Silly rabbit, Sports Illustrated is for kids!

When I was growing up, I would read quite a few magazines.  Although I wanted to be a journalist I wasn't into reading books.  Magazines I liked better because you didn't have to invest so much time into a story.  I remember my sisters would read magazines like Cobblestone and Dynamite, and I would look at the pictures (when I was really young). As I got older I would read whatever I could find, then in the late 90's I got into reading wrestling magazines (by this time I was in high school, but still liked reading whatever).

When I was 7 years old, a new magazine came out- Sports Illustrated for Kids.  On paper (see what I did there), it was a clever concept- it presented sports to kids on their level.  It also had another clever idea- it had trading cards in every issue.

I never remember reading SI for Kids.  Not as a kid anyways.  I might have been in high school when I saw my first issue, and even then it was used copies that didn't have the cards inside.

Fast forward to 2013 and I was sitting in a doctor's office and out of the corner of my eye I see a magazine with a football player on it.  I pick it up and see its JaDeveon Clowney on the cover of SI for Kids.  "Wow" I thought, "they still make this?"  I haven't seen an issue in a few years, and honestly as much as I love reading magazines, I'm surprised kids would still get this.  Anyways, I glanced through it and noticed it still had cards in it.  At first I was like "should I take this or no?"  After I looked at it, I enjoyed the issue, I set it down.  I started to see what other magazines they had, and noticed the same issue.  TWO OF THE SAME MAGAZINE?  OK, I'm taking one now.

After I got home, I went online and saw that they still make the magazine, but it cost a little more than I wanted to pay.  Besides, this is a magazine for kids, and the cards are really thin.  I can't justify paying for it.  THEN IT HIT ME!!!  I do a few surveys online, and get a lot of magazines through the mail for free.  Maybe I should see if I can get it for free.  A few minutes later, I subscribed to 1 year of SI for kids and didn't pay a dime.

It was going to take a few weeks to get the first issue, so when I was back at that doctor's office, I saw they had a new issue out and I snagged it.  Inside was a card that I really liked- Aldon Smith.  Smith is a former Mizzou player, so anytime I can find a Mizzou player I snag it.

A couple weeks later I got my first issue in the mail, and I felt 10 year old me was jumping up and down inside.  A year later, when my subscription ran out, I was able to renew it pretty quick, and just as it did when it first came out and when I first read it, its very informative.  Especially seeing and reading the cards of people I never heard of.  Where else can you find cards of an Olympic downhill skier without buying a box of Olympic cards who only show the most famous ones?

The reason I am posting this besides discussing the magazine, is because these are two card I recently added to my collection.  On the left is former Mizzou and current Kansas City Chiefs QB Chase Daniel.  It's taken at Faurot Field (possibly a game I was at) in 2010.  They right is a 1993 card of Greg Maddux, a player I collect (currently I have over 100 of his cards).  I wanted to write a post with a picture, and after I scanned these cards for another website last night (Trading Card Database) I thought about how this would be a relevant topic.

Thanks for reading.  Does anybody else have memories of SI for Kids, or even still get the magazine?