My Weekly Dose of Nostalgia

When I was a kid, I decorated my bedroom walls with Sports Illustrated covers. As an adult, I'm falling in love with magazines all over again.

When I was a kid, I covered my bedroom walls with Sports Illustrated covers. 

Each week, after I had devoured the articles of the latest edition, I utilized my carefully honed technique to separate the cover from the rest of the issue without any rips or tears. For a messy child who otherwise grew up to be a clumsy adult, I was remarkably successful at this process. 

Eventually, the covers wrapped all the way around my room, at which point I would remove the oldest cover and replace it with the latest edition. If the featured athlete was a particular favorite, I relocated their image to a separate section of my walls. The rest were given last rites and solemnly recycled, akin to a burial at sea.

Growing up under the watchful gaze of Usain Bolt and LaMarr Woodley imprinted on me, but not in the way middle school Ben had hoped. Instead of becoming an Olympian or Super Bowl champion, I grew up to be a writer.

I’m fairly confident this cover is still somewhere in my old bedroom. I distinctly …