January 20, 2003 | Volume 98, Issue 2

Déjà VuI am looking at the Dec. 23 cover of Sports Illustrated (True Grit, Why the Packers Keep on Winning), and I am reminded of a similar cover from back in the mid-'60s. It featured Bart Starr...

LETTERS•For the fastest response, please fax us at 212-467-4049 or e-mail us at letters@si.timeinc.com•Letters should include the writer's full name, address and home telephone number and may be...

Last week, while traveling in the desert, I met a wise man—a prophet—and asked him the secret to a long, successful life. "Good genes," was all he said.

Blown calls and official indecision have at times marred this year's playoffs. But not even the mighty NFL can eliminate mistakes

A court ruling hasn't ended the fight over who caught Barry Bonds's homer

4-0 Career record of Wizards guard Michael Jordan against the Bulls.

AssistedOn a goal in a Finnish second division game, Canadian Olympic women's hockey team star Hayley Wickenheiser, thus becoming the first woman to earn a point in a men's pro hockey game. The...

Good to be here. Sorry I'm late. I was out clubbing with Livan Hernandez.

The man who gave us the phrase "you might be a redneck" returns to the spotlight next month with Blue Collar Comedy Tour: the Movie, which includes musings on motor sports. "If you think the last...

Jeff Gordon takes a spin around the laugh track on "Saturday Night Live"

JILL LEGAULT AND CHARLENA REYNA

We expect the mail to get a bit hot and heavy after our swimsuit issue, but when we publish a list of a books?—no. Still, SI's Top 100 Sports Books of All Time (Dec. 16) drew more than 225...

JANUARY 17-23

Remembering Will

This Mermaid has found her man: Dara Torres, 35, the nine-time medal-winning Olympic swimmer who in 1994 became the first athlete to pose along with supermodels in SI's swimsuit issue, was to...

High school basketball phenom LeBron James drives a $50,000 Hummer H2 equipped with three TVs and a hookup for video games.

And you thought Michael Jordan was the King of Chicago. To honor Elvis's birthday (he would have been 68 on Jan. 8), a jump-shooting, jump-suited squad of Presley impersonators provided a touch of...

JACK NICHOLSON Three-time Oscar winner and Lakers season-ticket holder on discovering thespian talent: "There's probably not a better actor than Gary Payton."

You may not recognize him, but Mighty Ducks goalie Jean-Sébastien Giguere has become a star

A bitter Olympic loss and a slew of personal problems couldn't stop Jean Racine from returning

In the year since the Olympics, the other top U.S. women bobsledders have largely faded from the scene

After Franco Harris's Immaculate Reception, the author became obsessed with the Steelers' star

A former star linebacker adds yet another paean to Pittsburgh's glorious run of titles

Shelley Stanton, LINDEN, MICH.VolleyballStanton, 32, returned to college after a 10-year absence and, as an outside hitter, led Madonna University in every offensive category; her 1,521 attacks,...

Gender EquityLast week Duke joined Connecticut as the only schools ever to have both their men's and women's basketball teams concurrently ranked No. 1 by the AP. Although no school has won both...

GENDER EQUITY: b. Duke. In 1999 Duke's men's team reached the NCAA championship game and lost to Connecticut 77-74. The women's team was beaten in the final by Purdue 62-45.

The resilient Titans travel to Oakland's madhouse to try to outwit a Raiders team that's long on experience

On a squad devoid of Pro Bowl players, Steve McNair and two unlikely receivers took the Titans to the threshold of the title game

RAIDERS 52, TITANS 25They met in Oakland on Sept. 29, and the game was one of those freak shows that was over very quickly. The Raiders intercepted Steve McNair on the Titans' first possession,...

The grizzled but savvy Raiders easily dispatched the Jets to move within one victory of their first Super Bowl since 1984

RAIDERS 31, TITANS 24Oakland likes to turn a big game into a war of words, the angle on Sunday's meeting with the Jets having been: Look how wonderful everyone says they are. Who have they beaten?...

The Eagles have knocked the Bucs out of the playoffs each of the past two years, and they'll have to do it again in their final game at their old home field

Derrick Brooks is the quiet leader of a vaunted defense that shut down the 49ers and is the key to Tampa Bay's championship hopes

EAGLES 20 BUCS 10The Eagles have a habit of doing to the Bucs what the Bucs like to do to other teams. On Oct. 20 Philadelphia put intense pressure on Tampa Bay's offense, piled up six sacks and...

Buoyed by Donovan McNabb's speedy recovery, the Eagles advanced to their second straight NFC Championship Game

EAGLES 17 BUCS 13The Bucs have shut down the last two mobile quarterbacks they've faced, the Falcons' Michael Vick and the 49ers' Jeff Garcia, which might not look good for Donovan McNabb. But he...

Straight out of high school, forward Amare Stoudemire has soared toward the top of the rookie class and boosted fortunes in Phoenix

Of the 17 NBA players drafted directly from high school since 1995, most of those who have made it big showed a growth spurt in their third season. Amare Stoudemire's Year I stats at week's end...

In a strong class of rookies, here are nine of the most prominent ones. Who's had the greatest impact?

Guard Diana Taurasi's gender-bending game and relentless style had UConn streaking toward a record

CONNECTICUT'S hard-charging Diana Taurasi is setting the standard in women's college basketball with her all-out style and her shooting touch. Here are four other players who are raising the level...

The feel-good story of the first half was overachieving Minnesota, which is in the thick of the playoff race thanks to high-scoring 20-year-old speedster Marian Gaborik

SI's midseason All-Star team (statistics through Sunday)

One-Point LandingBucs back Mike Alstott comes down to earth before the ball does during Tampa Bay's victory over the 49ers in their NFC divisional playoff at Raymond James Stadium on Sunday (page 42).

Can the floundering teams in the Great White North Stay afloat?

The men behind the bench weigh in on league-related topics

The best and worst free-agent signings of last off-season, with their contract terms (statistics through Sunday).

SI special contributor Pierre McGuire ranks the five teams with the best chance of lifting the chalice this spring, plus a dark horse (statistics through Sunday)

What would possess the man who assembled the championship Lakers to abandon L.A. and move to Memphis to run the toothless Grizzlies? The answer lies inside the head of sports' most talented and...

After winning three titles as Lakers G.M. in the '80s, Jerry West kept restocking the team until it regained the crown in 2000.

West wasted little time in beginning to remake the Grizzlies, bringing in these players and, just as important, a coach.

College BasketballFreshman Roberson steps up for FloridaMarcus struggles to return to formMissouri lands a gem

Fearless FreshmanBrash newcomer Anthony Roberson has Florida winning the close ones

1. Brandin Knight's foul shooting is Pitt's Achilles' heel.At week's end Knight was third in the Big East in assists (6.3 per game) and second on his team in scoring (11.7), but he was shooting...

Nick CollisonKANSAS

From a Leak To a Flood?More blue-chippers may follow quarterback Chris Leak to Florida

A mere 11 months before the next Heisman Trophy winner is named, here's how the race shapes up.

Every Man For Himself Eyeing free agency, some Clippers put their stats ahead of their team

On the Bucks, who at week's end were 16-20, the ninth-best record in the East.

Why are the Mavericks the only team playing at a consistently high level? "Everybody's practicing less," says Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who believes that teams' unwillingness to stash players on...

Squeeze PlayThe lack of interest in Ivan Rodriguez is due to more than a sluggish market

To gain experience in journalism, it's helpful to interview people from an array of nations, people with every kind of personality and enough people to span the breadth of emotion from abject...

Lionized by teens and big-name athletes alike, motocross stars like Ricky Carmichael draw NFL-sized crowds for a roaring, soaring spectacle

Bigfoot: 1958-2002 The death of Ray Wallace also marks the passing of a famed species from our midst

JAN. 30-FEB. 4 ABC, ESPN AND ESPN2 Winter X Games VII

All's calm on the once-raging Ocoee, and that's not good

With the new snowboards, looks aren't everything—but, boy, are they something

She looks back on the trench foot with nostalgia. "I got it during the 2000 Eco-Challenge in Borneo," says Danelle Folta. "I remember thinking, When I was modeling, I never would have thought I'd...

By ski, by balloon and even by bike, adventurers are turning Antarctica from the last frontier into the hot new playground