July is upon us and time to hole up in the man cave and enjoy the sweet A.C. In Houston, the summers are like the winters everywhere else. It’s hotter than UCLA fans from the Valley (see the personal notes in the UCLA review). I went for a short 20 mile ride today and I think I lost 10 pounds. It does make it easy to find time to update the SI Wall Calendar. Notable covers that made the month of July include the following.
It would appear that I am not the only one who tends to wish away the summer so that football season can get here. Two covers in the month of July focus on Monday Night Football. Apparently, Dennis Miller could not save MNF and they had to bring in John Madden a couple years later.
Later on in the month, the fair haired wonder boy of British football is welcomed to L.A. where he is hoped to change the fate of American Soccer. I figure the success of the U.S. Women’s team was far more influential then Becks, so they made the wall as well.
SI recently published an article about how baseball is now basically K’s and home runs. A 2000 cover of a grimacing Jason Giambi was similarly highlighting how home runs were changing the game. Given that it has been 17 years since that cover, I am guessing the American past-time is going to around for a little longer despite the current trend.
I am always looking for ways to add more Pittsburgh color to my man cave, but alas, the Pirates have rarely been featured on the covers of SI in my lifetime. However, they have been more competitive in the last few years, even if it appears they are heading to the bottom of the cycle right now. So, a 2013 cover featuring the then Pirates closer Jason Grilli and the rest of the Sharknado bullpen makes the wall.
The last cover gets us closer to football season with a review of the impacts of big hits on the game. It may also mark the beginning of the end of football as we know it. The first professional 7 on 7 flag football league is starting next year…
