December 28, 1998 Table Of Contents

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Si View

SI View The Weeks in TV Sports

By John Walters

Is the End At Hand? TV sports' puzzling injustices and cruel ironies invite despair--but leave a glimmer of hope

By Steve Rushin

Catching Up With...

Rubin Carter, Prototype Nosetackle October 17, 1977

By Richard Deitsch

Faces In The Crowd

Faces In The Crowd

Pro Football

Sad Sack After a promising start, Chargers rookie quarterback Ryan Leaf blew up on the field and off, casting doubt about whether he has the smarts and discipline to lead an NFL team

By Austin Murphy

Livin' Large Jamal Anderson, the Falcons' workhorse running back, racks up yardage (huge) and makes gestures (grand) to match his ego (jumbo)

By Austin Murphy

Hockey

Put Up or Shut Up By getting off to one of his hottest starts, Eric Lindros has responded to a growing legion of doubters--including Flyers management--who wonder if he's capable of leading a team to the Stanley Cup

By Johnette Howard

College Football

No Quit In This Soldier Though the years may be gaining on Florida State's 69-year-old Bobby Bowden, he's still wily and driven to win-- and he'd like nothing better than another national title

By Tim Layden

Absolute Zero During the 1939 regular season, Tennessee faced 10 foes, and not one of them scored a point. If you think that's ever going to happen again, we've got a bridge...

By William Nack

Powerball The national title game promises to be an epic battle between Tennessee's relentless running game and Florida State's no-name

By Ivan Maisel

Inside

Inside THE WEEK IN SPORTS

Inside The NFL

Inside The NFL

By Peter King

Dr. Z's All-Pro Team

By Paul Zimmerman

Dr. Z's Forecast

By Paul Zimmerman

Inside College Basketball

Inside College Basketball

By Kelli Anderson

Deconstructing Dicky V

By Tim Crothers

Inside The NBA

Inside The NBA

By Jackie MacMullan

Rankings

The Best Years of Our Lives We hold this truth to be self-evident: that all sports years are not created equal. Sure, '98 was a keeper, but just how good was it?

By Frank Deford

Portrait Gallery

Picture Perfect Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus...and he's got a nasty four-seam fastball. David Wells's perfect game was among the bountiful gifts delivered to sports fans this year by the champions gathered here

We Feel Their Pane

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Timeless Words from a Wise Man The essays George Sheehan published 20 years ago still inform and inspire

By Richard O'Brien

The 49ers Strike Gold Player of the year Misty May led Long Beach State to an NCAA title that capped a perfect season

By David Fleming

Leading Off

Back from a Very Dangerous Place Charles Hayward's leukemia is in remission, and he's playing the game he loves

By Gerry Callahan

A Show with UMass Appeal The Minutemen's new coach scripted a Division I-AA title that was pure Hollywood

By Ian Thomsen

Letters

In the Clear

By Loren Mooney

Scorecard

Edited By Kevin Cook And Mark Mravic