January 08, 2001 | Volume 94, Issue 1

Since when does the color of a man's skin have anything to do with his competence as a football coach?—RUSSELL W. SHURTS, Aurora, Colo.

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, 135 West 50th Street, New York, N.Y....

Highlights

Tongue in cheek, an instant website advances the candidacy of a Cooperstown long shot

Wendy's cooks a decent hamburger. So does Burger King, and there are folks who prefer either (or both) of their offerings to McDonald's. Then again, McD's has the most customers.

Showtime's 90-minute TV movie The Sports Pages (Sunday, 8 p.m.) is the most all-over-the-road programming we've seen since Saturday Night Live retired its "Toonces, the Driving Cat" bit. The...

This year's Cooperstown candidates are a mixed bag

Ted Breitenstein, 1937Lost 20 games for four straight years and 30 in 1895; only one pitcher has had more losses in a season since.

At last, the city that brought us Heat and Vice may once again be able to claim the Marlins as its own. Renaming South Florida's big league baseball team the Miami Marlins may seem an...

17Previous NFL playoff games played by the 12 starting quarterbacks of this year's playoff teams.

On Jan. 28, CBS will land the heftiest one-two punch in Roman numeral history when it pairs the hoopla of Super Bowl XXXV with the premiere episode of Survivor: The Australian Outback.

While Nike is busy pushing its new Shox, one of the company's less-hyped shoes has been hogging the footlights. The rerelease in November of the Air Jordan Retro XI, a patent-leather model that MJ...

SubduedA Kenyan man who broke into the cockpit of a British Airways 747 bound for Nairobi in an apparent attempt to crash the plane, by crew members and passengers, including 6'7" Clarke Bynum, a...

The much-touted women's pro football league is a shambles

If you thought there was no sports angle to the biggest news story of the season—Madonna's wedding—well, how wrong you'd be. In fact, a famous British footballer's absence from the nuptials...

At least 35 fans at a Timberwolves game used counterfeit promotional coupons to obtain Wally Szczerbiak bobble-head dolls.

JERRY STACKHOUSEPistons guard, after making 6 of 22 shots on the eve of his wedding: "Could you tell the bachelor party was last night?"

Antigua thinks it can keep the bad guys out of online gambling. It's a long shot

Guidance for those lost in sports

Chris Gbandi, HOUSTONSoccerGbandi, a junior center back at Connecticut, was named the male college player of the year—the first defender so honored since Alexi Lalas in 1991—after helping the...

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

Near-perfect execution by a crunching defense clinched an unbeaten, untied, unbelievable season for Oklahoma

Miami, displaying some vintage swagger, capped a sweet season with a convincing win over Florida

Emotionally charged Washington shrugged off injuries and laid a big hurt on Purdue in Pasadena

A perennial loser no more, Oregon State underlined its turnaround by devouring Notre Dame in a New Year's Day stunner

Only a handful of them were vying for the national title, but each of these players was—for one game—No. 1 at his position, thus earning a spot on our postseason roster

Once destined to fill shelves in a grocery in Croatia, Predrag Stojakovic instead fills the hoop for the Kings

In his return to the ice, Penguins proprietor Mario Lemieux showed his old magic—and a more engaging personality

No one has averaged as many career points per game as Mario Lemieux (2.01), and no one has benefited more from Lemieux's comeback than linemate Jaromir Jagr, who had been averaging an...

Six-Point LandingRavens back Jamal Lewis goes up and over—and just barely into the end zone—during Baltimore's wild-card defeat of the Broncos (page 60).

The Ravens' fiery Ray Lewis is making big news, this time on the field, as a defensive force nonpareil

The eagles, the Ravens and the Saints, all in the thick of the NFL playoffs, dominate my annual All-Pro team, which also includes three players from the Chiefs, fitting after a season so full of...

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Kentucky BluesFrom Lexington to Louisville, players and fans are in a state of dismay

Hot Tub II? UNLV senior center Kaspars Kambala earns Bonehead of the Week honors for getting caught dining at an Asian restaurant with David Chapman, the former Runnin' Rebels booster who is...

The Wildcats have a new star in Michael Bradley, a transfer from Kentucky

Double FaultBad teams, such as the Panthers, are dumping their G.M. and coach

Things can't get much worse for the lowly Canadiens. Goaltender Jeff Hackett, one of the club's most tradable assets, came back early from a broken right hand and then reinjured it shortly...

Uplifting UprisingThe Nuggets aren't proud of their protest, but they're happy with what it has wrought

The heat players voted unanimously to practice on Christmas, bypassing a league rule that prohibits teams from forcing players to practice on that holiday. Their vote came a week after coach Pat...

On the Cavaliers without center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who's sidelined indefinitely with a broken left foot:

A kids' book and a new position have transformed the Hawks' Jason Terry

What? you haven't seen Playboy.com's Choose America's Sexiest Sportscaster poll? Voters decide which of 10 women is the hottest sportscaster in America. So far, more than 150,000 fans have weighed...