December 25, 2000 Table Of Contents

Buy the Cover

Browse the Magazine

Catching Up With...

Sebastian Coe, Champion Runner JULY 30, 1979

By Kelley King

Inside The NHL

Life of the Party Buffalo's Jay McKee, an accomplished amateur magician, keeps his teammates entertained

By Kostya Kennedy

Inside The NHL

By Kostya Kennedy

In the Crease

By Pierre McGuire

Si View

A Sense of Proportion As their fame and fortune grow ever larger, athletes tend to lose sight of how little that matters

By Steve Rushin

SI View The Weeks in TV Sports

By John Walters

Hottie Topic

By John Walters

Hockey

Who Is That Masked Man? The Sharks' Evgeni Nabokov heads a class of unheralded goaltenders who have made a name for themselves with surprisingly spectacular starts

By Michael Farber; David Sabino

College Football

Norman Conquerer Led by well-traveled Josh Heupel, an undersized but unflappable quarterback from South Dakota, Oklahoma will play for its first national championship in 15 years

By Austin Murphy

Seminole Fact Florida State's offense will be too quick for Oklahoma's staunch defense

By Ivan Maisel

Pro Football

True To His Word Four weeks after coach Jim Fassel made a bold playoff guarantee, the Giants wrapped up the NFC East with a win over the Cowboys

By Jeffri Chadiha

Pain Reliever Hurting after the loss of their star runner and starting quarterback, the Saints have found that Aaron Brooks is just what the doctor ordered

By Josh Elliott

College Basketball

Troy Story There's a lot of kid in Notre Dame forward Troy Murphy, and he's having the time of his life leading the Fighting Irish back to respectability

By Grant Wahl

Inside

Inside THE WEEK IN SPORTS

Inside The NBA

Inside The NBA

By Ian Thomsen; Mark Bechtel

Inside The NFL

Inside The NFL

By Peter King

The King's Corner

By Peter King

Dr. Z's Forecast

By Paul Zimmerman

Real Fans Rock

Faces in the Crowd They are the backdrop to the greatest moments in sports, the fans who live for live action and would die for their team. Here's a tip of the cap to the paying customers

By Steve Rushin

Endless Love These fans have taken a sacred vow to cherish and to honor, for better or worse, in sickness and in health, during championship seasons and decade-long droughts

By Jeff Pearlman; Franz Lidz

Wild In The Seats Without all those fans in the stands, the games would go on, but they wouldn't be much fun

Field Notes

SI polled pro athletes to see how the fans stack up--and to pick up a few choice lines they've heard from hecklers

Real Fans Rock [bonus Piece]

The Mile High Club Denver's South Stands are the second home to a close-knit gang of diehards bonded for life by their passion for the Broncos

By Leigh Montville

It's The Thought That Counts

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Like a Rock For 50 years at Milligan College, Duard Walker has taught traditional values

By E.M. Swift

Leading Off

Eagle in Flight Adrian Peterson took wing as Georgia Southern won another Division I-AA title

By Tim Crothers

Card Game Selling gum was the goal for Topps 50 years ago. Then it put baseball cards in its packs and created an industry

By Jamal Greene

Letters

Scorecard UNLV Woes--Shaq the Grad--The Iceman Cometh--LT's Book

By Seth Davis; Dan Snierson Edited by Albert Kim and Mark Mravic

Ask The Coach Guidance for those lost in sports

Edited by Albert Kim and Mark Mravic

Faces in the Crowd

Edited by Albert Kim and Mark Mravic