Trophy winner who many experts believed would never be successful in the NFL, Doug Flutie. According to Flutie, the skepticism about unorthodox quarterbacks is just as strong as it was 25 years ago. Among the quotes Taylor collected from Flutie, in addition to those used in his column:
“Everybody wants to tell you what Tebow can’t do, instead of looking at all the things he can. It’s ridiculous. The Colts were 3-13 in Peyton Manning’s first year, but they gave him time to develop. Tebow won’t get that time. Lots of quarterbacks struggle early in their careers, but people make a final judgment on guys like him much earlier. They’re just looking for a reason to dismiss him and say, ‘He can’t play.’ ”
Also in this week’s Oct. 24 issue: Dan Wheldon in memoriam, Plaxico Burress sounds off on the NFL’s illegal hits, Jaromir Jagr’s return from Siberian exile and the soon-to-be winningest QB in college football history
Posted: October 19, 2011 Filed under: Austin Murphy, Brian Cazeneuve, Damon Hack, Lars Anderson, Phil Taylor, Tim Layden, Weekly Issue, Weekly Press Release | Tags: boise state football, brandon meriweather, chicago bears, dan wheldon, dario franchitti, desmond bishop, doug flutie, evan mathis, green bay packers, jaromir jagr, kellen moore, new york jets, Philadelphia Eagles, philadelphia flyers, plaxico burress, tim tebow, winningest qb ever Comments Off
You’ve seen the two covers for this week’s issue and our World Series prediction as well as details from Gary Smith’s interview with Jerry West, who discussed in great detail the depression that plagued him throughout his Hall of Fame career and most of his life. Here is what else readers will find in this week’s Oct. 24 issue, on newsstands now.
DAN WHELDON: 1978–2011 – LARS ANDERSON (@LarsAndersonSI)
Two-time Indy 500 champ Dan Wheldon’s future seemed bright on Sunday morning, when the 33-year-old signed a contract to race for Andretti Autosport in 2012. Hours later, just 11 laps into the season finale at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Wheldon was dead, killed in a 15-car wreck. Series champion Dario Franchitti said afterward, “One minute you’re joking around at driver intros—the next, Dan’s gone. I’m struggling to get it together.” When the day ended with a low-speed, five-lap tribute to Wheldon, IndyCar’s season came to an end—and the sport had lost one of its most popular, most engaging drivers (page 56).
On the Tablets: A slideshow of highlights from Dan Wheldon’s career on the IndyCar circuit.
SCORECARD: LEARNING TO PLAY NICE – DAMON HACK (@si_damonhack)
From a numbers standpoint, the response to the NFL’s Black Sunday—Oct. 17, 2010, when three players were concussed on violent hits—has been effective. The number of fines for illegal hits is down, and no suspensions have been handed out. But the NFL has not completely gotten through to players. To wit (page 15):
- Jets receiver Plaxico Burress: “If you have a chance to knock me out or break my leg, man, knock me out. That’s missing a game or two, not the whole season. As receivers, we know what we signed up for.”
- Bears safety Brandon Meriweather, who has been fined $95,000 for illegal hits since the start of last season: “They teach you growing up that you’ve got to be violent and put the fear of God in people, but when you get to the league that you’ve been dreaming about your whole life, they tell you to change your game 100 percent or get money taken from you. I try lowering my target zone, but if you have a receiver who’s 5′ 8″, it’s still going to be a helmet-to-helmet collision. How do you avoid that when you’re running full speed?”
- Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop, recalling a clear shot he had on Matt Ryan in Week 5: “I didn’t quite know how to hit him. I didn’t want to hit him too high, when it should be natural to just go hit him. I ended up getting the sack, but I didn’t hit him as hard as I wanted to.”
Also from Sports Illustrated: The nicest player in the NFL, the trade that shaped the Division Series and Brandon Jennings’ Twitter hoops tour
Posted: October 5, 2011 Filed under: Lee Jenkins, Players Poll, Tom Verducci, Weekly Issue | Tags: brandon jennings twitter, curtis granderson, desean jackson bullying, mlb division series, NBA Lockout, nicest nfl player, tim tebow, troy polamalu, yankees tigers diamondbacks trade Comments Off
You’ve seen all three of this week’s Oct. 10 covers and read about the rise of both the Lions and Alabama’s defense and seen our NHL predictions. Here’s what else is in this week’s issue, on newsstands now.
SI PLAYERS NFL POLL
Who is the nicest player in football? (page 17)
- Troy Polamalu, Steelers S….8%
- Drew Brees, Saints QB….6%
- Peyton Manning, Colts QB….4%
- Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals WR….4%
- Matt Hasselbeck, Titans QB….3%
[Based on 272 NFL players who responded to SI’s survey]
FAST FACTS: Polamalu, the 2010 Defensive Player of the Year, is known for his devastating hits (any chance Joe Flacco voted for him?), but he has clearly made an impact with his personality as well. He, Eagles CB Nnamdi Asomugha (2%) and Broncos S Brian Dawkins (1%) are the only defensive players in the top 15. (Eight of those first 15 are QBs.) In a Facebook poll Broncos QB Tim Tebow (39%) was the fans’ pick for Mr. Nice Guy.
