February 8, 1999 Table Of Contents

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Golf Plus

The Week Jan. 26-Feb. 1

Rocco Ages Old hand Rocco Mediate ended a six-year drought by ambushing the Tour's young guns in Phoenix

By Alan Shipnuck

Notebook

By Gary Van Sickle Edited by Cameron Morfit

Waterlogged

By Mark Michaud Edited by Cameron Morfit

Catching Up With...

Tom Heinsohn, Celtics Forward October 26, 1964

By Mark Bechtel

Faces In The Crowd

Faces In The Crowd

Si View

SI View The Week in TV Sports

By John Walters

Greatly Exaggerated NBC's erroneous report of Joe DiMaggio's demise is part of a pattern of morbid fascination

By Steve Rushin

Pro Football

The Magnificent 7

The gunslinger from out West, John Elway, cut down the Falcons in rapid-fire fashion to give the Broncos their second straight Super Bowl title.

By Michael Silver

Venus Quarterback Trap Denver's defense prevailed with a grab bag of exotic tactics

By Paul Zimmerman

'Without Mike We're In Disarray' Credit Shanahan for orchestrating Denver's rise

By Peter King

Olympics

Up Down Under Having survived a brush with scandal and the threat of losing its Games, Sydney remains gung-ho--but knows the stakes for 2000 have been raised

By Tim Layden

Hockey

Cold Russian Winner Despite a nasty public dispute over a $1 million arts donation, the Senators' Alexei Yashin remains a fan favorite in Ottawa and a strong MVP candidate

By Michael Farber

College Basketball

Hell Week In a grueling seven-day stretch, St. John's went up against No. 1 UConn, No. 2 Duke and No. 17 Syracuse and found out that it's not yet an elite team--but it might be close

By Jack McCallum

Tennis

Coming Out Party

Martina Hingis won her third Australian Open, but it was the other women's finalist, openly gay Amelie Mauresmo, who stole the show with her breakthrough into the big time

By Tim Layden

NBA Preview 1998-99

The Starting Over If the NBA wants to win back its alienated fans, the league should promote players like this quintet, who represent the best of what the league could--and should--be

By Phil Taylor

Scouting Reports

#1 Indiana Pacers With a team that's tight and tested, they're set to take it all--if they can pass their boards

By Jackie MacMullan

#2 Miami Heat Coach Pat Riley's hopes for a championship rest on a surgically repaired right thumb

By David Fleming

#3 New York Knicks Even with nimble Latrell Sprewell, the style will remain rough-and-tumble. But will the aging center hold up?

By Ivan Maisel

#4 New Jersey Nets A wise guy is in the middle, and a comedian sits courtside, but no one is taking this team lightly

By Marty Burns

#5 Atlanta Hawks A late arrival--forward LaPhonso Ellis--gives coach Lenny Wilkens the player he sorely needed

By David Fleming

#6 Cleveland Cavaliers Having failed to land a marquee scorer, the Cavs count on Derek Anderson to grow into the role

By Marty Burns

#7 Detroit Pistons If its new forwards get back on track, Detroit could be in the driver's seat for a playoff spot

By Marty Burns

#8 Orlando Magic To sign its best center since Shaq left town, Orlando needed only a Penny (and $15 million)

By David Fleming

#9 Washington Wizards Along with the fans, new star Mitch Richmond had to sweat out the re-signing of last year's star

By John Walters

#10 Milwaukee Bucks George Karl's plan: come out trapping, play up-tempo and teach Big Dog some new tricks on D

By Marty Burns

#11 Philadelphia 76ers The talent is there, but the gnawing question is whether the young Sixers have the hunger

By John Walters

#12 Charlotte Hornets Who best to add to a combustible mix of disgruntled stars and a combative coach? Try Derrick Coleman

By David Fleming

#13 Boston Celtics Mature play from Antoine Walker and a steady hand from Kenny Anderson are keys to success

By Jackie MacMullan

#14 Toronto Raptors The franchise is pinning its hopes on a pair of kid cousins and two old-timers who could cry uncle

By Ivan Maisel

#15 Chicago Bulls After a long and glorious run at No. 1, the deconstructed champs are back to square one

By Marty Burns

#1 Los Angeles Lakers They're deep, gifted and, often, lost. In a pair of Dereks, they may have finally gotten the point

By Alan Shipnuck

#2 Utah Jazz In a season of change, the Jazz looks very much the same. But no news may not be good news

By Ian Thomsen

#3 San Antonio Spurs A ring-laden bench may give David Robinson the firepower-- and fire--he's been lacking

By Ian Thomsen

#4 Houston Rockets Scottie Pippen's arrival makes for a lineup that's loaded --and a whirlpool that's crowded

By Ian Thomsen

#5 Seattle SuperSonics Is Olden Polynice the remedy for the Sonics' mediocrity in the middle? Just ask him

By L. Jon Wertheim

#6 Phoenix Suns There's a new power forward in town: He's a sharper shooter, but is he necessarily better?

By Jackie MacMullan

#7 Portland Trail Blazers The call is in for Mighty Mouse to excite fans and rescue Portland from a run of first-round flops

By L. Jon Wertheim

#8 Minnesota Timberwolves A reenergized Joe Smith tries to replace Tom Gugliotta in the Twin Cities' power trio

By Jackie MacMullan

#9 Dallas Mavericks The big gamble: Can a lottery pick from Wurzburg, Germany, be their winning ticket?

By Ian Thomsen

#10 Denver Nuggets No franchise in the league was more in need of a makeover --and it got one. How does it look? Well, better

By Ian Thomsen

#11 Sacramento Kings As if this team didn't have enough problems, three starters have barely been Kings for a day

By L. Jon Wertheim

#12 Golden State Warriors The focus is on winning, not choking, now that John Starks has replaced Latrell Sprewell

By Phil Taylor

#13 Vancouver Grizzlies The Future is bright and a rookie provides bounce, but without defense there will be no breakthrough

By L. Jon Wertheim

#14 Los Angeles Clippers If Kandi isn't dandy, the club will continue to be the league's longest-running comedy routine

By Phil Taylor

Inside

Inside THE WEEK IN SPORTS

Inside The NHL

Inside The NHL

By Kostya Kennedy

In The Crease

By Pierre McGuire

Inside College Basketball

Inside College Basketball

By Grant Wahl; B.J. Schecter; Seth Davis

Sitapha Savane Navy's leading rebounder has his sights set on a higher goal

By Seth Davis

The Buzzer

By B.J. Schecter

Inside Baseball

Inside Baseball

By Tom Verducci

Saturday Night Fever

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Grant's Boom Heavyweight heir apparent Michael Grant is big, strong and...nice?

By Franz Lidz

Leading Off

A Devil And His Demon When New Jersey defenseman Ken Daneyko quit drinking, he regained his life

By Kostya Kennedy

Business As Usual U.S. women made short work of Portugal as the run-up to the World Cup began

By Ian Thomsen

Letters

Scorecard

By Paul Zimmerman; Kenny Moore Edited by Kevin Cook and Mark Mravic