CONTENTS

Icing a Family Fortune 12
Already all-round world champs, Eric Heiden and his sister Beth added gold and silver to their hoard at the sprint competition
by E. M. Swift

This Was a Time to Remember 16
With the memory of a near-miss fresh in his mind, Eamonn Coghlan shattered the indoor mile record by 2.3 seconds in San Diego
by Kenny Moore

It Was Petty Larceny 18
While Cale Yarborough and the Allisons duked it out by Turn 3, Richard Petty stole on by to win the Daytona 500
by Sam Moses

There's an III Wind for the NBA 20
The league's attendance and TV ratings are down, leading to a lot of cries and whispers about pro basketball's real problems
by John Papanek

The Winter of Despair 28
Winter racing is not fit for man or beast, but the fans turn out despite the snow and sub-freezing temperatures
by Douglas S. Looney

She's His Fair Lady 32
Jan Merrill, America's outstanding middle-distance runner, is tutored by her very own Professor Higgins, this one named Norm
by Anita Verschoth

Day of Light and Shadows 56
A fanatical Red Sox fan recounts the glittering glory and chilling finale of last fall's New York-Boston playoff game
by Jonathan Schwartz

The Departments

Scorecard 10
College Basketball 36
Boating 44
Conservation 49
For the Record 71
19th Hole 74

Credits on page 71

Cover photograph by Robert Hagedohm

Next Week

Everything under the sun, it seems, is a fit subject for spring-training drills. Artist Walt Spitzmiller depicts some of the oddities as well as the old standbys to be seen when baseball breaks out next week from Florida to Arizona and California.

A Mother laments the jealousies and donnybrooks that ensued when basketball coaches recruited her 6'9" son. Marian Leifsen writes with startling candor of the recruiters' "exploitative" ploys, and of her transformation into a stage mother.