CONTENTS

SIZZLING RIVALS 14
The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Rams played yet another thriller as the new NFL season beckoned
by Rick Reilly

BRAVOS FOR A ROMAN CANDLE 18
Ben Johnson blazed to a record 9.83 100 meters in the World Track and Field Championships in Rome
by Kenny Moore

DASHING DEBUT BY THE VOLS 22
Tennessee's late field goal stunned favored Iowa 23-22 in the Kickoff Classic game in New Jersey
by Douglas S. Looney

TORONTO'S BIG BRASS BELL 24
Slugger George Bell of the Blue Jays rubs some people the wrong way, but he always wields an eloquent bat
by Ron Fimrite

DALE TURNS 'EM PALE 32
Dale Earnhardt, this year's NASCAR champion, isn't shy about banging fenders with his top opponents
by Sam Moses

PREPARING A BIG MOVE 36
Butch Reynolds may be the one at last to break the 400-meter record that Lee Evans set 19 years ago
by Kenny Moore

EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN 50

A photo essay bares the zestful Southern California scene in all of its shining, watery, sandy, bikinied, muscle-bound, sporting glory

One amazed Bostonian discovers a wonderland of skateboard wizards and Zen tennis participants
by Leigh Montville

DEPARTMENTS

Letters 6
Scorecard 11
Inside Baseball 44
Golf 75
For The Record 76
Point After 78

Cover photograph by Peter Read Miller

PHOTO

HEINZ KLUETMEIER

NICE GRAB: It was the end of just another day of hard work at the beach in Santa Monica as this sunny Southern Californian flashed the form that has won her work as a Frisbee pro (page 50).

ILLUSTRATION

LEVITY