Welcome back to another edition of FishbowlNY’s weekly Cover Battle. This week we have ESPN The Magazine versus The New Republic. ESPN went with a photo of RGIII holding a deflated balloon in his mouth. Deflated like the Redskins’ future if he doesn’t recover well from his injury! Ha! That was… Well, that was an okay joke.

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ESPN The Magazine is taking sponsored content to the next level: By bringing it into the folds of the print edition. Adweek reports that starting with its 15th Anniversary issue, the glossy will be publishing Coors branded pieces. The partnership will last until the end of this year.

Chad Millman, editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine, said the editorial featured in “Cold Hard Facts presented by Coors Light” will be completely controlled by the magazine. For the record, he feels great about the deal. “Sometimes as a magazine, you feel like you’re playing with one hand tied behind your back because we’re committed to legacy rules that, from a personal perspective, I just don’t think are relevant anymore,” Millman told Adweek.

Some do not agree with Millman. Some see the blurring of the lines between editorial and advertising as a negative, especially when it goes particularly awry. This was most recently demonstrated by The Atlantic. The magazine’s sponsored post about Scientology prompted so much criticism, The Atlantic’s team removed it. With things a little more permanent in print, it’ll be interesting to see ESPN The Magazine’s approach.

[Image: Adweek]

Here’s a look at what FishbowlNY stories made the most buzz this week.

1. Sue Simmons Gives Rare, Candid Interview, February 4
2. ESPN The Magazine‘s Music Issue Features Iconic Album Covers Recreated with Athletes, February 5
3. WNYW Anchor Dari Alexander‘s  Unfortunate ‘Sitting Shiva’ Misspeak, February 5
4. Media Reporters Finally Realizing No One Cares About Media Reporting, February 5
5. Lisa Schwarzbaum Departs Entertainment Weekly After 21 Years, February 6
6. Sally Preston, Others Dropped by Time Inc., January 31

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ESPN The Magazine first “Music Issue” hits newsstands Friday and it’s well worth checking out. We’re sure the articles are great, but what really caught our eye was the recereation of iconic album covers featuring pro athletes. It’s a fun idea and it’s executed extremely well.

Above you see Ryan Lochte as the baby on Nirvana’s classic, Nevermind. Then there’s Trent Richardson, Lamarr Woodley and Marshawn Lynch nailing Run DMC’s Ultimate Run DMC:

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Pablo S. Torre is leaving Sports Illustrated for a spot with its rival, ESPN The Magazine. Torre had been with SI since 2007. At ESPN he will be a senior writer and contribute to the magazine as well as ESPN.com.

Torre has won multiple awards for his work, including accolades from the Boxing Writers Association of America and the annual Best American Sports Writing anthology.

“Pablo has a nose for big stories that matter and that resonate with readers,” said Chad Millman, editor-in-chief of ESPN The Magazine. “We’re excited for him to join the incredible roster of talent writing online and in the pages of the magazine.”

Torre starts at ESPN October 10.

Welcome back to FishbowlNY’s weekly Cover Battle. Today we have Spin versus ESPN The Magazine. Spin has rapper Azealia Banks yelling at us to buy her EP and to stop dressing her up like a drunk mermaid for magazine photo shoots. Understandable.

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ESPN The Magazine is taking a new approach that puts it in a good spot to compete with its main rival, Sports Illustrated. According to Adweek, the magazine is starting to publish theme issues, like the one that just hit newsstands, which focuses all its content on analytics.

It’s a good strategy. SI tackles the weekly sports stories as best as possible, considering how fast the news cycle is now. ESPN could carve out a nice space with theme issues because it would be offering something new.

“I want our stories to be current and relevant, and I want them to be a part of the conversation that sports fans are having — or drive that conversation,” ESPN’s Editor-in-Chief, Chad Millman, told Adweek.

The only possible negative we can see? Three words: Tim Tebow issue.

Your FishbowlNY editors are big sports fans, but we have to be honest, most interviews with professional athletes are a bit dry. This should be expected — they’re paid to run fast in brightly colored clothes, slam other men on the ground and hit a ball with a stick, not give complex answers — but somehow we’re always disappointed in what they say.

That’s why we’re excited to read ESPN The Magazine’s first “Interview” issue, which hits newsstands Friday. We’re hoping that the interviews found inside will be more revealing than the stuff we usually hear or read.

From what we know already, there is bound to be plenty of good answers in the issue. The magazine gets Aaron Rodgers to comment on his amazing season, Derrick Rose to explain why he stayed away from league negotiations and much more. Some of the other athletes featured in the Interview issue include Justin Verlander, Ozzie Guillen, Usian Bolt, Bernard Hopkins, Danica Patrick and Ed Reed.

ESPN The Magazine has hired Chris Jones to be its new “Backpage” columnist. Jones is a contributor to Esquire and Grantland, and a great addition to ESPN. Jones will be responsible for creating and developing all the content for ESPN’s new Backpage section, which begins in the November 16 issue.

Jones will report directly to ESPN’s Editor-in-Chief, Chad Millman. Millman said of Jones, “His stories are as eloquent and richly detailed as any being written today, about anything. Plus, he can grow a grizzly beard when he puts his mind to it. I admire that and look forward to having him join our team.”

John Korpics, who has been contributing his design ideas to Time Inc. sporadically since 1995, is leaving to become Vice President, Creative Director of Print and Digital Media for ESPN The Magazine and its website. Adweek reports that this is a new position at ESPN, one which will combine print and digital design under Rob King, the magazine’s Senior Vice President.

Korpics, who was most recently Creative Director for Fortune, said of leaving Time, “It’s been a bittersweet time for me. I’ve kind of grown up at this company. If it hadn’t been this job and this opportunity, I’d still be at Fortune.”

His first day will be September 6.