December 17, 2012 | Volume 117, Issue 24

Tim Layden's story on Johnny Evers (Tinker to Evers to Chance ... to Me) is one of the best written and most-moving articles I have read in SPORTS ILLUSTRATED. We all have family who have passed...

Eighteen years after it began in Seattle, the career of Alex Rodriguez draws to a close amid injury and ill will. Did we miss its true measure?

Writing that he was "sick of the losing" and "sick of watching bad basketball," a fan in Washington, D.C., posted an offer on Craigslist to pay $10 to anyone who would take his two tickets to the...

HOT: CARDINAL VIRTUE

Taciturn and, well, dull on the sideline, Eric Mangini on camera is smart, informative and engaging

"Bieber Fever is allowed under NCAA rules."

Thanks to improved drug testing, a silver medalist may move up

With college football's regular season in the books, NFL teams are intensifying their scrutiny of prospects for the 2013 draft. If there's an emerging story line, it's that the upcoming class...

TAYLOR GARCIA

Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson spent $19,521 on a shopping spree at a Houston Toys "R" Us for 12 children selected by Texas Child Protective Services. The participants had 80 seconds to fill a...

5

KOBE BRYANT

SAY WHAT?

Manny Pacquiao may well fight again, but after being knocked cold by Juan Manuel Márquez in a ferocious fourth fight, the Filipino superstar has lost his aura

A look at the Illini's fast start, a bold opening day plan and the top freshman

53.7%

With just three weeks remaining in the regular season, no one is running away with the NFL's MVP award. Instead, a handful of the usual suspects—comeback kings Peyton Manning and Adrian Peterson;...

SOME ATHLETES WOW US WITH THEIR SHEER PHYSICAL BRILLIANCE, OTHERS THROUGH DISPLAYS OF COURAGE, POISE AND PASSION, OR BY THEIR WILLINGNESS TO PUSH LIMITS, BREAK BARRIERS AND HOIST FANS' HOPES ON...

CALL HIM A HANGDOG HERO, A SAD-SACK SUPERMAN, KID BROTHER TO A LEGEND—BUT WOULD YOU BET AGAINST ELI MANNING WHEN IT'S ALL ON THE LINE IN FEBRUARY? THE MVP OF TWO SUPER BOWLS, A SCION OF FOOTBALL'S...

For complete coverage of the final three weeks—Jim Trotter's Awards Race, Chris Burke's Must-Win Watch and the playoff picture—go to SI.com/mag

NBA QUARTER-MARK AWARDS

THERE'S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE IN THE YEAR'S BEST UNDERDOG STORY, THE POINT GUARD WHO CAME OUT OF NOWHERE. THE PROBLEM IS, PEOPLE EVERYWHERE WANT TO CLAIM THE SUDDEN GLOBAL CELEBRITY AS THEIR OWN

MOMENT OF THE YEAR

ON THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF TITLE IX, FEMALE U.S. OLYMPIANS DEMONSTRATED IN POWERFUL AND UNMISTAKABLE TERMS HOW EQUAL ACCESS TO RESOURCES AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES TO COMPETE CAN PAY OFF ON THE...

IMAGINE, A CENTURY FROM NOW, LOOKING BACK ON THE PLAGUE OF SEXUAL ABUSE. TWO BRIGHT SPOTS IN THIS DARK HISTORY WILL BE CY YOUNG WINNER R.A. DICKEY AND JUDO GOLD MEDALIST KAYLA HARRISON, WHO...

In September the SI.com video series Underdogs featured Eric Dompierre (above, 44), a senior at Ishpeming (Mich.) High with Down syndrome who became a placekicker on the football team. Dompierre's...

Watch the entire Underdogs series and read L. Jon Wertheim's account of Ishpeming High's bittersweet championship run at SI.com/mag