September 11, 1989 | Volume 71, Issue 11

[This article consists of photographs--see below.]

Coach Joe Gibbs of the Washington redskins suffered the first losing season of his career last year. The defense was hit by injuries. so were the quarterbacks. The offensive line was in disarray....

Super bowl prediction: Chicago bears 20, buffalo bills 17. last year, the bears won the division, and—with 20 draft picks this year, including two No. 1's—they are still on the way up.

At the edge of the shore ice, where Hudson Bay's cold waters move sluggishly beneath a bank of gray fog, a big male polar bear ambles into view. From a distance he seems little more than a...

Report from super bowl country: Bill Walsh is in the TV booth, George Seifert is manning the San Francisco 49ers' headphones, eight vets staged holdouts, Joe Montana is sharp, Roger Craig says...

Look at the buffalo bills' 1988 season this way: if defensive end Bruce smith hadn't hurt his thigh in the first quarter of the AFC championship game, if cornerback Derrick Burroughs hadn't been...

Joe Montana's heroics for the 49ers killed what could have been a good super bowl story on the Cincinnati Bengals. just look what they had to overcome. Lost Stanley Wilson, their best...

It came up in chitchat at the training camp of the Denver Broncos. Someone remarked to John Elway that he looked happier this year, and he said, "well, the shoulder's O.K." Shoulder? We knew he...

Since last Sept. 25, Miami quarterback Dan Marino has thrown 497 passes without being sacked. That is almost certainly an NFL record, though the league doesn't track sacks of individual...

San Francisco at Indianapolis: The Super Bowl champion 49ers, who played their last exhibition game on the road, begin the season with three games in the Eastern time zone. After traveling to...

THE RACE IS ON

SEPTEMBERS TO REMEMBER

A stickball league has regulations standardizing the familiar street game

...20 of the best-ever NFL teams played a "Dream Season"?

BASKETBALL—The YOUNGSTOWN PRIDE won the World Basketball League championship, defeating Calgary 118-116 in the second game of a best-of-three series in Youngstown. Ohio. Eric Newsome sank a...

ETHAN OBERMANDEERFIELD, ILL.Ethan, an eighth-grader at Wilmot Junior High won four gold medals setting national record: in each event, at the National Short Track Speed Skating Championships He...

In tennis, decorum is imposed only on the fans

A BRIEF REIGNIll can he rule the great, that cannot reach the small.—EDMUND SPENSERThe Faerie Queene

•Nate Newton, 320-or-so-pound Dallas Cowboy guard, on his quest to attain a leaner state: "Every night I tell myself, 'I'm going to dream about my girl, I'm going to dream about my girl.' But it's...

Feathers are flying in the AL East, where the soaring Blue Jays have plucked the stubborn Orioles from the catbird seat

TO REMAIN A HOT COMMODITY IN THE 1990S, THE NFL HAS TO PUT ITS HOUSE IN ORDER

The beauty of a notes column is that you can get so much information into such a concentrated form," says senior writer Peter Gammons, who writes SI's INSIDE BASEBALL column. That's a lesson staff...

"I want people to understand, whether it's practice or a game, I don't hold anything back," says Cunningham. "If you do that, you can live with your mistakes. Yes, I've seen booed. But I want the...

"I've spent a lot of time watching people," says Ryan. "I sit in the back of airplanes oh road trips, just watching people. The players will tell you that. I study people. I knew Randall was my...

"I'm in publishing, but I'm a big sports fan, especially of the Eagles now," says Shearer. "I've known Randall since he was 14. His family lived down the street from mine in Santa Barbara. Now I...

AS THE NFL REVS UP FOR A NEW ERA, EIGHT FUTURE STARS GET READY TO TAKE OFF

Whatever else may change in the 1990s, speed, power, Reggie White and Cornelius Bennett will remain the same. Dr. Z offers this early line on the other players who will be among the NFL elite by...

THE "SILVER STRETCH" OFFENSE FEATURES FOUR WIDE RECEIVERS, ONE RUNNING BACK AND NO TIGHT END. THE LIONS HAVE ONLY EIGHT PLAYS, BUT THE RECEIVERS HAVE DOZENS OF OPTIONS ON EACH, DEPENDING ON THE...

JORDAN'S NEW GAMEMy golfing friends and I are outraged at the hype surrounding Michael Jordan's golf game (Sink, Blast You! Aug. 14). His best round is only 73. Granted, Jordan once poured in 63...