December 16, 2002 | Volume 97, Issue 24

Record-setting Willis McGahee carried Miami past Virginia Tech and into the national title game

Virginia Tech had allowed just 12 rushing touchdowns until last Saturday, when Willis McGahee hit paydirt a Miami-record six times.

An NFL scout sizes up the pro prospects of the best senior on each team in the eight January bowls.

No one in the NBA competes harder than Ron Artest, who makes his feelings about hoops—and everything else—refreshingly clear

Big D-featKobe Bryant caps a comeback from 27 points down in the fourth quarter by hitting this jumper over Dirk Nowitzki last Friday in Los Angeles. The Lakers beat the Mavericks 105-103 due in...

In presenting the Olympics, Wide World, Howard Cosell and much more, this visionary revolutionized sports television

In the late summer of 1960, 29-year-old Roone Arledge, newly hired as an assistant producer at ABC Sports, wrote a memo to the division's president, Edgar Scherick, outlining his ideas for...

Never take off your head in public—and other important lessons I learned at mascot school

In the early 1900s editor Maxwell Perkins told anyone who would listen that Chicago sports columnist Ring Lardner was the most talented writer he knew, high praise given that Perkins's stable...

Out of printNew York Times best-sellerMade into a movieAuthors with other list-worthy books

Rare Air, by Michael Jordan with Walter Iooss Jr. (1993)One of the best-selling photo books of all time provides strikingly intimate glimpses of Air Jordan at home, at work and at play during the...

SI's Frank Deford, author of 14 books, offers his thoughts on the genre: Reading is so personal—much more so than movies or plays or even TV—that I'm always reluctant to name the "best" sports...

When the Patriots played the Bears on Nov. 10 in Champaign, Ill., New England coach Bill Belichick noticed that the field was named for Robert Zuppke, the Illini coach from 1913 to '41. That meant...

The Bronc Burnett series, by Wilfred McCormick (1948-67). Each of the 27 volumes follows the exploits of Burnett, a hard-throwing pitcher from Sonora, N.Mex.

Lakers coach Phil Jackson distributes almost as many books as Amazon.com. Among his best literary assists: dishing off a copy of Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha to Shaquille O'Neal. "He liked it,"...

Clearing the Bases, by Allen Barra. Mays or Mantle? Williams or DiMaggio? Barra attempts to settle these and many other oft-asked baseball questions with reams of research and statistics.

The NBA

Scottie Pippen sees a grim season for the overpaid, disaffected Blazers

Players warned Brian Grant two years ago that he would break down under Pat Riley, but the 6'9" Heat center has found the opposite to be true. "He gets you in better shape, not only physically but...

Making His PitchThird-year quarterback Chad Pennington has directed the Jets into the thick of the AFC playoff chase

TRADING E-MAIL WITH...Titans running back and 1995 Heisman winner Eddie George

THESE ARE THE VOICES OF DECEMBER:

We have no Warsaw, Krakow or Gdansk, yet nowhere are there more polls than in America.

[Check Box] Yes[Check Box] No[Check Box] Already tossed magazine into trash and opened Maxim. Vote now!

Is this column working?

[Check Box] See if he can pull it out[Check Box] Kill it immediately[Check Box] Make it self-destruct like the tapes in those cool Mission: Impossible opening scenes. Vote now!

Hooping It UpI find it hard to believe you feel there are 27 college basketball teams better than the Maryland Terrapins (COLLEGE HOOPS PREVIEW, Nov. 25). In an era when a senior-led team from any...

LETTERS

Over the days he spent with 2002 Sportsman of the Year Lance Armstrong reporting the story for this issue, senior writer Rick Reilly frequently saw Armstrong's soft side. People who probably...

AUGUST 9, 1976

Last week the Detroit Tigers reined in their left centerfield fence by 25 feet, and the Old Course at St. Andrews reduced the depth of its diabolical Road Hole bunker by two feet, and USA Today...

Heisman winner Eric Crouch was drafted by the Rams, then quit because he couldn't play quarterback. Here, in his own words, is how he feels about walking away

Lamar Smith's DWI bust is bad news for the teammate he injured in '94

THEY LEFT THEIR JOBS IN SAN FRANCISCO

20½Length, in inches, of Shawn Chance Bradley, who was born on Dec. 1 to 7'6" Mavericks center Shawn Bradley and his 5'4" wife, Annette.

RetiredAfter 14 seasons with four teams, Cardinals righthander Andy Benes. Drafted first overall by the Padres in 1988, Benes, 35, had a 155-139 record with a 3.97 ERA. Benes weighed retirement in...

Received

Who's winning the battle, Hootie Johnson or Martha Burk? SI's Hootometer tells all.

Let's move this along. I have less than two weeks left to get an undeclared gift for Chris Webber's father.

Telemundo is airing 15 NBA games in the U.S. this season, and the world's most famous and most entertaining soccer announcer ("Goooooooal! Goal-goal-goal-goal!") is hosting the network's...

DECEMBER 13-19

Remembering Roone, Mason Dishin', Fox Goes Extreme

Did an NBA referee introduce Michael Jordan to Karla Knafel, the ex-lover he is suing for extortion? In a countersuit filed by Knafel she says she was working as a singer in an Indianapolis hotel...

Now this guy's a poser. While the Hurricanes' Heisman hopefuls, Ken Dorsey (300 passing yards, two TDs) and Willis McGahee (205 rushing yards, six TDs), made their cases at the Orange Bowl in...

A Buccaneers fan has purchased season tickets in four sections of Raymond James Stadium so that he can watch each quarter from a different angle.

SHAQUILLE O'NEALLakers center, on solving the team's on-court problems: "I just want eight guys out there with me who want to play."

A desultory 10-round TKO by Wladimir Klitschko did not boost his image as a heavyweight power

A rundown of the top contenders to dethrone heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis.

Warriors center Adonal Foyle has more on his plate—politics, poetry, a master's degree—than just hoops

Colleges have lined up by the score to sign the country's best player, quarterback Chris Leak

Hard-charging IOC veteran Dick Pound has a new mission—to end drug use in the Games

DATE-PLACE OF BIRTH: March 22, 1942, St. Catharines, Ont.FAMILY: Wife: Julie Houghton Keith, a writer; three children, two stepchildrenEDUCATION: Commerce degree (1962) and law degree ('67) from...

Dick Pound is not afraid to be candid. Here are three of his remarks to SI about others involved in the Olympics:

Considered a flop his first four years, Olli Jokinen of the Panthers is finally playing like a No. 3 draft pick

Edge NFL Match-Up, the thinking man's highlight show, is essential viewing for players and coaches

Coach John Gagliardi of Minnesota's St. John's won his 400th game—and he shows no signs of slowing

Baseball-Reference.com is the ultimate online statistical source for fans with a sense of history

In addition to Baseball-Reference.com, here are four other historical baseball sites.

Kara Lynn Joyce, ANN ARBOR, MICH.SwimmingKara Lynn, an Ann Arbor Pioneer High senior, set a national high school record of 48.59 in the 100-yard freestyle during the state Division I title meet....

For his courage and commitment—not to mention his fourth straight Tour de France victory—SI salutes the ultimate road warrior

'50s

On a Sunday of pivotal division matchups, the Bucs made the biggest statement by battering the Falcons and looking ripe for a postseason run

With their throw-first, run-later philosophy, the Raiders have emerged as the team to beat in the AFC

Multitalented quarterback Steve McNair has carried Tennessee to the top of the AFC South

With his aggressive, high-risk style, the Stars' Marty Turco is playing goalie like nobody else

For more on Lance Armstrong—including a photo gallery, video and SI flashbacks—plus complete Sportsman archives, go to cnnsi.com/si_online.

To sign up for Sports Illustrated's free subscriber-only e-mail newsletter, go to http://sicustomerservice.com/siextra.

Forget about football: Notre Dame toppled three Top 15 teams in the span of six days to prove it belongs in the upper echelon in hoops

Harassed by Maryland fans, former Terp Dan Miller got the last laugh by leading Notre Dame past his old team

The big news of 2002 boiled down to a few simple equations

How a wildly successful golf development split the Las Vegas Paiutes into spiteful, bickering factions

Even at age 85, prolific inventor Tony Antonious never stops searching for his next bright idea

An end-of-year accounting of 2002's champs and chumps

It was messy at times, but 2002 was a very good year for golf. The majors were thrilling, and Annika Sorenstam staked her claim as the world's most dominant female athlete, while the year's two...

Tiger Woods blew a chance at victory at his own tournament because of a handsy hook, but most amateurs could learn from his miscue

Padraig Harrington's victory at the Target World Challenge was his third in the last 10 weeks, but the Irishman's first in the U.S....

Most amateurs never learn to feel the clubhead during their swings. They use their bodies too much during the downswing, leading to an open face at impact, which produces a slice. This drill will...

Tom Wyman, the former chairman of CBS who last week became the first Augusta National member to resign in protest over its men-only policy, has been accused in some quarters of grandstanding, but...

The politically incorrect TV announcer discusses his return to the booth and his sympathy for Hootie

VOTE AT GOLFONLINE.COM

Stop me if you've heard this one: A rabbi, a priest and a minister are on the 1st tee at Merion. Gazing down the fairway, the rabbi notices bunkers ahead and says, "If I don't understand the...

If you make the number at the Tour's Q school, you have a chance to make a name. Here are some of the players who tried

Broadaway's cross-handed swing turned heads—look at that lag in the fourth photo from the left!—but it couldn't get him to the big Tour.