What's Wrong With Sports Illustrated?!

Do you see this cover? It's terrible. No, really, it's atrocious. It's so bad because of who is on it and who is not on it.

Look at Chris Bosh. He looks like he's having a great time. Look at Dwyane Wade. He looks content and pleased with himself. Look at Lebron James. He doesn't know whether to smile or be serious so he was caught in between and looks like an awkward 6th grader posing for his first middle school photo. That's who's on the cover. Do you know who's not on the cover? I'll give you a list: Casillas, Villa, Ramos, Torres, Puyol, Fabregas, Pique, Xabi Alonso, Xavi, Pedro, Iniesta...

All of those players, and more, did something no other Spanish futbol team had done: win a World Cup. Spain became only the 8th country to win the quadrennial tournament and the only coverage they get on the biggest sporting magazine in the United States is the top line: "Party like it's 1579"?! I'm sorry, but that's bullshit. First, Lebron wastes nearly 30 minutes of my time by deferring the answer to a question that would take 1 minute to say, in telling national television where he would be playing, now he takes up a magazine cover to endorse his "businessman-like" behavior. What's wrong with you Sports Illustrated? Just because the United States was out of the tournament, did that mean that the biggest sporting event in the world became Page 2 material? I fail to see how an off season move that, while big I admit, can be dissected every which way throughout the summer is bigger news (and worthy of a cover photo) than Spain winning it's first World Cup.

I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm not a HUGE NBA fan and maybe it's because I love the sports that most Americans don't find all that enjoyable in Soccer, Hockey and Baseball. But the World Cup is the World Cup. I don't know how else to say it. This slight to soccer/futbol/football is nothing new. I mean, I live in a country where cars with decal headlights that only turn left for hundreds and hundreds of laps, is something people find exciting - and it gets more coverage than soccer. People call soccer butt-numbing, what do you call watching a guy with two first names turn left for four hours? I call that boring. In 2006 the main photo was of the New York Mets and how they were "intrepid". At least then Fabio Cannavaro was shown hoisting the cup in the upper left hand corner. But this most recent cover features no photo, just words.

Am I blowing this out of proportion? Maybe. But when a sport that isn't even in season dominates the headlines over the most watched sporting event in the world, we got a problem.