December 05, 2005 | Volume 103, Issue 22

It is a game readers--and journalists--can't seem to get enough of, and so on any given weekend SPORTS ILLUSTRATED deploys more than 40 editors, writers, photographers and reporters to tell the...

Fire on Ice Shani Davis of Chicago turned in the fastest time in the first of two 1,000-meter races at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup on Nov. 19 in Kearns, Utah. In the second race, on the...

Conditioned Athlete

Of the many distasteful things you can be on in sports--steroids, probation, Around the Horn--none carry a greater stigma than the bandwagon, that universally reviled mode of transport now packed...

Call it Even-More-Money Ball. This hot stove season, rivers of revenue from fresh sources are changing the business of baseball

As Fred Funk and others found out, losing a wager can be a drag

Meditated At a monastery outside Bangkok, Thai tennis star Paradorn Srichaphan, who is spending a week as a Buddhist monk. In observance of a Thai custom that calls for men to serve as monks to...

A lifestyle that endeared him to fans, ladies and bartenders catches up with a legend

1,086 Rushing yards for the Chargers' LaDainian Tomlinson this year; he's the seventh player to top 1,000 yards in each of his first five NFL seasons.

After more than 5,000 wins, Gary Stevens decides to hang it up--this time for good

Some believe the Marlins latest fire sale signals a move out of Miami

The celebrity chef (Molto Mario) is writing Mario Tailgates NASCAR Style, a cookbook that will be published next spring

He's dabbled in coaching kids, and he once caught a few passes at a USC practice. Now Snoop Dogg wants in on the business end of football. The rapper has teamed with Patriots linebacker Willie...

What to watch and watch for

Chris Thompson

GIANTS LINEBACKER

WHO'S Hot

Which player's jersey would you buy and wear, not counting your own?

In college football, glare protection is getting personal

[This article contains a table. Please see hard copy or pdf.]

WITH Marcus Washington, Redskins Linebacker

Texas is one victory from a shot at its first national title in 36 years thanks to great talent and Mack Brown, who became a better coach when he realized there was more to life than winning a...

USC, Penn State, West Virginia and most likely Notre Dame have BCS bids--and the $14 million payday that goes with them--wrapped up. These games this Saturday will determine three more bids and...

Ten seasons later, members of the most bountiful draft of wideouts in history are among the NFL's best playmakers and biggest newsmakers

When New York coach Larry Brown returns to The Palace to take on his former team, he'll be met by flourishing players who bear him no ill will. The same can't be said (yet) of his Knicks

A trade to Ottawa helped Dany Heatley put a tragic crash and injury behind him. Now he's leading the first-place Senators and playing on the NHL's most exciting line

As the season opens, the nation's most intriguing team is in North College Hill, Ohio, where two players who came from out of state have been embraced by the locals. And why not? O.J. Mayo and...

Good big men abound in the high school ranks this season, which is why SI's list of the five best players other than O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker includes no one shorter than 6'8". --Seth Davis

SI.com contributor Doug Huff picks the top teams in all 50 states and the District of Columbia

To keep up with all the action, go to SI.com each week for updated power rankings

Inside the NBA

Staying Power A house call from Doc and a commitment to the rebuilding process have the Celtics' Paul Pierce off to his best start ever

While trade speculation about big-ticket players will heat up in December, the following less-celebrated names are better bets to be shopped. (As for rumors involving the Big Ticket: Kevin Garnett...

THE HOT LINE

Under Control Despite losing their quarterback, the Jaguars have the depth and the favorable schedule to keep them in the playoff hunt

You are Bill Parcells. Your Cowboys play the Giants this Sunday for the NFC East lead. Three days after your overtime loss to the Broncos you watched the Giants suffer an even more painful loss in...

Okay, so you're 23, but you've still got the wheels, right? And you're way more ripped than when you played high school football, yes? Wouldn't it be cool if you could go back and play high school...

After winning six world championships, surfing icon Kelly Slater retired at age 26. At last month's Nova Schin Festival the rejuvenated 33-year-old claimed his seventh title, capping an unlikely...

Mike Iaconelli has been accused of "thuggin' up" bass fishing, but ESPN is betting (and praying) he can hook the Pimp My Ride crowd ... if some mullet-headed good ol' boy doesn't gut him first

Three years after he took up speedskating, Olympic hopeful Chad Hedrick is the hottest thing on ice

Artist Brian Jungen makes Native American tribal masks--and a statement--out of Air Jordan sneakers