April 24, 2000 | Volume 92, Issue 17

You wrote, Ricky Williams "grew up in San Diego." Not so. He may be from there, but as the article makes clear, he hasn't grown up at all.—ARTHUR D. WALSH, St. Paul

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, 135 West 50th Street, New York, N.Y....

Someday somebody may whisper in your ear, "Hey, buddy, how'd you like to spend an entire day rubbing bodies with 107 fit, glistening young women?" Resist! If you don't, you'll end up like me, a...

September 11, 1961

Highlights

The most striking thing about the ads for Baseball Tonight (ESPN, 10 p.m.), in which Karl Ravech, Harold Reynolds and Peter Gammons reprise scenes from classic baseball films, is how much more...

Call them the Montreal Underexposed. For almost all of their 32 seasons the Expos had their games broadcast locally on radio and TV in both English and French. But this year they have no TV deal...

ESPN's saturation coverage of the NFL draft proved dizzyingly addictive

"You call guys out the way he did, and nobody is going to have your back in anything. He thought we weren't helping him up then. Forget it now. We'll go downfield just the same and crush people....

Brimming with books about all games, London's Sportspages is a polyglot mecca for fans

The new USOC chief's business-speak throws a scare into minor sports

The NBA playoffs begin this weekend, and much of the focus will be on Pat Riley and his struggling Heat. In three of his four seasons in Miami, the Master of Mousse has bowed out in the first...

7Minutes into his comeback from right knee surgery that soccer star Ronaldo blew out the same knee.

No More Mr. RightMoral paragon Mark Chmura of the Packers is accused of sexual assault of a teenager

Tossed Out•A lawsuit filed by Tiger Woods's ETW Corp. against Jireh Publishing, over artist Rick Rush's print The Masters of Augusta, which depicts Tiger during his 1997 win. A federal judge ruled...

No athlete in the world can match Ken Butler's skill with a hockey stick—or, for that matter, with a tennis racket, a ski pole or a three-wood. While you may be imagining that Butler is the next...

A Tamaqua, Pa., police officer lost his job after a jury found him guilty of giving a 10-year-old Little League pitcher $2 to bean a 10-year-old batter.

RICK STELMASZEKTwins bullpen coach, on the retirement of Gary Gaetti, whom he managed in Class A: "I had him 25 years and $25 million ago."

This week SI's Marty Burns breaks down the eight NBA opening-round playoff matchups. Plus, check out our exclusive Kobe Bryant scrapbook at cnnsi.com/si_online.

Bernard Lagat is busy mastering his three R's

Ottawa's Marian Hossa has floundered since accidentally injuring an opponent

A bloodied Fernando Vargas proved his mettle by beating veteran Ike Quartey

Doubleheader: Two views of the Grand Old Game through the prism of history

Rometra Craig, Portola Valley, Calif.BasketballRometra, a senior guard at Archbishop Mitty High and daughter of former NFL All-Pro Roger Craig, averaged 21.6 points and 6.3 steals to lead the...

Erstwhile teen hot dog Kobe Bryant has grown into a consummate team player, which is a big reason the Lakers are huge favorites to win the NBA title

Catch As Catch CanSan Francisco's Barry Bonds thinks he's going to rob Arizona's Kelly Stinnett of a home run until Giants fan Rickie Navarrete, 15, steals Bonds's thunder in a game the...

No one in Hollywood would dream of making a film that ended with the Lakers' failing to win the 2000 NBA championship, and not just because half of the Screen Actors Guild cheers the team on from...

Resisting the urge to choose a quarterback first, the 49ers stuck to their plan and used five high-round picks to bolster their shattered defensive unit

Keyshawn Johnson's trade to the Bucs shook up the first round, and the star wideout couldn't say so long to the Jets without a few parting shots

The Jets addressed a lot of needs with their record four first-round picks, but success hinges on whether a pair of sack artists can get to the quarterback

Having reached yet another milestone—this time 3,000 hits—the enduring Cal Ripken Jr. can again concentrate on his strength, playing the game day by day

Before 1974 all II members of the 3,000-hit club owned career batting averages of .300 or better. Since then 13 players have reached the milestone, and six of them ended their careers with an...

Batting tees and 3,000 stances got Ripken to his milestone

For the second time in a year the Sabres were victims of a tainted postseason goal, and this time the video was indisputable

THE NHL

Little Ball of HateAt 35, Red Wing Pat Verbeek is still a banger only a teammate could love

APRIL 24, 1996CAPITALS VS. PENGUINS

John D'Amico, who was the NHL supervisor in the replay booth for last Friday's Flyers-Sabres' no-goal controversy, was also in charge during another contentious replay incident. On March 18 the...

Easier Does ItStill intense, but not so tense, the Angels' Darin Erstad is on a hot streak

It's a tired debate, but yet another home run explosion—an average of 2.6 per game had been hit through Sunday; last year's record total (5,528 homers) was achieved at a pace of 2.3—again has...

April 12, 2000Yankees 8, Rangers 6

On April 5 righthander Mike Morgan added to his big league record by pitching for his 12th team, throwing four shutout innings in relief for the Diamondbacks. A 13-game winner mostly as a starter...

Rafael Furcal, the majors' youngest player, is on the Braves' fast track

Sizzling StakesA trio of impressive tune-ups sets the stage for the Kentucky Derby

Like Old TimesJeff Gordon made a daring pass at Talladega to snap his winless streak

IRL rookie Sarah Fisher jumped from high school to racing's Ph.D. program

Royal TreatmentCrown Shaquille O'Neal as MVP and Steve Francis as the top rookie

First Team

Mark Cuban, whose purchase of the Mavericks was approved last week by the NBA board of governors, says he has no regrets about having signed Dennis Rodman earlier this season. Perhaps he ought to...

Barely hanging on in some schools and flat out dropped by others, phys ed ain't what it used to be

Gym-Class scenes have long been a staple of the movies. Herewith, one man's Top Five list.

Plagued by foul weather and fan indifference, the oldest and most prestigious Senior event bade a not-so-fond farewell to PGA National

Singh Set Up for Career SlamGrand Design

Not that we needed proof, but Seve Ballesteros's remarkable upset of Colin Montgomerie in the Ballesteros Trophy underscores the fact that he is one of the greatest match players ever. Overcoming...

What do these players have in common?

Should the tours support the NAACP's boycott of South Carolina by canceling their tournaments in that state?

SYNONYMS for a LONG PUTT

Caddying in the rain is definitely no time to sing

Lynne Cowan, Davis, Calif.Cowan, 37, paired with Lyn Nelson to lead a team of amateurs to a 14-10 victory over a squad of pros in the Northern California Cup in Hollister. Cowan and Nelson shot...

Commercials for golf products used to be the dregs, but in recent years they've improved dramatically. Last week puttermaker Never Compromise broke new ground by airing a 30-minute infomercial in...

•'N CinkAn early pick for Pebble Beach? MCI Classic winner Stewart Cink has three top 16s in four U.S. Opens.

Age35

The Vijay Singh I work out with isn't the same person as the one portrayed in the media

Just as he had the week before in the Masters, Ernie Els put himself in position to win at Harbour Town but couldn't finish the job

A look back at the spring of '92, when the golf world was smitten with two friendly rivals