CONTENTS

16
OPEN AND SHUT
Stefan Edberg and Monica Seles won the U.S. Open tennis titles, but the tournament belonged to Jimmy Connors
BY CURRY KIRKPATRICK

24
WEST MEETS EAST
By thrashing Philadelphia 26-10, Phoenix showed it's an NFC East team in every way but geographically
BY PETER KING

30
NO DOUBTING THOMAS
The young Chicago White Sox slugger, the 6'5", 250-pound Frank Thomas, has shown that he is for real
BY STEVE RUSHIN

36
AT LONG LAST
For Mike Powell, who broke the long jump record, gaining sudden fame required years of perseverance
BY BRUCE NEWMAN

40
LT ON LT
At 32, Lawrence Taylor, the ultimate linebacker, takes stock of his decade of playing for the New York Giants
BY PAUL ZIMMERMAN

66
SIDE BY SIDE
Ralph Branca and Bobby Thomson have been linked for 40 years by the most famous homer of all
BY RON FIMRITE

DEPARTMENTS

4
LETTERS

11
SCORECARD

50
GOLF

53
COLLEGE FOOTBALL

57
BASEBALL

60
PRO FOOTBALL

86
FOR THE RECORD

88
POINT AFTER

COVER PHOTOGRAPH BY CARYN LEVY

PHOTO

JIM GUND

Dawg Day Afternoon: On Saturday the Georgia defense put the bite on Louisiana State—and ruined the SEC debut of the Tigers' new coach, Curley Hallman—by beating LSU 31-10 (page 53).