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WRITER |
STORYLINES TO FOLLOW IN 2000 |
| Baseball |
Tom Verducci |
Blockbluster in-season trades -- and then another big jump in the salary structure -- due to the looming free agency of players such as Chipper Jones, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez and Juan Gonzalez (assuming Ken Griffey gets dealt this winter). And the drumbeat for a salary cap or some kind of economic reform grows louder as we head toward labor doomsday after the 2001 season.
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| Pro Football |
Peter King |
The continued lack of progress in the hiring of blacks for coaching positions. Union boss Gene Upshaw and commish Paul Tagliabue both talk about all this great headway being made towards making the hiring process color-blind, but who's buying that? Going into this offseason, only one of the last 24 head-coaching hires was black -- and that was a retread, Ray Rhodes, by Green Bay last season.
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| College Football |
Ivan Maisel |
Penn State coach Joe Paterno's pursuit of Bear Bryant's Division I-A record of 323 victories. Paterno needs six wins to tie.
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| Pro Basketball |
Phil Taylor |
Will San Antonio's Tim Duncan and Detroit's Grant Hill stay or leave? Both young stars will be free agents at the end of the season, and where they decide to play will have a major impact on the league's balance of power for years to come. Several teams have already begun clearing salary-cap room to pursue them. If they choose to, Duncan and Hill could even join forces and turn some team (Orlando? Chicago?) into an instant title contender.
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| College Basketball |
Seth Davis |
The influx of foreign players is growing with each passing year, and since most of them have had some type of experience with a professional club, the NCAA is having a tough time figuring out who should be eligible and who shouldn't. With so many guys trying to leave college, why don't we start worrying about the ones who want to come?
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| Hockey |
Michael Farber |
The reticence of governments in Canada to provide tax relief or other indirect subsidies for NHL teams will lead to more teeth-gnashing and rending of hockey sweaters north of the border. Ultimately, only the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens are locks to remain in perpetuity in hockey's homeland.
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| Golf |
Alan Shipnuck |
1999 was a bad year for superstars as Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson, Greg Norman and Nick Price combined for zero wins on the PGA Tour. Bagel. Doughnut. Nada. Will anyone -- including David Duval, whose season effectively ended on Sunday's back nine at Augusta -- have the guts to stand up to Tiger?
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| Tennis |
Jon Wertheim |
Will Pete Sampras return to full force and bag another Slam? Will the Williams sisters fulfill their destiny -- or at least their father's pronouncements? Will a chastened Martina Hingis learn from her mistakes? Will the U.S. Davis Cup team, a potential murderer's row, be as Mac-nificent as advertised? Will Steffi Graf grow to like Vegas?
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| Soccer |
Grant Wahl |
Can U.S. soccer keep it going? Will the core of the U.S. women's team finish with a bang in Sydney and lay the groundwork for a post-Olympic league? Will men's coach Bruce Arena continue raising the U.S. to respectability? Will anybody begin caring about MLS?
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| Track and Field |
Tim Layden |
Team Marion. Few people with any knowledge of track and field doubt that Marion Jones is one of the most surpassing sprint talents ever to wear spikes. A year ago, it seemed likely she would break Flo-Jo's untouchable records in the 100 and 200. Since then, she has been managed terribly by a small group that includes her agent (Charles Wells), coach (Trevor Graham) and husband (shot putter C.J. Hunter). If she does well in Sydney, it will be in spite of her "support" group.
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| Motor Sports |
Ed Hinton |
Tony Stewart will become the first Winston Cup driver since Dale Earnhardt in 1979-80 to win rookie of the year honors and then the full Winston Cup title the following year.
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| Women's Sports |
Kelli Anderson |
Sydney success. Women will once again provide the best American thrills at the Olympics, especially in track, swimming, hoops, soccer and softball.
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| Boxing |
Richard Hoffer |
Boxing regulation. The abuses may finally be too much. The government's been licking its chops for years and might finally force some kind of reform.
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