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Remembering the glory days of Sports Illustrated
Authentic Brands Group, which owns the SI brand, announced that it’s license had been revoked, and as a result, the staff would be laid off.
HOPKINS, Minn. — It’s been a constant pillar of sports journalism for decades, holding stories of our favorite athletes and teams – but the future of Sports Illustrated is now unclear.
Authentic Brands Group owns the SI brand, and has been licensing it to the Arena Group. On Friday, the group announced that it’s license had been revoked, and because of that, the staff working on the SI brand would be laid off. It’s unclear how many people it will affect.
What is clear is the magazine’s lasting legacy on generations of sports fans, including Kelly Wells of Ultimate Collectibles in Hopkins.
“Some of my favorite memories growing up, I go to my cousin’s house and they had like a lifetime subscription to Sports Illustrated,” Wells said. “So I would try to sneak in minutes here, there, to read all the most interesting to me – the baseball and basketball mostly – just try to get in as many of those as I could before I went home.”
They carry plenty of copies of Sports Illustrated, including ones of some of Minnesota’s sports heroes.
“We love the Kirby Puckett giant bat one, of course, here we love the ones where we won the World Series in ’87 and ’91, and they gave us a couple of couple of covers,” Wells said.
From Puckett to Mauer, Tarkenton to Garnett – generations of us grew up on these magazines.
“Sports Illustrated is such a deeply woven part of the fabric of the professional sporting experience for so many people,” said Jon Krawczynski, senior writer for The Athletic.
Krawczynski says his love of sports – and passion for sports journalism – started with SI.
“A picture’s worth a thousand words, right?” he said. “Those covers are worth 10,000, 20,000 words, because they are the defining images of the defining sports moments of our lives.”
Many of those moments, especially in Minnesota, were captured by Steve Rushin.
“I’ve been writing for Sports Illustrated for 37 years,” he said. “I’m 57 years old, so it’s a thing that I’ve done more than pretty much anything else in my life.”
Like many sports fan, he’s saddened, but not shocked.
“It feels like I’ve been blindsided by a snail, because we’ve seen this coming for a long time in all of print media,” Rushin said.
Now, he’s left with memories, and wondering what happens now. The Arena Group released a statement, saying they plan to continue producing Sports Illustrated until this is resolved.
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Last week, prosecutors charged John Sawchak with attempted 2nd-degree murder and other felony charges after he allegedly shot his neighbor Davis Moturi.
MINNEAPOLIS — Following the shooting between two neighbors, the Minneapolis City Council voted unanimously to request that the city’s auditor conduct an independent investigation into the incidents and cases between Davis Moturi and John Sawchak.
Moturi was allegedly shot by his neighbor, Sawchak, on Wednesday, Oct. 23 but Minneapolis police did not arrest Sawchak until days later.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara defended not arresting Sawchak sooner, calling it a “high-risk” situation. O’Hara later said the victim, who had complained about harassment from Sawchak for months, was failed by police. Sawchak was arrested this past weekend after an hours-long standoff.
Moturi suffered a fractured spine, two broken ribs, and a concussion in the shooting. “Mr. Moturi’s life matters and I’m sorry that for nearly a year, MPD did not treat it like it did,” said Council Member Robin Wonsley in a news release, “Today’s vote affirms that the City Council is committed to taking meaningful actions towards accountability and restoration, starting with this independent review.”
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey released this statement:
“Mayor Frey fully supports an independent review of this incident. The mayor and City are committed to always doing better, and this means closely examining past actions and finding where there may be ways to improve and grow. The mayor extends his condolences to Davis Moturi, his wife, Caroline, and their family and friends. The safety of our residents is a top priority and any form of violence or hate speech is completely unacceptable and does not align with who we are as a community. Brian O’Hara will continue to be the Minneapolis Police Chief.”
“This Valentine’s Day, 2025, will mark the five-year anniversary of the premiere of ‘Love is Blind,” Vanessa said on the Season 7 finale. “And, it is gonna be the launch of Season 8, which takes place in Minneapolis.”
The episode also revealed three of the new cast members, one of whom, “Alex,” told Lachey Minneapolis is “not like a major city, but it’s also not a small town,” which he said is just one of the obstacles in his way of finding the one.
“I just never found the right person that clicked for me,” he said.
Meantime, you can bone up on Seasons 1-7 streaming now on Netflix.
MINNEAPOLIS — How much do you know about your grandma’s upbringing?
“The Stories From My Grandmother’s Hands” is a book that aims to show young Black children how their grandmas lived through beautiful illustrations and descriptions.
KARE 11 News at Noon shared more on Thursday about the impact that this book will have.
