May 17, 2004 | Volume 100, Issue 20

Picture ThisCongrats for a stunning issue on 50 years of sports photography (The Pictures, April 26). SI was and is the pinnacle of the art form. Employing masters like Walter Iooss Jr., Heinz...

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.

Reggie Jackson, the former slugger who during his playing days had more boos directed at him than a kid in a haunted house, insisted that he didn't mind verbal abuse from spectators; he took it as...

Third-string quarterback Jesse Palmer took a role on The Bachelor and endeared himself to a nation of reality TV fans. Can that charm win over his new coach?

Schumacher's success has F/1 rewriting its regulations

Seven days after Jose Santos won the 2003 Kentucky Derby on Funny Cide, the Miami Herald published a photo it said showed him carrying a shock-inducing buzzer. An investigation found the illegal...

Mike Danton thanks the man he allegedly tried to have murdered

6Consecutive postseason double-digit wins for the Pacers, an NBA record.

RetiredFrom organized sausage racing, Mandy Block, who was knocked to the ground by then Pirates first baseman Randall Simon while she was wearing an Italian sausage costume during a Brewers game...

Attended

Good to be here. I'll be honest, I've been in better spirits. Two days ago my psychotherapist presented me with the Crybaby Award.

The rapper-actor and Orange County youth football coach stars in Soul Plane, which opens May 28.

He's always on the road; several women have claimed he's cheated on his wife, Victoria, with them; and his sons, Romeo and Brooklyn, may very well grow up to hate the names he gave them. But David...

Tom Petty would be proud. In the skies over Perris Valley, Calif., on April 30, 42 thrill-seeking women and men broke the world record for the largest number of people free-flying in formation....

On Sept. 4 the Class A Daytona Cubs are giving away a funeral.

DUSTY BAKERCubs manager, after outfielder Moises Alou (far left) said he urinated on his own hands to harden them: "I notice guys don't want to shake hands with him. Everybody just gives him the...

WHAT TO WATCH AND WATCH FOR

•BEHIND THE WHEELOn May 14, FX debuts NASCAR Drivers: 360, an hourlong weekly series that follows the personal and professional lives of some of the sport's biggest names. While many programs...

Will Carr, SALT LAKE CITYBaseballCarr, a junior righthander at Emory, earned his 12th victory of the season, a school record, in a game against North Carolina Wesleyan. He leads the NCAA Division...

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

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Focus on the playoffs: For more top shots from SI photographers, including daily photo galleries of the latest NBA and NHL postseason action, go to si.com.

No, not the one with the casinos—the one that holds the open-to-all drag racing blowout called Midnight Mayhem

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

To succeed in Nevada, all you have to do is dream—and follow through

Nevadans weigh in on sports*

To read an SI Flashback story about the Runnin' Rebels' 1990 NCAA championship, view a gallery of Las Vegas fight covers or submit your own Nevada sports memory, go to si.com/50.

A Game 3 rout of San Antonio kept L.A.'s title hopes alive, but win or lose, this is the last stand for these Lakers

Even without shooting, Pacers point guard Jamaal Tinsley has shown he can beat the Heat

But they do. After upsetting Vancouver and Detroit the nearly starless Calgary Flames are now attacking the Sharks

For more NHL playoff coverage, including breakdowns of every series, go to si.com/hockey/nhl/specials/playoffs/2004.

Dave Andreychuk, 40, turned the Lightning around. Will he finally win a Cup?

Barry Bonds is playing in his own universe, where the strategies are twisted, the numbers are absurd—and everyone's frustrated

The chart below examines the relative merits of pitching to and walking Barry Bonds, given all combinations of outs and base runners possible when he comes to bat. the figures are the number of...

Hook, Line and SinkerMarlins ace Josh Beckett had the Padres fishing for base hits in Florida on Sunday, holding them to a single run over six innings. Beckett improved his record to 3-2 for the...

Let's face it: When it comes to cold cash, pro athletes live in a different world from the rest of us. It can make us furious, or it can make us envious. But let's just be vicarious

In assembling SI's inaugural list of the top 50 American athletes by current annual income, here are some things we learned: Top-ranked Tiger Woods nearly doubled No. 2 Shaquille O'Neal's...

Let's say your job pays you, oh, $15 million a year. What in the world do you do with that much dough? Here's what

Behind those monied athletes are specialists who cater to their every need

No sport spreads the wealth around like golf. Players' wives are royally pampered, instructors and caddies get rich, and even physical therapists fly first-class

Retired big league pitcher Mark Clark was no star, but he got paid like one. And now he's living the good life—with all the toys to prove it

With his NBA loot Matt Geiger has become a latter-day Noah

Alec Kessler used his Miami Heat money for medical school

Thanks to one big tennis prize, David Wheaton is blessed

OlympicsThree bomb blasts in Athens raise new security concerns, but athletes aren't getting cold feet

The Athens bomb blasts raised new concerns, but athletes aren't bailing

For more coverage, including news and schedules, go to si.com/olympics/2004.

ThrowbackColorado hopes to solve its pitching woes with the old four-man rotation

Freddy Garcia, RHP, MarinersDespite the worst run support in the AL (1.90 runs per nine innings through Sunday), Garcia was 1-1 and still ranked first in the AL in ERA (2.11) and tied for third in...

A STAFF IN DECLINE

Back from his European odyssey, Jovan Kirovski is flourishing in MLS

Plans for a July 31 matchup in Foxboro between MLS All-Stars and Spanish titan Real Madrid remain up in the air. Real, boasting such stars as Ronaldo, David Beckham and Zinedine Zidane, is...

Dear 2004 graduating class of sports fans, jocks, wannabes, willbes, players, playaz and everybody in between: Thank you for allowing me to deliver your commencement address.