December 17, 2001 | Volume 95, Issue 24

Devil DoggedCanadiens center Mike Ribeiro gets just enough mustard on his shot to score on sprawled Devils goalie Martin Brodeur in a game New Jersey won 2-1.

The Mavericks' Steve Nash has found a winning philosophy by tempering his you-first attitude with a little selfishness

Jim Jr. is favored to become the third Shea Olympian, following his dad and granddad, the oldest U.S. Winter gold medalist

Spurring each other on, Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson carried Arizona to victory in the World Series—and enthralled a nation

THE NFL

Cruise ControlRandy Moss is cheating the Vikings with his lack of full-time commitment

•WORD ASSOCIATIONWith battered Titans running back Eddie George

With the Bills and the Panthers, a pair of one-win teams, each fighting to avoid the embarrassment of losing to the other on Sunday, the Futility Bowl took an apt turn. Buffalo punter Brian...

The Baltimore-Pittsburgh game is important for both teams, but it's crucial for the Ravens. At 10-2 the Steelers are one of the NFL's elite clubs. If the playoffs started tomorrow, they would be...

Without a BlemishMarquette is off to a 9-0 start behind multitalented rookie guard Dwyane Wade

Pepperdine, under new coach Paul Westphal, beats UCLA and USC

Back in BusinessCoach Mike Keenan's latest enterprise is trying to turn around the woeful Panthers

The two-year, $20 million contract extension the Red Wings' Norris Trophy-winning Nicklas Lidstrom signed last week contains three incentive clauses not previously reported. Lidstrom will get a...

Brian SavageCANADIENS RW

Back the HardawayAfter being sidelined last season, Penny Hardaway is sparking the Suns' attack

Don't believe the rumors that Michael Jordan will retire again or demand a trade to a better team when he's eligible to be dealt on Dec. 25. In either case he would go down as a quitter, which...

From Maine to Maui, parents dropped their spoons into their oat bran last week when they read the headline HIGH SCHOOL JUNIOR QUALIFIES FOR PGA TOUR. To my wife, Linda, and me, it was like reading...

NOVEMBER 12, 1956

Jumping Through HoopsI found your college basketball preview issue (Nov. 19) quite interesting. My alma mater, Purdue, is not listed in the men's top 65 (Scouting Reports), nor is the women's...

Letters

For the truly odd sports record, the venerable Guinness Book is still hard to beat

Highlights

In his trusty 1997 Honda, a website reporter hits the road to cover 2,000 miles and 27 games in 19 days

Unless you're a football-obsessed geek or a TV sports critic, no doubt you limit your Sunday NFL pregame viewing to one network. While CBS, ESPN and Fox all deliver on preparing fans for the day's...

It was sobering enough that last Saturday's Heisman Award ceremony on ESPN had to be held at the Marriott Marquis because of damage inflicted on Sept. 11 to the trophy's home, the Downtown...

The BCS or a playoff? The debate's hotter than ever this year

Peter Blake wasn't one to suffer fools. And if Blake, a 6'4" New Zealander with 600,000 miles of ocean racing behind him, ever felt fear, he never showed it. So for those who knew him, it was no...

Air of Vulnerability

48, 20Respective ages of UMass-Boston hockey leftwinger Dana Marek and his son, Steve, a rightwinger for Babson; they became the first pair of father-and-son hockey opponents in NCAA history, in...

Last Thursday baseball commissioner Bud Selig appeared before Congress to defend baseball's antitrust exemption, which is under fire now that baseball has announced plans to contract. Selig...

Superman vs. Muhammad Ali

Offered•Four seats behind the dugout for any 2002 Twins game, in an auction to support Minnesota's Children's Theatre Company. The tickets were donated by Dorsey & Whitney, the Minneapolis law...

How long have you been doing this?

It's the "wedding of the year," at least according to the feverish Scottish press. Edinburgh native and CART driver Dario Franchitti was scheduled to marry actress Ashley Judd at Skibo Castle in...

The website funideas.com offers a flask disguised as a pair of binoculars, allowing users to sneak their favorite beverage into "the golf course, sporting events, opera and church."

MARK CUBAN

Two old friends and teammates led Santa Clara's women to their first NCAA title

Only 14, Hikaru Nakamura is the best young U.S. player since Bobby Fischer

A handy item for tracking weather and a classic that does almost everything else

North Dakota wrote a happy ending to its upbeat season, winning a national title

Mina Harigae, MONTEREY, CALIF.GolfMina, 12, beat Sydney Burlison, 12, of Salinas, 3-2 in the final round of match play to become the youngest player to win the California women's amateur...

•HELPING HAND

HELPING HAND: b. In 1987-88 Jackson had 868 assists for the Knicks to beat Cincinnati Royal Oscar Robertson's rookie record of 690 set in 1960-61.

The U.S. team is still tainted by the cover-up of a Nagano rooms-trashing

As if they didn't already have enough ways to score, the Rams uncorked beloved veteran wideout Ricky Proehl, who showed the 49ers he still has plenty of legs

New Orleans coach Jim Haslett has mellowed a bit since his raucous playing days, but no one would accuse him of being a choirboy

Check out the complete archive of SI's Sportsman of the Year award plus exclusive behind-the-scenes video of our cover shoot, at cnnsi.com/si_online.

With the NFL sack record within reach, Giants defensive end Michael Strahan shares his secrets for taking down the quarterback

In what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, reluctant returnee Jason Gardner and a slew of freshmen have Arizona off to a shockingly fast start

A Cubs washout from Santa Claus came off the bench to give LSU its best present in years and ruin Tennessee's holidays

In a nod to the old days, tight teamwork and rugged defense have the Pistons pumping again