Vikings coach Dennis Green called it the best draft he's had in eight seasons in Minnesota. Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson said the draft "changed the whole personality of our team." The Saints...

I've dug ditches, lubed jackhammers and manned the graveyard shift at a 7-Eleven. But the worst job I ever had was writing Wayne Gretzky's autobiography.

October 2, 1967

The court should allow Andrew Long to hit Jesse Boulerice in the face with his stick traveling between 50 and 75 mph.—KEVIN O'CALLAGHAN, Millis, Mass.

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,...

DON'T MISS

10,000Dollars bid for a dinner with Dick Vitale and his wife, Lorraine, at a fund-raising auction for the Boys and Girls Club of Sarasota, Fla.

There's a Happy Days episode in which Potsie Webber writes in to a show called You Wanted to See It and requests a human sacrifice. This Thursday UPN presents its first World Wrestling Federation...

Web sites devoted to baseball players run the gamut from the ridiculous to the subliminal

Another Hoosier defection shakes the General's regime

•That hockey after Gretzky turns out better than the post-Jordan NBA.

Latrell's Legal TabSpending Spree

64.9Combined career passer rating of Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning and Dan Pastorini, the last three quarterbacks to go 1-2-3 in the draft.

A new book of inspirational tales, Cries from the Heart: Stories of Struggle and Hope, features an introduction by Darryl Strawberry.

MIKE D'ANTONINuggets coach, on why he didn't empty his bench until late in a blowout of the Nets: "I wanted to be the idiot that won by a lot instead of the idiot that lost the game."

Cruel Clothes and I.D. for Big Egos

"When I came to, I didn't remember anything," Don Zimmer says of the beaning that nearly killed him. On July 7, 1953, when Zimmer was playing for the Triple A St. Paul Saints, he was hit in the...

Last Friday's brawl between the Giants and the Diamondbacks began with the usual exchange. "He said, 'F—- you!' I asked him, 'F—- you?' and he said, 'Yes, f—- you!' " said San Francisco third...

Ken Snell, Lakeland, Fla.PowerliftingSnell, 40, won the AAU Southeastern States Powerlifting Championships in the 114-pound class of the 40-44 age group with a squat of 400 pounds, a bench press...

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED and CNN team up on the Internet to offer up-to-the-minute sports news and stats. This week say goodbye to the Great One: Check out our multimedia tribute to Wayne Gretzky,...

After 21 seasons as the world's greatest hockey player and his sport's greatest ambassador, the incomparable Wayne Gretzky called it quits

Once famous for a philosophy and a farm system that produced winners, the Orioles now feature quick fixes, bad chemistry and the American League's worst record

For two decades Don Nelson has scoffed at convention, but his wacky coaching tactics and dubious front-office moves have made a mockery of the Mavericks

Dimpled—and undefeated—lightweight champ Sugar Shane Mosley, the 1998 Fighter of the Year, is putting a fresh, sweet face on his often sour sport

The war for NHL supremacy is beginning, and even though the loaded Red Wings appear primed for their third straight Stanley Cup, we're seeing Stars

Goal OrientedWayne Gretzky fired this slap shot at Calgary's goal in an '81 exhibition game as he tuned up for a mind-boggling scoring display: 92 goals in an 80-game season, a feat that may never...

Outspoken Niners assistant Bobb McKittrick is battling cancer and liver disease with the same fierce determination that made him one of the best coaches in the game

THE NBA

No RespectAntoine Walker can't get a break in Boston

The eastern conference may be known for its half-court, center-oriented style of play, but the best big men in the league suit up in the West, according to the SI Player Rating Formula.* At week's...

NUGGETS AT TRAIL BLAZERSMonday, April 26Since it opened in 1995, Portland's Rose Garden has been a bed of thorns for the Nuggets. Denver has lost seven games by an average of 27.6 points at the...

Atlanta coach Lenny Wilkens, who is also head of the National Basketball Coaches Association, has petitioned the league to change the injured reserve list to the reserve list, thereby allowing...

In his second stint in Utah, Thurl Bailey, now a Mormon, is on a mission

Throwing PainsThe Dodgers are still counting on Todd Hundley's surgically repaired arm

Last week Jose Canseco (home runs), Chili Davis (doubles), John Franco (saves) and John Candiotti (starts) became the latest players to reach 400 in their respective specialties. Here are 10 of...

Cardinals 5, Astros 3 April 16, 1999

Despite the Phillies' thin Staff, the club says it isn't considering calling up hard-throwing Randy Wolf from Triple A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Don't expect that to last. Wolf, who at week's end was...

The Angels' Charlie O'Brien uses all his tricks to keep his career alive

Question MarkIs Vancouver a dead end for the aging but still driven Mark Messier?

With Dallas defenseman Derian Hatcher suspended for seven games, including the first five of the playoffs, because of his brutal hit last week on Coyotes center Jeremy Roenick, expect Stars...

LW GEOFF SANDERSONSabres1998-99 salary: $1.5 millionWith 12 goals this season, the 6-foot, 190-pound Sanderson failed to be the scorer Buffalo was hoping for when it acquired him from the Canucks...

April PowersTop marathoners were out in force in London, Rotterdam and Boston

Hail to the RedskinsIn perhaps his last draft with Washington, G.M. Charley Casserly had a day to remember

Thanks to a late rush, rookie Allen Doyle skated to his first major victory at the PGA Seniors

Senior Women Set for 2000New Tour In Town

What do these players have in common?

Will Greg Norman ever win the Masters?

Elaina Mahoney, TucsonMahoney, 58, a freshman at Pima Community College, finished as high as fourth and no lower than eighth in the Aztecs' five events—all victories—to help Pima get to the May...

Change isn't always for the better, and that fact was all too obvious at the Masters

First Impressions

Davis Love came to Harbour Town on his 53-footer, seeking a post-Masters refuge, but his week again came to a stormy end