ESPN The Magazine (1-year auto-renewal)

Like a previous reviewer, I subscribed to this magazine solely for the access to ESPN Insider. Instead of paying $6.99/month for Insider, $14.99 gets me a year of ESPN Insider, along with a year of the magazine. As for the magazine itself, it's sort of a high-energy, exciting, layout-filled sports page. The tone of it is far from serious, as it is filled with jokes and sarcasm (not necessarily a bad thing.) But if you're looking for a well-written magazine with insightful articles, stick to Sports Illustrated. If you simply want a colorful magazine filled with cool sports information (and your ESPN Insider access), go ahead and get this. I did, and I look forward to renewing it in a few months. In fact, just for the ESPN Insider, I'm raising my rating from three to four stars.

I purchased this magazine solely to get cheaper access to ESPN Insider Online. The magazine is so all over the place otherwise that its hardly worth reading. Its chock full of tidbits that barely gloss over sports topics. I keep it in my bathroom and I guess its good there when I only have a few minutes to read while brushing my teeth or whatnot. Don't expect SI-type depth though, its full of ads and slick factoid type departments. Reading this magazine is like watching Sportscenter, a lot of many little things with no depth on anything. I guess its worth it for less than 60 cents an issue, but if I sat down to read this magazine cover to cover I would be done with it totally in under 15 minutes....enjoy.

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I should preface my review with two facts. First, I don't pay for ESPN The Magazine, it just started showing up in my mailbox a few months back and hasn't stopped. Secondly, I love sports, so I'm interested in the material. With that said, this magazine seems to have been designed for those under the age of 14, or at the very least, individuals with attention spans equal to Robin Williams on speed. The writing is juvenile and boring while the format is clearly an attempt to mask these faults. To make up for its kiddie pool depth, the magazine is stuffed with things like countdowns, top 10 lists, odds and anything else an interns can whip up before the deadline. Bottom line, it takes 4 minutes to read the thing cover to cover, and at the end you'll wish you had that time back.

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Like a puppy with large paws, ESPN The Magazine may grow up to be a large periodical. Right now I'd call it a fun-loving puppy without housetraining.

Don't get me wrong, puppies are cute. I like puppies. Everybody does.

You may not want to pay an annual subscription for a magazine that looks and acts like a puppy, though. That's your call. I wanted SI, but that venerable publication can't be had for the price of frequent flyer miles like ESPN The Magazine can. So I compromised.

By comparison with SI, ESPN The Magazine gives you a flashier, big-photo, post-modern jumble of short pieces that seems to derive from the verbal, television-friendly style of its parent. I'm not the deepest of sports fan, so I don't mind this. But if you're after the kind of in-depth analysis that SI offers, you might be disappointed by this alternative.

ESPN The Magazine is definitely a *fun* read, and if that's what you want, you'll like this. When my first issue came wrapped in a 'special promotional issue cover jacket' that presented Ricky Bobby as 'Sports Figure of the Year?', I knew instantly that this publication couldn't be all bad.

And it's not.

But it's light. It's airy. It's bubbly.

Think SI Lite. Think halfway between a comic book and USA Today. Think a puppy with big feet.

Hey, puppies are just all right with me.

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I switched to ESPN The Magazine from Sports Illustrated because I wanted an Insider membership on their website, and I figured I'd try something new. Now I am regretting it. The majority of the content is lame random facts and top ten lists. The few articles longer than a paragraph are hard to find between all the ads, and they lack substance and anything to entice the reader to keep reading. This magazine feels more like teen magazine with all the gaudy headlines and lack of any real reporting or journalism. If you want a magazine with interesting and insightful sports articles, beautiful photos, and 1/100th of the advertisements, get a subscription to sports illustrated. This magazine is lame.

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