effyja2012

I'm also fine with an all USA edition. I had no issue with it last time, really

Yes, I agree. The guessing game was cool. Just up and announcing everyone months in advance... meh

Interesting.. TBH I sort of like the idea of not having any previews and just letting the whole thing drop. We've lost some of the anticipation with all of the previews (though there hasn't been much to anticipate the last couple of years 🙁 )

I am assuming the pandemic is a factor here. I have no clue what will become of this... maybe they just skip a year?

My disgruntlement, as could probably be assumed by my avatar, began with that. I think your post was right on the money. All of the Diane Smith issues were good, except perhaps 2010(?) which was very dull. It's almost as if they threw all caution to the wind in 2014 with everything from the hype of the 50th anniversary to all the locations to the (lack of) editing, and then crashed down. 2015 was a worthy follow up, and 2016 & '17 had their moments, but the rot was setting in, and the timing of MJ taking control can not be ignored. The wokeness can be forgiven if it's not at the expense of the actual product, but it has been. 2020 was marginally better, but with SI/Maven focusing on other things (see previous post), and funding issues (COVID is surely a factor too), i seriously wonder if 2020 was the swan song

SI is just basically a marketing and brand house now https://sportsillustratednutrition.com/

As far as that goes, this year's pics overall were pretty conservative compared to past years. Not a criticism or an endorsement, just an observation.

I swear Ruven should be loaded into a rocket and shot toward to moon. His pics look like they were shot on a moonscape or during a dust storm anyway. The other pics are generally OK, better than last year for sure. I've only seen a couple video clips so far but they were better too. Overall, not the glory days by any stretch, but a step in the right direction. I may have more comments later

l like Halima but there is only so much variety that can be done with her shoots. I was actually surprised they brought her back for a second year for that reason TBH.

What, no interest in Chuck Woolery's take on this? 😏

The cover is OK. Not great but OK. I like how simple the concept is. The pics themselves are meh though

Odd they’d release the cover so far ahead of time. Wonder if it’s something else. Either way this place should be interesting tomorrow morning 😏

It's at least encouraging that we may be back to the "the pics kinda suck but the videos are good" era from maybe 4-5 years ago. A step in the right direction

I have no problem saying my original post on the subject was at best short sighted. My "should I really post this" button clearly malfunctioned. My bad. I'm cool with this and she is stunning. I've gone back to her page 3 or 4 times and I like her better each time I look.

I do agree if they had to do this, they certainly hit a home run with whom to do it with. It's clear though (and probably has been so for a while) that the old SI days are never coming back, for better or worse. It's half girlie mag, half social commentary

Lord forgive me. I.... just....can't.....

Well Maven has been known to fire people in mass quantities so perhaps...😏

The video clips appear better than last year.. fewer quick cuts.

Not bad so far... video clips are kind of dull but there's more out there. I'm just not getting my hopes up after last year, kind of taking a wait and see to this....

Also, for whatever it's worth, I really like Danielle too. In this slide SI has been on in recent years she has for me remained a consistent bright spot. But, to each their own

Soon it appears.... July 21 release https://www.si.com/advertise/rate-card

I know. I guess it depends if they were allowed to go into work to do what needed to be done in the issue. You’d think in the digital era that would be less of an issue though. Missed opportunity for sure, whether it was in their control or not, but it is what it is at this point

Ahh cool. Looks like actual release date will be 7/21. Interesting to keep an eye out to see if it changes. I guess SI Swim wasn't considered an essential business. Interpret that anyway you like....😏

Any clue as to when the 2020 issue might come out? I see the site has a link to 2020 (no content on the link), not sure if this means something is coming soon?...

it's actually $50. Damn I'm curious but maybe not that curious