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Subject: Reflection on how far we have come since 1980


Author:
IvySportsJunkie
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Date Posted: 19:55:41 08/01/24 Thu
 Steve Fiffer, a prominent Yale alumnus and a New York Times best-selling author, recently shared a Blog post (see link below) with a somewhat stunning Sports Illustrated letter from Gilbert Rogin, a Columbia alumnus and the Managing Editor of the magazine. In 1980, Steve Fiffer had produced Just Plain Athletics, a documentary film featuring four athletes competing in what was then called the National Wheelchair Games. The winners went on to the 1980 Paralympics. Steve was so impressed by these athletes that he proposed a feature to Sports Illustrated, the number one sports magazine at the time.

The managing editor’s response so infuriated Steve that he kept it for all these years as a reminder of how the disabled were treated so much more poorly back in the 1980s.

As a long time SI subscriber, I was most disappointed by SI’s response and insensitive tone of their letter. In light of the upcoming global Paralympic Games in Paris, this letter seems to be timely to reflect how things fortunately have changed for the better.

https://www.storied-stuff.com/stories/steve-fiffer-3?fbclid=IwY2xjawEY-WhleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHYaiFiBrgmSCKvEqnL3bI3uPIjMfL_A5T1p4VCqaWcFVALII9E_ngZtvLQ_aem_XU915RfZdJ3zkWq6CrvzjQ
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Replies:
[> Subject: By a fellow Columbia grad, no less


Author:
sparman
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Date Posted: 03:49:20 08/02/24 Fri
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/obituaries/gilbert-rogin-87-magazine-editor-and-writer-of-droll-fiction-dies.html
[> Subject: Did SI ever change their "policy"?


Author:
Go Green
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Date Posted: 10:54:23 08/02/24 Fri

If SI ever covered the Paralympics, the World Games for the Deaf, or the Special Olympics, I don't recall it...
[> [> Subject: Re: Did SI ever change their "policy"?


Author:
observer
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Date Posted: 11:24:57 08/02/24 Fri
To that end, has there ever been an amputee or paraplegic in the swimsuit issue?
[> Subject: Re: Reflection on how far we have come since 1980


Author:
IvySportsJunkie ()
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Date Posted: 16:05:09 08/02/24 Fri
Sports Illustrated and ESPN do provide coverage of disabled athletes. For example, SI provided extensive preview coverage of both the upcoming summer Olympics and the Paralympics in 2021. ESPN also has done a number of stories and coverage related to the Special Olympics.

By 2018, Sports Illustrated elected to include a Paralympic amputee as part of its annual swimsuit (see link)

https://swimsuit.si.com/tag/paralympics

An example of a recent SI story on wheelchair athletes (see link)

https://www.si.com/college/2023/05/25/berry-brothers-alabama-wheelchair-basketball-daily-covertime.

The managing editor’s response so infuriated Steve thata recent SI story on wheelchair athletes (see link)

https://www.si.com/college/2023/05/25/berry-brothers-alabama-wheelchair-basketball-daily-cover