There's a code to that Grecian urn, the amphora SI awards to its Sportsman and/or Sportswoman of the Year. Study the covers laid out on these pages and you'll see the spirit of the times reflected...

USA Today's Dave Krider has the final say on who's No. 1 in the country

Down Home

Rashaan Salaam won't say if he'll return to Colorado for his senior year, but if he does, he won't take the Heisman Trophy, which he won last week, back to Boulder. He's giving it to his mom instead.

Shabby treatment by owners and players is alienating fans from the games they love

A Matter of Degree

File this one under This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse Might Actually Be Put Off. The NCAA, whose mammoth manual has enough red tape to wrap the holiday gifts of every resident of Overland Park,...

THE NEW Calgary franchise in the Western Hockey League will be called the Hitmen.

Don PaulFormer Los Angeles Ram linebacker, on recently shaking hands with Hall of Fame running back Hugh McElhenny, an erstwhile opponent: "That's the first time I ever touched him."

Picabo Street (above)and Hilary Lindh of the U.S. dueled for an edge...and put themselves at the summit of the women's World Cup downhill rankings

Before a tragedy occurs, the NFL must rein in the kind of hitting that has caused a rash of concussions

Doctors warn that repeated concussions can lead to permanent brain dysfunction

A blow to the head, such as a quarterback might receive from a defender's helmet, causes the brain not only to move forward and/or back in the skull but also to rotate, which distorts the axons...

He made the move in the spring of 1979. Senior writer Michael Farber's idea was that sportswriters are like migrant workers: They go where the jobs are. The work was at the Montreal Gazette, the...

With two concussions in '94, the Rams' Chris Miller knows too well the scary symptoms—pain and disorientation

With the help of an old warrior and a wonder Kidd, the Dallas Mavericks are on the rebound after two deflating NBA seasons

Virginia earned its fourth straight national title

With a big win over the Chargers, the 49ers staked their claim as the team to beat in the NFL

Bonnie Blair of the U.S. and Johann Olav Koss of Norway emerge from the obscure world of speed skating to receive SI's highest honor

Bonnie Blair grew up with the ideal that competing—not just winning—is everything

Johann Olav Koss set the standard in something even more important than Olympic speed skating—generosity of spirit

Out of the thousands of photographs you sifted through, sumo wrestlers made the cut, but Pelé did not?MARIANNE SHEMORY, CANTON, OHIO

Maturing Favorably

The Green Bay Packers' Dec. 18 "home" game at County Stadium against the Atlanta Falcons will mark the end of the Pack's 61-year relationship with Milwaukee. In the 1930s the team from the small...

Have you ever seen a 6'1", 277-pound angel? Dozens of underprivileged families and children in Chicago have, and that angel goes by the name of Chris Zorich. The 25-year-old Bear defensive tackle,...