May 16, 2005 | Volume 102, Issue 20

Going Long

LETTERS

Sid Hartman, the 85-year-old sports columnist for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, is the rare writer who needs no surname. (Sid, like Prince, is a one-name superstar in Minnesota.) He is almost...

We demand that our sports heroes be hell-bent and heedless in the pursuit of victory. So why are we so surprised when daring proves to be their downfall?

Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski discovers that his late son Mike had stolen his identity

47,000 Yankees caps stolen last week from a New Jersey warehouse; they were intended for fans on Cap Day at Yankee Stadium last weekend.

Backtracked From comments he made during the Rockets-Mavericks playoff series that referees had been told to watch one of his players more closely, Houston coach Jeff Van Gundy. After Game 4, Van...

His career derailed by drugs, a top draft pick returns to the mound

The 37-year-old actor plays a soccer dad in the film Kicking & Screaming, which opens on May 13

More bad news for Mitch Albom. Turns out he may have seen Morrie on a Thursday.

The world of high fashion isn't always glamorous. Former SI swimsuit model Sabrina Barnett (1989, '90) says there's plenty of "incredibly boring" downtime on shoots. She used hers to plot a music...

Padres manager, before a game in which Anna Kournikova (right) threw out the first pitch: "We've got 25 guys that all have their catcher's mitts on."

A Louisville gift shop is selling "Genuine Kentucky Thoroughbred Horse Manure" for $3.75 a bag.

Million Dollar Baby it's not, but Fighting Tommy Riley, by first-time screenwriter-director team J.P. Davis and Eddie O'Flaherty, packs a generous dollop of heart into its fictional tale of two...

What to watch and watch for

Jamie Southern

ON HIS NICKNAME, THE MATRIX During a preseason game [in 1999] I stole the ball, passed it, got it back and dunked it while getting fouled, all in one play. [TNT analyst] Kenny Smith saw it and...

WHO'S Hot

Based on a survey of 227 NBA players

Any sorehead manager can get ejected in baseball--and they do. Every skipper has a story

Though nobody keeps official stats, John McGraw, who managed (mainly the N.Y. Giants) from 1899 to 1932, is thought to be the alltime leader in ejections with 131.... Atlanta's Bobby Cox is the...

Pistons guard Rip Hamilton believes proper body alignment allows him to play harder, longer

Notes from Hamilton's personal chef, Shawn Loving, who feeds him when Rip's in Detroit:

There's another side to Randy Moss, the Oakland Raiders' controversial new receiver, but he'd prefer that you didn't knock on his door to find it

Giacomo, a 50-1 shot on a five-race winless streak, emerged from obscurity--and from far off the pace--to win the Kentucky Derby

For Seattle to bounce back and upset the mighty Spurs in the West, Ray Allen has to overcome a tender ankle, sink a ton of shots and lead as he's never led before

Departments

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The hot hands of the first round will be hard-pressed to keep it up

SPURS: MANU GINOBILI (+6.8 ppg)

Outspoken, unconventional and often politically incorrect, Ozzie Guillen has managed the small-balling White Sox to the majors' best record

HERE IT IS: The most selective ranking in all of sports. Of the more than 38,000 high schools in the U.S., fewer than one in a thousand made SI's list honoring schools with the nation's top...

• For daily Web-only Leading Off galleries, go to SI.com/scorecard.

The rest of SI's top 25

Serra High has produced a remarkable list of superstars

In Texas and elsewhere, schools are in an arms race to build big-bucks facilities

Here are the top schools from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia (for more on them go to SI.com) ~ States listed alphabetically ~

The Week In Sports

Even with a quick turnaround, the Yankees face a near unprecedented climb if they are to make the playoffs

Three Up

THERE ISN'T EVEN A GUESS

BREWERS' NEW CLOSER

Freddie Adu got all the attention, but New England's Clint Dempsey has been the star of the class of '04

Freddy Adu is no longer MLS's highest-paid player. When Landon Donovan (right) joined the L.A. Galaxy after a three-month stint with Bayer Leverkusen, he signed an incentive-laden contract that...

MEMO TO: New York Yankees manager Joe Torre, all Yankees staff and players

Randy Moss

Yes, Sergio García spit the bit at the thrilling Wachovia Championship, but take it from Captain Golf, there's no question the kid is coming on

This week's EDS Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas, is the first stop in the Tour's annual two-tournament swing through the Dallas--Fort Worth area. The Bank of America Colonial will be...

Forget the Michelob and the winning streak, all that matters to Annika Sorenstam is the Grand Slam.

[This article consists of an illustration--see below]

My dad was hardly thrown for a loop when I tried out to be a Tour caddie too

Breaking news, scores, schedules and fresh, original Web-only stories and columns 24/7

Where will the Yankees finish the season?