Sports Illustrated Kids May/June 2022

FIRST-TIME READERS and brand-new subscribers: Welcome to SI KIDS! You’ve arrived at the best part of the magazine: my column, which in no way directly contradicts our previous issue. As great as this section is, I would ask that you skip the next paragraph… for no particular reason. (O.K., so I know this headline does contradict our previous issue, an ode to the importance of referees. Here’s the deal: I was never on board with the Refs Issue, especially during March Madness, when the zebras once again conspired to bust my bracket. For the 27th meeting in a row, I had pitched the “Hot Take Issue,” with yours truly on the cover. But the powers that be didn’t think my mug would drive newsstand sales. So here I am, as usual,…

Eli writes: Hey, Kip, why do fights commonly break out in hockey but not any other sports? and Maclen writes: I attended a Philadelphia Flyers game and got to see a fight. My parents said I had witnessed something that doesn’t happen often. Do you think that fights should be a part of hockey? Hey Eli and Maclen, I hope you don’t mind my answering your questions at the same time. It would seem you two disagree about how commonplace fights are. But before we have to send you off for five minutes each: I think you’re both right. Hockey fights are frequent relative to other sports, but they don’t happen as often as they used to. So what’s the deal? To answer Eli’s question first: Fighting in hockey has existed longer than…

May 5 Belarusian tennis pro Aryna Sabalenka turns 24. 6 Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns is 37 years old. 13 Chicago Cub Willson Contreras celebrates his 30th birthday. 26 Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons turns 23. 29 Nashville Predators winger Tanner Jeannot is 25 years old. June 6 USWNT captain Becky Sauerbrunn celebrates her 37th birthday. 12 Milwaukee Bucks point guard Jrue Holiday is 32 years old. 15 It’s the big 3–0 for Mo Salah. 28 Washington Wizard Bradley Beal turns 29. 30 L.A. Dodgers second baseman Trea Turner is 29, as well. JAMIE SCHWABEROW (PAUL); JEROME MIRON/USA TODAY SPORTS (PARSONS); SIMON BRUTY (SAUERBRUNN); MICHAEL REGAN/GETTY IMAGES (SALAH)…

BIRTHPLACE: PHILADELPHIA BIRTH DATE: MARCH 3, 2007 SPORT: FIGURE SKATING Isabeau Levito can’t resist the thrill of performance. “One year I had a sassy program, so I winked at one of the judges,” says Isabeau, the 2021 U.S. junior champion. “It’s a really fun part about [skating]. It’s a personality thing.” Isabeau, who skates with a balletic flair, won bronze as the youngest competitor at the ’22 U.S. Figure Skating Championships. She wasn’t old enough to qualify for the Olympics, but, come 2026, Isabeau doesn’t want to disappoint her grandma, who lives near the rink where figure skating events will be held at the Milano Cortina Winter Games. Are YOU a SportsKid? If you think you have what it takes to be a SportsKid of the Month, have an adult submit your nomination at SportsKid@si.com…

IN MARCH 1972, the first women’s college basketball national tournament was held. It was staged by the Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women and won by tiny Immaculata, a school of 750 or so students outside of Philadelphia. To raise the nearly $3,000 they needed to travel to Illinois for the tournament, players sold buttons that read we’re going to be number one. we try harder. A month earlier, Senator Birch Bayh had introduced legislation that would go a long way toward creating a system in which players wouldn’t have to sell knickknacks for the chance to compete for a championship. The act became known as Title IX. It compelled schools to offer women the same opportunities as men. Title IX was signed into law that summer, but it had to withstand…

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS SEEM like one big club. Tom Brady hangs out with Cristiano Ronaldo after the Manchester United game. LeBron James throws tight spirals to Dallas Cowboys stars in pregame warm-ups. You can name every athlete who’s ever lived, so surely everyone else can too, right? Especially other pros! But it’s not so. Here are some of the funniest circumstances in which someone didn’t recognize or couldn’t name a star player. “I’m an example of somebody who went against what their team thought was best for them and stood up for what they wanted. I mean, there was a baseball player who was the first guy to get a Tommy John.” Jack Eichel THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS star arrived in Vegas after a falling out with his original team, the Buffalo Sabres, about what…