December 12, 2005 | GRANT WAHL
During a key timeout the Baylor team got the boost it needed to complete a glorious season and uplift a tarnished school
USC's last-second (and, yes, illegal) touchdown against Notre Dame cemented a partnership for the ages
For the second time in four years, the worst of catastrophes brought out the best in athletes, most notably NFL players
The Laughing Wuarterback is the title of a novel that never quite made it to print but was passed around sportswriting circles a number of years ago. It was a confounding manuscript, off-center...
1954 • ROGER BANNISTER
Lonnie's still out there. The other team members have already cooled down, munched muffins, shucked their prostheses to let the October air cool their blistered stumps; for a few of them, the...
December 12, 2005
College Basketball
Gator Aid
Better Days
The NFL invited NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly to Dallas this week to brief team executives on how the NHL prepared for last year's lockout. (The NFL is currently in negotiations with its...
Here's a First ...
Young Blood
Bush's League
U the Man
HOT READ Weren't the Vikings supposed to be looking for a new coach by now? After some of his players were caught in the love boat scandal on Lake Minnetonka in early October and the team got off...
I am trying to build a case for the Jaguars' being the anointed ones, the team that will bring the 12-0 Colts to earth. I'll tell you why Jacksonville has a better chance in this Sunday's game...
December 12, 2005
Big Spenders
1-2-3 Punch
Twenty-five-point bonus question: If these people suited up tomorrow, which one wouldn't be able to rush for 1,000 yards behind the Denver Broncos' snowplow of an offensive line: a) O.J. Simpson...
December 12, 2005
Last Hurdle USC tailback Reggie Bush (page 136) struck this updated--and impromptu--Heisman pose last Saturday at the L.A. Coliseum, clearing cornerback Marcus Cassel for one of his two touchdowns...
December 12, 2005
Quad Squads
Sports trivia is one of those phrases, like tuna fish or armed gunman, whose redundancy goes unnoticed. Sports are inherently trivial, which makes sports trivia doubly trifling, the toy department...
December 12, 2005 | John Capouya
Whether they know it or not, today's TD celebrators owe a debt to a '50s wrestler who virtually invented the idea of athletic vanity
Drop that mascot and reach for the sky! A brief history of harmless mischief
Retired Afleet Alex, who won this year's Preakness and Belmont (above). The colt, who finished a close-up third at the Kentucky Derby, hadn't raced since the Belmont because of a left front ankle...
0 Number of American-born players on the NAIA men's soccer All-America first team.
A big-wave star dies at the Banzai Pipeline
Tiny--and undefeated--Portland whipped UCLA and took the NCAA soccer title
Once thought to be too slight for the big time, Martina Hingis will try to muscle her way back to the top
The nine-time rodeo world champion and the Grammy--nominated singer have been dating for seven years
"I was with everyone else, making fun of figure skaters," says former Full House actor and hockey fanatic Dave Coulier. "I thought they were pansies. Then Scott Hamilton informed me, 'There are...
Reggie Bush does it all: He runs, receives and makes sure no photographer leaves without a great closeup shot. The USC running back almost became a human lens cap during a win over UCLA. The...
In England, 4,600 Santas competed to set a world record for running 4.5 miles while yo-yoing.
BOB MCNAIR, Houston Texans owner, on his 1-11 team:
Peter King offers his 10 Things I Think I Think
What to watch and watch for
TWO FORMER Arizona Wildcats have defied expectations and become impact players as rookies.
Wesley Beschorner LOHRVILLE, IOWA > Football
BENGALS CORNERBACK
WHO'S HOT
Which head coach is the best strategist?
Eagles safety Brian Dawkins married his high school sweetheart
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
Seahawks running back and NFL MVP-candidate Shaun Alexander has made a name for himself in recent seasons, but throughout his career he has often been confused with the Giants' Pro Bowl running...
An NFL safety and a world-class javelin thrower share their regimen
The Super Bowl rings are nice, but his greatest achievement grows out of a generosity of spirit that makes him a leader in the toughest times
For photos of Tom Brady's playoff victories and his SI covers, go to SI.com/photos.
In the demanding fraternity of pro football players, Brady has earned universal respect
December 12, 2005
HOW MANY TIMES DOES it happen in the course of a year? Hundreds? Thousands? How many games, matches, rounds and races distill to a seminal moment when an athlete's entire season is defined by what...
Just hours after the death of his mother, the Astros' ace took the mound and delivered a crucial late-season win
For a 23-year-old rookie to appreciate her historic accomplishment at the Indy 500, she first had to make it to the finish line
December 12, 2005 | S.L. PRICE
In trouble in the U.S. Open final against Andre Agassi, the Swiss wizard reached deep and recovered his magic touch
The biggest golf story of 2005? It wasn't Tiger Woods's winning six tournaments with a rebuilt swing. (He's done that before.) It wasn't Annika Sorenstam's winning her eighth LPGA Player of the...
Up & Down
In the age of the 24-hour news cycle, one man's controversy is another's overblown nonevent. How then does one pick golf's controversy of the year? There was no shortage of dustups to choose from,...
December 12, 2005
Will Hank Haney be Tiger Woods's coach at the end of 2006?
December 12, 2005
GAINERS AND LOSERS These players made the biggest jumps up and slides down in earnings on their respective money lists. [This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
BRITISH GOLF LINKS
In many circles golfers are known as nothing more than grown men chasing a little white ball while wearing ugly pants. Ian Poulter (above), a 29-year-old walking fashion "don't" from England,...
Herbert Gustavus (Max) Faulkner, 88 One of the best-dressed major champions in golf history, Faulkner died on Feb. 16 after suffering a heart attack. Born on July 29, 1916, in Bexhill, England,...
Nothing excites golf fans more than a head-to-head tussle between two big-name players or a back-and-forth battle down the stretch that includes just about anybody. Here are blow-by-blow recaps of...
T
1] Will the U.S. ever win another Ryder Cup?
December 12, 2005 | Chris Eliopoulos
[This article consists of an illustration. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]
NO WONDER THE PGA Tour is going to shorten its season--who can possibly absorb all that has happened in the past 12 months? Remember way back in February, when Phil Mickelson was the most dominant...
JANUARY
Former NHL star Theo Fleury, now sober, is back on the ice and thriving--in Northern Ireland
At Virginia International Raceway, car lovers have the kind of club golfers have always enjoyed
WITH HIGH garage fees, arcane parking rules, cavernous potholes and Mad Max traffic, owning a vintage or high-performance car in New York City seems heartbreakingly pointless. That's why they have...
Redskins WR Taylor Jacobs is inspired by a brother with Down syndrome
SHAWNE MERRIMAN Chargers LB Merriman was nicknamed Lights Out after knocking out four players while in high school in Maryland. When he delivers a big hit, he pretends to flip the switch on his...
December 12, 2005
WITH Keary Colbert Panthers WR
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