December 15, 2003 | Volume 99, Issue 24

LSU has no complaints with the BCS—the Tigers are happy to get some recognition after their resounding SEC championship-game victory

More college football coverage, including Tim Layden's Insider and a photo gallery from the week, at si.com/football/ncaa.

Meant to produce an undisputed matchup between the nation's top two teams, the BCS has instead been one long study in turmoil

In playing for its first national title in 45 years, LSU will look to exploit the weaknesses that Kansas State exposed in the Sooners

D.J. Strawberry is making a name for himself at Maryland, and dad Darryl has come to watch

Hoop Thoughts by Seth Davis, and Grant Wahl's Mailbag, each week all season long at si.com/basketball/ncaa.

After a mediocre run in Washington the high-priced, enigmatic star has suddenly perked up at the prospect of playing elsewhere—if only another team would take him

With you-know-who not around for the first time in six years, a rookie foursome at the Grand Slam showed that golfers really can let their hair down

In the 1930s, when black players were barred from the NFL, an enterprising former halfback joined with a numbers kingpin to create a powerful team in Harlem

College FootballSI's picks for some of the major awards, from the Heisman to the Thorpe, plus a few of our own

With bowl season here, it's time to reveal our choices for the major awards—and a few awards of our own

Tough TimesSoft play and a brutal schedule have left Michigan State smarting

1. Kansas must learn how to beat a zone. Number 21 Stanford knocked off the top-ranked Jayhawks 64-58 last Saturday by packing in a 2-3 zone, which neutralized Wayne Simien (two field goals) on...

Coach Rick PitinoversusCoach Billy Donovan

More college basketball coverage at si.com/basketball/ncaa.

ForesightA rash of eye injuries cries out for a decision to make visors mandatory

Credit Predators assistant G.M. Ray Shero for helping Nashville swipe 26-year-old Czech rookie sensation Marek Zidlicky from the Rangers last December. Shero told G.M. David Poile to have...

No TraceThe Magic's Tracy McGrady may pull a vanishing act after next season

On the Rockets, who at week's end were 12-7 under first-year coach Jeff Van Gundy:

Teams looking for immediate help from Europe in next June's draft should focus on three players: 6'9" Sergei Monya and 6'9" Viktor Khryapa from CSKA-Moscow and Anderson Varejao, the 6'10" forward...

The latest NBA news and analysis from Jack McCallum at si.com/basketball/nba.

What kind of person would do that?

Husky HeroesEmeka Okafor (When Brain Meets Brawn, Nov. 24) and Diana Taurasi (Love, Italian Style, Nov. 24) are fine young people who recognize the importance of education. While they strive to...

LETTERS•Please e-mail us at letters@si.timeinc.com or fax us at 212-467-4049. Letters should include the writer's full name, address and home telephone number and may be edited for clarity and space.

SEPTEMBER 9, 1963

It's riveting, in a way, to see the Red Sox and the Yankees divide all of baseball between themselves, like Roosevelt and Stalin splitting Europe at Yalta. (George Steinbrenner is Stalin, of...

Once considered the lesser of two palooka-ish brothers, Vitali Klitschko has emerged as the great hope of the heavyweight division

Sylvester Croom's arrival at Mississippi State just starts another journey

0Players put on injured reserve by the Bengals this season, the only team in the NFL not to have a player on IR.

DiedOf cancer, Gayle Olinekova, 50, a marathon runner whose muscular moneymakers were dubbed the "greatest legs ever to stride the earth" in the Jan. 5, 1981, SI. At the 1980 New Orleans Marathon,...

Traded

Finally saw Cold Case last week. What a ripoff. Not one word about Ted Williams.

The nation's top downhill mountain bike racer—she was the 2003 U.S. National champion at age 38—is the author of the new book Downhill: The Lifecycle of a Gravity Goddess.

WHAT TO WATCH AND WATCH FOR

•PLAYMAKER FIRES BACKOmar Gooding, whose forceful turn as the thuggish, cocaine-addicted running back Demetrius Harris on ESPN's Playmakers is a big part of what rankles the NFL about the show...

Ooooh, Canada. Figure skater Jamie Salé is bucking her smalltown image (she's from Red Deer, Alberta) with a three-page spread in the January FHM. The photos are a far cry from the staid portraits...

It was not the most glorious journey for the Goodyear Spirit of America, one of the tire company's three blimps that hovers above about 40 sports events a year. Spirit broke free of its moorings...

At its men's basketball game against Seton Hall on Valentine's Day, Notre Dame will give away oven mitts to the first 1,000 female fans.

JEFF BZDELIKNuggets coach, on how the sudden improvement of his team has affected him: "When I crossed the street last year, people would accelerate. Some brake now."

Defenders dread the sight of Steeler Hines Ward, the AFC's leading—and hardest-hitting—receiver

Hines Ward isn't the only player who has performed at a high level on a poor team. Here are four others with big numbers and few wins to show for it (stats through Dec. 1):

The NFL Hall of Famer writes about sex, drugs and his suicidal thoughts

Coach Rick Peterson uses the latest in technology plus a New Age philosophy to prepare his pitchers

Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson, who spent the past six seasons with the A's, filters his study of biomechanics through training methods steeped in Eastern philosophy and disciplines. Here are...

After hurling a racial slur, Denis Hamel took an unusual step in a belated bid to right his wrong

Denis Hamel's racist taunting of Ray Emery last season was the most recent such incident in hockey that became public knowledge. Here are three others.

Losers' Lounge

ROCKY ROAD: a. The Cavaliers hold the record for most consecutive losses with 24, over the final 19 games of 1981-82 and the first five games of 1982-83.

Alon Lubezky, KFAR SHMARYAHU, ISRAELSoccerLubezky, a junior forward at Hartford, became the Hawks' all-time leading scorer with 52 career goals. He was the America East Conference's leading scorer...

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces.

How nature's magic and World War II turned Colorado into HEAVEN FOR DOWNHILLERS

For more about sports in Colorado and the other 49 states, go to si.com/50.

The SI columnist's home state deserves a little more attention, thank you

Coloradans weigh in on sports*

To view a gallery of every Broncos, Rockies and Avalanche cover, read an SI flashback story about Jack Dempsey, or get more Centennial State sports trivia, go to...

Drafted No. 1 by the Spurs a decade apart, David Robinson and Tim Duncan led the franchise to a second NBA title in five years while making ever greater contributions to the Alamo City

Two-time MVP Tim Duncan doesn't like to sound off or even share what he's really thinking. But the NBA's master of the mind game has one obsession: He needs to win at everything he does

To sign up for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S free subscriber-only e-mail newsletter, go to sicustomerservice.com/siextra.

For more on Tim Duncan and David Robinson—including a photo gallery and SI flashbacks—plus complete Sportsman archives, go to si.com/sportsman.

Symbolizing in character and performance the ideals of sportsmanship

Left Face!Like elephants on parade, Army's offensive linemen moved in tandem under the watchful eyes of the brigade of midshipmen during a 34-6 defeat by Navy in Philadelphia last Saturday. The...

On a day filled with crucial divisional matchups, the Patriots staked their claim as the team to beat in the AFC with a whitewashing of the rival Dolphins

Michael Silver's Open Mike, every Thursday at si.com.

Dwight Freeney and the Colts' hard-hitting defense gave the Titans a dose of their own medicine

Diminutive all-purpose threat Brian Westbrook helped the Eagles clinch their fourth consecutive playoff berth

Less than two years after gutting their Super Bowl roster, the Ravens are back in championship form

Having clinched a playoff spot, the Eagles have to avoid a letdown as they travel to Miami to face the desperate—and dangerous—Dolphins

Dr. Z's Inside Football, every week at si.com/football.Last week: 5-4 Season record: 74-53

*But not playing in the BCS title game. Why top-ranked USC got shafted and how the absurd system of deciding the national champion can be fixed

Add one game and get a consensus national champ

Coore and Crenshaw's challenge: Keeping up with the neighbors

The final stage is no longer the scariest week in golf

Michelle Wie will get plenty of attention next month when she tees it up in the PGA Tour's Sony Open in her home state of Hawaii, but women playing in men's events is a fad that will soon pass.

Tiger Woods voted the PGA Tour Player of the Year

The pressure didn't get to Scott Hend, who clinched a Tour card in his first Q school by ignoring the water and driving a 400-yard par-4

"As the Q school telecast showed, the pace of play on Tour is absurdly slow. The only way to speed things up is to levy penalty strokes—not fines—as we do in many club-pro events."

POWER STRETCH DRILLTo Generate power, stretch (or coil) your body in the backswing and maintain that stretch as you move into the front foot and leg. As you unwind on the downswing, release your...

Ben Curtis's father, Bob, was one of several fans at the PGA Grand Slam of Golf who complained about overzealous—and sometimes rude—marshals at Poipu Bay Golf Course in Kauai, Hawaii. The...

After forging a historic tie at the Presidents Cup, Tiger Woods proposed to his girlfriend, Elin Nordegren, a former nanny for Jesper Parnevik's family, while on safari in South Africa. Since his...

THIS WEEK: After marrying Elin Nordegren, will Tiger Woods win more or fewer majors than the eight he has already won?

To get an idea of how the Tour will shape up statistically in 2004, it's instructive to see how it has changed over the last few years. Based on several key stats, today's average pro is much...

Pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki left the Seattle Mariners and returned home to play in Japan. Surprising? Not at all.

Bandon Dunes, already hailed as a mecca of golf, is secretly adding a new and even more spectacular course—but one that may change its character forever