March 24, 1997 | Volume 86, Issue 12

Dave Valle is the type of ballplayer that kids should look up to.PETER HENDRICKSON, WALTHAM, MASS.

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Saturday 3/22

Ten years after being banned from the 1987 Orange Bowl for using anabolic steroids, former Oklahoma linebacker Brian Bosworth returns to Miami as a renegade private investigator in the new series...

12Phone calls received by the NFL requesting ticket information for the Los Angeles Z's, a fictional team put together in SI's Feb. 17 issue by senior writer Paul (Dr. Z) Zimmerman.

With Oscar night looming, it's time for another casting call (SCORECARD, July 8, 1996). With a minor makeover, these jocks—and one coach—could crash any party in Hollywood.

Reading Statman's Work Is a Real Labor

Chicago Bears defensive end Alonzo Spellman, whose eponymous charity organization educates youngsters about street violence, spent a night in jail last week after police stopped him for speeding...

Andrew MageePro golfer, on whether he would have caught Bill Clinton had the President fallen at Magee's house instead of fellow pro Greg Norman's: "Absolutely not. I would have let him fall on...

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Underdogs showed plenty of fight, but the top seeds prevailed to reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAAs

Several years ago I found myself called on the pile of Dean Smith's office carpet. In a biographical sketch of the North Carolina basketball coach, I had referred to him as someone who "quaffed"...

FEBRUARY 22, 1971

With four trying seasons behind him, running back Garrison Hearst thinks he has finally found a home in the 49ers' backfield

Coolheaded Mariano Rivera is ready to bring the heat as the new closer for the Yankees

THE BOXER FORMERLY KNOWN AS NASEEM HAMED IS A COCKY KNOCKOUT ARTIST WHO HAS SLUGGED HIS WAY TO A PAIR OF FEATHERWEIGHT BELTS

The Swallows that return to Arizona in February are Japanese...and wear cleats

Isaiah Rider, the Blazer' tempestuous guard, is kicking up dust in Portland as he did in Minnesota, delighting and frustrating those who know him

Toboggans are all the rage in Camden, Maine

Some prized free agents awaiting lucrative offers, Al's well again in Oakland, Holmgren's costly decision

IRS cases have referees sweating, Why Otis Thorpe is in the doghouse in Detroit, KJ may play next season

Herb StinsonAZTEC, N. MEX.Stinson, 44, wrestling coach at Aztec High, guided the Tigers to the AAA state title for the eighth straight year. They also won all 22 dual meets and the 10 tournaments...

Over a 40-year coaching career Bill Knapton was a big success at little Beloit

With a libel suit, the Flyers hope to make talk radio put its money where its mouth is

Hardworking Mario Elie has become the Rockets' unsung hero—and ace shoe salesman

FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 10-16

Aside from the presence of five future Hall of Famers on the court, here's a good reason to pull for a Bulls-Rockets NBA Finals: It would match the team with the sharpest uniforms (Chicago)...

The crop of free agents that may be available after the 1997-98 season is being hailed as the best since, well, last year. Along with established stars like the Magic's Penny Hardaway and the...

With a 48-17 record at week's end, 2½ games better than Seattle's, Utah is poised to gain home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs for the first time in history. "It's our...

Nets center Eric Montross might well be called Big Country, if another flat-topped 7-footer didn't already have that nickname. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Montross grew up fishing, hunting...

Terrible Twenty Keeps Kicking

1:26:44The time it took Alice Miller, playing alone, to shoot 71 on Sunday in the Welch's/Circle K Championship, which broke the LPGA record for the fastest round by eight minutes, 49 seconds.

ANOTHER TAKE ON THE HEADLINES

As I enter my first season as manager of the Houston Astros, I've been talking to my pitchers about the similarities between golf and pitching because I believe that golf can help a pitcher...

Going the distance to find a bona fide winner, the players put in a 36-hole final day at the Honda Classic

The Sorenstams may have reason to smile, but they aren't talking—at least not to each other