November 23rd: My 1000 Words

When I was in middle school, I decorated my walls with photos I had pulled out of Sports Illustrated. It was like wallpaper, each photo telling it's own story about a single moment in sports. I loved that I could lay in bed and look around at dozens of different narratives, each with details that, if I looked close enough, I could discover all over again.

My earliest SI cover, from November 27th, 2006.

I began to collect photos for my wall, at first a small handful that I could swap out (I had to take down photos of Mark McGuire and Barry Bonds after I learned they were cheaters) and storing up reserves for a future room, office, home that I imagined I'd have one day.

When I went to college, the concept followed me. My collection had grown since 2006, and I had plenty of images to choose from. I kept the photos in pizza boxes under my bed, occasionally taking them out to sort them by sport. I even collected advertisements I thought were clever or well designed.

Now, after 8 years, I was looking through my collection of thousands and thousands of photos, trying to figure out what to do with them all. This was far too cool a collection not to share with someone, especially in the world of social media. I decided that there was enough content here that, if I posted one photo a day, I would never run out of material.

SI Covers from big moments are a huge part
of my collection. This is one of my favorites,
from the Blackhawks' 2010 Stanley Cup win.

That being said, the ZP: Left Fielder is going to begin a photo section of the blog. Every weekday, I will post a different photo from my collection. I will also include a short, 50 to 100 word description of what the photo is and why it is a favorite of mine. This will, of course, be in addition to the other great content coming out of the ZP: Left Fielder and other ZPMedia outlets. (If you haven’t seen the Zoot Perspective blog and the Web Congregation, make sure you subscribe!)

These photos are all physical copies of images found in Sports Illustrated Magazine since 2006. The collection continues to grow, so some content will be current, while others will be throwbacks.

There are photos of superstar professional athletes from their days in college. There are photos of unbelievable plays and incredible moments. There are portraits of men and women in the best and worst moments in their careers. In any and all cases, these images are what make sports so incredibly enthralling, so deeply emotional and meaningful.

I have, for almost a decade, related to sports through the perusing and pruning of images from my favorite magazine. I can’t wait to show you all just a few of the highlights.