January 10, 2000 | Volume 92, Issue 1

November 13, 1978

Having the writers describe the sporting events they would like to have attended was like handing the readers a time machine.—PAUL LOVELACE, Middletown, Ohio

Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer. They may be mailed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, New York,...

Highlights

With apologies to Tom Brokaw, should this era be known as The Greatest's Generation? SI's Sportsman of the Century, Muhammad Ali, seen on New Year's Eve ringing in 1999's final day of Wall Street...

It looks as if Bristol University has just added a College of Frozen Pond. This Sunday's ESPN2 telecast of the Colorado Avalanche-Chicago Blackhawks game (8 p.m.) will be geared toward the hockey...

A Web site tells you what sports events the little bundle of joy might make you miss

"Rocker is awesome and proved it on the mound last season. The controversy with the Mets only fired him and the rest of the team up more, and it paid off in the NLCS. He ran his mouth and backed...

Suddenly, sports figures refuse to criticize others in hopes that others will do likewise unto them

It's time to put the series into the Bowl Championship Series

Whither Dan Marino? Or should that be wither? His 38-year-old arm and 67.4 quarterback rating, lower than Trent Dilfer's, spurred talk that something's rotten in Miami—him. To QB or not QB? Maybe...

$213 billionTotal revenue of the U.S. sports industry—more than agriculture and motor vehicle sales combined.

Heat SeekerAnthony Carter was driven to become Miami's point guard

Killed•Former Stanford wrestler Tod Surmon, 26, an Olympic hopeful who climbed a light pole above 300,000 revelers on the Las Vegas Strip just after midnight on Jan. I only to fall to his death....

The Yankees filed a lawsuit asking a judge to make their Tampa spring training field exempt from property taxes because it serves a "governmental purpose."

JACQUI FRAZIER LYDEJoe Frazier's daughter, on her proposed bout against Muhammad Ali's daughter Laila: "It would establish Laila financially, and then I would establish her horizontally."

Call me fishmeal. That's what a diver near Ningaloo Reef off Australia's west coast might say, but this shark's jaws are harmless. Whale sharks, which grow to 45 feet long and can weigh 30,000...

For complete NFL playoff coverage, including the latest news, rosters, matchups and stats, plus exclusive on-line analysis from SI's Peter King and Dr. Z, go to cnnsi.com/football.

Darius Miles, East St. Louis, Ill.BasketballDarius, a senior at East St. Louis High, had a triple double (24 points, 10 rebounds, 10 blocks) as the Flyers beat previously undefeated DeSmet High of...

Battling bipolar disorder, former Jazz center Luther Wright dreams of the NBA

After decades of durable service, the football helmet seems to have reached its design limits. Ask any player in the NFL who has suffered a concussion and he'll agree. Ask Troy Aikman. Ask Steve...

Two talented 16-year-olds, Jay Bouwmeester and Jason Spezza, represented Canada at the world juniors

LANCE ARMSTRONG'S COMEBACK FROM CANCERBy Samuel AbtVan der Plas Publications, $16.95

Unbeaten Florida State made up for past missteps—and won the national title—with a storybook finish against feisty Virginia Tech

Nebraska, with its three national championships, in 1994, '95 and '97, has to be included in any debate about which school fielded the college football team of the 1990s. So, too, must Florida...

Maybe there was only one game that mattered in deciding the national championship, but players from 19 of the 24 bowls performed at a level that earned them a spot on our postseason all-star roster

After a rookie year in which the negatives prevailed, the Mavericks' Dirk Nowitzki looks like a budding star

A quartet of contenders seems capable of winning the Super Bowl, but St. Louis, the unlikeliest of powerhouses, looks like a team of destiny

There's only one upset in the cards for a lackluster opening playoff weekend

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Bayou RevivalThough undermanned due to NCAA probation, LSU is growling again

Yes, it's early, and skepticism over some very weak schedules is running deep with many of our pollsters. (You know who we mean, Syracuse, Auburn and Florida.) Still, enough games have been played...

Y2K had no adverse affect on the computers that figure college basketball power ratings (RPI), so here's a look at which teams' numbers have improved or fallen the most since the end of last...

Arizona State's high-scoring Eddie House is up, after some downs

Valk on the Vild SideMaple Leafs wing Garry Valk shoots, but Flyers goalie Brian Boucher makes the stick save in a game Toronto won 6-4.

One of a KindBill Parcells was a master at getting the most out of his talent

1. After the playoffs you will have seen the last of Deion Sanders as a Cowboy, Dan Marino as a Dolphin and Jerry Rice as a 49er.

Best Moves: Colts' Polian Pushed All the Right Buttons

The Rams, the NFC's showpiece team, earned three spots on my 1999 All-Pro team, and the man who led them, Dick Vermeil, is my coach of the year. Defensively, I've gone to a 3-4 to accommodate the...

Soaring MarketIn the midst of a superb year Grant Hill weighs the options awaiting him

Playing time is of the essence in developing young players. Each of the ones listed below is averaging at least 20 minutes this season and has already logged more playing time than he did in all...

Wondering how the Nets have turned themselves around—and turned in a nine-game home winning streak—after starting the season 2-15? Look no further than shooting guard Kerry Kittles, whose heart...

A Hunger to PlayDietary restrictions have not stopped Oilers defenseman Tom Poti

RAY WHITNEYPANTHERS CIn 1997 the 27-year-old was released by two clubs partly because, at 5'10", 175, he was deemed too small. But over the last two years he's had 58 goals, and 15 more this season.

While the leaguewide trend in penalty killing has been to pursue the puck aggressively up ice, the Senators' forward duo of Joe Juneau and Andreas Dackell play a more passive system with...

Former wheelchair racer TED ERNST will spend his life in jail because he traded the thrill of sport for the thrill of crime

My 12-year-old came down to breakfast, stole the sports page from under my eggs'-and said, "So, Pops, who you dissin' this week?"