May 24, 1976 | Volume 44, Issue 21

WHISTLE BATTLE ROYAL

•Elvin Hayes, 6'10" Washington Bullets forward, asked in a hotel lobby if he was a basketball player: "No, I clean giraffe ears."

As others took last-minute gambles, Johnny Rutherford stayed with what had worked in practice and scooped up the pole position for the Indianapolis 500

Kate Smith did her musical darndest, but to no avail as Montreal swept Philadelphia and carried the Stanley Cup back to Canada

With his utterly unexpected victory in the Preakness, Elocutionist made it clear that he deserves more notice

The mighty Warriors are gone, knocked out of the NBA playoffs by Phoenix, which ended Golden State's one-year dynasty

Old seems to fit the Boston Celtics. Old dynasties, old heroes. Paul Revere at the scorer's table yelling, "One if by land, two if by Havlicek." And last Sunday they looked like the same old...

The champion Red Sox are on the defensive in their division, where the speedy Yankees have raced into the lead. Larry Keith covers as the pennant winners and the new contenders meet.

"John Beradino always wanted to be an actor," says Bill Veeck. "I remember when he played for me on the 1948 Indians and we won the World Series over the Braves. The team was returning from Boston...

Once controversial big-leaguers, now Denny McLain (below) and Bill Valentine are abloom in the bushes

NL WEST

GEORGE BRETT: The Kansas City third baseman, who set a major league record by getting three hits in six consecutive games, scored eight runs, drove in five and rapped out 17 hits in 29 appearances...

If you had told J.D. Reed a couple of years ago that he would spend most of the spring of 1976 covering the Stanley Cup playoffs for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, he would have been startled, to say the...

And on the uneven bars, the horse and in floor exercises, our newly selected women's team may surprise a lot of people at the Olympics

Seattle's fledgling NFL team sold 59,000 season tickets before it had a coach, players or seats

Dick Francis, the English steeplechase jockey turned writer of suspense novels, has had a problem with his literary career. Since his settings are nearly always the racing world, his natural...

BASKETBALL—NBA: The Phoenix Suns ousted the defending champion Golden State Warriors from the playoffs with a stunning 94-86 victory in the seventh game of their Western semifinals. Gar Heard and...

6—Manny Millan13—drawing by Arnold Roth18, 19—Heinz Kluetmeier, Lane Stewart20, 21—Lane Stewart (2), Heinz Kluetmeier22—Manny Millan24, 25—Jerry Cooke26—Hank deLespinasse28—John D. Hanlon47—George...

Bruce Kimball, 12, became the youngest male ever to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials when he finished ninth at the National AAU Senior Men's 10-meter competition in Cleveland. His sister...

Sir:Yours is the first objective, levelheaded account of the Muhammad Ali-Jimmy Young fight I have read (, May 10). While Ali did nothing to enhance his reputation, Young did not at any time take...