A Long Time Coming

The other day, while working on this column, I put in requests to talk to Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez, and I prayed to God they would not call me back. Not that I was trembling at the prospect...

A return to the NFL could solve Ricky Williams's money woes, but the ex-Dolphin says he's living a blissfully bare-bones life that doesn't include football

All the Washington Nationals need is an owner--and a place to play baseball

In a topsy-turvy tennis season, the two professional tours swapped identities

48 Consecutive games in which Miami (Ohio) wideout Michael Larkin has caught a pass, an NCAA record.

The feud between Carolina's punter and the Gramaticas is getting ugly

Turning his broad back on the NHL, Alexander Ragulin became a Soviet hero

Dismissed by prosecutors in Denver, a misdemeanor marijuana possession charge against Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony. On Oct. 15 a bag containing less than an ounce of the drug was found in...

Good news. Starting this week, there's a new policy at The Palace of Auburn Hills: If Pistons security doesn't arrive in 30 minutes or less, the soda dumped on you is free.

The fifth-highest scoring American in NHL history completed the Ironman Florida Triathlon earlier this month

When rapper Snoop Dogg paid a surprise visit to the USC campus on Nov. 16 and attempted to catch a 40-yard pass from quarterback Matt Leinart, the result brought to mind the title of the rapper's...

Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson asked fans for donations to help pay for a celebration fine he was planning to incur.

"Chattanooga women's basketball coach, comparing his team with No. 1 Tennessee: "Their freshmen were high school McDonald's All-Americans; our freshmen ate at McDonald's in high school."

What to watch and watch for

"You've got to be a little crazy, a little obsessed, to plunge into rivers like these," the narrator says in Expeditions to the Edge: Rampaging River (National Geographic Channel, Nov. 30, 8...

Don Banks Takes an NFL Draft Do-Over

Whom should SI choose as its NASCAR driver of the year?

Departments

Morten Jensen

Steelers Running Back

WHO'S Hot

Based on a survey of 354 players

Remember the perfect holidays of years gone by? Neither do we. But we do recall the turkeys.

Rams Tackle

What NFL players look for in their leaders

Patriots Cornerback

[This article consists of photographs--see below]

Off we go--bada bing!--into the Big Blue yonder

Eagles talk about their trip to East Rutherford

REUBEN DROUGHNS, Broncos Running Back "I've been shaving my head twice a week since my freshman year in high school. I do it myself. I do it every game morning or on Saturday night before the...

An NBA brawl exposes the worst in player and fan behavior and serves as a frightening wake-up call

With his hair-trigger temper and history of eruptions, Pacers All-Star forward Ron Artest was exactly the wrong person in the wrong place at the wrong time

The Bowl Championship Series is facing the same old problems--and a few new ones. How did it all go so wrong?

TO PLUMB the mind-boggling depths of the BCS's bowl-selection process, a team of SI analysts spent the better part of last weekend spinning bowl-lineup scenarios. We figured how the bowls will...

Six years ago a Swiss firm called ISL proposed a 16-team college football playoff with a rights fee of $350 million per year. Insiders were skeptical of the figure, and the proposal was quickly...

In his first NFL start, Giants rookie quarterback Eli Manning impressed teammates and opponents alike. Now, how quickly can he learn to win?

WELCOME TO the big leagues, kid. That's the message a swarming NFL defense sent to the first pick of the 2004 draft late in the third quarter of Sunday's game at Giants Stadium. And though Eli...

In the closest title chase in NASCAR history, Kurt Busch survived a wheel-dropping, roller-coaster race at Homestead--Miami Speedway to take the inaugural Nextel Cup

In a spectacular flameout after he retired from tennis, Roscoe Tanner deceived his friends and family and ended up penniless and in jail. Now he hopes to heal the wounds he's inflicted and repay...

The Week in Sports

With Maurice Clarett's accusations casting a shadow, freshman Ted Ginn has been a bright spot for Ohio State

1 Missouri has been the biggest flop of the season. Vaunted quarterback Brad Smith, a 1,400-yard rusher last year, has become a nonfactor in coach Gary Pinkel's conservative offense, and the...

SPURRIER RETURNS TO SEC

SIX UNSUNG STARS

Nine-time winner Vijay Singh, SI's Player of the Year, proved beyond doubt that age is no barrier to success

Healthy at last, explosive running back Willis McGahee has given the Bills' offense a much-needed boost

SEATTLE'S PLAYMAKER

BOLLER COMES OF AGE?

HOT TOPIC

Here are the reasons why the Giants will upset the Eagles on Sunday:

True, 97% of the inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola will die there. And true, they've murdered, raped or robbed. But you've got to give them their propers: They sure build a...

THE BCS FOLLIES

Every golfer knows what it's like to be bitten by the bug, but a student in Iowa caught the fever without ever picking up a club

Significant moments in the history of video gaming

Annika Sorenstam could either walk away, or take a shot at the 'impossible'

Tiger Woods must've been smoking something. No way the PGA of America ever rewards pay-for-play ringleader Mark O'Meara with a Ryder Cup captaincy.

[Up]

After shooting a flawless 68 to force a playoff, Cristie Kerr rinsed her approach on the first extra hole to hand the ADT to Annika Sorenstam

Sorry Steve Spurrier, Lou Holtz may belong to Augusta National, and Hootie Johnson may have played football at South Carolina in the 1950s, but a membership to the exclusive club is not a perk...

Voting hours at si.com: 7 p.m. EST Sunday to 3 p.m. EST Monday

33

To: chrislewis@writer.com

THE GRAND SLAM: BOBBY JONES, AMERICA, AND THE STORY OF GOLF.

• OHIO STATE If one tenth of what Maurice Clarett says is true, I'm afraid we're going down.

First of all, Tom, my apologies for not writing earlier to congratulate you on your appointment as U.S. captain for the 2006 Ryder Cup in Ireland. Frankly, I was worn out from writing open...

PLUS: My Day with Jack G4 • Hooked on Video Golf G10 • Bury Paul Casey G24

The author, eager to play Jack Nicklaus's personal course, attends a high-profile fund-raiser and gets a glimpse into the private world of a very public man

Cross-country hopes to get some attention with a high school team national championship, the first in any sport

"Cross-country and rebellion are natural allies," writes Marc Bloom in God on the Starting Line (Breakaway Books, 240 pages, $22), an inspiring account of his season spent coaching the boys'...

On the shores of Lake Champlain, led by an odd pairing of coach and player, the Vermont Catamounts have ignited an unlikely case of basketball fever

In a rematch neither could afford to lose, Winky Wright retained his titles, and Shane Mosley remained in a tailspin

If you can't beat 'em, promote 'em. Oscar De La Hoya, who failed in his move-up bid against middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins (right) in September, has made him a partner in his Golden Boy...

Building on the success of 2003--04, the U.S. Alpine team aims for the top of the mountain this season

With an MLS goal-scoring title and five goals in three U.S. games, Eddie Johnson is cashing in on his early promise

HIS HOUSE in San Jose is already on the market, and now Earthquakes star Landon Donovan appears more likely than ever to rejoin Germany's Bayer Leverkusen--with whom he signed in 1999 at age 16...

After finally getting his chance to run, Reuben Droughns has rescued the Broncos' broken backfield and rolled up big yardage--just like he said he would