May 31, 2004 | Volume 100, Issue 22

JANUARY 2, 1956

Smarty AnimalIt may be a bit premature, but I nominate Simon Bruty's cover photo of Stewart Elliott riding Smarty Jones in the Kentucky Derby for inclusion in the 2054 special issue chronicling...

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.

As the Los Angeles Lakers returned to their ancestral homeland of Minneapolis last week, there were signs that their fortunes had improved ever so subtly since the franchise left the Land o' Lakes...

With NBA stars continually snubbing the U.S. Olympic team, SI's Roy S. Johnson says it's time to give the ball back to the players who care

Sex, drugs and pick-and-rolls: America's sports lawyers confer

28-0-2

WonIsrael's State Cup, by the predominantly Arab Bnei Sakhnin soccer club, the first Arab-dominated team to win Israel's top tournament and qualify for the UEFA Cup. On May 19, just hours after 19...

Suffered

Great news. The Green Monster section at Fenway Park is now available for gay bachelor parties.

The 35-year-old Alias star and avid L.A. Kings and Mets fan is featured with the Stanley Cup in the NHL's ad campaign

WHAT TO WATCH AND WATCH FOR

Perfect Bond Randy Johnson's perfect game on May 18 against the Braves did more than make the 40-year-old lefty the oldest man to perform a pitcher's greatest feat. It also made Diamondbacks...

THE POLL POSITION

Figure Skater Sarah Hughes aced her final exam at the Salt Lake City Games two years ago. Now she's doing the same as a Yale freshman. The gold medalist says she got A's in both Computers and the...

The House of David baseball team once barnstormed around the U.S., spreading the word about their community, which was dedicated to reassembling the 12 tribes of Israel. This is not it. This is a...

Dennis Rodman has sold his Newport Beach home because he felt his neighbors partied too much.

JOHNNY MILLERNBC golf analyst, as cameras focused on the spiked hairdo of Ian Coulter (left): "That's a tough lie right there."

Carlos Moreno, SÃO PAULO, BRAZILVolleyballMoreno, a junior setter at Brigham Young, became the first Cougar to be named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II national player of...

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Tennis, anyone? For complete coverage of the French Open, including live scores and analysis from SI's S.L. Price and L. Jon Wertheim, go to si.com/tennis.

From Brooklyn to Buffalo, the summer game of choice is minor league baseball

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

Following the '69 Mets helped the author survive in his new surroundings

New Yorkers weigh in on sports*

To read an SI Flashback story about the Rangers' 1994 Stanley Cup championship or view galleries of every Giants, Jets, Knicks, Mets, Yankees, Islanders or Rangers cover, go to si.com/50.

Hanging OutYankees catcher John Flaherty needs an assist from a railing to make this catch next to the Rangers' dugout during New York's 4-3 loss at Texas last Saturday. The Rangers took two out...

Led by Kevin Garnett (the intense one) and Latrell Sprewell (the inspired one), the Timberwolves fought back against the up-and-down Lakers in the Western finals

More NBA playoff news, plus analysis from Jack McCallum, at si.com/basketball.

He's no longer the Pacers' main weapon, but Reggie Miller remains vital to their shot at the title

He is Calgary's secret superstar, the sweetheart of the Stanley Cup finals and maybe the game's best player. But can Jarome Iginla rescue the NHL?

SI's Pierre McGuire breaks down the Lightning-Flames matchup and sees it going to the limit

For more NHL coverage, including mid-series reports on the finals, go to si.com/hockey/nhl/specials/playoffs/2004.

That's the question swirling around the U.S. track and field team, which could be decimated before the Olympics by a crackdown on performance-enhancing drug users

Four U.S. track and field athletes linked to the BALCO case have been banned for two years for drug use. Three of them tested positive for THG (as did Regina Jacobs, whose case is pending); the...

Six of the track athletes below—all except Ramon Clay and Eric Thomas-testified before the BALCO grand jury. According to newspaper reports, a memorandum from an investigator in the case listed...

Long derided for going easy on drug cheats, the U.S. must keep pressing its efforts to come clean

Even Joe Gibbs admits that he and his coaching cronies may be crazy for returning to Washington to try reviving the Redskins

Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback and Paul Zimmerman's Inside the NFL, every week at si.com.

At a New Jersey prison, 32 felons competed for a chance to take on an Ivy League chess whiz

Baseball

No RegretsDespite A-Rod's cool reception in Texas, the trade was a win-win deal

ACE IN THE HOLE

Who's No. 1?In recruiting, Kentucky is, thanks to three McDonald's All-Americans

These schools fared well too, either in spring signings or in holding on to players who could've jumped to the NBA.

Gutsy Rulon Gardner ignored his injuries and won the U.S. trials

Kristie Marano (right) missed making weight last Thursday and missed out on the Olympics on Sunday. Marano, a two-time women's world champion, weighed in one pound above the 139-pound limit, which...

500 to OneHeartland hero Sam Hornish is the odds-on favorite at the Brickyard

SI predicts that when the checkered flag waves on the 88th Indy 500, an American will be in front for the first time since Eddie Cheever Jr. won the race in 1998. Here's how they'll finish on...

To find a grown man willing to be humiliated and embarrassed by the 14-year-old, par-5-gobbling female phenom golfer known as Michelle Wie, you need to find someone used to humiliation and...