Xmas gift filter: What's the best weekly sports magazine?

November 28, 2013 10:18 AM

Please help me choose a sports magazine subscription for a literate 53 yr old sports fan.

My partner (male, 53yrs old) tells me that he used to love having a subscription to The Sporting News. He's really difficult to buy for and I think a weekly sports magazine would make a great Christmas gift. He will read about any sport (think NFL to Curling; he doesn't care) and would prefer a magazine that covers a wide variety. He cares about decent writing and would prefer writers with personality and wit. I don't think Sports Illustrated is the answer. I think he'd choose well written text over photo spreads.

He really cares about sports. He's won his fantasy football championships for the past 3 or 4 years. We don't have cable and so the only sports news he gets right now is from basic news websites and he doesn't like the internet enough to get all his sporting news that way.

I don't know much about sports and even less about sports writing. What magazine subscription should I get him?

Thanks ahead of time for your recommendations. I am counting on your expertise.

posted by dchrssyr to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (7 answers total)

My very well read boyfriend loves Sports Illustrated and has been a subscriber for at least 10 years. Unless he really doesn't want many pictures, I still think it's a solid choice.
posted by heavenstobetsy at 11:02 AM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

Grantland is going to issue a quarterly dead tree edition next year. It would be a nice supplement to whichever more frequent periodical you choose.
posted by carsonb at 12:00 PM on November 28, 2013 [2 favorites]

Grantland has great writing. I was going to recommend it but didn't think they had a print version. As heavenstobetsy points out, they do! Only 4 times a year but still looks pretty nice.
posted by saul wright at 2:50 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

I don't care for sports beyond occasionally watching the NBA but I do work in an office. A overheard comment I heard is ESPN Magazine blows Sports Illustrated out of the water for journalism.
posted by wcfields at 6:04 PM on November 28, 2013 [1 favorite]

I got my boyfriend (favorite book: Moby-Dick) a subscription to Sports Illustrated a few years back and he read every issue but when it ran out, didn't want me to resubscribe. However, we live in a large building and people leave their old magazines in the laundry room, and whenever ESPN Magazine and Sports Illustrated are both there, he will always choose ESPN Magazine first. So I'd go with that and add in the quarterly Grantland, if you can swing it.
posted by jabes at 10:40 AM on November 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Looks like ESPN is clearly the winner. Grantland looks awesome and right up his ally but I don't know about spending $80. We don't usually spend that much on each other for the holidays. Any more suggestions? Keep them coming.
posted by dchrssyr at 11:42 AM on November 29, 2013

Oops, actually ESPN is biweekly, not weekly. Groupon's running a deal on it today only if you decide to subscribe.
posted by jabes at 12:24 PM on November 29, 2013 [1 favorite]