Largely out of vanity, an alarming number of NHL players are wearing flimsy helmets that put them at risk of severe injury

After the first goal Los Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Blake smiled and said, "O.K., Tony, one's enough." After the second goal Blake told him, "C'mon, Tony, two's plenty." After the third goal...

The Jets said so long to coach Rich Kotite by losing a club-record 15th game, to the Dolphins

Packers star merits a second straight MVP award, Why so many coaches are getting axed, Best and worst of 1996

It's a sad day for sports when salary caps replace party hats on New Year's Day

Bob Huggins should be commended on his ability to recruit and "father" many of his players.JEFFREY WACKSMAN, CINCINNATI

Sunday 12/29

If you've had your fill of football, an antidote is to tune in to CBS's Too Hot to Skate on Jan. 4 at 8 p.m. For this exhibition, sequined Olympic gold medalists Oksana Baiul, Scott Hamilton and...

The Keenan Chronicles...Florida's 1-AA Connection Leads Marshall...Dawes Does "Grease"...The Courtship of a Fan...A Fishing Nun...Another Gooden Tale of Woe

43-2Score with 1:24 left in the first half of Princeton's eventual 73-42 victory over Lehigh in men's basketball on Dec. 19.

Everyone has an out-of-touch relative with a bent for buying precisely the wrong gift. Think how quickly you'd exchange these Yuletide treasures.

Treadmills, a swim-therapy pool and massage therapists are among the options available to pets at The Total Dog, a canine fitness center that recently opened in Los Angeles.

Steve HolmanAtlanta Hawks radio broadcaster, on the low-key social life maintained by Hawks forward Christian Laettner: "He is the Cal Ripken of SpectraVision."

First, Dominique Dawes delayed going to Stanford so she could follow her Olympic dream. Now, after winning a gold medal in Atlanta, one of America's sweetheart gymnasts has decided to go back...

After 14 seasons as the Broncos' quarterback, John Elway hasn't lost a step of his uncanny ability to lead Denver out of disaster and into Super Bowl contention

This week managing editor Bill Colson turns over this space to Jerry Kirshenbaum, a valued member of the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED staff for the past 28 years, the last 11 of them as an assistant...

Linebacker Daryl Bush of Florida State is a hard man with a lyrical bent

Juan Roque, Arizona State's massive tackle, takes to heart the history of his Aztec forebears

Vin Baker and Glenn Robinson give Milwaukee the NBA's most potent pair of forwards

Reggie Freeman of Texas and Felipe Lopez of St. John's played together in high school, and one of them was supposed to become a big star. One has, and therein lies a story

On the following 25 pages, SI writers tell of their choices for the most compelling people and the most stirring moments of the year in sports, starting with the summer's biggest surprise

Moment of the Year, 1996? Ali, of course. Ali emerging from the darkness, from the past, from the recesses of our imagination. Ali, a ghost in white, materializing after midnight to accept the...

When you saw the man's man, the Aussie's Aussie, letting himself be hugged by the enemy, letting himself break into tears out there before his public, you would never have guessed it was one of...

When the clock ran out, he collapsed on the court, both arms clutching the basketball. The United Center shook with the crowd's delirious roar. All around him there was pandemonium. But Michael...

The entire family came into the home during the World Series. Your home. My home. Everybody's home. One day Joe Torre was just another name out there on the broad sports landscape. Used to be a...

On June 22 the man who once beat the unbeatable Mike Tyson began his comeback. James (Buster) Douglas was coming all the way back from the dead.

For the first time, Ekaterina Gordeeva stood by herself in the tunnel leading to the ice. It was at such moments, before they would perform, that her husband and skating partner, Sergei Grinkov,...

It's tough to be inconspicuous when you're wearing a teal sport coat, designer sunglasses, thick gold chains and a brimmed hat straight from the Laurel & Hardy gift shop. But on March 25,...

Like any debut in sports these days, the first American Basketball League game, between the New England Blizzard and the Richmond Rage on Oct. 18 at the Hartford Civic Center, was attended by...

Dawn EllerbeCENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.Ellerbe, 22, who graduated this month from South Carolina, set the U.S. record in the 20-pound weight throw with a toss of 69'10¾", surpassing the mark she had...

You know going in that Albert Belle, the great slugger, can be temperamental. You know he doesn't like reporters, he despises interviews, he hates interruptions. You are determined to get off on...

It was as if Michael Johnson knew that high drama and iron self-control are implacable enemies.

To the familiar question, "Don't you miss covering the NBA?" I have a stock answer: "I miss watching Michael Jordan play live, and I miss talking to Joe Dumars." In my years on the beat (1985...

Turning for home in the lights of Nad Al Sheba racetrack, his front legs rising and thrusting forward as if he were soaring over a hedge, the mighty Cigar was bounding so smoothly to the lead in...

It was baseball's signature game of 1996, the one that best exemplified the heavy-hitting, high-scoring insanity that defined the major leagues this year. On June 30 at Coors Field, the Colorado...

An overpowering champion isn't truly interesting until he's beaten. A guy wins and wins, establishes a dominance that ought to be appreciated for itself, and instead gets criticized for the...

When the Yankees returned to New York for Game 6 of the World Series, everyone seemed to predict the same things: Death. Destruction. Chaos in the Bronx.

The sound track of sport is loud: the thunder of a crowd, the smack of football pads colliding, the pounding music during timeouts. Yet what I remember most from 1996 is a sad, telling silence....

One morning in late June, I drove to a high school in Menlo Park, Calif., where some of the San Francisco 49ers would be working out. I parked my car next to Jerry Rice's. It was the ultimate...

When Pete Carril announced his retirement in March, after 29 years as Princeton's basketball coach, he said he was leaving because he couldn't get through to his players anymore. Then, in the...