March 16, 1998 | Volume 88, Issue 11

Pro sports need Michael Jordan. He represents one thing that our society seems to be lacking: a genuine class act—Chad Lanphear Chico, Calif.

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,...

Embraceable you

Scottie Pippen, Isaac Austin and Brent Barry are bonded by a simple daydream: to sign with the Suns when they become free agents this summer. Tom Gugliotta can opt out of his Timberwolves contract...

Shaq's Grudge Match

Marcus Camby on former Raptors teammate Damon Stoudamire, who criticized Camby for not putting in enough time after practice or in the weight room: "I work on my game. Maybe I would have blossomed...

Only four players in the NBA were averaging more than 20 points and 10 rebounds at week's end. Three of them—Karl Malone, Shaquille O'Neal and David Robinson—had shot better than 52% from the...

March 15 INDIANA AT NEW YORKMadison Square Garden

The day after Mo Vaughn was acquitted of a drunken driving charge in a courtroom by a jury in Dedham, Mass., he flew back to spring training and took a limousine from the Orlando airport to rejoin...

Near the end of every season we look back with 20/20 hindsight at the bonehead moves made by teams and players during the previous off-season. This task is a little more challenging in March, but...

Delayed Whistle

One reason the Blues were leading the league in goals at week's end, despite the loss of center Pierre Turgeon and right wings Brett Hull and Joe Murphy for long stretches this season, is that...

Hey, kids! Next time you're in serious doo-doo, do what big leaguers do: Deny, alibi and justify! It's easy with this handy annotated excuse card! Just cut it out, keep it in your pocket and use...

Sports fans have long known that winning and losing aren't always determined by the performance of the competitors. Sometimes the referee jus a crucial call. That's what happened on March 4 when...

•That every U.S. citizen be issued his or her own personal RPI so we all know where we stand.

50,000Dollars more in salary new Nebraska football coach Frank Solich will receive than his predecessor, Tom Osborne, who got $150,000.

Florida StateThe Seminoles have won two games in the last five weeks and finished tied for sixth (6-10) in the ACC. But, hey, they beat Connecticut and Arizona back in the Pleistocene Era...

Here's a look at how the three NHL goalies with the best save percentages at week's end had fared when forced to shoulder an unduly large part of the load. The broadest shoulders belong to the...

As an 18-year-old White Plains (N.Y.) High hockey player was being led off the ice by police after punching a referee, several adult fans cheered him, and one later said, "He [the ref] deserved to...

ROD BECKChicago Cubs closer, contending that his far-less-than-buff physique doesn't make him injury-prone: "I've never seen anyone on the DL with pulled fat."

Everest Chronicles an Astounding Journey

Pitch 'n' Putt, but Don't Gawk

Leta Andrews, Granbury, TexasBasketballAndrews, 60, won her 1,000th game as coach of the Granbury High girls' team when the Lady Pirates defeated Waco Midway High 53-45. The leading active high...

Saturday 3/14

Yeast is yeast, and west is west, a reminder that highlights of the Whitbread Round the World Race's sixth leg—from São Sebastião, Brazil, to Fort Lauderdale—can be viewed on ESPN (Saturday and...

Pro Basketball

The best moves don't have to take place in midair or at warp speed. That's why, even though today's players are generally more athletic than those of previous generations, the former stars...

If there were a statistic for stunning moves per minute played, the Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant would surely lead the league. Bryant, a 6'7" guard, has the ball handling skills to lose a...

In Winning MemoryFormer Green Bay linebacker and Hall of Famer Ray Nitschke, who died last week, recovers a fumble against the Browns-and Jimmy Brown (32)-in the 1966 NFL title game won by the...

If took Orioles rightfielder Eric Davis's heroic battle with colon cancer to make fans appreciate that he's more than just a hugely talented player plagued by injuries

The zone makes a comebackWhich sleepeer could win the title?Reports on all 64 teams

Any team that can't handle the pressure of a may find itself run off the road before it ever gets to the Final Four

2-3 This is your basic YMCA zone set, which works best for rebounding but worst for perimeter defense, because a couple of ball reversals by the offense usually lead to an open shot. The 2-3 is...

From outside "We haven't seen a total of 30 minutes of zone defense all season long," says Arizona coach Lute Olson. "Some of that may have to do with the fact that we shoot the ball so well."

With the help of a precocious coach-in-training at Arizona, we check out the long shots and speculate on which of them might gallop to the Alamodome

Casey Martin's every movement was big news in Austin

A health scare for Butch Harmon puts golf in perspective

Club Room: World Series MVP Livan Hernandez of the Florida Marlins, on swapping his Ferrari for a Mercedes sedan: "I couldn't fit my golf clubs in the Ferrari."

There's nothing like sitting in a golf cart doing a little fishing. That's a bonus at tournaments like the Doral-Ryder Open and the Players Championship. The Tour's fishermen—guys like Paul...

Pearly Gates: Callaway's new ads feature Microsoft's Bill Gates musing on learning the game and falling for Big Bertha. "I love a big idea," says Gates with a smile that must chill spines on...

What do these players have in common?

When it comes to overtime on Tour, all bets are off

20Americans in the top 25 Oil the 1998 world money list, headed by Tiger Woods, who has already earned $756,661.

If any player's had a tougher life than Dowling star Dez Phillips, heaven help her

Anyone who has ever tried to explode out of a greenside trap or thread a nine-iron between treetops knows that golf demands total immersion and an all-consuming passion. Ah, but how does the...

PGA