If Braylon Edwards’s new outlook is any indication, the Wolverines are serious about another Big Ten title
The Tigers have retooled their offense--and put the disappointments of last year behind them
2003 RECORD 8–5 (5–3, 3rd in SEC West)
Stop Brad Smith: It’s the easy answer to beating the Tigers but one of the hardest tasks in college football
Inspired by LSU’s defense-led national championship, the hard-hitting Hawkeyes are setting their sights high
The powerful right arm of Charlie Whitehurst elevates the Tigers from also-ran status to ACC contenders
The ACC’s stingiest defense has lost key personnel, but thanks to D’Qwell Jackson, none of its sting
2003 RECORD 10–3 (6–2, 2nd in ACC)
With a strong season from country-boy quarterback Kellen Clemens, the Ducks will make hay in the Pac-10
Having climbed to the top of the Mountain West, the Utes are now ready to make their BCS push
The Mountaineers’ skilled and experienced offensive line will clear a path to the Big East’s BCS bowl bid
2003 RECORD 8–5 (6–1, T1 in Big East)
Change is in the air in Lincoln: The once-grounded Huskers embrace Bill Callahan’s West Coast offense
2003 RECORD 10–3 (5–3, 2nd in Big 12 North)
A prolific passer and a first-class wideout corps headline the most promising Bears team in ages
2003 RECORD 8–6 (5–3, T3 in Pac-10)
A big-bang backfield and a dominant line have the Gophers believing this is their breakthrough season
2003 RECORD 10–3 (5–3, T4 in Big Ten)
August 16, 2004
End of an Era
August 16, 2004
LETTERS
With a strong line fronting a potent and balanced offense, the Horned Frogs will again be bowl-bound
Record-setting quarterback Bruce Gradkowski pilots a Rockets offense that’s ready to soar into the elite
2003 RECORD 8–4 (6–2, 2nd in MAC West)
exactly as forecast. A steady mist was falling; the air was cold. The thing about football is, nobody worth a damn ever ran out on the field believing he couldn’t win.
HEY, KIDS! HERE ARE COOL PUZZLES TO SOLVE WHILE WE WAIT TO SEE WHICH OLYMPIC MEDALISTS FLUNK DRUG TESTS IN ATHENS
August 16, 2004
OCTOBER 21, 1963
To John McEnroe the exotic is commonplace. “I remember going to Mandela’s house in Jo’burg,” he says. “And I shake his hand, and he’s the most beautiful man I’ve ever touched, the closest thing...
August 16, 2004 | Warren St. John
Embrace your inner couch potato: Research shows the best and the brightest are often those who cheer the loudest for their favorite team
Disgruntled NHL officials accuse their Hall of Fame ex-boss of corruption
$0 Amount anyone named Martha Stewart will be charged to see the Richmond Roosters play for the rest of the season, the independent Frontier League team’s way of showing support for the disgraced...
Another fantasy sports site? No, but it does help NBA general managers turn trade fantasies into reality. Since salary-cap rules are more arcane than string theory, using pencil and paper to see...
Primed To win a third straight Olympic gold medal, the U.S. women’s team, if its 74–58 win over the WNBA All-Stars in a final pre-Athens tune-up at Radio City Music Hall last Thursday is any...
Traded His fake sport for a real one, former WWE champion and fledgling defensive tackle Brock Lesnar, 27. The 6'3" 285-pounder, who had not played football since high school in Webster, S.Dak.,...
He no longer plies his trade in the U.K., but according to researchers at the University of Warwick, David Beckham has assumed the title of England’s Rose. Sociologist Andrew Parker analyzed...
The 46-year-old cohost of Today, which will air live from Athens Aug. 12–27, is covering his fourth Olympics.
August 16, 2004 | BILL SCHEFT
Hey, good news. The boys at BALCO have turned their attention to a new project: developing a glue that actually seals evidence in the Kobe Bryant case.
How will the U.S. men’s basketball team fare at the Olympics?
August 16, 2004 | JULIA MORR
WHAT TO WATCH AND WATCH FOR
•THE POPULAR digital recorder TiVo has ended the tyranny of commercial interruptions and inflexible network schedules. The NFL now fears the service may offer freedom from the league’s decades-old...
In the latest cinematic adaptation of Nick Hornby’s autobiographical book Fever Pitch, the sport has changed but the premise remains the same: girl meets boy who seems normal until his favorite...
Golfer John Daly has signed endorsement deals with Trimspa and Dunkin’ Donuts.
TERRY FRANCONA
August 16, 2004
Ashley Owens, COLORADO SPRINGS
The Marlins are counting on newly acquired catcher Paul Lo Duca to spark them to a second-half turnaround
The Bills’ Willis McGahee showed flashes of his old form as he put his surgically reconstructed knee to its toughest test yet
August 16, 2004
[This article consists of photographs--see below]
August 16, 2004
WHO SAID YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG? The reigning co–national champions, USC and LSU, show no fear of blooding freshmen and sophomores at key positions and in the most crucial games. In the era...
USC football has been revitalized thanks to a wellspring of blue-chip recruits who contribute right away
LSU’s Nick Saban is the master at signing multiskilled athletes and putting them at the right positions
Jason White has a message for Matt Leinart: Winning the trophy isn’t all it’s cracked up to be
August 16, 2004 | GENE MENEZ
HEISMAN WATCH
August 16, 2004
1. USC
The loss of a slew of starters doesn’t faze the Trojans, whose remaining stars are aligned for another title
Forget those final two games? No chance. Last year’s late collapse has the Sooners more fired up for ’04
Picking up where they left off last year, the Tigers and their dominant defense are rarin’ to geaux
With wideout Fred Gibson healthy, focused and ready to lead, the Dawgs have the legs for a title run
A quick, powerful offensive line will help push the ACC newcomers to the forefront of the conference
A go-for-broke defense led by a hog-wild linebacker will make Year 3 of the Ron Zook era the best yet
2003 RECORD 8–5 (6–2, T1 in SEC East)
The Longhorns’ mission: Beat Oklahoma. If they do, Vince Young could lead them to a Big 12 championship
Spearheaded by a butt-kicking Butkus Award hopeful, the Buckeyes will reassert their Big Ten supremacy
With a healthy one-two punch out of the backfield, the Seminoles look to fight off the ACC’s newcomers
2003 RECORD 10–3 (7–1, 1ST IN ACC)
Boasting the nation’s best back, the reigning Big 12 champs (take that, Sooners!) go for two in a row
2003 RECORD 11–4 (6–2, 1st in Big 12 North)
With no veteran passer to bail out the offense, the pressure is on the running game to carry the Vols
August 16, 2004
COLLEGE FOOTBALL 2004 PREVIEW
August 16, 2004 | KENT CAYCE
Rod Pampling won the International by playing smart and swinging hard, as he did on a 182-yard seven-iron shot that set up his critical eagle at 17
As a favor to his caddie, Denver native Ron (Bambi) Levin, British Open champion Todd Hamilton took the claret jug to some of Levin’s old haunts during the week of the International, including...
5
August 16, 2004
Voting hours at si.com: 7 p.m. EST Sunday to 3 p.m. EST Monday
WHISTLING STRAITS is the most contrived course I’ve ever seen. The road into the place has bunkers and mounds, and it’s the only course I’ve ever mapped with tees protected by traps. The most...
* JOHN DALY The People’s golfer.
August 16, 2004
EVERY YEAR the PGA Tour welcomes its own boys of summer: young, newly-minted pros aiming to play their way onto the circuit. They are allowed to enter seven tournaments via sponsors’ exemptions,...
August 16, 2004
PLUS
Heartbreakingly close in the first three majors of the season, Ernie Els has one last chance to turn a disappointing year into a great one
Chris DiMarco’s Ryder Cup hopes went from lock to longshot in two hellish days
Steady Scott Verplank is a lock to make the U.S. Ryder Cup team regardless of where he finishes in the points standings, but John Daly’s only chance is to play his way on.
[Up]
August 16, 2004 | GRANT WAHL
As World Cup qualifying kicks off, teenager Eddie Gaven could have the brightest future of any U.S. prospect
August 16, 2004 | GRANT WAHL
Here are three other young U.S. prospects who could have a role by 2006
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