Customer Reviews

Sports Illustrated 50 Years: The Anniversary Book

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This is a glorious celebration of Sports Illustrated's 50 years coverage of the minor and the major in sport. At first, the magazine devoted a disproportionate number of articles to "gentlemenly" pursuits such as troutfishing and yachting. However, the once timid magazine eventually hit its stride, with the help of television, with the talents of new editors and writers, and, arguably, by the visuals of television.

The book, with an informative but slightly cloying introduction by Frank Deford (he keeps on mentioning the swimsuit issue--about as relevant to the major sports scene as yachting was 50 years ago), organizes the magazine's stories and pictures by the decade. A current sportswriter gives an overview, there arearticles from the magazines, sidebar-like features such as quotes, historic cultural and historical events, and, most importantly, the photographs.

SI photography is the best of its kind, setting a standard that will defy any attempt to cater to some notion of the "new" SI reader. It is as dependable and as beautiful as a museum. The full page and two-page spreads here are magnificent records of sports history, character studies, stories of emotion, action, the literal and the figurative. A low angle shot of the then-named Lew ALcindor beating Houston in 1968. an underwater shot of Michael Phelps winning gold at the Australia Olympics, a black and white of Duke Snider climbng the outer field wall at Ebbets Field, an extreme overhead of Ali knocking out Cleveland Williams in 1966, mini-reproductions of cover of every issue, and yes, that includes the swimsuit issues--it's here at an overwhelmingly fan-friendly price.

In a way, then, the book is a direct descendant of the unique magazine of which one British man complained in 1954: "For 25 cents there is too much value." Although the book was produced bt SI and--as expected--celebrates SI, it also teases itself as well, noting that in 1954, "it published only six articles on basketball but 14 on bowling. It published 17 articles on clothing (but oddly, none on bowling clothing)." My only complaints: There's not quite enough of the original text (more of the writing is included in a companion book) and there is no index. A superb gift with more substance and memories than the usual oversized book.

What a treasure! I got this coffee-table for my nephews (15 and 13) and my own son (13) for Christmas, and all gift-unwrapping immediately halted while they looked through the book. "Wow!" "Oh man, look at that!" etc. while they looked at the incredible collection of stunning sports photos from the past 50 years. Every SI cover is included, too, as well as selections from the best articles, and humorous quotes, even sports art. Everyone of every age picked this book up at some point on Christmas Day, sometimes in groups of 3 or more, all looking at the amazing pictures. The older people wanted to check to see if their favorites were included - and how DID Michael Jordan jump that high!? Look at OJ Simpson back when he won the Heisman trophy. And hockey players didn't wear helmets - not even the goalie?? - in the 1960's? Fantastic book.

Sharing a celebration of 50 years with Sports Illustrated made the purchase of this book a special delight. So much has happened in so many sports, but Sports Illustrated has been along for the ride. And in the special world of sports fans it has taken its own place. Acquiring an appreciation of sport beyond the mere competition has a lot to do with how Sports Illustrated impacts on your life.

Unfortunately, the ability to receive Sports Illustrated on a weekly basis on the other side of the world has been affected by several vagaries - including the notion that although the British Empire was in decline, its magazines were far more preferable for New Zealanders than their American equivalents, and also the fact that it is only in the modern era of communications that it is easy to send a credit card number to facilitate delivery of whatever takes your fancy.

The memory of seeing my first copy of Sports Illustrated sticks with me from my schoolboy years. It related to coverage of the 1968 Olympic Games and Bob Beamon's massive leap into the rarefied air of Mexico City. It was the age of dissent with the Black Power salute on the rostrum by Tommie Smith and John Carlos later encapsulated, if that same memory is correct, in a series on The Black Athlete in the magazine.

As time has gone by access to the magazine has become much easier and its literature a welcome addition to that available in other publications on the events of the sports world.

Fifty years is an outstanding achievement and a credit to those who had the vision in the first place. All of which is preparatory to saying that those days before the magazine was born are well covered in the textual side of this celebratory book, along with the various eras through which it has passed.

It features the best of what has happened, with brief out-takes from what are regarded as the finest stories. Fortunately, however, these are available in full, in the bigger book, Sports Illustrated - Fifty Years of Great Writing. Also recorded are some of the greatest photographs and also the art of sport, with a special favourite being the shot of Hank Aaron in full flight.

A year-by-year breakdown precedes the listing of all the covers of Sports Illustrated and while that might seem a little gradiose it is a celebration after all, and it has to be acknowledged it represents something of an interesting timeline of its own. The passing parade of America's view of world sport it may be, but it is hard to dispute that Sports Illustrated has made its impact, and contribution, on the sports it covers.

And this book is a fascinating reminder of all that has happened in 50 memorable years. For any sports fan, this book is a must.

Great book for guys (and gals) who like to reminisce about great sports events over the last 50 years. Makes for a wonderful coffee table book.

I gave the collection to my father for Christmas. Every male relative could not put the book down for the rest of the evening. They were all huddled together thumbing through the books.

I got this as a gift for my boyfriend...he loves it! But it's only for the sports buff. Too much for someone who doesn't love all sports.

This coffee table sports offering has no weak spots. Cover-to-cover...SOLID. I found it to be the perfect business gift for the sports enthusiast. I am not a shill for SI or Amazon but,it's also very efficient. This is my 5th order.

I'm on Amazon to purchase this book as agreed with my 5th grade son who checked this out of the school library in September and has never returned it. After renewing for months (it's now March!) I agreed to purchase it if he would only return it for another child to enjoy!

It is a beautiful book w/ lots of treasures particularly for the almanac-type sports fans. And besides his football book, it's one of his top 3 books!

George Dohrmann. Just another media vulture who took down a coach and players. If a player has no tattoos and his dad has all his sports memorabilia, how could he be selling it for tattoos? He also used a homeless person as a "source" for his anti-Tressel article. He also failed to mention the team currently has the highest or one of the highest academic records at OSU, all thanks to Tressel. I could go on all day about this EPIC FAIL of a reporter.

Don't buy this fraud's books or magazines.

Good coffee table book for the sports afficionado, especially the older one who likes to quietly "remember when". Careful when ordering from an Amazon partner. I got it on the cheap but it obviously had been stored in a damp environment as the pages were "rippled". Since it's not an heirloom or collectible I didn't go through the trouble of contesting it. Maybe the seller will get a hockey puck in the face or a bookcase will fall on him.