February 16, 1998 | Volume 88, Issue 6

Skiing is actually very safe, if you're thinking while you do it.—Patrick Allen, Bemus Point, N.Y.

Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer. They may be mailed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, New York,...

(www.cnnsi.com)SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and CNN team up on the Internet to offer complete coverage of the Winter Olympics. You'll find up-to-the-minute results, as well as stories and photos from the...

After weathering a storm of criticism, the St. John's star is still afloat

I went with my heart," said Dennis Johnson, one of the best high school athletes in Kentucky history, explaining his decision to spurn Notre Dame to play football for the home-state Wildcats....

The ups and downs of recruiting

Where Did Love Go?Green Bay Blues

HEY, MIKE TYSON!

February 13, 1978

Anyone who sees shame in Mike Tyson's employment as a so-called enforcer for Wrestlemania XIV (which came first, kids: Wrestlemania or the Super Bowl? Know your Roman numerals!) hasn't been paying...

•That a proctological Dream Team extracts Ahmad Rashad from the spot he occupies as Michael Jordan's Boswell.

1Players (Michael Jordan) in Sunday's All-Star Game who have won an NBA championship.

YES

Jose Canseco signed a one-year deal with the Toronto Blue Jays last week for $750,000, a significant pay cut from the $4.7 million he earned for hitting 23 homers and driving in 74 runs for the...

Megaselling novelist Tom Clancy, whose pumped-up paeans to military technology have made him a megamillionaire, last week offered 200 of those millions to buy the Minnesota Vikings. We can't help...

Iowa State's new, seven-ton, $1.5 million gondola-shaped basketball scoreboard that hangs in Hilton Coliseum comes equipped with four video screens and 24 panels for corporate signage but shows...

CHARLIE PIRRELLONorthern Burlington (N.J.) High football coach, on the decision of Mike Haynes, a star fullback and aspiring veterinarian, to enroll at rural Penn State: "If he wants to see his...

Departments

The regular season has ended for Strath Haven High in suburban Philadelphia with the haunting memory of a basketball left hanging on the rim more than two months ago. At the end of a Dec. 5 game...

Gao Jun, Gaithersburg, Md.Table TennisJun, 29, the No. 1-ranked American women's player, defeated Amy Feng, 28, of Atlanta 3-1 in the singles final at the U.S. championships. She also won the...

Olympics: Week 2XVIII WINTER GAMESBest EventsGold, not diamonds, is a girl's best friend. At least an American girl's. On Saturday (CBS, 7 p.m., tape-delay), 1994 downhill skiing silver medalist...

Do we have a FoxTrax sighting? This year's NHL broadcasts on Fox so far have been devoid of the network's two ballyhooed innovations, one that highlights the puck in a blue halo and another that...

Snow's up, dude!Ross Rebagliati of Canada goes for the gold in the snowboarding giant slalom.

As the Nagano Games opened with a spectacle led by sumo king Akebono and choirs on five continents, what dazzled visitors most was that gentlest of Japanese virtues: politeness

1. Provide video replayJudges should get replay for the short programs of both singles and pairs. Give them 60 seconds—no more—to review any two of the eight required elements.

THE NHL

Home Is Not Where Recchi's Heart IsThe UnOlympian

RW OWEN NOLANSharks1997-98 salary: $2.7 millionEight goals in 55 games is embarrassing for the first pick in the '90 draft. He has Olympian talent, but he's not on the Canadian team.

Word out of Colorado is that the Avalanche needs a vocal leader in the dressing room. The player the team misses is right wing Mike Keane, a free agent who left the club after last season to sign...

Shootout at the ShootoutJump the Gun

1.701The average margin of victory, in seconds, of the 31 Winston Cup races that ended under a green flag in 1997. It was the closest racing since 1990, when the margin was 1,580. Last year the...

Team Chemistry

Collins's Fast BreakDoug Collins, fired as coach of the Pistons on Feb. 2, is determined to cut all ties to his former team. Last week he packed up all his shirts, hats and sweats bearing...

Question the All-Star selection of center Rik Smits all you want (and many Alonzo Mourning fans did), but remember this: As of Sunday, Indiana was 12-0 when Smits led the team in scoring and 13-13...

Ups and Downs

Feb. 17INDIANA AT CHICAGOThe United CenterNine days after coaching Michael Jordan in the All-Star Game, the Pacers' Larry Bird makes his first visit to the House That Mike Built. In the teams'...

When this unassuming second-round draft choice starts in the backcourt, the Trail Blazers are 7-1

Arkansas Is BackHog Wild

The changes this week start at the top as North Carolina reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the East with its blowout win over Duke. The Blue Devils, now top-seeded in the South, will get another...

Michigan at Michigan State Tuesday, Feb. 17

Implicated in Sexgate, Greg Norman fights back on and off the course

Olympics: Golf hasn't been played at the Games since 1904 and Seve Ballesteros has never been a synchronized swimmer or Greco-Roman wresder. Still, Ballesteros was recently awarded the Olympic...

Just when we begin to fear that sport is in danger of being taken over by the forces of evil, from out of nowhere comes an athlete to inspire and uplift us all. His name is Casey Martin.

Sorry, Dad: The Buick Invitational is one of the few Tour stops that set aside spots for amateurs each year. Last week Charley Hoffman and Magnus Carlsson, two collegians who finished one-two in a...

The way things are going, expect Jim Colbert to lose his rug any day now. Already reeling from the sight of Corey Pavin sans mustache, the golf world was rocked again last week when Tom Kite...

Does Casey Martin have a right to ride a cart? We asked Roger Cossack and Greta Van Susteren, cohosts of CNN's Burden of Proof.

What do these players have in common?

Tour caddie Bob Ming makes stats do tricks

PGA

Resurgent Scott Simpson sweated out a strange finish to win in San Diego

The Senior tour's first unsung star, Don January, now 68, soldiers on

With one electrifying shot, Gil Morgan proved he's the man to beat on the Senior tour