February 23, 1998 | Volume 88, Issue 8

Canada's Net Result

With the Olympic break upon us, here are some awards for the first half of the NHL season.

The Untouchable

After being dealt to Portland last Friday in the six-player swap that sent Kenny Anderson to Toronto, Damon Stoudamire quickly sought assurances from the Trail Blazers that they wouldn't unload...

Garbage In, Garbage OutGetting equal value is an elusive goal, as teams trying to deal before the Feb. 19 trading deadline have found. One swap consummated last June, however, seems the epitome of...

Feb. 22SAN ANTONIO ATPHOENIX

Tyrone Hill of the Bucks gives the lowdown on D down low

Refuse to Lose

After a tumultuous week that saw three of our No. 2 seeds lose—Kentucky to Mississippi, Connecticut to West Virginia, and Utah to Wyoming—our selection committee was ready to kick some tail and...

New Mexico at TCUSaturday, Feb. 21

Florida's flashy guard knows no limitations but is acknowledging others'

In honor of the single worst debut by a sport in Olympic history, please memorize the following snowboarding terms and have them tattooed somewhere extremely rad.

Augusts 9, 1971

If more people could have Gordon Gund's inner drive to succeed in life, regardless of the odds, this world would be a better place.—JOEL FREIMARK, Beachwood, Ohio

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 up-to-the-minute sports news. Check out Swimsuit '98 Extra!, including a complete portfolio of photos from the swimsuit...

Fans know the rules. You don't boo a player who has more floor burns than field goal attempts. You don't boo a high school or college athlete unless he drives a more expensive car than you do. You...

•That Hideki Irabu's new translator has a lexicon of colorful New Yorkese handy if the $12.8 million righty again fails to deliver.

120,250,000Combined value, in dollars, of the top 10 NFL free-agent signings through Monday.

SUMMER OR WINTER

Assuming the PGA Tour's appeal doesn't park Casey Martin's plans to use a cart in tournaments, he may want to concentrate on his tee shots and leave the driving to one of these well-known...

The couple who bought Deer Lake, the six-acre compound in eastern Pennsylvania that Muhammad Ali used for his training camp for nine years, is turning it into a bed and breakfast.

HARRO ESMARCHOfficial of the International Luge Federation, on the IOC's nixing of a unisex doubles luge event: "Some people's fantasies have no boundaries."

The first female pole vaulting at the Millrose Games was a sight to behold

A March to Madnessby John FeinsteinLittle, Brown and Company, $24.95

Marine cinematographer Al Giddings has filmed in every ocean on the planet

Talking about his playing days in the Negro leagues, the great third baseman Judy Johnson once said, "There was always sun shining someplace." In the spirit of Black History Month—and of this...

Clint Long, a freshman heavyweight wrestler for Mount St. Clare College in Clinton, Iowa, received an unusual greeting before a meet last month. "The other team's coach came up to me and asked,...

Harmon Hisek, Tyndall, S.Dak.WrestlingHannon, a senior on the Bon Homme High team, had gone undefeated in the 135-pound class in leading the Cavaliers to a 16-1 dual-meet record through Sunday....

Departments

Olympics: Final Days

Daredevils Live! Shattering the Records. We fervently hope that's all that's shattered in this made-for-TV event, brought to us by—who else?—Fox (Tuesday, 8 p.m.)-Motorcycle stuntman Robbie...

Foot FaultDespite this aerial misstep, Stacy Dragila became the Millrose Games' first women's pole vault champion with a clearance of 13'9¾" at Madison Square Garden.

When John Huston heated up, Hawaii was hit with a record low

Battered by the Martin case, Tim Finchem nonetheless deserves respect

After 19 failed attempts, seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt finally won his first Daytona 500—and even a guy as ornery as the Man in Black got a little misty over that

Here's what has happened to the top 15 prospects in the high school class of 1996 (as ranked by Bob Gibbons, publisher of the All-Star Sports recruiting newsletter): Some went straight to the NBA,...

MOTOR SPORTS

Picking Up Speed

Looks Are EverythingWhat makes a new NASCAR car model "new"? Mostly body changes, which affect aerodynamics and handling. As a rule, new race cars don't do all that well in their first year on the...

The number of races Dale Earnhardt has won in more than two decades of competition at Daytona International Speedway. Although it took the Intimidator 20 attempts before he finally won the Daytona...

Brace Yourself: How to follow up the most lucrative season ever by a female golfer? Annika Sorenstam changed everything. She appeared at the Los Angeles Women's Championship in new Nike shoes,...

The news from Johannesburg on Monday was that Ernie Els didn't win. South Africa's national hero had won his country's Open title the previous week, then tracked Zimbabwe's Tony Johnstone for...

Corey Pavin still hasn't won since shaving off his trademark mustache last fall. "I tried growing it back but didn't like how it came in," says the '95 U.S. Open champ. Maybe he should try a style...

What do these players have in common?

Could Sorenstam and Webb keep up with the big boys?

162Slope rating from the back tees at Hawaii's Koolau Golf Course, reputed to be the most difficult in the U.S. The slope at Pebble Beach is 142.

PGA

Go ahead, hand it to Huston, but don't forget about San Antonio. Let the record show that there were Texas-sized differences between last week's Hawaiian Open, at which John Huston finished 28...

His Next StepEveryone's wondering where Casey Martin will play

Hale Irwin: "Gil Morgan has become a real pain."

It's unbelievable. Once again my friendship with President Clinton has made me an unwitting player in the biggest news story in the world. As bad as I felt when the President injured his knee in a...