CONTENTS

Dear Ray, Merry Christmas 10
No. 1-ranked but sometimes somnolent DePaul gave Coach Ray Meyer a belated Christmas present by thumping No. 3 UCLA
by Curry Kirkpatrick

Loseipeg Regains Its Good Name 14
Even the Queen couldn't contain herself when the Winnipeg Jets snapped their record 30-game winless streak
by E.M. Swift

Wild Times in the Wild Cards

The Oakland Raiders spoiled Kenny Stabler's homecoming by sacking him seven times and routing Houston 27-7 16
by Paul Zimmerman

The Dallas Cowboys gained revenge and more by whipping Los Angeles 34-13 behind the sensational running of Tony Dorsett 20
By Pat Putnam

The Winfield Bonanza

Free agent Dave Winfield struck gold in New York when he mined the Yankees for a 10-year, $22 million contract 22
by Ron Fimrite

Al Frohman, who swung the deal, is a former caterer who has been dishing out advice to Winfield since 1973 26
by William Oscar Johnson

Is Winfield's contract the top of the ladder, or will others surpass it? And, if so, can baseball survive? 35
by Jim Kaplan

"Greatest Legs To Ever Stride the Earth" 46
Gayle Olinek once hid her legs, but now that the world-class marathoner is also a bodybuilder they're a glorious revelation
by Dan Levin

The Departments

Scorecard 7
Pro Football 40
College Basketball 43
For The Record 61
19th Hole 62

Credits on page 61

Cover photograph by Heinz Kluetmeier

Next Week

Now there are eight, and after the weekend's divisional playoffs only four teams will remain in the hunt for Super Bowl XV. SI will be at the battlegrounds for Dallas-Atlanta, Minnesota-Philadelphia, Oakland-Cleveland, Buffalo-San Diego.

The NBA'S missing person file includes Ernie DiGregorio, the playmaking wizard who was Rookie of the Year in 1974. He's been out of uniform for more than two years, and Rick Telander answers the question: What happened to Ernie D?