December 04, 2006 | Volume 105, Issue 22

Who should it be? A debate rages at SI.com

Ray's Redemption

FOUR SQUARE and seven years ago we had recess: 20 minutes, twice a day, of Darwinian contests whose very names—king of the hill, capture the flag, keep-away, dodgeball—screamed survival of the...

Larry Brown has moved on, but Isiah Thomas, his embattled successor as the Knicks' coach, has found plenty of others to feud with this season

Set By Danny Woodhead of Chadron (Neb.) State, the NCAA all-division record for single-season rushing yards. The junior ran for 252 yards and four touchdowns in the Eagles' Division II playoff win...

IT WAS never easy to get Willie Pep out of the ring. In a career that lasted from 1940 until 1966, Pep, who died last week, fought 242 times—and won 230. (At one point Pep, who twice held the...

3 NFL teams that have won after trailing by 21 points with less than 10 minutes to go: the 2003 Colts, the 1985 Vikings and the Titans, who rallied from a 21--0 deficit to beat the Giants on Sunday.

The 40-year-old actor (Lost) plays former Marshall assistant football coach Red Dawson in We Are Marshall, which opens on Dec. 22

BESIDES PUTTING the world of knowledge at our fingertips, the Internet is unsurpassed at passing off pictures of one attractive blonde woman as shots of another. Sometimes hilarity ensues, but not...

Two Boise skating-rink employees were fired for making a late-night run to a Burger King drive-through in the rink's Zambonis.

The Jaguars spare no expense at their facility—they even have a real set of chains to measure their pilgrims' progress during practices. For Jacksonville's workout on Thanksgiving the team's ball...

BOBBY BOWDEN, Florida State coach, on how Internet chatter about the team's poor play led to the resignation of his son Jeff as the Seminoles' offensive coordinator:

What to watch and watch for

Tippy Jordan MAHTOMEDI, MINN. > Soccer Tippy, a senior striker at Mahtomedi High, scored two goals and had one assist, helping the 23-0-1 Zephyrs to a 3--0 victory over Benilde--St. Margaret's and...

Despite setbacks, a Georgia basketball star finds success

Four big games from this weekend's football playoffs

Figuring in regular-season stats and strength of schedule, RISE's top football analyst, Jon Mahoney, offers the very best players on both sides of the ball for 2006

Tests of strength and endurance, emotions running furiously high, individuals primed to function as a unit, as exhilarating for fans as it is for competitors--played at any level, only one game...

SOME PROS could learn a thing or two about protecting the ball from this youngster with the San Dieguito Pop Warner club in Encinitas, Calif. In its 77th season Pop Warner boasts 400,000...

HIGH SCHOOL football is about much more than the game; it's about what's going on around the players as well. The more than one million teenagers who suit up are supported by, among others,...

INTRAMURALS ARE serious business. The National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association sponsors programs at more than 650 campuses, as well as at military installations, correctional facilities...

LOWER DIVISION programs get a fraction of the attention lavished on the 119 Division I-A teams, but players like Montana guard Colin Dow, who gave a young fan a big hand after the Grizzlies...

WHEN THEY were friends and teammates growing up in Cleveland, Troy Smith (10) and Ted Ginn Jr. dreamed of moments like this. The Ohio State stars reveled in their team's 42--39 victory over No. 2...

TONY ROMO threw his first pass in an NFL regular-season game on Oct. 15. Now, after leading the Dallas Cowboys to four victories in five starts, the 26-year-old quarterback is conjuring memories...

LIFE IN a war zone offers few opportunities for recreation. Even in Iraq, however, Thanksgiving was a day for football, and U.S. soldiers stationed there were determined to get their fill. Many...

Backyard Brawls? Civil Wars? As last week proved, annual games between college enemies are sports' greatest events--each able to define a season and cause 364 days of agony or ecstasy

Cat Scans

In a year that has tested him like no other, Tom Brady showed--with one sublime, supremely unlikely move--why he and the Patriots may yet be a Super Bowl team

For 15 years Brett Favre has been the NFL's answer to Mark Twain's barefoot scamp--forever young and reckless. But nothing lasts forever, and the chattering heads think it's time for him to...

College Basketball Kansas again looks like a title contender • Why the Missouri Valley Conference is better than ever

Wright Track

1 The Missouri Valley Conference is even better this season. Missouri State and Wichita State, which beat LSU behind a big second half from Kyle Wilson (right), each upset top 10 teams last week,...

Well-Healed His knee and reputation rehabilitated, Portland's Zach Randolph is off to his best start and filling a leadership void

On the referees' crackdown on two infractions:

Shakeout Time With five weeks left, which teams will emerge from the pack, and which will be left out in the cold come January?

Pick your NFL team and get news from across the Web on your desktop at SI.com/mySI.

HOT READ

LIKE NAPOLEON'S old legions, rallying to join their emperor after his escape from Elba, Bill Parcells's former players took one look at their coach's sad, downbeat press conference following the...

SEVEN MONTHS ago you and I found out that each day 3,000 African children die of malaria for the very sad reason that they can't afford mosquito nets over their beds. Didn't seem right to us....

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GENE MENEZ MATCHUP OF THE WEEK Carolina's 5'9" mighty mite has been a giant points producer this season. But what will happen when he faces the aggressive, almost airtight defensive schemes of...

Think your league's waiver wire is picked clean? Don't be so sure. Here are 10 impact (and probably available) players to grab for the season's final weeks

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With intimate accounts and stunning photographs, a huge tome portrays the remarkable life of Pelé

THE MAN WATCHING by Tim Crothers Sports Media Group, $26.95