SI View The Weeks in TV Sports

DON'T MISS

Monday 1/4

Fiesta Bowl
ABC 8 PM

Miami miscued here in 1987. Florida fell in '96. Now Florida
State (11-1) becomes the third Sunshine State school to take aim
at a national title in Sun Devil Stadium. The No. 2 Seminoles
meet top-ranked Tennessee (12-0) for the first time since 1958
(Seminoles 10, Volunteers 0). Measuring stick? Florida, which
Florida State beat soundly 23-12 and Tennessee defeated 20-17 in
overtime. Tonight's star attractions are wideouts Peter Warrick
(Seminoles) and Peerless Price (Volunteers, right). Should it
come down to a field goal, Florida State's Sebastian Janikowski,
the Lou Groza Award winner, considers anything from 50 yards or
less a chip shot. Keith Jackson signs off for the last time.
We'll miss ya, Hoss.

HIGHLIGHTS

Wednesday 12/30

Raid Gauloises
OUTDOOR LIFE NETWORK 8 PM

For 10 days last autumn, 49 five-person teams met in the world's
premier adventure race, held this year in Ecuador and chronicled
on this three-hour show. No competitors died; most only wished
they had. The events on the magnificent 370-mile course included
biking, paragliding, hiking through a jungle, whitewater rafting,
sea kayaking and climbing the 19,347-foot active volcano
Cotopaxi. The toughest part of the race may have been packing for
it.

Friday 1/1

Sugar Bowl
ABC 8:30 PM

The season began with stories of 1997 Butkus Award winner Andy
Katzenmoyer of Ohio State (10-1) failing to attend class. Let's
close it with one of '98 Lombardi Awardee Dat Nguyen finding time
to attend someone else's. Two seasons ago Nguyen, the alltime
leading tackler (517) at Texas A&M (11-2), paid weekly visits to
the schoolroom of another Vietnamese immigrant, a fifth-grader
named Quang Pham, to help him learn English. Expect linebackers
Katzenmoyer and Nguyen to really ring in the New Year during
this, the best of the rest of the bowls, with the No. 3 Buckeyes
holding fast to the slimmest of hopes for a national title.

Saturday 1/2

NFL Wild-card Playoffs
ABC 12:30 PM and 4 PM; SUNDAY, CBS AND FOX, 12:30 PM AND 4 PM

In our sequel to There's Something about Mary (i.e., There's a
Li'l Somethin' Somethin' about Mary), Green Bay quarterback Brett
Favre breaks out of his seasonlong funk over being dumped by
Cameron Diaz. He takes the Packers, who meet the 49ers in what
should be by far the weekend's best matchup, to Super Bowl XXXIII
in Miami, where Favre reunites with Diaz. The Pack was finer than
the Niners by a 36-22 count on Nov. 1, with Favre throwing three
touchdown passes.

Sunday 1/3

Duke at Maryland
ESPN2 1:30 PM

Coach Krzyzewski, meet the press. With a swarming full-court
trap that reminds Beltway insiders of a House majority caucus,
the Terrapins (11-1 and ranked No. 5 at week's end) trip up more
foes than anyone not concealing a tape recorder. Last Saturday
such Terpetrators as Steve Francis and Terrell Stokes forced
Princeton's normally unimpeachable ball handlers into 29
turnovers in an 81-58 wipeout. In Duke (9-1), Maryland will this
week face the nation's No. 2 squad, but if Blue Devils guards
William Avery and Trajan Langdon can't withstand the heat,
they'll be resigned to a long day in Cole Fieldhouse.

ALL TIMES EASTERN. SCHEDULES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. SOURCE:
NIELSEN SPORTS MARKETING SERVICE

COLOR PHOTO: PATRICK MURPHY-RACEY [Peerless Price in game]

THE RATING

10.9

Rating in cable homes for the Dec. 13 Dolphins-Jets game. Seen
by an average of 8.2 million households, it was the third
most-watched telecast in ESPN's 19-year history and the
fifth-most-viewed cable program ever.

THE ZAPPER

View Year's resolutions: Me--Make requisite Barbara Feldon
reference ASAP (there, done). Keith Olbermann--Don't rent, buy.
Daniella Deutscher (sweet shooter on NBC's Saturday-morning hoops
comedy Hang Time)--Jump straight from Deering High to the ABL.
ESPN2--Telecast World's Strongest-Smelling Man championships.
CNN--During the NBA lockout enlist NBC's intrepid Jim Gray to
spell overworked sideline reporter Christiane Amanpour in
Baghdad.