THE LOS ANGELES DODGERS thought they had a very good idea this season—the All-You-Can-Eat Pavilion in rightfield. For $35, patrons got a seat and all the hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos, water...

Fright Tactics

For 10 years Pierre McGuire has taken SI readers into the heart of the NHL

Should a U.S. World Cup player suffer for criticizing her coach?

He's 5'9", married and soft-spoken, so with Derek Jeter in the mix don't expect the Angels' Orlando Cabrera to be voted Most Glamorous Shortstop in the ALDS. As a player, though, he shines. He hit...

WHO'S Hot

Would you let your child wear a Michael Vick jersey?

LONG BEFORE Sunday's Berlin marathon, Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie had made himself part of any discussion evaluating the greatest distance runners in history. He had twice won the Olympic...

Alleged By Jeff Novitzky, a lead investigator in the BALCO case, that boxer Shane Mosley (below) engaged in a doping regimen before his 2003 fight against Oscar De La Hoya. As reported by SI.com,...

DEAN McAMMOND Senators forward, after suffering his second concussion in four months during an exhibition game: "I don't feel I have a concussion problem. I have a problem with people giving me...

17 Games this season in which Twins pitchers didn't issue a base on balls, the most walkless games in the majors.

A Seattle company is selling Seahawks-themed soda in flavors that include Dirt, Natural Field Turf and Perspiration.

Can the kid from Mancini's hometown save boxing?

THE BALL THAT barry bonds hit for his 756th homer is going to the Hall of Fame—with an asterisk. After he purchased the ball at auction for $752,467 last month, fashion designer Marc Ecko set up a...

ONE DAY in the spring of 2006, three cancer patients at Children's Hospital of Austin posed with Lance Armstrong for an SI cover story about his efforts to raise money for cancer research. One of...

The Indians are a well-oiled machine

TITANS CB

A former Hofstra receiver makes Madden go

John Grisham

THE NBA season doesn't tip off till Oct. 30, but two of its brightest young stars were all over TV last weekend. LeBron James followed Michael Jordan and Peyton Manning in hosting Saturday Night...

IT WAS a sweet off-season for NBC's much-praised Friday Night Lights. The football drama that never cracked Nielsen's Top 50 won an Emmy (Outstanding Casting) and was renewed and given a 9 p.m....

What to watch and watch for

Scott Phaydavong DES MOINES > Football Phaydavong, a senior running back at Drake, surpassed 5,000 career rushing yards on Sept. 15 and is the leading active rusher in Division I-AA with 5,296...

In a riveting final weekend, the streaking Phillies earned the right to host the even hotter Rockies in the playoffs, and Jimmy Rollins put the finishing touches on his case for the NL MVP

Preview

A-Rod for AL MVP, Peavy for NL Cy Young; those are the obvious picks. Here's the rest of Tom Verducci's awards ballot

With his brother documenting his every move, Cal wideout DeSean Jackson has developed into the most feared gamebreaker in the nation, as Oregon learned on a Saturday full of upsets

Burning Issues

Five upsets of top 10 teams shook up the rankings and took the luster off what could have been a special first Saturday in October

Brett Favre was expected to break Dan Marino's career touchdown mark this year—but not while leading the unbeaten Packers to first place in the NFC North. He'll need help to keep them there

A Bridge to Favre

Joba Chamberlain has taken New York in a blaze of glory, his success traced to a nurturing father who used his own tortured youth, Native American roots and some lessons in humility to fan the...

Wes Points Despite the extensive efforts of three Florida defenders, kicker Wes Byrum booted a 43-yard field goal as time expired last Saturday, giving Auburn a 20--17 victory over the No. 4...

After nine years of establishing himself as a superior passing center and a league MVP, Joe Thornton is ready to be the clutch goal scorer and leader who can bring the Stanley Cup to San Jose

Ice Gauge Get power rankings of all 30 teams every Tuesday throughout the NHL season. ONLY AT SI.COM

From phenoms to grand experiments: Answers to the essential questions

Mix scary speed, spooky intuition, steely nerves and the most potent shots you can find. . . . Add ice

The Rangers and the Sharks will put last year's agonizing second-round losses behind them and face off in the finals

Dressed Up

NEW YORK Rangers

OTTAWA SENATORS

CAROLINA Hurricanes

DETROIT RED WINGS

NICKLAS LIDSTROM

DAVID VYBORNY

LEE STEMPNIAK

The additions of reliable defenseman Brian Rafalski and hard-hitting forward Dallas Drake will make the Red Wings even tougher to play against. Drake will push role players like Kris Draper and...

MINNESOTA WILD

JOE SAKIC

ROBYN REGEHR

KEVIN BIEKSA

Minnesota's group of forwards is scary deep and plenty quick; imagine Brian Rolston and Wes Walz as depth players. . . . New Flames coach Mike Keenan will be a difference maker, especially for...

SAN JOSE

CHRIS PRONGER

WAYNE GRETZKY

MILAN MICHALEK

The Ducks will have no Stanley Cup hangover; G.M. Brian Burke and coach Randy Carlyle will not allow it. . . . It will be critical early on for center Patrick Marleau and Sharks coach Ron Wilson...

College Football Already in hot water, Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione does himself no favors with a newsletter to a select group of boosters • Bulls or Gators—which is the best team in Florida?

Last Straw?

1 What's in a name? At No. 9 in the coaches' poll, South Florida (4--0) is two spots below Florida (4--1) despite wins over then No. 5 West Virginia and at Auburn, the same team that knocked off...

High Anxiety

The most impressive coaching job of the early season is that of Oakland offensive line coach Tom Cable, whose zone-blocking scheme has the Raiders averaging a league-best 194.2 rushing yards per...

Not once all summer did I hear anyone express the remotest hope that Tampa Bay would turn it around. Only two teams, Oakland and Detroit, had worse records than the Bucs' 4--12 last season. The...

A Lucky Break

1 The revelation of the Chase so far is Clint Bowyer. Two weeks after winning at New Hampshire, he took second at Kansas behind Greg Biffle. How surprising is this? In Bowyer's previous 64 Cup...

Double Play

WEST CENTRAL at CANTON, Oct. 5

RUNNING (AND RUNNING) TO GLORY Ansonia (Conn.) RB Alex Thomas ran more than halfway to a 1,000-yard season—in one game. The senior, who has more than 5,000 career rushing yards, carried 44 times...

1 NORTHWESTERN (Miami) 4--0 Hosts struggling neighbor Miami Goleman (2--3)

Can these newly promoted quarterbacks energize your lineup?

QUARTERBACK

QUARTERBACK

Davis Love has a major problem

4

One course you'd play over and over Harbour Town One shot you can't top A hole in one—I've had seven, including three in competition One mulligan you'd like The putt at 18 at the Honda this year...

WHO: Mike Weir

A platinum ball and a random drawing lead to a close encounter with the world's No. 1

by JAMES P. HERRE

The Phil Mickelson--Vijay Singh rivalry bloomed in Montreal

Let's be realistic about it: Montreal is a great city, and it's an honor to represent your country, but you know that Tiger Woods would have welcomed a bye week. He'd never say that, but his...

In 2011 the Presidents Cup will return to Australia, where a later date could be a problem—again—for the Americans