The SI Vault

Grant Wahl joins Ted Keith on the SI Vault Podcast 15 years after his famous cover story on then-high school junior LeBron James. They discuss the reporting that went into the story, Grant driving LeBron to McDonald's in his rental car, the decision to put the a high school junior on the cover, other future celebrities Grant met that week and much more.

In this episode of the SI Vault Podcast, host Ted Keith and SI senior contributing writer Steve Rushin revisit the legendary 1991 World Series, considered by many to be one of the best and most dramatic Fall Classics ever played. Rushin, who wrote Sports Illustrated's cover story about the series, remembers his experience covering all seven games, including how he wrote his famous story in the basement of his childhood home while dealing with personal turmoil.

In this episode of the SI Vault Podcast, Ted Keith and SI senior contributing writer Frank Deford remember the life and times of Muhammad Ali.

Baseball cards are as American as well ... cigarettes and chewing gum. Cards have captured the imaginations of the young and the young at heart for over a century as a portal into memories of the game they love.

On the new episode of the SI Vault Podcast, Ted Keith visits with Jon Wertheim to remember two stories given new relevance given recent events in the world of sports. First, Keith and Wertheim remember the recently-deceased Ozzie Silna, the onetime owner of the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis, who made what is widely considered to be the most savvy deal in the history of sports. Next, given Max Scherzer's recent 20-strikeout game for the Nationals, the pair reminisce about Kerry Wood's dominant performance for the Cubs in 1998, which Wertheim covered as one of his first stories for the magazine.

On this week's edition of The SI Vault podcast, SI senior writer S.L. Price joins the show to talk to Ted Keith about "The Lone Wolf," his 2002 feature on tennis legend Pancho Gonzalez, as the two discuss Gonzalez's larger-than-life persona, how Price reported the story, the surprising connections between Gonzalez and Andre Agassi, and whether someone like Gonzalez could possibly exist in today's culture.

Historically, sports have been a boys-only club. Even modern women sports superstars like Serena Williams and the USWNT continually have to battle for equal pay and respect. But women refuse to lose, even if a win gets them less than it should.

On the latest edition of The SI Vault podcast, we celebrate the legacy of Jackie Robinson with a reading of John Schulian's 2000 Sports Illustrated feature "Laughing on the Outside," the story of Josh Gibson. A Negro Leagues legend and arguably the greatest African American baseball player of all time, Gibson's life was marked by brilliance and tragedy, as he was denied his chance at breaking the game's color barrier despite his overwhelming talent.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff and SI deputy managing editor Jon Wertheim join host Ted Keith to discuss Wolff’s memories of more than 25 years of covering the Final Four, from the hidden moments to the forgotten heroes to the most memorable plays. Wolff also chooses this week’s story from the SI Vault, read by Keith, which is “Shooting the Lights Out,” Curry Kirkpatrick’s cover story from the April 8, 1985 issue, about Villanova’s stunning upset of defending national champion Georgetown in the NCAA title game.

In this week’s episode of the SI Vault Podcast, host Ted Keith talks with Time Magazine senior writer and former college basketball player Sean Gregory about his time with Princeton, the fabled Georgetown game in 1989 in which the Tigers almost beat the Hoyas in what would have been one of the greatest upsets in sports history and much more. Following their conversation, Keith will read the feature from Gregory and Alexander Wolff that ran in the March 17, 2014 issue of Sports Illustrated titled, “The Game That Saved March Madness.” We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at twitter.com/si_tedkeith. For more sports, visit si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: panoply.fm.

50 years ago, the independent, border-school Texas Western upset basketball royalty, defeating the Kentucky Wildcats and winning the NCAA tournament. What's more, they did it while being the first team to start five black players.

In this episode of the SI Vault Podcast, host Ted Keith talks about Rick Reilly's return to Sports Illustrated, his cover story in this week’s issue on Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors and much more. Finally, Keith will read Reilly’s cover story from the May 11, 1998 issue of SI, chronicling Michael Jordan and the 1998 Chicago Bulls. We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at twitter.com/si_tedkeith. For more sports, visit si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: panoply.fm.

In this week’s episode of the SI Vault Podcast, host Ted Keith talks with former NBA and college basketball stars Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse about their playing days in college, the storied rivalry between Duke and the University of North Carolina, how the two teams interacted within such close quarters in N.C. and much more. Finally, Keith will read Alexander Wolff's bonus feature, "An Unrivaled Rivalry," from the March 6, 1995 issue of Sports Illustrated. We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at twitter.com/si_tedkeith. For more sports, visit si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: panoply.fm.

Everybody knows the story of Jackie Robinson, but was he really the first baseball player to break the color barrier? Negro Leagues put white and black players on the same field long before Branch Rickey called up No. 42.

In this week’s episode of the SI Vault Podcast, host Ted Keith talks with legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss, Jr., one of only a handful of people that has attended every Super Bowl in NFL history. From Walter’s favorite memories of his time covering the game to his favorite photos, readers get a chance to see what it’s like for the game’s best photographers on the sidelines at the biggest game of the season. Finally, Ted will read, “Bread-and-Butter Packers,” from the Jan. 23, 1967 issue of Sports Illustrated. We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at twitter.com/si_tedkeith. The SI Vault is sponsored by FanDuel.com For up to a $200 bonus, enter our code VAULT. We're also sponsored by the SeatGeek app, available at SeatGeek.com. Enter our code VAULT for a $20 rebate. For more sports, visit si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: panoply.fm.

Sports have a drug problem. Athletes have been doping for the better part of a century in order to gain an edge on the field and leagues have continued to look the other way. How do you cure sport's doping addiction when nobody will admit there's a problem?

In this week's episode, host Ted Keith talks with former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield about his long, storied career as part of Showtime's 30th anniversary of championship boxing. Among the topics Keith and Holyfield discuss are his first big fight in the Olympics, his legendary bouts with Mike Tyson and how their relationship is to this day and much more. Keith ends the show by reading Richard Hoffer's July 7, 1997 cover story in Sports Illustrated titled, "Feeding Frenzy," which chronicles the infamous "bite fight," in which Tyson temporarily lost his cool, taking a chunk out of Holyfield's ear to get himself out a fight he was losing to that point. We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at twitter.com/si_tedkeith. The SI Vault is sponsored by FanDuel.com For up to a $200 bonus, enter our code VAULT. We're also sponsored by the SeatGeek app, available at SeatGeek.com. Enter our code VAULT for a $20 rebate. For more sports, visit si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: panoply.fm. Music by Chris Zabriskie

In this week's episode, host Ted Keith talks with Sports Illustrated senior writer Austin Murphy about his January 9, 2006 cover story, "The Night is Young's," chronicling the 2006 Rose Bowl between the Texas Longhorns and USC Trojans, which famously ended with a spectacular performance by Longhorns quarterback Vince Young, who single handedly won the game with a touchdown run in the final minutes. Following the interview, Keith ends the podcast with a reading of Murphy's historical feature. We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at https://twitter.com/si_tedkeith. The SI Vault is sponsored by https://FanDuel.com For up to a $200 bonus, enter our code VAULT. We're also sponsored by the SeatGeek app, available at https://SeatGeek.com. Enter our code VAULT for a $20 rebate. For more sports, visit https://si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: https://panoply.fm. Music by Chris Zabriskie/The Passion HiFi (https://www.thepassionhifi.com)

In this week's episode, host Ted Keith starts off the show by reading Rick Reilly's story, "When Your Dream Dies," from the December 26, 1994 issue of Sports Illustrated, chronicling the tale of high school referee Kenny Wilcoxen. Through Wilcoxen's heart-warming story, that brings about memories of the movie It's a Wonderful Life, Reilly shares the what it's like for the ghosts on the field—the referees. Keith then interviews Reilly and talks about how he went about finding and reporting the story, which happens to be one of Reilly's favorites. We love to hear our listener's thoughts. Please tweet our host at https://twitter.com/si_tedkeith. The SI Vault is sponsored by https://FanDuel.com For up to a $200 bonus, enter our code VAULT. We're also sponsored by the SeatGeek app, available at https://SeatGeek.com. Enter our code VAULT for a $20 rebate. For more sports, visit https://si.com/podcasts. SI is now part of the Panoply Network: https://panoply.fm. Music by Chris Zabriskie

Before video games allowed for impossible matchups between sports legends, a computer attempted to answer the question: Who is the greatest of all: Rocky Marciano vs. Muhammad Ali? Harry Swartout looks back on the Super Fight simulation.