Sports Illustrated’s Cover Barrier: Who Will Break the Bikini Line?
UPDATE: Danica Patrick Sports Illustrated’s Cover Barrier!
Candace Parker is the truth: She can score, rebound, dribble, pass with ease, play all five positions, and was dunking by age 14. When not kicking men’s butts in pick-up games, you might find Parker cheerleading; doing fashionable photo shoots, or acing tests while earning the University Division Academic All-American of the Year in women’s basketball for 2008.
Candace Parker is a leader: She is the only two time award winner of the USA Today High School Player of the Year. In March 2004 she won the Slam Dunk contest of the McDonald’s High School All-American Game beating out five male competitors including future 2005 NBA Slam Dunk contestant JR Smith and champion Josh Smith. She was the first woman to dunk in an NCAA tournament game and the first woman to dunk twice in a college game. Not surprisingly, last Wednesday she became the first pick in the WNBA draft…
Candace Parker is a winner: She led her team to back-to-back state titles in high school. Last week she led the Tennessee Volunteers to their 2nd consecutive NCAA Women’s basketball championship. This summer she will look to add to her trophy case by participating as an Olympic team member and then as player of the Los Angeles Sparks…
Candace Parker is a warrior: The summer after her junior year in high school, she tore her ACL in her left knee. Year-long recovery process? Naaah. She returned in December of her senior year and lead her school to its second consecutive state title… Last week’s college championship came one week after she scored 16 consecutive points for her team before dislocating her shoulder. When this happened to NBA Superstar Dwayne Wade last year he had to be carted off in a wheel chair. Parker? She shook it off, had the shoulder popped back in its place, got it wrapped up, came back in the game, and helped lead her team into the Final Four.
After her tailor-made-for-media Final Four appearance, Sports Illustrated took magazine liberties and issued two separate covers of that weekend’s Final Four – one with North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough and one with… UCLA’s Kevin Love. These were curious choices as both Hansbrough and Love already received an SI cover within the previous month. Love’s previous cover was part of a 6-ISSUE "March Madness" special that finally gave the Tennessee Volunteers some basketball "cover love" — men’s player Chris Lofton…
After all of the injuries, all the gutsy performances, all the individual accolades, and all the team championships, there is only one thing that Candace Parker can’t do… land on the cover of a Sports Illustrated regular issue. And for at least one time, Parker is just like any other woman…In his blog former SI editor Roy Johnson adds some marketing reality: "For Candace the pivotal question isn’t whether she’s good enough, but this: Will her sweetness (or hotness) be enough?" Johnson was referring to Parker’s ability to elevate the WNBA, but may as well have been discussing SI’s cover. While in a perfect sporting world Ms. Parker’s "sweetness" or "hotness" should make no more marketing difference than it would for Larry Bird coming out of Indiana State in 1979, she also seems to have that department covered. Parker’s cover absence raises a question that has been asked many times:
What exactly does a woman have to do to land a regular issue of Sports Illustrated[1]?
The answer: "Wear a bikini"… So far in 2008, only one woman has made the SI cover: Swimsuit model Marisa Miller. What about 2007? Yup, just one woman again. Her name?: "Beyonce". 2006? Well, one winter Olympics issue had 6 athletes with three of them being women. In the year’s other multi-female issue there were 8 half-naked supermodels. So who was the last female athlete to grace an SI cover by herself? That would be softball player Jennie Finch in 2005. Finch sported a miniskirt as the title read: "SI Throws a Party: Jennie Finch Will be There" From the article, it is unclear whether Finch remembered to bring her own beer. One would have to go back nearly three full years, 10 bikinis, and one miniskirt before finding a female all by herself on the cover who was recognized for her athletic achievements (Danica Patrick in June 2005).
SPORT ILLUSTRATED COVERS WITH WOMEN SINCE 2005
So how did we get here? During the 1950’s, the decade of Sports Illustrated’s inception and hardly a period of progressive feminism, it was quite common to have about an average of five issues per year where a female athlete graced its cover. By the 1990’s that figure had been reduced to about 2 or 3 per year. In The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine, Michael McCambridge writes in 1998:
"The magazine might have deflected some of these complaints [about the Swimsuit Issue] if it had done a better job covering women in sports. But it became a truism that the only time a woman was on the cover was when she was, in the words of one staffer, ‘a victim or a babe or both’. Monica Seles made the cover alone after she was stabbed in a tournament in Germany, but not after any of her 8 grand slam women’s titles. (She shared a cover… in 1990) Nancy Kerrigan graced the cover after being clubbed, but not after winning the U.S. Figure Skating championships…. Vader’s column put the blame on the entrenched sexism she’d encountered in the building".
With few exceptions, that alleged “entrenched sexism” has led to a one solo cover quota for most female athletes and a two-cover cap for legendary athletes. Tennis legend Martina Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam titles, nine Wimbledon Finals, but garnered two solo SI covers. Steffi Graf broke big ground by landing three cover shots. Since 1990, the Williams sisters (Venus & Serena) COMBINED have not received as many covers (3) as Ted Williams — who managed to land on 5 covers (4 solo) after the age of 70. In contrast, at least five swimsuit models have graced the cover three times. The record for most SI covers by any woman is five — held by supermodel Elle MacPherson.
Considering such history, can it get worse? Yes, it can. Since 2000, SI responded to previous criticism by scaling back to about an average of one solo female athlete cover per year – their worst of any previous decade. And while the female athletes face cover extinction, the swimsuit issue continues to be SI’s greatest moneymaker. And here goes the logic: half-naked women and soft-porn can be used as a cash cow, but none of those profits can ever be used to help promote the achievements and popularity of female athletes who prefer to wear clothing over shedding it.
This year marks the 35th anniversary of Billie Jean King’s landmark "Battle of the Sexes" victory over Bobby Riggs. Her victory marked the symbolic complement to the 1972 Title IX legislation that reguired equal funding for women in high school or college athletics. Together they signaled a new era that demanded that women’s sports be taken seriously.And in large part – -it has — except by Sports Illustrated itself. Through the 2008 lens of SI, it seems that King may have only won the battle, while Riggs may have won the war. In 1973, SI had five women on their cover including an expose cover story on how "Women are Getting a Raw Deal". Twenty five years later, that raw deal continues as SI refuses to give proper recognition to the likes of Candace Parker, Diana Tarausi, Pat Summit, the Williams sisters, Lorena Ochoa (emerging golf dominance may rival Tiger’s) and many others. If the last couple of years are any indication, they may have less of a chance in landing a future SI cover than one day running for President of the United States of America.
UPDATE: Danica Patrick Sports Illustrated’s Cover Barrier!
[1] The question does not include less circulated "commemorative issues" or "small insert photographs" that amount to tokenism at best.
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Great synopsis, MODI. Candace Parker and the Lady Vols should get as much love as the Kansas Jayhawks got for winning the title. Even with all of the awards and accolades that Parker received, she can’t get one cover, unlike the male player of the year Tyler Hansborough. Candace does have a couple of things that Mr. Hansborough doesn’t have, though. NCAA Championships. Yes, there is a huge double standard.
One of the problems with a woman being on the cover of SI is, chances are, men are probably choosing the covers. Someone probably reminds the staff that chooses the covers that one of the criteria is what would be interesting enough to increase sales and generate interest. No one in that room is going to think women’s college b-ball or for that matter, any women’s sport aside from an occasional tennis, golf, or in an Olympic year, track and field.
Women’s sports have never been as popular as their male counterparts. That’s the real shame. The women can work and train as hard as any male athlete. There won’t be as much love from the MSM for them, though as for the men. Sure, some can get multi-million, multi-year endorsement deals, but they don’t get the type of deals that a mid-tier NBA star would get.
There are and have been some great women’s athletes that have never gotten the appreciation that they should have had. I don’t see the attitudes of the MSM changing any time soon to show them more love. I think all that could be done is to continue to push the MSM for more coverage of women’s sports and for the general populace to show them the proper respect that female athletes deserve.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:22 amNice work MODI.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:35 amShe isn’t on the cover because Women’s B-Ball does sell like Men’s B-ball. You will see a Women’s Tennis Player on there because Women’s tennis is actually a bigger market than Men’s Tennis.
I think of Candance wants to be on the cover, she better get a orange and white bikini and pose sexually with a basketball.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:53 amGood piece, MODI. My response is along the same lines as kos’. It’s amazing, once you stop to think about it, that SI can only find room for one or two females on a cover in a whole year. I mean, that’s 2 out of 50 issues!
But I suppose it’s still economics that wins the day. More people will want to read about Hansbrough than Candace and if newsstand purchases still count for a good chunk of revenues, then we know what will win out.
But how do we move the masses to where they ought to be if not by kind of, well, forcing the issue a lil bit. Sure sounds like SI can do better.
p.s. Danica Patrick made the cover solo in June 2005
April 14th, 2008 at 11:03 amSo, MODI - since women’s tennis eclipsed men’s tennis years ago, which players have made the SI cover?
April 14th, 2008 at 11:04 amSerena Williams made it in 2003. I wonder how many tennis players, of either gender, has made the cover in the last, say, 3 years. Federer, I’ll guess, but I’m wondering if tennis is the only major sport in which women compete with the men (attention/coverage wise).
And can tennis beat out the other major sports. Is there always something else happening in football, basketball, baseball when something hot is happening in tennis?
Anyway, I’d love to see Serena a lot more than any hockey player.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:27 amp.s. here’s the SI Cover Search gizmo.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:30 amOk, a lil off-topic, sorta, but speakin o Serena, she’s still lookin thick and juicy these days. SI get on that!
April 14th, 2008 at 12:00 pm“One of the problems with a woman being on the cover of SI is, chances are, men are probably choosing the covers.:
How true kos, how true? SI’s staff has never been known for it’s diversity whether it be gender or race… and it has always affected their selection process and coverage… unfortunately it has gotten even worse in recent years…
– DMac, I wouold expect nothing less form you…
– Temple, Serena made it twice and Venus made it once. Kournikova once (nothing to do with tennis)… here are all of the tennis covers:
http://dynamic.si.cnn.com/covers/search
– Folly, econonics is definitely a factor here, but one part of a larger equation. It would be nice to see past circulation sales. It is hard to believe that - in the minimum — if SI added Candace Parker to those 6 “March Madness” covers that sales would drastically go down. The SI cover doesn’t just follow popularity, it helps to create it. Part of this has to be a product of a sexist culture at SI. Anyway, given that SI’s swimsuit pays the bills, SI should be obligated to invest at least SOME advertising that is their cover toward women athletes. Given it’s decrease of covers in recent years from terrible to worse, it is hard to come up with any other conclusion than blatant institutional sexism. …BTW, thanks for the note on Danica. I didn’t add the cover at first, but just did now. The great irony of the Danica cover is that she was chosen because she was a woman (the pioneer factor).
– Folly, in SI’s biggest travesty ever, Roger Federer has never made a cover. If he was American he would have at least 5 already. But that is for another column on SI’s xenophobia…
April 14th, 2008 at 12:57 pmThe SI cover doesn’t just follow popularity, it helps to create it.
Exactly! Great post, Modi - once again, an amazing piece. You really need to be higher-profile, buddy.
What has happened, to both female sports and to guys like Federer, is that SI is chasing ESPN. In the past SI wrote great lengthy thick articles. They covered sports with an intelligent perspective. Now they compete with ESPN to see who can pop market it more, and dumb the product down more.
Only the NY Times Play magazine covers sports with any kind of intelligence anymore. I see an opening there for someone, if they have the right resources….
April 14th, 2008 at 2:01 pmSML:
Ditto. I totally concur. I asked the question because I’ve stopped reading SI (long ago) and have no intentions of returning.
Image leaders are not driven solely by trailing sales reports or market analysis.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:03 pmWhat has Candace Parker done to get top billing over her male counter parts Temple3?
She is a woman who plays a nice game, great, but no one is interested in Women’s B-Ball except hardcore B-ball lovers and lesbians, and that doesn’t sell to a men-targeted audience unless those lesbians are in shape, in bikinis, and touching each other. Now I don’t know what orientation Parker is, but if she wants to be a huge star she better breakout that sex appeal and get some endorsements.
Then she would be on the ocver of sports illustrated. Hell wasn’t Amanda Beard on SI, before the Playboy spread? I know the US Women’s Beach Volleyball team was on SI once.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:08 pmThe point of the article is that for her accomplishments, Candace Parker, as well as other women athletes, get no love from SI’s cover department when it comes to athletics. Parker should be a natural. Looks good, has skills, can out play many men….various player of the year awards….
Actually, SI would do well to put more women on the cover to attract a generation of women who grew up with athletic opportunities. Doing this would help attract some new women readers. There are women that like sports, and many of them feel that much of the MSM ignores their athletic feats.
It’s true. But all the blame doesn’t go to SI or the MSM. A great deal on it goes to the population at large. A lot of men won’t watch or support women’s sports. There’s the prevailing thought that if she’s playing sports she must be a lesbian, or a man hater. I think some of it is fear that a woman might be better at a sport than men.
As far as Federer never having an SI cover. That’s just criminal. Two times in the past two years, he should have been sportsman of the year. If Federer were American, his endorsements and profile would probably come in second to only Tiger Woods. The shame is, it seems that Federer isn’t as good as he was in past years.
April 14th, 2008 at 5:35 pmSML, thanks and agreed. I have seen a bit of an upturn in SI the last few months… however it hasn’t carried over to women…
“What has Candace Parker done to get top billing over her male counter parts”
She has won multiple championships and her skill level gap is greater vs. the field (although Sylvia Fowles is close.). But why the either/or trap. There were 9 separate college basketball covers in less than one month. I think that there is more than emough room.
kos, I think that you nail it when you say “I think some of it is fear that a woman might be better at a sport than men.” At the root there might be something deeper going on.
Agreed: No Federer = criminal.
April 14th, 2008 at 6:45 pmAgree w/ all -DM.
I suppose the full title of the magazine, as far as the cover’s concerned should be “American Men’sMajor Sports & Bikinis Illustrated.”
They really missed a wide open opportunity re Candace. I mean, it’s not even like she’s hard on the eyes.
Fear is difficult to root out when it’s camoflauged in Scorn.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:50 amDavidMac said:
“She is a woman who plays a nice game, great, but no one is interested in Women’s B-Ball except hardcore B-ball lovers and lesbians, and that doesn’t sell to a men-targeted audience unless those lesbians are in shape, in bikinis, and touching each other. Now I don’t know what orientation Parker is, but if she wants to be a huge star she better breakout that sex appeal and get some endorsements.”
While not disagreeing due to our sexist culture and the realities you describe, I’m not sure if this post is more offensive to men or women.
April 15th, 2008 at 5:44 pmI don’t think it is offensive to anyone Stephanie, it is just what people in unpopular sports have to do to get attention.
I mean do you all think Oscar De La Hoya would be where he is in boxing today if he didn’t market himself to the ladies, make his pop albums and show up on tv all the time?
Its what you have to do to get exposure, Danica Patrick has posed in racy ads that flaunt her femininity to get national exposure and it worked.
It takes work to get national exposure if you are in an unpopular sport, and Women basketball players are going to have to do more than just ball well to get exposure throughout the nation. Candace Parker would help herself out big time if she stopped wearing pants suits (lesbian clothing) and start wearing short tight dresses in formal events and hit a couple of SI spreads in the bikini, the same for other WNBA stars who want exposure.
April 15th, 2008 at 6:07 pmStephanie, thanks for posting. Now you might be new, but as a general rule please know that DMacs posts have potential to be offensive to any gender, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, age, human, alien, or other…
DMac, lets take this one sentence at a time.
“She is a woman who plays a nice game, great, but no one is interested in Women’s B-Ball except hardcore B-ball lovers and lesbians, and that doesn’t sell to a men-targeted audience unless those lesbians are in shape, in bikinis, and touching each other.”
I’ll bypass the obvious reaction just to say that the very same thing was once said about women’s tennis 35 years ago, but that has changed drastically because of open minds… the same must take place for basketball…
“I mean do you all think Oscar De La Hoya would be where he is in boxing today if he didn’t market himself to the ladies, make his pop albums and show up on tv all the time?”
The analogy falls way short on three fronts. Oscar “The Golden Boy” was incredibly popular before he ever made any pop albums. 1) All he had to do was win an Olympic Gold Medal — instead of three like Lisa Leslie and others. 2)It would work if EVERY boxer had to make a pop album to become famous. 3) there is a clearly sexist aspect to the bikini rule — which cannot even be described as a “choice” anymore.
“Its what you have to do to get exposure, Danica Patrick has posed in racy ads that flaunt her femininity to get national exposure and it worked.”
Agreed that it is what a woman “has to do” (and not men). The whole point of the article is that this needs to change. Dare we strive for great athletes to be recognized for simply being great athletes.
“Candace Parker would help herself out big time if she stopped wearing pants suits (lesbian clothing) and start wearing short tight dresses in formal events and hit a couple of SI spreads in the bikini, the same for other WNBA stars who want exposure.”
Yeah, that’s one option. Another option is that we come out of the stone age. Finally, pant suits are not “lesbian clothing”. They can be found in any corporate office by heterosexual women everywhere. Please refer back to “stone age” comment.
Finally, Candace parker is not a lesbian, but is engaged to NBA baller Shelden Williams. But if you need something sexier to watch a game then here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ZIUdKvId4
April 16th, 2008 at 12:55 amI’m not saying she is a lesbian Dwil. I am saying she needs to stop dressing life one and start flaunting her engagement ring and all that is femine about her.
I didn’t know she was engaged, I’m happy to hear that, but who knows, Swoops was married for years before she came out the closet.
————-Breakdown Your Points—————
1) Yes the same things were said about Tennis, but again it wasn’t until you had spectacle and public interest did you see a breakthrough in tennis, battle of the sexes matches, not to mention you had some women who were pleasing to the eye that really put it over not just hard bodied lesbians.
Lets be real also, Tennis is a dead sport in the US, the only reason Women’s Tennis does so well is because the women look so good (In the US that is).
2) Oscar De La Hoya was aided by his good looks and his marketing, not the olympic gold. There are plenty of American medalist and none have the fame and the pull of Oscar De La Hoya, and that is because he sells his sex appeal to the ladies. Oscar brings in more money TODAY than everyone else in the sport of boxing and he is a lightweight turned Jr. Middleweight, low money fields of boxing, plus he lost in every fight he had against a HoF or P4Per. To deny that selling his looks is what got him over is crazy.
3)Men do have to sell themselves, look at that racer who was on Dancing with the Stars, the spanish one, look at De La Hoya, David Haye (was a model to get his name out in England /he is a boxer by the way), everyone in non-popular sports is going to have to do something to get the public attention to generate interest in them, whether that is playing up sex appeal, going on a hit show, or etc. It just so happens women have it easy and can just flaunt what God gave them and they can instantly get public exposure. Personally, I do not think it needs to change, everything seems fine the way it is to me. It is the free market at work, you promote what the audience wants, and anyways you are just talking about the cover, they have done articles on women athletes in those unpopular sports.
4)There is nothing wrong with my comments about pants suits, yes I have seen some women wear them in my job but then again most guys in the office assume those women who wear them are gay. Look if a guy came to work in a pink shirt with his collar open and tight designer dress pants it isn’t “stone age” thinking to believe he is a fruit. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, then it just might be a duck, right? Point being made here is simple, you are right Parker is attractive enough and talented enough to propel the WNBA, but she is going to have to change herself to do that to the best of her ability, that means she has to sell herself to a public that is not interested and the quickest way to do that is to sell sex appeal and keep her game on the court up. That is my only point.
April 16th, 2008 at 8:57 amDMac, I have a detailed response for you, but am running out and won’t be available until the late PM.
April 16th, 2008 at 9:25 amOh yeah, and I’m not D-Wil!
April 16th, 2008 at 9:26 am[…] Would have been nice to see Candace Parker on the cover of SI. (Cosellout) […]
April 16th, 2008 at 10:10 amSports news isn’t a whole lot different from other news reporting in that there needs to be some sense of high drama involved. In sports, the drama is usually generated by superlative performances but sometimes it’s self-inflicted or self-generated drama (or, as in the case of Mike Tyson, he of the 15 SI covers to de la Hoya’s one, some combination of the three).
Sex appeal is one option in the self-generated drama category. It works. It’s tried and true. And it’s a real option if you can’t secure a high enough profile with your performances alone.
But what we’re talking about here, DM, isn’t so much business as usual so much as doing what we can to improve our collective lot on this lil spitball we call Earth.
Some people have the shoulders to attempt moving the masses a whole block at a time, and the strength to withstand the expected persecution. The rest of us don’t have to do a whole lot, just hold on to the occasional rebound, flick in the gimmies and tag the slow-footed force out. Sometimes we have nice, easy, no-brainer plays land right in our lap.
No question mate, SI flubbed this one.
DM, you’re only stating the case for the status quo. The status quo move is often enough a prudent move, but it isn’t always the best one. DM you’re arguing a lil too hard here.
April 16th, 2008 at 1:56 pmModi - sorry about the Dwil comment, I was typing real quick.
@Charles
I’m not arguing hard at all, I just don’t see the problem with Candace not being on the cover. I mean you don’t see Micheal Phelps on the cover of SI and he is dominating swimming, you don’t see any gymnast on there out side of Summer Olympics, you don’t see spinters till the Olympics either. Some of those people dominate their fields harder than any football, baseball, and basketball players but they get no coverage. Is it wrong? No. There is no interest in the US in their sports, which leaves you with no reason to put their picture on the cover. Its all about business and I see no problem with SI running their business in a way to generate interest the casual buyer who will pick up their magazine if they see a hot chick or a player they like.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:22 pmDM @#24, again, that’s simply status quo in the face of a glaring opportunity. you miss my point, but i’ll bleat no longer. buhbuy.
April 16th, 2008 at 3:23 pmCharlies I’m not missing your point I understand it completely. I just disagree and prefer the status quo. I see nothing wrong with it.
April 16th, 2008 at 4:08 pm[…] explain the Sports Illustrated covers? I am entirely indebted to Charles Modiano’s article “Sports Illustrated’s Cover Barrier: Who Will Break the Bikini Line?” on the Cosel… for providing my casual observations with solid […]
April 16th, 2008 at 7:19 pmDMac,
“I didn’t know she was engaged, I’m happy to hear that, but who knows, Swoops was married for years before she came out the closet.”
Using this logic, you must be wondering if every male Governor is really gay because McGreevy was living a lie.
“Yes the same things were said about Tennis, but again it wasn’t until you had spectacle and public interest did you see a breakthrough in tennis”
yes, and it was often SI who helped CREATE that public interest. This is the part that you keep missing. SI’s power to INFLUENCE masses. There has actually been an INCREASE in public interest in many women’s sports since the 1970’s but a decrease in SI coverage. These were business decisions, ones that may very well informed by the alleged “entrenched sexism” that former female SI colleague perceived. I know, I know it could possibly be “entrenched sexism”… it never is…
“Oscar De La Hoya was aided by his good looks and his marketing, not the olympic gold. There are plenty of American medalist and none have the fame and the pull of Oscar De La Hoya”
yes, good looks HELPED Oscar out no doubt, but did not create his initial fame for The GOLDEN Boy! Please name these American gold medalists as good as Oscar who escaped fame. Sugar Ray? Holyfield? Any american gold medalist will find fame if they fight like a champion afterwards. If Breland panned out, he could have had the world in his hands…
“It just so happens women have it easy and can just flaunt what God gave them and they can instantly get public exposure.”
Wrong on so many levels. Pick a level any level.
“Personally, I do not think it needs to change, everything seems fine the way it is to me. It is the free market at work, you promote what the audience wants”
Of course, it does. And during the times of Roman Gladiaters you could have made the same exact statement. In fact, if we took a time machine to Ancient Rome I have no doubt that you WOULD have made the same statement. Thus is the nature of people who never challenge a broken system.
“There is nothing wrong with my comments about pants suits, yes I have seen some women wear them in my job but then again most guys in the office assume those women who wear them are gay.”
Do you and your colleagues work at Hooters? I find this statement so far removed from the real world that is 2008.
Folly, I cosign your shit…
April 17th, 2008 at 12:55 ami saw this too late, but wanted to thank you for writing it. and for defending your points. we change by challenging our preconceived notions. thank you for consistently encouraging your readers to do so!
April 17th, 2008 at 12:17 pm[…] call girls get showerd with love. But hey, since Sports Illustrated allows more swimsuit models than women athletes to grace their cover each year, isn’t it just easier to join the […]
July 30th, 2008 at 8:48 pm[…] Illustrated’s record on women leaves much to be desired. As detailed here and in Sports illustrated’s Cover Barrier: Who Will Break the Bikini Line?, in recent years SI has released more issues with women in swimsuits than in an athletic uniform. […]
November 17th, 2008 at 6:32 amCandence Parker was on the cover by herself in April of 08
November 19th, 2009 at 8:07 pmThe CP cover was a commemorative issue recognizing Tennessee as champions that only sell a fraction of a regularly issued mag. Subscription holders do not receive a copy of commemorative issues.
November 20th, 2009 at 1:01 am