Sports Illustrated at Fifty

Hot on the heels of TV Guide's golden anniversary (we're 16 months older), another staple of waiting rooms and coffee tables everywhere marks a half-century. Through anecdotes from writers and remarks from athletes like Frank Gifford and Magic Johnson, this special reflects on five decades of first-rate reporting, insightful profiles, thought-provoking columns and, of course, photography that's second to none. Rick Reilly, Frank Deford and the late George Plimpton are some of the faces in the crowd providing perspective on a periodical that's all about sports, a concept thought to be doomed to failure when launched in 1954.