July 02, 2007 | Volume 107, Issue 1

Beaver Dam Mitch Canham tagged out North Carolina shortstop Josh Horton in the first inning at Omaha on Sunday, cutting off a rally and helping Oregon State to a 9--3 victory and the College World...

Swinging from the heels, and often at each other, Charlie Finley's club became baseball's most entertaining spectacle--and its most forward-looking

One of Oakland's less vocal stars, Joe Rudi now makes his voice heard as a ham radio buff

Sal Bando, the hard-nosed captain of the firebrand A's, is all dolled up

Thirty years after Slap Shot vaulted three minor league tough guys into hockey immortality, they're still playing their parts. And why not? They came by them naturally

America's downhill rebel is pushing for children's rights with the same passion she channeled into conquering the mountain

A quarter century after their contentious bout, the champ and the challenger are still going at each other--but these jabs don't hurt

The shortstop synonymous with big league futility--Mendoza Line, anyone?--maintains a reputation well north of respectability in his native country

He was the first to undergo Tommy John surgery, and decades later his name lives on in the lingo of the game

One of the NBA's premier sixth men now provides hands-on instruction in the art of the perfect jumper

He was a Cowboy to the core, so it's fitting that this Hall of Famer's photography reflects the spirit of the West

Willing herself across the line in the '82 Ironman, she helped push triathlon into the mainstream

One of the alltime great Olympians, he finds common ground between athletics and aesthetics

The Heisman runner-up turned television idol aims to fill a void with movies that appeal to his generation

The dog days of summer get a splash of excitement when this pitcher's high-flying pooches come to town

For a quarterback well-schooled in many an offense, getting a handle on ancient languages has been a snap

As an admissions director, the hat-wearing hero of the 1972 Games tries to spot students with hidden potential

Notorious for baseball's trippiest mound exploit, he turned his experiences to the good by helping substance abusers

Folks around Boston don't mind a trip to the dentist when the man behind the drill is a legend of '67

Still speedy after all these years, the college track star and NFL wide receiver is a sprint champion once more

Their talent is undisputed, their potential enormous. Their ultimate destinations? Unknown. But rest assured you'll be watching these promising athletes make their mark somewhere--and soon

AT BOOK SIGNINGS you never know who's going to suddenly be standing in front of you, sure you'll recognize them. But when a very tall woman came up to me at a book signing in L.A. last week, stuck...

Right on Time Is it fair to use the word finally in talking about LeBron James's taking the Cavaliers to the NBA Finals (His Kingdom Come, June 11)? Exactly one NBA player had accomplished more...

THE BIG NBA draft questions—Who would go No. 1? Who would go No. 3?—weren't all fit to be answered on selection day. Uncertainties surrounded 7-foot, 248-pound forward Yi Jianlian, projected as a...

WHO'S Hot

Who is the softest-throwing pitcher in baseball?

The secret's out: Players no longer pretend their teams are big, happy families

AFTER ALLOWING the tying run to score in the eighth inning, Matt Elliott (left) of the Double A Mobile (Ala.) BayBears went into the bathroom and slammed the door so hard it wouldn't open. Mark...

BLISTERS ARE an occupational hazard for pitchers, but the one that sidelined Pittsburgh's Ian Snell didn't come from throwing. "I was cooking a chicken breast for a salad and burned my finger,"...

Died Of complications from a brain tumor, at age 59, Indiana football coach Terry Hoeppner. Last Saturday several thousand mourners gathered at Assembly Hall in Bloomington to remember the coach...

IF IT BUCKED, Jim Shoulders could ride it. Shoulders, who died last week at 79, won more world riding titles than any other cowboy. For 25 years he traveled the country, making a name for himself...

LIVID HAPPY

CASEY BLAKE Indians third baseman, after his hitting streak was snapped at 26 games: "It's better if I leave DiMaggio's record alone. That's a record that should be broken by somebody people have...

9 Wins the Rockies have in 15 games against AL East teams this season.

The Tigers ruled that their minor leaguers must listen to music through headphones after a fight over music volume in the clubhouse left a Toledo Mud Hens pitcher with numerous facial fractures.

Top NBA and NHL draft picks rarely lead their teams to titles

A slight winger leads a U.S.-heavy NHL draft

ORIOLES SHORTSTOP

NHLers brush up their broadcasting skills

Angel Kelvim Escobar gets into yoga

What to watch and watch for

Tim Stratton MANHEIM TOWNSHIP, PA. > Lacrosse Tim, a recent graduate of Manheim Township High, set a national high school record with 589 career points. The All-America attack and central...

The actor and die-hard Chicago sports fan stars in 1408

ESPN's miniseries The Bronx Is Burning fails to catch fire

IT WASN'T exactly Bjorn Borg shrieking at the sky after winning Wimbledon, but there was a certain drama to Russ Yagoda's celebration at the Brooklyn tavern Barcade last Saturday. The 23-year-old...

With a cool demeanor and a hot bat, Montreal-raised Dodgers catcher Russell Martin is an All-Star favorite whose coming-of-age story could be straight from a novel

History Boys

The existentialist Samuel Beckett exhorted, "Fail better." And no professional sports team has ever failed better or with greater frequency than the Philadelphia Phillies. Failure has become...

On the eve of the 2007 Tour, new revelations about doping in cycling, including a book that implicates Lance Armstrong, have removed the last vestiges of the sport's credibility

Out in Front

Remaining undefeated under new coach Bob Bradley, the U.S. won the Gold Cup by beating archrival Mexico (yet again) in a match that served as a young midfielder's coming-out party

Goal!

Sprinters Tyson Gay and Torri Edwards hit their stride at the U.S. championships, blazing to emphatic--and cathartic--victories

He's 35 and a father now, but thanks to a storybook marriage and a new crew chief, Jeff Gordon has recaptured the bloom--and vroom--of his youth

Sure, there are still 20 races to go until the Nextel Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Nov. 18, but the 2007 regular season is already more than half over. With 10 races left until the...

In a high-octane, if highly unscientific, survey SPORTS ILLUSTRATED recently polled Nextel Cup drivers to get their opinions on matters both on-track and off. More than a third of the Cup regulars...

Fourteen years after he became the poster child for cystic fibrosis, Boomer's son is playing three sports and helping his dad fight for a cure

One of many former jocks who've found a second career in wine, this 13-year veteran of the NFL trenches proves that size doesn't preclude sophistication

Once accustomed to crushing ballcarriers, Terry Hoage now crushes grapes for his much-sought-after vintages

Skating star Peggy Fleming's venture in the vineyard includes a surprising partnership

1 Big Nate's Barbecue

He feasted on quarterbacks for 12 seasons. Now the Lions' alltime sack leader is inviting Motown to chow down at his three highly acclaimed restaurants

Infused with a passion for architecture and guided by his Islamic faith, the Hall of Fame center has scored big as Houston's most distinctive real estate magnate

Former big league slugger Mo Vaughn is transforming blighted developments into livable communities

Led by inimitable coach Al McGuire, the '77 Warriors had a style of their own--and they weren't above a little infighting on their way to the title

Tech student wins the British Am

WHO Hunter Mahan

Mr. Dad has some words of wisdom for new pop Tiger

It's a joke that Jay Williamson could've played his way into the Masters but not the FedEx Cup.

Carnoustie suspends greenkeeper John Philp for harassing intern

On the star-laden '72 A's, 26-year-old catcher Gene Tenace was an unlikely World Series hero. A .225 hitter, he wasn't even a starter until July. But his fortunes changed in Game 1 at Riverfront...

Winning was just a matter of time for a can't-miss 25-year-old like Hunter Mahan, but for journeyman Jay Williamson, contending in Hartford may have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience

A SWEET 16 races make up the Royal Ascot, Britain's most prestigious horse racing event. But the real competition is in the stands, where last Thursday fans kept the Ladies' Day tradition of...