Boise State RB Ian Johnson Profile & Sports Media Coverage from Sports Illustrated

The December 28 issue of Sports Illustrated was one of those magazine issues that works on multiple levels... had great content and a lot of it.



A couple of weeks ago I did two different posts with content from this issue. The first was "Wish of a Lifetime Piece from Sports Illustrated" and second "Sports Illustrated Picks for Best Writing of the Decade". Linked to was inspiring and excellent writing respectively, but which also left me with a piece from the very solid writer Joe Posnanski to post on.

"The Running Back, The Cheerleader And What Came After The Greatest College Football Game Ever" is about former Boise State running back Ian Johnson... he of the 2007 Fiesta Bowl two-point conversion for the win over Oklahoma and subsequent marriage proposal to BSU cheerleader Chrissy Popadics. The audio probably detracts from the effect of the video, but said proposal begins about 1:10 into the below clip:


Really interesting story that fits perfectly in the category of "Where are they now?"

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Also from Sports Illustrated (the week prior Dec 21 issue) came the cover story section "5th Annual: The Year In Sports Media".



Starting off with the interesting story of Stephen Colbert promoting the U.S. Speedskating Team, this linked piece also included mention of the (entertaining sounding) HBO show Eastbound and Down and (having watched it... entertaining) Versus show Sports Jobs with Junior Seau (posted about here).

Additionally of interest from this Sports Media section was this story on "The Art of Basketball" from ESPN writer Bill Simmons and the Digital Media page which featured mention of the iPhone apps MLB At Bat 2009 and FIFA Soccer 10.

Wish of a Lifetime Piece from Sports Illustrated

Great Point After piece from Selena Roberts (who I can't help but view fondly after she revealed Alex Rodriguez as a steroid user) in the latest Sports Illustrated.



Titled "Special Senior Moments", it details the charitable foundation created and led by former Olympic Freestyle Skier and NFL player Jeremy Bloom. The mission of Wish of a Lifetime is to enrich the lives of low-income seniors and a quote in the story from Bloom was "I just believe that too often in our society, seniors are an afterthought."

In a way, this reminds me of the excellent John Grogan book "The Longest Trip Home." Reviewed here by myself, the memoir details Grogan's relationship with his Dad and coping with aging... just excellent stuff that reminds one of how important it is to pay attention to the aging just as one does the young.

Back to Bloom's foundation, though... extremely admirable stuff and the story Roberts paints of a wish recipient is very touching.