letter to Rick Reilly

Dear Rick-

I’m a 26 year old housewife and mother. I’m writing today to say, “Thank you” for all the help you have given me over the last 4 years.

I come from a family of all-girls, with parents who encouraged athleticism, yet never bothered to watch it on the television. I was lucky if I tuned in to an occasional Olympic game. Enter my husband, whose dad used to take him to the local church on Saturday’s where there was satellite feed so they could watch football games together. Needless to say he has been a longtime subscriber to SI, and a lifetime devotee to sports in general. These days, he comes home from work, kisses me on the cheek, grabs his latest copy of SI and heads into the bathroom where he will spend the next 30 minutes on the toilet, reading your magazine from cover to cover.

Occasionally I have been known to stray into his private sanctuary, where ancient copies of SI lie scattered across the floor, or stacked in the cupboard under the sink. Since I have nothing better to do (besides taking care of business), I find your articles conveniently located at the back of the magazine and short enough to hold my attention span. I wanted you to know that because of your column, I have been able to actually have discussions with my husband on a subject that greatly interests him, which was formerly unknown to me: SPORTS.

It has also bled into other aspects of my life. Before I became a mother I worked for a company where I occasionally attended workshops. Imagine my delight in being able to recount to a room full of men what a “Urinator” was and how it might affect their company’s drug testing policies. I suddenly had 20 ten-gallon hats turned my direction, and a boss blinking owlishly at me and asking, “Where did you hear about those?”

“Sports Illustrated,” I replied without skipping a beat.

“Since when do you read Sports Illustrated?”

Needless to say it was a long car trip back to the office that day.

There are many times when I have surprised my husband, and even myself by responding to something pertaining to sports that I had read about in your column. There have been various subjects ranging from a certain athlete who dated Paris Hilton, to Tiger Wood’s dad. Smarty Jones' feeding and grooming schedule to baseball players using steroids. A recent favorite was an article about the “beer belly” which you smuggled into a game. In fact we were the toast of a party where we read the “beer belly” article aloud to a crowd of laughing friends. It was a good feeling to finally fit in. Thank you for helping me stay in the loop. Thanks for your humor and self-deprecation. Thank you for helping me keep my husband intrigued, even after 4 years of marriage. And finally, thank you for keeping me entertained while I’m in the bathroom.

Yours truly,

Megan Holdaway