I fully recognize the July update of our monthly SI Calendar wall is late. In fact, I was so busy this month, I had to get a substitute picker. My brother Carl is a huge sports fan and a great high school track and cross country coach (Go Casa Grande!). He was also my weekly competition to get to the mailbox every Thursday when the new issue of Sports Illustrated would arrive. We would sprint to mailbox, with the occasional trip or tackle along the way, as the winner of the race would get the right to read it first. It was an agonizing wait on the couch when I had to watch my brother read it cover to cover before me.
Needless to say, I had full confidence that Carl was up to the task. He ultimately chose to go with an Olympic theme and proudly proclaimed that every cover selected had a connection to the Games. Admittedly he said, some ties were closer than others. Let’s see how he did.
Have you seen that new Jessica Alba movie?
These covers are to the Olympics as what Alba’s “Trigger Finger” is to good action movies. Maybe on the same planet, but definitely not on the same street. The Ernie Banks cover is tied tenuously to the Olympics through a subtitle referring to the Great “Dan vs Dave” Olympic buildup / marketing bust. The Beckham cover is not much better. Becks never played in the Olympics but was an “ambassador” for London 2012. However, the Joe Montana cover takes the cakes for stretching the Olympic connection. Carl sheepishly noted that Randall Cunningham’s daughter, Vashti Cunningham did compete in two Olympics in the high jump. Alas, her best performance was sixth in Tokyo, 2020.
The Olympics are for amateurs
My brother shrugged on these covers, noting that some of these folks must have been in the Olympics. He did not even recognize that Westbrook had played in the Olympics, instead highlighting another subtitle, this one referring to Serena Williams. As professional athletes, they represented well, with six medals between them. Sharapova had a silver in London while Westbrook and Bryant had gold that year. Bryant also got gold in Beijing in ’08 with Duncan, who also got bronze in Athens in ’04. So while those covers may not look Olympic, the individuals profiled definitely were.
Who let Alex Morgan in the photo shoot?
My brother really hit his stride with these covers. While the Mark Spitz cover from 1968, isn’t the iconic seven medals around his neck from Munich in 1972, he did get four medals in ’68 at Mexico City – two gold, one silver and one bronze. Nadia Comaneci, of course, was the darling of Montreal in 1976.
However, the U.S. Rio Squad Preview cover stands above them all. That team was a monster that led the medal table with a total of 121 medals, including 46 golds. In fact, everyone on that cover got at least a gold medal, some more than that, except for Alex Morgan of the Women’s soccer team. They shockingly did not medal. Hard to fault that team though. In seven Olympics, U.S. women’s soccer have four gold, one silver and one bronze. The talent on that cover is ridiculous – Ashton Eaton – 2X Gold in the Decathlon, Alyson Felix – Sprinting Legend, and well, everyone knows how great Phelps was. The others will, unbelievably, be competing in Paris – Durant, Ledecky and Biles all have good shots for more gold.
It’s the fact checking that gets you
When he said Ichiro must have played baseball in the Olympics for Japan, it kind of seemed reasonable. However, it is not true. Ichiro has played in plenty of international games for the Land of the Rising Sun, but never in the Olympics. Much like our frequent runs to the mailbox, my brother was close but not close enough. Maybe next time kid.
But, he got a mug for his efforts and so should you.
College Football season is right around the corner. My brother and I can now claim to be from a D1 school as the Hurst makes the jump to the big time. They still won’t make the Somanystadiums shirt though because they are only FCS.
But, we’ve got shirts and mugs for many of the others. Check it out here