Turned 40 recently. Asked what I wanted, I said, "The Perfect Day."

Hockey is a great sport, but it mil be second-rate as long as it permits fighting, goons, enforcers, etc.—Gary Fraser Las Vegas

Letters to SPORTS ILLUSTRATED should include the name, address and home telephone number of the writer. They may be mailed to The Editor, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Time & Life Building, New York,...

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and CNN team up on the Internet to offer up-to-the-minute sports news and stats. For comprehensive coverage of the Masters, including hole-by-hole leader boards, go to...

When Tiger Woods agreed to sit with a tiger for this week's cover, Matt Ginella, SI's picture editor for golf, was thrilled. But he didn't need to be told of the horrific headlines that would...

Exactly when athletes became software is hard to pinpoint. They were always a little larger than life, but for a long time, no matter their increasing fame or wealth, it was possible to think of...

•That the recent spate of brawling by pugnacious NHL netminders doesn't give rise to a new league stat: shots on goalie.

Saturday 4/11GOLFThe MastersGuilty. In each of the last two years, most of us thought Saturday's would be, beyond a reasonable doubt, the de facto final round of golf's most celebrated tournament....

Given the travails of the telecasters of Troy, Southern Cal alumnus Marcus Allen probably made the right call last week when he decided to spurn CBS's offer of a studio job on NFL telecasts and...

Johnny Pohl, Red Wing, Minn.HockeyJohnny, a senior forward at Red Wing High, led the state in scoring, with 107 points, for the second consecutive year and was voted Minnesota's Mr. Hockey. He's...

Departments

Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf are the class of the NFL draft, but experts say one of them stands head and shoulder pads above the other

Goalie Marty Turco was thrilled when he and the Wolverines won the NCAA title, save for one thing: It was his last game at Michigan

Michael Finley, who began playing against Michael Jordan while still a schoolkid, can do it all—except lift his Mavs out of the doldrums

Fatal FoliageThree horses died during the running of this year's Grand National at Aintree in Liverpool. Critics blamed the height of the hedges on the course, like this one being cleared by...

Why wait five months for a meaningful series when the Blue Jays and the Rangers were offering up the next best thing on the season's opening weekend?

Around the time of spring practice, normally paranoid coaches open their playbooks and film rooms so rivals can study their strategic secrets

During a meticulously planned week of seclusion and training, Tiger Woods sharpened his game and his mind for Augusta

Who's the best foul-shooter?Who's the worst?Who's the weirdest?Does practice help?Does talking to the ball help?And why is something that looksso easy so damned hard?

In 1996-97 the 29 NBA teams collectively shot .738 from the free throw line. The best-shooting team was the Warriors, at .778. The worst-shooting team was the Lakers, at .692. The Lakers had a...

You may call it a foul shot. The shot, after all, is the result of a foul. However, in the parlance of the NBA it's a free throw, with the emphasis on free, i.e., free points. At least that's what...

Clockwise, from topLarry Bird, .886 careerMark Price, .905 career (through sat.)Calvin Murphy, .892 careerRick Barry, .900 careerBill Sharman, .883 career

There's a school of thought among NBA coaches that too much discussion of free throws and too much practice increases pressure and worsens free throw shooting. John Calipari, coach of the Nets and...

What's With Shaq?

Magic Johnson, who was an .848 career free throw shooter, watched the ball—not the rim, as so many players do—while his foul shots were in the air.... Hal Greer (.801) shot his free throws as if...

In 1972-73, 35.2% of all NBA players shot 80% or better from the foul line (minimum 100 attempts). Twenty-five years later only 30% are doing so well.

Few records in sports are as underappreciated as Williams's mark for consecutive free throws made: 97, over two seasons, from March 24 to Nov. 9,1993, with the Timberwolves. On the way to 97,...

NBA players will tell you that in basketball there is free throw shooting, and there is everything else. In everything else, a player reacts to whatever the ball and other players are doing....

In the 1972-73 season, 78.7% of all NBA players shot 70% or better from the foul line. Twenty-five years later, only 70% are doing as well.

There's a superb videotape, available at yard sales, at some summer basketball camps and on the World Wide Web ($33), called Buzz Braman Is Doctor Sure Shot. On the back of the cassette box, the...

Recent Moments in Free Throw Infamy

In 1996-97, 19.3% of all points scored in the regular season were on free throws. In the playoffs, the percentage went up to 21.6.

The playoff record for most free throws made in a single game without a miss is 18, by Karl Malone—yes, Karl Malone—against the Lakers on May 10, 1997.

The Mavs Have Home Court Advantage

The NBA

Showdown Time

Patrick for PresidentThough he was a leader in the unsuccessful fight to decertify the union in 1995, the usually low-key Patrick Ewing was a surprise choice when he was voted in by his peers as...

The pain in Pacers center Rik Smits's feet has intensified, and his usual cure-all (rest) has not proved effective. Though Smits had sat out Indiana's last five games through Sunday, the soreness...

Select Company

April 13L.A. LAKERS AT SUN ANTONIOThe Alamodome

The Spurs' Avery Johnson explains how to defend against the running game

Local Heroes

The rangers privately admit they want to rectify the error they committed in 1993 when they chose not to re-sign free agent first baseman Rafael Palmeiro and made a deal with free agent Will Clark...

In the '97 World Series, Indians righthander Orel Hershiser gave up two three-run homers on a sinker and a slider, respectively, to the Marlins' Moises Alou, a dead fastball hitter. On April I at...

Baseball is at a crossroads, and standing at the intersection is Yankees centerfielder Bernie Williams, who is expected to be one of the most coveted free agents available after this season. Will...

Once again, the Boss is sacrificing the future for a dubious present

The Big Mess

FOXTRAX GLOWING PUCKCost: $2 million-plus to develop

Hurricanes Goalie Trevor Kidd is having a career season, as evidenced by his 2.17 goals-against average through Sunday and his back-to-back shutouts of the Devils and the Canadiens last week. A...

Fast Forward

Los Angeles galaxy midfielder Cobi Jones is off to a running start this season, leading MLS in scoring through Sunday with eight points (two goals and four assists). As one of the league's fastest...

He may be the Kobe Bryant of U.S. soccer, having jumped from high school straight to the pros, but Jamar Beasley is sure not pulling down Bryant-like bucks ($1.2 million a year with the Los...

A transplant saved Erik Compton, the nation's top-ranked junior

Achoo! Tiger Woods is allergic to azaleas.

The Masters means something different to everybody. For me, it brings back memories of snow and freezing cold. I grew up in Minnesota, where seeing the Masters on TV meant that winter was almost over.

Another Battle: Last month, four years after the LPGA's Heather Farr died of breast cancer, it was announced that her younger sister had the same disease. On April 2 Missy Farr Kay, 30, the...

BackstageGolfer on Tiptoes

What do these players have in common?

A new, improved John Daly leads the Tour in...putting?

3Horses owned by Donna Andrews, whose win at the Longs Drugs Challenge was worth $90,000 "and maybe some more horses," she said.

PGA

After knocking 'em dead in New Orleans, a calm and collected Lee Westwood rode a wave of momentum to Augusta

Before you try to lose that spare tire, think what it does for your golf game

A Win at the Tradition made Gil Morgan the man to beat