Though he toils in obscurity at Miami (Ohio), Ben Roethlisberger looks to scouts like a future NFL star

A coaching change was the turning point for Colorado's Alex Tanguay

Since the beginning of 2002-03, the Oilers have lost forwards Mike Grier, Anson Carter, Rem Murray and Todd Marchant in trades or to free agency, and those departures are the reason the team...

Sports Stinks. Sports can be cruder than a bald man's winning free blow-dries for life. Sports will lift you up in front of the whole assembly, crown you king and then give you a wedgie.

AUGUST 4, 1975

Jinx ThinkGiven the power of the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED cover to stop winning streaks, perhaps a better headline on your Nov. 17 edition would have been THE CHIEFS, PERFECT (UNTIL NOW).JOHN DARLING...

LETTERS•Please e-mail us at letters@si.timeinc.com or fax us at 212-467-4049. Letters should include the writer's full name, address and home telephone number and may be edited for clarity and space.

In 1975 the Schaper toy company introduced Super Toe, a foot-high plastic placekicker with a right leg you could cock like a pistol's hammer. Violently slap him on the top of his helmet, as if...

No one had a better head for pitching than Warren Spahn

A soccer hero came home last week, and no one rejoiced

95Weeks Oklahoma has been ranked atop the AP college football poll since the poll's inception in 1936, tying Notre Dame for the most weeks at No. 1.

HoledBy Annika Sorenstam, a 39-yard bunker shot to win $175,000 in the Skins Game. Playing Fred Couples, Phil Mickelson and Mark O'Meara at the Trilogy Golf Club, in La Quinta, Calif., Sorenstam...

Died

Tiger Woods and his girlfriend of two years, Elin Nordegren. Just a week after his caddie, Steve Williams, got engaged, Woods, 27, popped the question on Nov. 25 during a sunset walk at the...

Did you see Glen Campbell wearing a Diamondbacks jersey in his DWI mug shot? Are you like me? Were you afraid he was compensation in the Curt Schilling deal?

The 18-year-old Yugoslavian-born forward and the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft—between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony—has played in just seven games for the Pistons.

The WUSA may be history, but its steamiest soccer siren, Heather Mitts, is alive and kicking. Mitts, 25, the former Philadelphia Charge defender who last year was voted the sexiest WUSA player in...

Belgium's Kim Clijsters, the world's No. 2-ranked women's tennis player, has withdrawn from the 2004 Olympics because she wouldn't have been allowed to wear her sponsor's apparel.

YAO MINGRockets sophomore center, talking to a small group of reporters in the Houston locker room last Friday: Thanksgiving just passed, so you should probably know what I'm thankful for: LeBron...

No, he wasn't performing a tribute to Johnny Cash. Utah's mascot, Bear, was just doing his job when he nearly fell into a burning ring of fire between quarters of the Jazz-Supersonics game at the...

WHAT TO WATCH AND WATCH FOR

•GOOD CATCHKeyshawn Johnson already carries himself like a TV star: He's brash and egocentric, and the camera loves him almost as much as he loves himself. So less than 72 hours after the Bucs...

Ashley Jo Rowatt, LOUISVILLESwimmingRowatt, a graduate of Kenyon College, was named the 2003 NCAA Woman of the Year, becoming the first Division III athlete to win the award. The five-time...

Norman Invasion

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to Sl.com/faces.

LATER, SOONER a. College and pro Hall of Famer Tommy McDonald's best finish in the Heisman Trophy voting was third place, in 1956. Vessels ('52), Owens ('69) and Sims ('78) all won the award.

At the BAYOU CLASSIC in New Orleans, Grambling State and Southern throw a football party that puts Mardi Gras to shame

For more about sports in Louisiana and the other 49 states, go to si.com/50.

In the Steeler great's native Shreveport, the gridiron heroes played for Dallas

Louisianans weigh in on sports*

To read an SI Flashback about Shaquille O'Neal's debut at LSU, view a gallery of Saints covers and vote for your favorite New Orleans Super Bowl moment, go to...

Offensive linemen do thankless work in the trenches, trying to outhit and outwit opponents. Few fans even know their names, but no team goes far without them

To sign up for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED'S free subscriber-only e-mail newsletter, go to sicustomerservice.com/siextra.

Get the latest on Larry Fitzgerald and other Heisman hopefuls, plus bowl projections that break down who's headed where, at si.com/football/ncaa.

A play in the life of Jonathan Ogden, who explains why blocking isn't nearly as easy as it looks

Rams tackle Kyle Turley has a great deal to say about defensive linemen, and—surprise!—none of it is good

For the Panthers' Jeff Mitchell and other NFL centers, making adjustments at the line is anything but a snap

That old refrain of Stockton-to-Malone is over, and youngsters Andrei Kirilenko and Carlos Arroyo have given Utah an up-tempo game

The latest NBA news, scores and statistics, plus analysis from Jack McCallum and Marty Burns, at si.com/basketball.

Utah's current roster had the fewest combined points in 2002-03 of any team this season. (Karl Malone and his new Lakers teammates had the most: 10,547.) Here are the teams with the least proven...

By landing ace Curt Schilling, the Red Sox pulled off the coup of the young off-season and fired the first shot in their latest battle with the Yankees

Who's going where in the weeks ahead? Our wheel tells all

Driven by tragedy, sophomore Larry Fitzgerald has become the nation's top wideout, perhaps its best player. The pros want him, but will the NFL let him in a year early?

More college football coverage, including Tim Layden's Insider and B.J. Schecter's Marquee Matchup, at si.com/football/ncaa.

Welterweight champion Ricardo Mayorga, a reckless fighter with an unruly lifestyle, is boxing's hottest ticket. Next show: Dec. 13

To the men in Las Vegas who set point spreads, the true sport is the eternal quest for the perfect number

Winter RulesHuddling against the cold, the Colgate Raiders (in maroon) braved the elements and beat the Massachusetts Minutemen 19-7 in their Division 1-AA first-round playoff game last Saturday...

Sports books, always averse to risk, might be driving high rollers to the Internet

The NFL

Just like Old TimesThe Rams showed flashes of their championship season while streaking to an easy win over the Vikings

Peter King's Mono Morning Quarterback, every week at si.com/football.

TRADING E-MAIL WITH...Chiefs kicker Morten Andersen, 43, who hopes to be playing at 50

Five divisions are holding their summit meetings this weekend. The top two teams in the AFC North, South, East and West plus the leaders in the NFC East are having their second go-round, and it's...

Dr. Z's Inside Football, every week during the season at si.com/football.

Roommates helped Georgia Tech cinch a shocking preseason NIT title

1. Emeka Okafor better get used to the hack-a-Shaq treatment. Connecticut's All-America center, a career 60.5% free throw shooter, made just five of his 12 attempts in UConn's 77-61 loss to...

After seven seasons of so-so play, Golden State center Erick Dampier is finally making the most of his minutes

On the surprising Bucks, who were 8-8 at week's end after being largely dismissed as a playoff contender: