Sports Illustrated

I always enjoy hearing about sports and the top stories that are currently happening in professional and college athletics. Sports Illustrated is a good magazine to keep updated on what is happening. It provides stories, stats, gamcaps, etc. It is a monthly issued magazine and features a honored individual or team on the cover each time it is issued.
Sports Illustrated tends to show how athletes are just created better than we are. They can do unbelievable things, and their bodies were just created more powerful than ours. Human purpose is to perform and be honored in their magazine for the achievements in their game/match. They are to be money-making machines that provide entertainment to people who can't play as well as they can. The empire can effect them athletes and this magazine in this way so it portrays how "successful" these people are in the empire's terms.
It shows both the kingdom and the empire in its contents. Like I said before, it provides many examples of the empire and how to fit into it by being successful and powerful through athletics. It portrays sports as a God and to be honored you have to be able to participate at a high level in these sports. It also has many advertisements that are postioned in the magazine to get our attention in a sneaky way. They have a bacardi advertisement that shows the "fun" about it, but I find it interesting that the drink responsibly message is so small. It also had many cigerete advertisements which can become an addiction and a god over us. These advertisements control us and are a huge part of our empire. However, it also shows the kingdom as well. There are a few stories that provide examples of athletes that are attempting to subvert the empire. In this issue, Julius Earving (Dr. J) shared his story about his poor relationship with his daughter who throughout her life denied him as her father. He recently called her and he has begun to try to form a relationship with her and become a better dad. This shows a amazing athlete just trying to become the father God is giving the chance to be.
Sometimes I feel while reading Sports Illustrated that athletes can do whatever they want and "sin" is not even present in their lives. Even though is completely false, it is the approach that the magazine takes to portray the athletes. They are super-beings that don't need anything or anybody to be successful. There are exceptions within the magazine but the majority of it portrays a message of empire.
I enjoy reading Sports Illustrated but after reading it through the mindset of the kingdom, I am going to be more careful not to be fooled by the messages of the empire within the pictures and words of the magazine. It's amazing how much empire is packed into one artifact, but obviously there is good that can come out as well, and we have to be able to discern the good out of the bad.