The Sporting News, one of the premier sports publications of our times, turned 123 today. The event passed with no fanfare, and little notice.
This day in 1886, the venerable franchise was begun, starting off as nothing more than another in a series of baseball pages. There were many others, but none of them have lasted as The Sporting News has.
There are other sports publications nowadays as well, including the well-known Sports Illustrated. ESPN, which began as a television media outlet, has also branched out into print, with its ESPN the Magazine.
However, while Sports Illustrated is a fine publication, and certainly is famous for its Swimsuit additions, and while ESPN the Magazine has dominated the industry in many ways since its inception, there is in my view, no finer magazine than The Sporting News for sports information.
I grew up reading and memorizing its pages, enthralled at the vast digest of information they printed about all my favorite players and teams. There was a time when I wouldn't have missed an issue if someone held a gun to my head, I was that obsessed with sports; and The Sporting News was my bible.
I've since grown out of this obsession, although I'm still a huge sports fan. And while the Internet has made print seemingly obsolete, I still find The Sporting News relevant today.
So, on this birthday of sorts for the company, and though they have seemingly let the day slip past without even noticing it themselves, I pay tribute to this great supplier of sports news and information, that gave me thrills galore throughout my life.
I dance a jig, on this St. Patrick's Day for them, and provide you with 17 slides to commemorate their years in publication. Seventeen in honor of St. Patrick's Day.
Here they are:
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