You’ll never guess who’s on the cover of the Feb. 6 issue of Time Magazine! It’s Lionel Messi! Coming soon to newsstands near you! (NOTE: This offer not valid in the contiguous United States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or anywhere you can actually buy a Time Magazine)
At least, you can’t find it if you’re reading this anywhere outside the small, outlying regions known as Europe, Asia or Southeast Asia. That’s because instead of running Bobby Ghosh’s article on Messi on the cover on the United States’ edition of the magazine, the folks at Time are going with an article about the upsides of being an introvert (that’s Myers-Briggs code for being shy) on the cover of the magazine’s US edition.
As somewhat of an introvert myself (I’m typing very lightly on my keyboard right now, as not to offend anyone in the office), I have no problems with an article that (hopefully!) skewers loudmouth dinner guests. And as a soccer fan living in the United States, I’m certainly not stunned Messi won’t get his due on this one, considering I spent the last month reading about the greatness of Tim Tebow, who has the ability to throw a pass a full 15 yards, sometimes right to his intended receiver.
Of course it’s off-putting for soccer fans to see the US left out in the cold here, but think it through. It’s no stunner that the execs at Time wouldn’t bet on a profile of an Argentinian soccer player to reel in the readers, no matter how good some guy named Ray Hudson says he is.
It’s no knock against soccer, folks. But looking at the images of Time’s covers has to remind you just how out of touch the US is with the rest of the world.
