We have the latest from Sports Illustrated on what’s in this week’s issue both in print and in its digital editions.
DiMaggio’s Streak 70 Years Later: How He Persevered Through Relentless Heat and Pressure
An Exclusive Excerpt from 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports
Measuring the “Gross Football Product” of the NFL: An Unprecedented Look at the Game’s Finances
John Calipari: Why One of Sports’ Most Polarizing Figures Deserves the Benefit of the Doubt (Seriously)
What Makes the Surging, Post-Carmelo Nuggets a Team That George Karl Can Finally Love
Reviled As He May Be, the Penguins’ Matt Cooke Has Proved Adept at Doing His Job and Doing It Well
(NEW YORK – March 9, 2011) – To mark the release of 56: Joe DiMaggio and the Last Magic Number in Sports by senior editor Kostya Kennedy (on bookshelves today), the Yankee Clipper graces the cover of the March 14 issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands today. It marks the 71st time the Yankees have graced the cover—the most of any sports franchise. Readers can order the book by clicking on the respective link.
In an excerpt from the book, Kennedy describes the weekend when DiMaggio passed George Sisler’s American League record of 41 consecutive games with a hit. Having already achieved a celebrity that made any off-the-field public appearances impossible, DiMaggio spent the night before the Yankees’ doubleheader with the Senators—June 28, 1941—in his hotel room, reading about the exploits of another universally beloved hero (page 60).
Kennedy writes: “Joe DiMaggio sat reading Superman and smoking in his room at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. He adored Superman comics, although he did not want many people to know this. If the newspapers picked up on it, who knew what people might think? What if they made fun of him? His roommate, Lefty Gomez, had the assignment of discreetly buying the weekly comic book for DiMaggio…. ‘Why, Joe, you’re just like him,’ Gomez would kid. ‘He puts on his uniform, and all of a sudden no one can stop him! He’s everyone’s hero.’ Sometimes when Gomez bought the comic—and DiMaggio always had him get it the very day it came out—he would goof around by calling out to DiMaggio, who hovered off to the side, ‘You mean this comic book, Joe? Or this one, the Superman?’ DiMaggio would scowl and turn his back and walk off a few paces. Only Gomez could get away with tweaking him like this.”
It was a sweltering weekend in D.C., and the heat nearly halted DiMaggio’s march to history. But like Superman, Joltin’ Joe came through—first with a sixth-inning double in the first game and then a clean single in his last at bat of the second. Kennedy describes the crowd’s reaction thusly: “First base coach Earle Combs slapped DiMaggio on the back, and first baseman Mickey Vernon shook his hand. DiMaggio gave Vernon a pat on the rump. There would be no enforcing of the league’s antifraternization rule today. Even first base umpire Bill McGowan gave DiMaggio a tap on the behind. In the Yankees’ dugout, caps were tossed in the air and players danced. And now DiMaggio smiled broadly. He looked around and hitched his pants. Suddenly children—the urchins, as Yankees players laughingly called them—ran onto the field toward DiMaggio.
To read the full online version of The Streak, click here.
On the Tablet: Click to buy your copy of 56 plus listen to Kostya Kennedy explain what he put in to writing it in a podcast interview with senior writer Joe Posnanski (@JPosnanski). Also enjoy a slideshow of DiMaggio during his magical 1941—everything from joking with Ted Williams at the All-Star Game to holding court at a party at his apartment.
SCORECARD: THE GROSS FOOTBALL PRODUCT – SPORTS ILLUSTRATED/FORTUNE COLLABORATION
The root of the struggle between NFL owners and players is money–$9.3 billion in total revenue, to be specific. The league won’t divulge exactly how that figure breaks down (a sticking point in the ongoing labor talks), so Sports Illustrated and FORTUNE have teamed up to crunch the numbers—everything from the money generated by broadcast rights, sponsorships, tickets and concession sales to league-wide expenses and the league’s impact on the local level—and provide an unprecedented look at the game’s GFP (Gross Football Product), a figure roughly equal to the GDP of Macedonia (page 16).Says Networked Insights CEO Dan Neely: “The NFL is like Procter & Gamble. There’s the holding company, the core operation, but then each brand has its own team and world of revenue. Like Tide: That’s a P&G product but within that there are different types of Tide and a number of people that make money from it. So the $9.3 billion pie just scratches the surface and doesn’t get into how much is spent around stadiums, merchandise, agents, all the way down to mom-and-pop shops.”
To read an online version of The Gross Football Product, click here.
WHY JOHN CALIPARI CAN’T CATCH A BREAK – S.L. PRICE
John Calipari has never been held accountable for any major NCAA violation, and dark rumors about his recruiting methods have never stuck. Yet there is no denying his place as one of the most polarizing figures in U.S. sports. Senior writer S.L. Price finds out what makes the University of Kentucky coach tick as well as why his actions have come to be so highly scrutinized (page 36): “It’s not just his past that makes Calipari so troubling. It’s that while other coaches want to preserve some semblance of the game’s traditional values, Calipari has always embraced the now—whether it be the Proposition 48 players he welcomed to UMass or the freshman exodus he celebrated last year as ‘the biggest day’ in Kentucky hoops history. In 2002, Calipari famously tore up Dajuan Wagner’s Memphis scholarship after his freshman year because he believed Wagner shouldn’t pass up the NBA riches he would earn as a projected first-round draft pick. Ever since, any kid dreaming of a sneaker contract has thought, Now there’s a coach who gets it.”Says Calipari: “I know I’m not a saint, but I’m not the guy I’m made out to be by others. Some of it is media driven. Some of it is driven by other coaches through the media: Drill this guy, he’s going too fast, he can’t be that good. And I say: Have at it. Hopefully I’ve done things the right way and treated people right…. There are times I get mad and want to strangle somebody, and then I go to Mass and say, Stop me from having this feeling that I want to absolutely punch this guy in the face. I’m from Pittsburgh. You come at me? I come at you twice. You hurt one of mine? I’m burning your village.”
To read the full online version of Why John Calipari Can’t Catch a Break, click here.
On the Tablet:For all his foibles, John Calipari has proven to be a pipeline for aspiring NBA lottery picks—and that was before five players from last year’s Kentucky team were selected in the first round of the draft. Here are hot spots on the other six. Plus, Price discusses the process of profiling Calipari in a podcast interview with media writer Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch).
THE REMAINING NUGGETS: DEFIANT IN DENVER – LEE JENKINS
After dealing Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks, the surging Nuggets have finally become a team coach George Karl can love—one that emphasizes defense and makes the extra pass. Senior writer Lee Jenkins (@SI_LeeJenkins) spoke with Karl about what it’s been like since the Anthony trade went down. Using a metaphor from his high school days, Karl says (page 46): “I had a chemistry teacher who used to cover the chalkboard with all these complicated formulas. Then one day she came in and wiped it clean. It was so refreshing to see that bright green chalkboard with nothing on it. That’s exactly how I felt.”Karl is especially eager to prove wrong the pundits who argue that a team needs a superstar in order to enjoy sustained success. Parroting a blurb about the Nuggets on a national website (one that he will share with his players in the locker room later), Karl says: “They don’t have their superstar anymore. Welcome to lottery land. All you f—— who think we won’t be good anymore, f— you. That’s what I tell myself every morning now.”
To read the full online version of Defiant in Denver, click here.
On the Tablet:Lee Jenkins discusses the surging Nuggets and other NBA news in a podcast interview with media writer Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch).
PITTSBURGH’S MATT COOKE: THE PUBLIC ENEMY – MICHAEL FARBER
Penguins winger Matt Cooke might be the dirtiest player in the NHL. And yet, given the opportunity to play devil’s advocate, senior hockey writer Michael Farber says Cooke might also be one of the league’s handiest. Recalling Cooke’s four-game suspension this season for hitting Blue Jackets defenseman Fedor Tyutin from behind into the end boards, Farber writes (page 52): “The shocking thing about Cooke’s suspension was that it was just the fourth—and longest—of a play-on-the-edge career that has spanned 800 NHL games. For all the worst-person-in-the-world bile directed at him, his suspensions total just 10 games. Disbelief has been suspended far more often than Cooke. Says former Penguins teammate Bill Guerin, ‘I told him he got one game for hitting from behind, one game for not thinking and two games for being Matt Cooke.’ ”Cooke’s style of play stems from when he was starting out in Vancouver, where the presence of Markus Naslund and Mark Messier on the left wing persuaded the then 20-year-old to take his game in a more combative direction. Recalls Cooke: “I took the approach that every day I wanted [coach] Mike Keenan to go, ‘Number 46? Oh, yeah, that’s that Cooke kid. He ran around and hit everything. I didn’t want him to go, ‘Number 46? Who the hell’s that?’ ”
To read the full online version of The Public Enemy, click here.
On the Tablet: Is it overly complimentary to call Matt Cooke’s hits “handiwork”? Judge for yourself with this video compilation of one of the NHL’s dirtiest players.
CHARLIE DAVIES: REBUILT TO LAST – GRANT WAHL
Fully recovered (he says) from a horrific car accident in October 2009, Charlie Davies is intent on resurrecting his career in MLS and recapturing the form that made him one of America’s most promising young strikers. Soccer senior writer Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) spoke at length with Davies about his upcoming debut with D.C. United on March 17. Davies tells Wahl (page 56): “I’m coming full circle. I’ve been thinking about this since the first day I got out of the hospital. Will I be sad? Happy? Nervous? If I score a goal, will I break down and cry? Will that signal [my] getting over the mountaintop? Will I dance? Yes, I will dance.”Davies also admits to watching clips of his pre-accident highlights with the U.S. national team. He rationalizes: “At this point it’s kind of a mandatory thing. I need to go on YouTube and watch the things I used to do, so that it’s in my head.”
To read the full online version of Rebuilt to Last, click here.
On the Tablet:Wahl discusses Charlie Davies’ comeback and what to expect in the upcoming MLS season in this audio interview.
POINT AFTER: NO JOY IN METSVILLE – PHIL TAYLOR
Being implicated in the biggest financial scam in U.S. history is par for the course in New York Mets lore—one that has been filled with strange indignities and soul-crushing failures. Senior writer and Queens, N.Y., native Phil Taylor describes how Mets supporters have been robbed of their spring (page 68): “Mets fans are realists. They know that an NL East title is unlikely this year, what with the Phillies having acquired every big-name pitcher except Koufax and Gibson. All we—er, they—really want at the moment is a stable franchise that doesn’t need overdraft protection at the bank and a season that doesn’t feature another strange calamity that leaves people around the league shaking their heads. To be a Mets fan is to cling tenuously to sanity, desperate for nothing as much as 162 games of normalcy. Or so I would imagine.”To read the full online version of No Joy in Metsville, click here.
TABLET ADDITIONS TO THE 3/14/2011 ISSUE
- ·SI Digital Bonus: The Coed Boppers’ Top Cat – In this story from the March 4, 1968, issue, former senior writer Curry Kirkpatrick profiles LSU’s prodigious scorer, Pistol Pete Maravich.
- ·Scorecard: Off the Record – The week’s top moments in sports video.
Back with more soon.
