Contents

10 Rushing to Stake a Claim
Of the four teams that survived the scramble for Super Bowl gold, the fittest, fittingly, looks like the 49ers

16 Blues and Hangovers on the Nile
Oxford and Cambridge, performed with spirit—between happy hours—to avoid being swamped by Egypt

20 The Toughest Kid on Anybody's Block
John Roche is leading some mean New Yorkers who might Dead End UCLA on behalf of South Carolina

30 Top Hat, White Tie and Bare Toes
Barefoot McDonald kicks the shoe habit—and leaves a trail of footprints in the Florida sports world

34 Don't Cry Until It's All Over
Few people suffer as much for their pleasure as the Nordic racers: a stirring portfolio of a painful pursuit

40 Fishing on the Rivers of the Mind
The Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club offers a quiet scene for practice and contemplation—sometimes

56 La Vie en Rose
People have been known to run the wrong way in the Rose Bowl, but never in Pasadena's splendiferous parade

Credits on page 67

Cover photograph by James Drake

The departments

5 Scorecard
44 People
46 College Basketball
50 Baseball
52 Nature
54 Hockey
67 For the Record
68 19th Hole

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ILLUSTRATION

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Next Week

A wild week of football showdowns will settle who is No. 1 in the college bowl games and produce the Super Bowl contestants. SI's experts and the color camera report.

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Children's games provided Pieter Bruegel with the theme for a rollicking 16th-century masterpiece, and art historian Alexander Eliot with grist for a sporting critique.