June 15, 1998 | Volume 88, Issue 24

No one else plays soccer with the infectious glee of , the nonpareil striker who aims to lead Brazil to its unprecedented fifth World Cup title

There's no such thing as excessive celebration after a goal, when naked hysteria and unbridled delirium are considered appropriate behavior

I'll say it. I'm sick of the Chicago Bulls. Sick, sicker, sickest.

Not every bodybuilder looks at himself all day in a mirror and pops steroids in order to bulk up his appearance.—Steve R. Eckes, Naperville, Ill.

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,...

January 28, 1963

A recent rash of baseball fights turns out not to have been a rash at all but a healthy glow, a pink flush returned to the cheeks of a long-cadaverous game. Have you noticed? Baseball fights are...

•That we could be a fly on the wall when Mike Ditka, who has pledged to "shove it down their throats" and "rule with an iron fist" to better '97's 6-10 record, starts lighting into his Saints.

0Stitches received by Red Wings enforcer Darren McCarty during the Western Conference finals against Dallas.

ROY JONES JR.He's the most complete fighter of this era, gifted with speed, power and charisma. He has dominated three divisions and generally toyed with the competition. If he feels somebody...

With a major league-leading 134 strikeouts and a stingy 2.76 ERA through Sunday, the Phillies' Curt Schilling should have had a better record than 5-7 A lack of runs by Philly has hurt him, but a...

One of the most familiar names in last week's major league draft was that of Sean Burroughs, a 17-year-old third baseman for Wilson High in Long Beach, Calif. He's known not only for being the son...

The Sharper Image catalog advertises a $40 TV remote control shaped to look like a golf green and on which certain keys make the thwack of a powerful drive or the plonk of a ball falling into the cup.

DMITRI YOUNGCincinnati Reds first baseman and noted eschewer of profanity, on arguing with ump Jerry Layne over a called third strike: "I was trying my darndest to get a cuss word out, but I...

Baseball scores looked like football scores as the skies rained home runs

Reeling in Russiaby Fen MontaigneSt. Martin's Press, $24.95

Can cities find fiscal happiness in the minors?

If a few hours in front of the tube listening to touchy-feely Dick Enberg leaves your brain in a bunker, there's another way to stay on top of the U.S. Open: up-to-the-minute reports from the USGA...

Dominating on the track, Texas and Arkansas won the women's and men's titles

Edgar Degas, who once professed to be "totally ignorant of the mechanism that regulates a horse's movements," nevertheless captured the grace, the speed, the light and the color of racing as no...

Tugboat Taylor's school in Houston is the Actors Studio for WWF wannabes

As baseball coach at Amphitheater High in Tucson, Danny Hernandez each year welcomed one or two Mexican players who hoped to learn English and attract the attention of major league scouts. Using...

Jennifer Hughes, San FranciscoHeli-skiingHughes, 35, a tour planner, broke the women's one-day world record by skiing 305,525 vertical feet at Paradise Peak near Atlin, B.C. She made 101 runs in...

Saturday 6/13

And we thought nothing could be more painful than watching The Larry Sanders Show end.... We know we're supposed to like Arli$$, which is about the dirty dealings of a David Falk wannabe and...

and are trying to stick a fork in Hall of Famer Hack Wilson's venerable record of 190 RBIs

In a poll conducted for SI last week, Yankelovich Partners asked sports fans various questions pertaining to the NHL. Here are some of the responses.

Departments

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and CNN team up on the Internet to offer up-to-the-minute sports news and stats. This week get the inside word following each and every game of the NBA and Stanley Cup finals...

By ensnaring the in a masterfully spun defense, the stunningly altered the course of the Finals

Spanish LessonAlex Corretja, on his way to the French Open final, where he would lose to Spanish countryman Carlos Moya, serves against France's Cédric Pioline in the semis. Arantxa Sánchez...

Real Quiet (far right) lost his bid for the Triple Crown by a nose to Victory Gallop in the most riveting Belmont Stakes in 20 years

and reigned for Spain, but the story of the French Open was run to the final, three weeks after her father's death

PRO FOOTBALL

A Raven NevermoreVinny Testaverde is out of a job, his Pro Bowl year a mere memory

Worth a Gamble?German wunderkind Dirk Nowitzki was the talk of predraft camp

Nuggets general manager Dan Issel, who last year, when he was still a Denver radio talk-show host, dubbed Denver rookie Tony Battie El Busto, offered Battie and the No. 3 pick in the June 24 draft...

At 39, Rickey Henderson is still running like there's no tomorrow

Did the Mariners know something that nobody else in baseball did when they used their first-round pick—the 22nd selection—in last week's draft to take lefthander Matthew Thornton, or were they...

When the Dodgers designated struggling righthander Hideo Nomo for assignment last week, it gave them only 10 days to deal him and seemed to put a severe crimp in their bargaining position. General...

Pirates catcher Jason Kendall doesn't mind taking them for the team

Rolando Arrojo is bedeviling batters like no other expansion pitcher

Here's our best, soccer-ball-gazing guess as to how the Cup will go: With Youri Djorkaeff (left) up front and the crowds behind them, will become the first hosts to win since the Argentines in...

The 16th World Cup has added a wrinkle: the golden goal. After the first round, if a match is tied at the conclusion of regulation time, 30 minutes of sudden death will be played before the teams...

An epochal battle between youth and experience looms at Olympic

Golfers have never had to look hard to find a good time in Baghdad by the Bay

Much has changed in life, but he still seeks the counsel of an old friend,

The look's GQ, but is a throwback Texan playing a game that even the Hawk might have admired

sees himself in the Open. His Infamous Holes are for others

After laser surgery, Fred Funk had victory in his sights

Twenty years ago this week, I won my fifth straight tournament, the Bankers Trust Classic in Rochester, N.Y. It was a magical week. In the last round I hit a ball right off a spectator's head, but...

Start Your Engine: With the sun setting over Cincinnati's Clovernook Country Club on Monday, Casey Martin sank a 20-foot birdie putt to win a playoff in a sectional qualifier for next week's U.S....

A silent beeper summons you from the driving range. Your golf cart sports a complimentary bottle of designer water. Grey Poupon? Just ask. You're at an upscale public course where you needn't be a...

What do these players have in common?

A little-known stat measures the perils of U.S. Open rough

With two victories, a tie for fifth and a tie for seventh since his first U.S. Open appearance, in 1993, Ernie Els has vaulted to the top of the tournament's alltime money list. Here are the...

The West course at Westchester Country Club, site of this week's Buick Classic, is one of the PGA Tour's most difficult tracks. The chart below shows the toughest courses on the Tour's regular...

35Double Eagles on Tour since Bob Gilder's Westchester Classic winner in 1982. Woody Austin made this year's first double eagle last week at the Kemper.

PGA

Open Season on Open StuffBy the time players reach the homestretch of the U.S. Open on June 21, the most popular souvenirs will be long gone. In recent years caps festooned with the Stars and...

Three's the Charm

As any touring pro will tell you, qualifying for the U.S. Open can be a killer

Not so long ago, was the center of the golf universe