July 12, 1976

If we all could have just half the heart of Linda Simmons, what a wonderful world it would be.—MISTY MCCLOUD, Verdunville, W.Va.

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,...

One of track and field's finest ends her inspiring run

•That Senior tour superman Hale Irwin quit picking on guys his own age.

Drug ScandalIs Everybody Doing It?

28Years after Reds first baseman Tony Perez became the first player to hit a home run into the upper deck of Cinergy Field (then Riverfront Stadium), that another Reds first baseman, his son...

GOODWILL GAMESAdmittedly, Ted Turner's cold war-era loss leader has occasionally gotten lost in the shuffle. But these games, while not exactly Olympic, at least feature Olympians—in real sports....

Houghton Mifflin's recently released American history textbook for fifth-graders, Build Our Nation, covers the Depression and the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt in 33 lines, while devoting two...

Warren SappTampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle, on his devotion to Bucs coach Tony Dungy: "I'd take a bullet for him—if it wouldn't kill me."

Saturday 8/1

NBC Sports chairman Dick Ebersol knows timing. Last Thursday, as the Chicago Bulls were monopolizing the sports news with their hiring of Tim Floyd, Ebersol announced he was dropping former...

Dave D'Ambrosa, Point Pleasant, N.J.Powerboat RacingD'Ambrosa, 35, a marina owner, drove Rolling Thunder Too to victory in the Class C (Modified) division of the New Jersey Offshore Powerboat...

Ever wonder what it would be like to go on a three-day long-ball bender, chasing the men who are chasing Roger Maris's epic record? So did the author

Departments

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and CNN team up on the Internet to offer up-to-the-minute sports news. Follow the action at the world basketball championships as SI's Alex Wolff reports from Greece—read his...

Her three victories in a month left no doubt that LPGA rookie Se Ri Pak is the genuine article. This week she can make history

The retreads and rejects representing the U.S. in Athens may not be a Dream Team, but they do have a dream

Near the center of the battered city of Beirut, along a five-furlong oval surrounded by a stone wall and high-rises blackened by the guns of war, the scene comes alive every Sunday—the Arabian...

Having built the 49ers dynasty, Carmen Policy and Eddie DeBartolo saw their partnership crumble under the weight of mistrust and front-office power plays

Depending on your view, Phil Jackson's successor is a coaching find, an absent-minded professor, a smooth operator—or a pawn

Michigan-bound quarterback and Yankees bonus baby Drew Henson—who also averaged 22 points in basketball and 4.0 in the classroom—is almost too good to be true

THE NFL

Knuckle DownThat's what Trent Dilfer has to do before the Bucs can catch the Packers

Girl PowerThe U.S. Women roll toward the Cup, winning fans and games

The U.S. may have won the '96 Olympic gold medal in women's soccer, but Norway still holds the World Cup and has a winning record (11-9-1) against America's finest. With that in mind, we looked...

Baltimore ChopThe suddenly red-hot Orioles bounced back into the wild-card race

There is a growing faction within the Dodgers that is questioning whether fledgling general manager Tommy Lasorda can handle the job. First, Lasorda dealt prized prospect Paul Konerko and...

No, this is not a test question that asks which name doesn't belong. These pitchers have the most victories during the period from the 1997 All-Star break through Sunday. The surprise is that Tim...

It took a family tragedy to end Jim Bouton's exile from the Yankees

There's only one man for the Chicago Bulls' job. There's only one man to settle the NBA lockout. There's only one man to clean up the mess in Washington. Naturally, that man is...Gil Thorp.

Golfing astronaut Alan Shepard played a game that was out of this world

What do these players have in common?

69.3Se Ri Pak's scoring average in the month of July—nearly a stroke lower than the next best average, 70.27, shared by Dottie Pepper and Annika Sorenstam.

For our anniversary last year my wife gave me my first club membership. Pelham (N.Y.) Country Club has a jewel of a course, the site of Gene Sarazen's and Walter Hagen's duel at the 1923 PGA. I...

In Memoriam: Renay Appleby, wife of Tour player Stuart Appleby, died on July 23 after being struck by a car in London. She was 25. The Applebys were getting out of a taxi at Waterloo Station to...

PGA

At the Senior Open, Hale Irwin rose up and took his game to new heights

A victim of the Tour's new economics, Pleasant Valley belied its name during the final playing of the CVS Charity Classic