Timing Reason Why Jeter, Not U.S. Women Soccer Team, Appears On SI Cover

SI Group Editor says selecting Jeter's hit for cover over WWC was matter of timing

SI Group Editor Terry McDonell said that this week’s Sports Illustrated cover featuring Yankees SS Deter Jeter following his 3,000th career hit instead of the U.S. national women's soccer team after their dramatic win over Brazil in the FIFA Women's World Cup quarterfinal was “mostly a matter of timing,” according to Noah Davis of BUSINESS INSIDER. McDonell said, "We were very tempted to go with the women's soccer team, but they could have been eliminated by the time the issue reached subscribers. Imagine the story you'd write if that happened." The team is playing France this afternoon in the semifinals. McDonell added that the “timing didn’t make sense” for putting out an iPad-only cover like they did after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup. Davis wrote, “We understand the decision to go with the shortstop but we still think it would have been great to see [Abby] Wambach's expression of sheer joy grace the magazine cover. Perhaps the final game will provide a moment of equal drama.” Davis noted Phillies C Carlos Ruiz is featured on a regional cover this week for the Philadelphia area (BUSINESSINSIDER.com, 7/12). YAHOO SPORTS’ Brooks Peck wrote readers “have to wonder if the business decision of who would sell more magazines -- Derek Jeter or the U.S. Women's World Cup team -- was also a consideration” (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 7/12).

RISING TO THE OCCASION: USA TODAY’s Michael McCarthy writes ESPN’s Ian Darke, the net's lead play-by-play announcer for the Women's World Cup, is “not some understated British sportscaster.” Darke “gets as amped as” Fox’ Gus Johnson, and he “makes no bones about becoming as excited as fans.” Darke: “When you get a moment like Abby Wambach’s equalizer, or the Landon Donovan goal last year, clearly there’s almost a license to go through the roof with it.” Darke said that if sportscasters “can’t rise to the occasion at big moments like that, ‘they probably need to find some other form of employment’” (USA TODAY, 7/13).

WARM AND FUZZY: In Dallas, Tim Cowlishaw writes under the header, “If The U.S. Women’s Team Wins, So Will Soccer As A Whole.” Cowlishaw refers to the U.S. World Cup wins in '91 and '99, writing, "I'm not sure how much the interest level in soccer was advanced by those triumphs. It was probably some, to be sure, but I think it was minimal." Cowlishaw: "It just feels different now. ... More and more soccer is finding its way onto television" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/13).