Ranking Sports Illustrated’s iconic Oklahoma covers with SI’s future in flux

Throughout the past few decades, Sports Illustrated has captured the times of the sports world with its magazine covers.

The eye-catching photos have long been a point of pride for the publication, which released its first issue in 1954. But now the entire operation is in jeopardy.

The Arena Group, which operates Sports Illustrated, announced Friday that it will be “laying off staff that work on the SI brand.” This comes after it had its license to operate the publication revoked.

It’s a time of uncertainty. But Arena Group’s vice president of growth for sports, Matthew Lombardi, released a statement on the publication’s future.

“We are going to continue to operate Sports Illustrated,” Lombardi said. “Either Arena or someone else is going to have the license to operate Sports Illustrated.”

Here’s a look at the top 10 Sports Illustrated magazine covers that feature OU players.

More: OU football co-defensive coordinator Zac Alley ‘a winner’ who brings ‘aggressive defense’

10. ‘We Got This Dance’ with Buddy Hield, 2016

Art Prints

Spoiler alert: This list will mostly consist of OU football players.

But let’s tip things off with former OU men’s basketball guard Buddy Hield, who rose to national stardom during the 2015-16 campaign. He averaged 25 points on 45.7% shooting from deep and was named the Naismith College Player of the Year.

Hield’s cover included a prediction by Sports Illustrated’s staff that OU would reach the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four. That prediction proved to true, as Hield led the Sooners there for the first time since 2002.

9. ‘Clash Of Wills At Oklahoma’ with Marcus Dupree, 1983

Sell Art Online

The oversized aviator glasses. The well-maintained jheri curl. Marcus Dupree’s cover had it all.

But it also had some foreshadowing. Its text read “Heisman hopeful Marcus Dupree: Can he coexist with his coach?”

The answer…


Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ranking-sports-illustrateds-iconic-oklahoma-000828029.html

Author : The Oklahoman

Publish date : 2024-01-20 00:08:28

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