January 21, 2002 Table Of Contents

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Si Adventure

SI Adventure

Off-Road Warriors Need a crash course in misery? Try the Paris-to-Dakar rally, which littered the North African desert with its usual quota of charred vehicles and scarred egos

By Franz Lidz

So Good, So Young Baby-faced brothers Kai and Kellen Ellison are the surfing world's next wave

By Chris Ballard

The It Girl A knockout combo of skill, swagger and, yeah, sex appeal has turned Tara Dakides into snowboarding's brightest star

By Josh Elliott

Inside Out NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE WORLD OF ADVENTURE SPORTS

By Kostya Kennedy

Livin' It For one dude, a stint on a popular reality show was just another day at the beach

By Richard Deitsch; Kevin Pritchard

Lost At Sea

By Austin Murphy

Golf Plus

Golf Plus

Badge Of Honor At the Sony Open, the Tour's newly minted members kicked off what they're sure will be a special season

By John Garrity

The Week

By Sal Johnson Edited by Alan Shipnuck

Big Play John Cook lost a chance at victory--and his cool--at the Sony Open when he was distracted mid-swing by a ringing cell phone

By Dave Phillips Edited by Alan Shipnuck

Q&A

By Phil Mickelson Edited by Alan Shipnuck

Catching Up With...

Dick Buerkle, Miler FEBRUARY 6, 1978

By Kristin Green Morse

Si View

SI View The Week in Television

By Richard Deitsch

Cheesehead Nation Even in the dead of winter, fans at Lambeau Field radiate a burning passion for the Pack

By Steve Rushin

Multimedia

By Richard Deitsch

TV Talk

By Richard Deitsch; James Brown

NFL Playoffs

Power Plays The biggest surprise in the first round of the NFL playoffs was the emphatic statements made by the four winning teams

By Peter King

Secondary Issue To beat Philadelphia, you've got to find a way to beat its vaunted pass defense

By Josh Elliott

Fancy Footwork With a slashing Charlie Garner juicing up the attack, Oakland has regained its stride

By Jeffri Chadiha

Elvis Rocks After hitting a high note at halftime, Elvis Grbac has the Ravens humming

By Michael Silver

Dr. Z's Forecast

By Paul Zimmerman

Hockey

High Times Five years after he says he last smoked heroin, the L.A. Kings' Jere Karalahti looks back on his dreamy days on drugs

By Kostya Kennedy

Pro Basketball

Hey, Old-Timer! Savvy veteran Jermaine O'Neal has become a force for the Pacers. So what if he's only 23?

By Chris Ballard

The Sports Illustrated Jinx

That Old Black Magic Millions of superstitious readers--and many athletes--believe that an appearance on SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's cover is the kiss of death. But is there really such a thing as the SI Jinx?

By Alexander Wolff Special reporting by Albert Chen and Tim Smith

Inside

Inside The Week In Sports

Inside The NBA

Inside The NBA

By Ian Thomsen

This Oscar Is Worthy Oscar Torres, the NBA's first native Venezuelan, is a Rocket on the rise

By Daniel G. Habib

Inside Olympic Sports

Inside Olympic Sports

By Kelley King; E.M. Swift

Hellion Of The Halfpipe Danny Kass, snowboarding bad boy, catches big air and big flak

By Yi-Wyn Yen

Inside The NHL

Inside The NHL

By Daniel G. Habib

In The Crease

By Pierre McGuire

Inside College Basketball

Inside College Basketball

By Seth Davis

Price Is Right Having recovered from a terrible triceps injury, perpetually positive Hollis Price has Oklahoma soaring

By Kelli Anderson

Dirty Dancing

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Leading Off

Letters

Scorecard

By Peter King Edited by Albert Kim and Kostya Kennedy

Faces In The Crowd

Edited by Albert Kim and Kostya Kennedy