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A British invasion livened up Vegas. So what if Ricky Hatton got pounded?

WHO'S Hot

Who is the most intimidating offensive lineman in football?

Died Of an apparent heart attack at age 56, poker player Chip Reese (below). Though he was a three-time World Series of Poker winner, Reese was better known for his acumen in high-stakes cash...

AFTER SUSPENDED Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced on Monday to 23 months in federal prison for his role in a dogfighting operation, several general managers told SI that they...

33 Years since an NFL player had returned a punt and a fumble for touchdowns in the same game before the Packers' Will Blackmon did so on Sunday.

An online auction site in New Zealand is selling food scraps—including a french fry and a half-eaten corncob—from meals David Beckham had while in the country.

DMITRY TURSUNOV Russian tennis player, on the similarities between his homeland and the U.S.: "We both owned Alaska at one point."

WHAT COULD be more fun than naming a sports mascot? How about rushing through a nonfunctioning turnstile? The Philadelphia Phillies new Triple A affiliate, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, had a...

The tennis star just released her own clothing line, EleVen, available at Steve & Barry's stores

As baseball's winter meetings ended, SI asked an executive from each team for a one-word assessment of his club

With the NBA's brightest star leading the way, sports and entertainment synched up in '07

Has the perceived need to appeal to women—and overseas markets—doomed the sports flick?

HIGH In The Rocket, Roy Dupuis plays Maurice Richard with a stoicism that might bore the TMZ set. But the film has scored where they know the subject best—it won nine Genies (Canadian Oscars).

Forty Super Bowls at your fingertips

HAVING ALREADY tackled the story of a beloved fictional minor leaguer, Ron Shelton is setting his sights on a reviled real-life big leaguer—Barry Bonds (below). The Bull Durham director has signed...

HEART-WRENCHING DAVID AND GOLIATH STORY Steve Wiebe is a hard-luck science teacher who got laid off from his previous job the same day he closes on a house. Billy Mitchell is cocky and runs a...

Friday Night Lights shows there are places in America where life and high school football are the same

HIGH It's reminiscent of Friday Night Lights, but the Sundance Channel's miniseries Nimrod Nation is a documentary, lending further urgency to its exploration of social issues—and to the hoops...

Tiki Barber NBC's Football Night in America

HELIO CASTRONEVES, last month's winner of ABC's Dancing with the Stars, banked $1.7 million on the IndyCar circuit in 2007, so why would Castroneves (right), or any well-paid athlete, spend eight...

MONSTROUS RATING The game was dubbed Super Bowl 41 1/2, and it drew an audience almost worthy of the annual February TV-palooza. CBS had a 22.5 Nielsen rating (33.8 million viewers) for the...

An affecting memoir, tales of front-office intrigue and a bracing bio made it the year of the football book

HIGH In The Happiest Man in the World, Alec Wilkinson profiles Poppa Neutrino, a free-spirited 70-something who crosses the Atlantic on a raft built from trash. Is Neutrino nuts? Maybe, but he'll...

How one fight changed two lives

ILLUMINATING LOOK AT AN ENDURING MYTH You'd think there's nothing left to say about the 1936 Olympics, but in Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens ESPN's Jeremy Schaap argues that much of what...

A West Virginia lawyer produces the NFL's go-to site

Peripherals now matter as much as software

WELCOME NEWS FOR OLYMPIC FANS NBC announced that NBCOlympics.com will offer 3,600 hours of online coverage from China next August, including 2,200 hours of live video coverage. It will be the...

IMPRESSIVE UPSTART 2K Sports got back in the NFL game with All-Pro Football 2K8, featuring ex-stars like Walter Payton, Joe Montana and, yes, O.J. Simpson. 2K8 boasts superior game play to...

What to watch and watch for

Kristy Brandolini TWINSBURG, OHIO > Soccer Brandolini, a senior forward at Mount Vernon Nazarene, received the Michelle Akers Player of the Year Award from the National Christian College...

Overlooked in discussions about the NFL's best backs, a healthy Fred Taylor has joined the 10,000-yard club and helped spark the Jaguars' dash for the playoffs

Blanket Coverage

After Steelers safety Anthony Smith opened his mouth, the Patriots made a statement of their own

Everyone knew Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis were leaving Florida, but for Detroit? Here's how the deal went down and what it means for the rest of the American League. (Bad news)

Double Play

One plays with energy and expressiveness, the other is Mr. Cool. But third-year floor generals Chris Paul and Deron Williams both have the NBA abuzz over who is superior

Super Subs

Three months after a paralyzing spinal injury, the Buffalo tight end is making big strides thanks to aggressive medical care, his indomitable will—and a gutty call by his surgeon

The English Patient

The NFL Are the 9--4 Seahawks a product of a soft schedule or just getting primed for a deep playoff run? • Peter King's free-agent sleepers for 2008 • Dr. Z's Forecast: the parity paradox

Seattle Soaring

The Bills are suddenly in the wild-card hunt thanks to quarterback Trent Edwards, who's 5--1 as a starter following a win over Miami. Edwards (right) became the first rookie since the Pats' Jim...

Despite a thin roster of free agents, last year's open market produced the NFL's first $10 million-a-year cornerback (Nate Clements, 49ers) and three $7 million-a-year guards (Leonard Davis,...

The most misunderstood word in the football lexicon is parity. It's a favorite of airhead talk show hosts when they explain why 5--8 and 6--7 teams still nurse playoff hopes. But they're confusing...

Boom in 'Bama

ST. AUGUSTINE (Fla.) vs. NAPLES (Fla.), Dec. 14 The Class 3A finalists arrived at the championship game with varying success. After dominating its first 12 opponents by an aggregate 518--70,...

BIG MACKEY ATTACK QB Randall Mackey had 398 yards of offense (139 rushing, 259 passing) and four TDs in Bastrop's 38--14 win over Archbishop Shaw (Marrero) in the Louisiana 4A final. It was the...

1 NORTHWESTERN (Miami) 14--0 Scored TD with 18 seconds left to gain 6A final vs. Boone (Orlando)

Paper Tigers?

1 Don't expect Lute Olson (right) to retire. Yes, Arizona's longtime coach, who announced last week that he will sit out this season after filing for divorce from his second wife, Christine, is...

Barry Bonds's day in court dawns cold and windy, but the air smells good, like justice. The arraignment starts at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in downtown San Francisco, but word has it that...

David Sabino projects the top picks of next year's fantasy draft

This is the final edition of Fantasy Plus for 2007. For coverage through the end of the season, visit SI.com/fantasy.

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