This week’s Sports Illustrated issue recaps Super Bowl XLV by going inside the Green Bay Packers and what they had to do to piece together a patchwork secondary to win the Big Game. Other stories include a profile on New York Knicks star Amar’e Stoudemire and how he’s helped to make basketball trendy in the Big Apple once again. And there’s a look at new Philadelphia Flyers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky and Ohio State Fab Freshman Jared Sullinger. It’s all in this week’s issue of Sports Illustrated, out on newsstands and online this week.
Amar’e Stoudemire is More Than the First-Half MVP—He’s the Savior of Basketball in New York
Pack on Top: The Patience of Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Brass Pays Off with a Lombardi Trophy Plus: The Inside Story On the Packers’ Makeshift Secondary and a Closer Look At Green Bay’s Victory in the Trenches
Fabulous Frosh Jared Sullinger: Getting to Know the Top-Ranked Buckeyes’ Hoops Prodigy
Sergei Bobrovsky: Have the Snakebitten Flyers Found a Netminder Who Can Help Them Win a Cup?
Jake Plummer’s Curious Decision to Walk Away from the American Dream
(NEW YORK – February 9, 2011) – Senior writer Lee Jenkins (@SI_LeeJenkins) says that Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire is more than the first-half MVP. He is also saving New York basketball. Jenkins explains (page 44): “When the Knicks had [Patrick] Ewing, the playgrounds had [Stephon] Marbury and Kenny Anderson, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest. But when the Knicks slipped, so did the playgrounds. ‘There has always been a correlation,’ says Gary Charles, founder of Grassroots Basketball of America and director of the New York Panthers AAU program. ‘When the Knicks were down, it affected basketball here at all levels. We had a drought, too. We didn’t turn out as many first-round draft picks’…. Charles can see the rustling of a renaissance, with the improvement of the Knicks and the emergence of St. John’s and some of his own players bypassing prep school to stay home. ‘Amar’e started it,’ he says. ‘He brought a lot of pride when he said, Hey, none of those mothers want this on their shoulders? Well, I’ll take it.’ ”
It has been quite an arrival for a player who underwent microfracture surgery on his left knee five years ago and fought with coach Mike D’Antoni when both were in Phoenix. Says Dan D’Antoni, Mike’s brother and a Knicks assistant: “If you asked me in Phoenix whether he could be the top dog in New York, I’d have told you no. He wasn’t sure of himself, and when you aren’t sure of yourself, you do two things: talk about how good you are and blame somebody else when things go wrong.”
To read the online version of The Savior Cometh, click here.
On the Tablet: Since signing his megadeal with New York, Amar’e Stoudemire has displayed an impressive versatility both on and off the court. Readers on the tablet can watch video of the Knicks power forward dropping 41 points on the 76ers on Sunday, shooting the breeze with David Letterman in January and visiting Israel over the summer.
SUPER BOWL XLV COVERAGE
GREEN AND GOLDEN – TIM LAYDEN
This year’s Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers, and teammate Jordy Nelson grace the cover of the February 14, 2011, issue of Sports Illustrated—on newsstands today—with the billing Pack on Top: The Lombardi Trophy Returns to Green Bay. Rodgers has been featured on the weekly cover four times, halfway to the number of cover appearances that predecessor Brett Favre had during his tenure in Green Bay.
If any play from Super Bowl XLV epitomizes Rodgers’s career, says senior writer Tim Layden (@SITimLayden), it was his 31-yard completion to Greg Jennings on the drive after Pittsburgh cut the Packers’ lead to 28–25. As Rodgers told Layden afterward (page 32): “That one throw was all about the last three years of my career…. The journey has been special. I’m not vindictive, but I’m blessed with a very good memory. You wait, you keep quiet and you take advantage of an opportunity when it comes.”
By seizing the moment time and again on Sunday, Rodgers rewarded Packers G.M. Ted Thompson, who had ushered in a new era in Green Bay by trading the incredibly popular Brett Favre. Layden writes: “The most critical decision of Thompson’s tenure came when he severed ties with [Brett] Favre in 2008 by trading him to the Jets during training camp. It came three years after Thompson had drafted Rodgers, and it has led to what Hall of Famer Steve Young, who succeeded Joe Montana in San Francisco, says will be ‘the next back-to-back Hall of Fame quarterbacks.’ ”
To read the online version of Green and Golden, click here.
On the Tablet: Suffice to say, Green Bay’s journey to their fourth Super Bowl title was filled with bumps and bruises. But when it mattered most, a deep team featuring both familiar and unfamiliar faces stepped up and delivered—all on display in a Season in Pictures gallery. In addition, there are three videos shot the day of Super Bowl XLV: a report on the seating fiasco that resulted in 400 fans being turned away on Sunday, a look behind the scenes with one of our photographers and a video recap of the game set to music. To top it all off, Packers fans also have the opportunity to order the Super Bowl commemorative issue courtesy of Sports Illustrated Presents.
LAST MEN STANDING – PETER KING
After a regular season in which they were ravaged by injuries, the Packers had to lean on their deep roster again on Sunday when several key members of the secondary went down. As defensive coordinator Dom Capers told NFL senior writer Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) after the game (page 38): “You know how we got lucky? That long halftime show. It gave us a chance to diagnose the guys and find out who we’d have in the second half, and when we did, it allowed us to fix our calls and figure out what we were going to do. We ended up losing Charles [Woodson], and Sam [Shields] was really not right—he only played a little in the second half because he just couldn’t tackle. Nick [Collins] was fine when he got an IV. But we cut our call sheet in half, and we eliminated almost all our man coverages…. Really, it was a microcosm of our season.”
To read the online version of Last Men Standing, click here.
THEY HELD THE LINE – JIM TROTTER
Job One for Green Bay’s offensive line was to stop the Pittsburgh blitz. For tackles Bryan Bulaga and Chad Clifton, it was a job well done. Senior NFL writer Jim Trotter (@SI_JimTrotter) recalls an anecdote illustrating the confidence that Bulaga—a rookie—carried into the game (page 40): “The Steelers’ announcement last Friday that rookie center Maurkice Pouncey, nursing an ankle injury, would not play meant that Bulaga, at 21 years and 322 days, would be the youngest player to start a Super Bowl. That night [Green Bay line coach] Campen interrupted Bulaga’s dinner with his parents by cellphone to ask him if he’d heard of Charlie Waters, Gene Upshaw, Richard Seymour and Jack Lambert, among others. ‘These are some of the greatest to play this game, and they’re also some of the youngest to start in the Super Bowl,’ Campen said. ‘Now you’re going to be the youngest. In the history of this game. Forty-five years! What do you think of being in the same class with them?’ ‘Let’s do it,’ Bulaga answered.”
To read the online version of They Held the Line, click here.
ALSO IN THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
OHIO STATE’S JARED SULLINGER: A PRODIGY IN THE PAINT – MICHAEL ROSENBERG
The No. 1 Buckeyes are unbeaten thanks largely to the exploits of freshman forward Jared Sullinger. Contributor Michael Rosenberg (@Rosenberg_Mike) marvels at Sullinger’s beyond-his-years feel for the game, which was evident to his family early on. Rosenberg writes (page 50): “He could make free throws when he was three years old. He practiced drop steps in his parents’ bedroom when he was four. One time [his older brother] J.J.’s high school team got blown out, and afterward, he recalls, ‘Jared walked up to me and said, Bro, y’all are terrible. I said, I know. He said, Why don’t y’all play hard? I don’t never want to play like that.’ Jared was six. At around that age, he would watch games on TV and point out to his family when a lack of weakside help defense allowed a backdoor pass for a basket.”
To say that Sullinger’s approach to the game has paid dividends is an understatement: “‘I consider myself a winner,’ Sullinger says, and this is as close as he will come to bragging in public. It is also the only way he measures success. For now, the Sullingers have tabled the discussion of Jared’s leaving for the NBA after this season. He is trying to lead Ohio State to a national championship, and everything in his experience makes him believe he can do it. Sullinger’s Northland [High School] teams went 95–4. His last three AAU teams when 201–9. Ohio State is 24–0. Add that all up, and he has won 96.1% of his games.”
To read the online version of A Prodigy in the Paint, click here.
On the Tablet: Sullinger is poised to join a select group of freshman—on display in a photo gallery—who have averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds a game, one which includes three players selected No. 3 or higher in the NBA Draft: Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse, Kevin Durant of Texas, Michael Beasley of Kansas State and Chris Gaston of Fordham.
FLYERS’ GOALTENDER SERGEI BOBROVSKY: WHAT ABOUT BOB? – MICHAEL FARBER
The Flyers are stacked for a run at the Stanley Cup but, as usual, their biggest question mark is in goal. Senior hockey writer Michael Farber says that Russian rookie Sergei Bobrovsky—simply known as “Bob” to his teammates—looks up to the task. Farber writes (page 54): “His father, Andrei, a coal miner, now works for a miner’s union. His mother, Larissa, is on the line at a steel factory. Bobrovsky is not merely blue collar, an ethos the Flyers famously embrace, but ring-around-the-collar. Dirty. ‘Everything I am now is basically [because] of the way my parents raised me,’ he says. He speaks through an interpreter because Bob is also a rookie in English. The lexicon shared by Flyers defensemen and their good-natured goalie is essentially four words: leave, play (it), loose (puck) and over, as in pass it over here.”
The stability Bobrovsky has provided in goal thus far is in welcome contrast to the up-and-down play the Flyers have gotten from the position since the days of Bernie Parent, Pelle Lindbergh and Ron Hextall. As team goalie coach Jeff Reese observes: “[Bobrovsky’s] just going out and playing. He’s simplifying things, and to me [his not speaking English] is simplifying. Maybe he doesn’t quite understand, especially in Philly, with the goaltending and everything, that there’s a lot of pressure.”
To read the online version of What About Bob?, click here.
On the Tablet: Philadelphia has been quick to embrace their rookie goaltender, but they haven’t always been so welcoming of Russians. Most notable are two occasions captured on video and available the tablet: Bobby Clarke’s slash of Soviet left wing Valeri Kharlamov during the 1972 Summit Series and the Red Army’s walkout from an exhibition game against the Flyers in 1976. Also on the tablet is a gallery of all the goaltenders—both memorable and unmemorable—that Philly has had over the years.
JAKE PLUMMER: WHAT WAS HE THINKING? – CHRIS BALLARD
Why did Jake Plummer walk away from fame and fortune as an NFL quarterback during the prime of his career? As senior writer Chris Ballard (@SI_ChrisBallard) found out, Plummer’s decision to quit football in favor of handball and hanging with his family and friends stems in large part from the lessons imparted by former teammate and close friend Pat Tillman. Plummer’s speech at Tillman’s funeral was proof of that. Plummer said (page 58): “Beauty is not wasting a day. Beauty is noticing life’s little intricacies and taking time out of your busy day to really enjoy those little intricacies. Beauty is being real, being genuine, being pure with no facade—what you see is what you get. Beauty is expanding your mind, always seeking knowledge, not being content, always going after something and challenging yourself…. I believe that to really honor Pat, we should all challenge ourselves. No more I’m going to do this or I’m going to do that. Do it. As Pat would say, probably, ‘Get off your ass and do it.’ Why, you ask, should we honor him this way? Because that’s what Pat did his whole life.”
Recalling a meeting with then Bucs coach Jon Gruden about playing for Tampa, Plummer explains more of the reasons behind his actions: “I loved playing in the NFL. I put my heart and soul into it. And at that point, especially after Pat [Tillman died], it was like, there’s so much more to do in life. And people go, What, it’s the NFL! I even told Gruden, ‘Hey, I used to watch your games and check the stats. Your quarterback would throw like three picks, and you guys would still win. Now, you don’t think I don’t want to play for you guys? I can come down there and throw all the picks I want, and we’re going to win. But you know what, I still don’t want to play for you. It’s not against you. It’s because I don’t want to play. And I don’t want to do that to you. If I’m not willing to play, I’m not going to give what you need from me in order to succeed, and that’s cheating you and that’s cheating all those other players. I can’t do that.’ ”
To read the online version of What Was He Thinking?, click here.
On the iPad: Chris Ballard joins media writer Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) on this week’s Sports Illustrated audio podcast to discuss his profile on Jake Plummer and the idea that someone would walk away from the stereotypical American dream of being a pro athlete.
SI PLAYERS NBA POLL
Which of these two would you like to play alongside for 10 years? (page 17)
LeBron James, Heat F….58%
Kevin Durant, Thunder F….42%[Based on 154 players who responded to SI’s survey]
FAST FACTS Veterans trended toward James (63% of those 35 and older), while youngsters favored Durant (55% of those under 25)…. Through Sunday, Durant led the pair in points per 48 minutes (35.0 versus James’s 32.8), while James led in rebounds (9.1; 8.5), assists (9.2; 3.4) and steals (1.9; 1.3)…. James’s teams have an overall winning percentage of .618 but are just 10–18 in games he misses; Durant’s teams are .426 and 9–5.
POINT AFTER: LET IT BLEED, BIG BEN – PHIL TAYLOR
Senior writer Phil Taylor sees a silver lining in Ben Roethlisberger’s loss in Super Bowl XLV, writing (page 72): “The path to forgiveness for Roethlisberger requires more than leading a crisp two-minute drill. ‘Seems like some people want Ben to walk across a bed of nails before they’ll cut him any slack,’ says Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward. Now, there’s a thought. But in the absence of that kind of pain, seeing Big Ben in the professional agony that comes with losing the Super Bowl will have to do. Apologies for boorish behavior and promises to be a better man can be coached and choreographed. The kind of hurt Roethlisberger expressed after the loss in Dallas cannot.”
Taylor adds: “It was left to everyone else to determine how much of Roethlisberger’s sentiment came from the heart and how much from a public relations handbook. That’s always the conundrum when considering a wayward athlete: If you root for him, isn’t there a small part of you that wonders if he hasn’t changed? If you root against him, isn’t there a small part that wonders whether he has? That’s why we want athletes to pay a penance we can be sure of.”
To read the online version of Let it Bleed, Big Ben, click here.
SCORECARD: TURN OUT THE LIGHTS – BUZZ BISSINGER
With the final episode of Friday Night Lights airing on Feb. 9 on DirecTV, SI asked author Buzz Bissinger (@buzzbissinger)—upon whose book the series and a 2004 feature film were based—for his thoughts on the occasion (page 16): “People were shocked when I told them I barely watched the show. But after nearly 20 years I was Friday Night Lighted out. I had persuaded myself that no matter what else I did professionally, the writing of the book, and all that it begat, is what would be on my tombstone. It had become a prison, this feeling that I had become the nonfiction equivalent of the high school quarterback, the peak of my creative life buried in the past, back in 1988, when I began my research at age 33. As my father would have said, it was a nice prison to be in, but I yearned for escape.”
To read the online version of Turn Out the Lights, click here.
On the Tablet: A preview of the final episode of Friday Night Lights (which will air again on NBC this spring).
EXTRAS ON THE TABLET VERSION OF THIS WEEK’S ISSUE
Off the Record: This week’s top moments in sports video aren’t necessarily newsy, but they are must-see—and wide-reaching. One video takes place at a Lakers game, another on a cranberry bog.
The Super Bowl Covers: Thanks to the heroics of Aaron Rodgers and an opportunistic supporting cast on both sides of the ball, the Packers bookend this gallery of the 45 Sports Illustrated covers that have commemorated the winner of the Super Bowl.
That is it for now.
