Steve Wulf has been denied an apology to Michael Jordan for the cover of SI & # 39; Bag It, Michael & # 39;


One of the main topics of discussion in episode 7 of the ESPN documentary series "The Last Dance" was the time Michael Jordan spent playing baseball.

A real "wow" came when a cover of Sports Illustrated appeared on the documentary. The cover said "Bag It, Michael! Jordan and the White Sox are embarrassing." The title was extremely hard and annoyed Jordan to the point that he never spoke to Sports Illustrated again.

MORE: Michael Jordan's Best and Worst Baseball Moments

The article was written by author Steve Wulf with the editorial title "Err Jordan". You can read the full 1994 review through the SI files. At all times, Wulf calls Jordan's dream of playing baseball an "illusion" and blames the White Sox for their "exploitation of their quest" to practice this sport.

Jordan was clearly frustrated with Wulf's words. The producers of "The Last Dance" asked him, "Did you feel betrayed by this version of SI?" Jordan replied, "Certainly."

"I have never been interviewed for this," said Jordan in the documentary. "They went out to criticize me. Without understanding what my passion was at the time. If I had a question, ask it. And then, if you want to write it, then write it down Okay, no problem, that's your opinion. But I don't care what people do is what I want to do, I don't do what I they I think it should be done. My dad already told me he was doing the right thing and I did it. "

Wulf was eventually hired by ESPN, and has since spoken about this cover and his column on Jordan. In 2001, Wulf wrote a column for ESPN entitled "Bag it, sceptics" (a play on the cover of SI). There he said he wrote an apology for Jordan in Sports Illustrated, but they didn't publish it.

From wulf:

I worked for Sports Illustrated in 1994, and that spring, I was asked to make a brief story about Michael's attempt to become a baseball player. I joined all the skeptics in Florida, baseball players who thought it was crazy that deprived certain legitimate prospects of an opportunity to show what they could do.

It had nothing to do with the arsonist Bag It, Michael covers billing, but my name was in history and I became persona non grata in Chicago, in the Bulls and White Sox camps , in the circle MJ.

When I went down to Orlando later that summer, I knew he was not going to talk to me, but I had to see it for myself. And at the same time, he was mortified and rejoiced. He was a ball player. Her manager, Terry Francona, thought so, and she didn't smoke. In fact, I wrote an article apologizing for my premature judgment, but YES decided not to execute it.

Wulf even added: "I am convinced that with a little more time, I could have made the majors on merit."

The author discussed the article in more detail in the ESPN Daily Podcast with Mina Kimes. He again disagreed with the title created by the publishers.

"By the time I saw this track, I realized that I would probably make a podcast of it 21 years later," joked Wulf. "I still shiver every time I see it, and I see it often. I wish they had published the title for me."

Wulf also understands why Jordan was so frustrated.

"I think he was properly insulted," Wulf told Kimes. "I wasn't trying to embarrass baseball. I was looking for a dream that we thought was illusory at the time, but we shouldn't have attacked it so hard."



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