Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

The heartbreaking farewell: the world's greatest sports library checks out

Was anyone aware of this? I know SI covers far more than just pro football, but is there no library that can take this collection?

I was not aware of that library so I don't know the extent of it, but the HOF has great clip files, but there is always some they may have missed.

Is all that going to be trashed?

Was that library open to the public? I worked in the Time-Life building for several
years in the 1960s and was unaware of its existence.

Does anyone know whether the library is for sale?

It's not clear from reading the article if the library is entirely comprised of clips and cuts from Sports Illustrated over the years, or if it contains material broader than that.

The former would be far less interesting. If it's the latter, it could be a gold mine.

Anyone know?

by mwald » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:02 pm
"It's not clear from reading the article if the library is entirely comprised of clips and cuts from Sports Illustrated over the years, or if it contains material broader than that.
The former would be far less interesting. If it's the latter, it could be a gold mine.
Anyone know?"

Yes; you can be sure that, before they went to press, they had documentation of Eddie Mathew's last diaper change, a copy of Augie Donatelli's Baptismal Certificate, Wes Westrum's great-Grandmothers' grammar school Report Cards and the cost of every size screw and where and why it was used in County Stadium.

You are talking Time-Life here.
Every article of every issue was supported by enough facts to create another issue just about that topic.

Just look around you... the PFRA struggles to publish what is basically little more than a newsletter six times a year for only about 400 recipients. Just look at the accumulation of stuff in our "archives" - unsorted and random though they may be.

SI published weekly. The rejected photos alone could fill the Great Wall - on both sides.

And they covered all sports - internationally. Multiply what we have for just football by at least one thousand and then multiply that by whatever number of sports you can imagine. The number is awesome.

So, yes; the contents of that library have far more than preserved copies of every issue. The contents have a complete "file" on every person who ever had his or her name in an issue, every team that was ever mentioned, every venue, every sponsor, and the list goes on and on and on - farther than Miller's "Columbus."

The smart money would bet that a Ted Turner-type mogul, or a Mark Cuban, or even The Donald will pay an outlandish sum for that library and perhaps give it to the Smithsonian which will welcome it with open doors.

oldecapecod11 wrote:by mwald » Thu Aug 27, 2015 7:02 pm
"It's not clear from reading the article if the library is entirely comprised of clips and cuts from Sports Illustrated over the years, or if it contains material broader than that.
The former would be far less interesting. If it's the latter, it could be a gold mine.
Anyone know?"

Yes; you can be sure that, before they went to press, they had documentation of Eddie Mathew's last diaper change, a copy of Augie Donatelli's Baptismal Certificate, Wes Westrum's great-Grandmothers' grammar school Report Cards and the cost of every size screw and where and why it was used in County Stadium.

You are talking Time-Life here.
Every article of every issue was supported by enough facts to create another issue just about that topic.

Just look around you... the PFRA struggles to publish what is basically little more than a newsletter six times a year for only about 400 recipients. Just look at the accumulation of stuff in our "archives" - unsorted and random though they may be.

SI published weekly. The rejected photos alone could fill the Great Wall - on both sides.

And they covered all sports - internationally. Multiply what we have for just football by at least one thousand and then multiply that by whatever number of sports you can imagine. The number is awesome.

So, yes; the contents of that library have far more than preserved copies of every issue. The contents have a complete "file" on every person who ever had his or her name in an issue, every team that was ever mentioned, every venue, every sponsor, and the list goes on and on and on - farther than Miller's "Columbus."

The smart money would bet that a Ted Turner-type mogul, or a Mark Cuban, or even The Donald will pay an outlandish sum for that library and perhaps give it to the Smithsonian which will welcome it with open doors.

Can't help smiling, OCC. Grains of truth, yea. Grains of insanity, double yea. Not sure which I find more interesting.

But still, I ask, is there more than just SI clips in this library?

by mwald » Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:09 pm
"Can't help smiling, OCC. Grains of truth, yea. Grains of insanity, double yea. Not sure which I find more interesting.
But still, I ask, is there more than just SI clips in this library?"

The grains of Truth would rival the Arabian but, while you were smiling, a few grains must have caused you to blink.
Try Paragraph 6, "So, yes;" and voila!

A little more of "what's there"...

In order to beef up on NFL history this summer, I frequented the Sports Illustrated library, a treasure chest of newspaper clippings, archives, memos from SI stringers across the country, game programs, photos and more. While I learned a lot about football’s storied past, I found amusement in a few quirky stories. Here are a few I think are worth sharing.
~ Emily Kaplan

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2015/08/28/foot ... bowl-i-ads