SI choices aided in its demise

THOUGH most print enterprises are headed for a sad end, the death of Sports Illustrated, once a mustread for the thoughtful, was to some degree self-inflicted.

This column in recent years has heard from many former SI subscribers who grew disgusted with SI’s pandering to those who are antithetical to sports.

That SI chose the petulant, habitually unsportsmanlike and often downright rude Serena Williams as its “Sportsperson of the Year” was, even by modern diminished standards, flabbergasting.

Then to name flim-flam artist, braggart, self-declared Agent of God and stomach-turning exploiter of kids (see: the defunct Prime Academy school for mostly poor high school-age athletes, then his mass “get lost” issued to Colorado players he hadn’t recruited), the selection of Deion Sanders as “Sportsperson of the Year” turned off even more subscribers.

SI, like Bud Light, had dismissed its best customers as unrestricted fools.

➤ I just don’t get it: Why does the NFL, with its own serious internal crime problems, continue to choose misogynistic, gun-loving, cop-hating, N-word-spewing, rapsheet rappers as its star attractions?

Same goes for Mayor Adams. And President Obama — who, while in office, embraced popular N-word-chanting rappers who degraded women as “bitches,” “ho’s” and wham-bam sex discards — though he had two young daughters.

The promotion, sale and indulgence of wrong over right has no upside for anyone of any race.

➤ Women’s College Basketball Games of the Week: Arkansas State defeated Old Dominion, 76-63. The round-trip between ODU and Ark St. is nearly 2,000 miles, but there’s always money for college sports. At least for now. Gonzaga, shooting 35 3-pointers, squeezed past Pacific, 104-39.

➤ That the final 32 seconds of last week’s Missouri-Vanderbilt, seen on ESPN’s SEC Network, took seven minutes to complete is no longer unusual. What was unusual is that neither team had a remaining timeout. Intentional fouls and courtside replay reviews did the trick.

➤ My pick for Sunday? Well, Mike Francesa last week seemed to be leaning toward the Chiefs, a great harbinger for the Niners.