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March 25, 2002 Table Of Contents

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Golf Plus

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Scott Free Scott Hoch can live with the incongruity of being described as both a cantankerous boor and a refreshing truth-teller. What bugs him is that after all these years, his game gets no respect

By John Garrity

Sex Or Sport? The rebirth of the LPGA's crusade to win over fans with good looks and good cheer coincided with the death of one of its most glamorous founders--and raised an age-old question

By Ivan Maisel

The Week

By Gary Van Sickle; Sal Johnson EDITED BY Alan Shipnuck

Big Play Why does Phil Mickelson so often play second fiddle to Tiger Woods? Look no further than Lefty's reckless gamble at Bay Hill

By Gary Smith

Si View

Double Drivel Tournament upsets Rendered in couplets? Beware the March muse, For Madness ensues

By Steve Rushin

SI View The Week in Television

By Richard Deitsch

Multimedia

By Pete McEntegart

TV Talk Actor Dennis Quaid won't knuckle under to our heat

By Richard Deitsch; Dennis Quaid

Ncaa Tournament

A Method To The Madness Each team in the NCAAs measures success differently. Here's our take on the Week One winners and losers

By Grant Wahl

Golf

Tiger Time With spring in the air and the Masters nearing, Tiger Woods shook off his winter doldrums and won at Bay Hill for the third straight year

By Alan Shipnuck

Pro Football

Steve Spurrier "I came here to see if we can pitch it around in the NFL. I don't see why we can't."

By Tim Layden

Inside

Inside The Week in Sports

Inside The NBA

Inside The NBA

By Ian Thomsen

Hudson's Flowing Two ingredients in Troy Hudson's emergence for the Magic: oil and rap

By Kelley King

Inside The NHL

Wily Coyotes By trading expensive stars for younger and cheaper players, Phoenix has risen quickly

By Daniel G. Habib

In The Crease

By Pierre McGuire

Baseball Preview

Hitters Rule Armed with better tools and new techniques, today's batters have taken over the game.

By Tom Verducci

The Big Stick It has taken an overhauled stance--and gobs of extra-thick pine tar--to turn Arizona's Luis Gonzalez from spray hitter to feared slugger

By Phil Taylor

Good Wood PREMIUM VINTAGE LUMBER

Me And My Bat Pride. Possessiveness. Passion. A belter can have a welter of feelings for his most important professional partner. Just listen to these sluggers

Against The Grain Carving a new niche in maple, a Canadian woodworker gave hitters an alternative to ash and unleashed the boutique bat business

By Stephen Cannella

Scouting Reports

By Projected rosters, Player Value Rankings and defensive ratings compiled by David Sabino

1 New York Yankees Who could be the breakout Yankee this year? Would you believe Mike Mussina?

By Tom Verducci

2 Boston Red Sox It's shaping up as more of the same: Pray for Pedro and wait till next year

By Tom Verducci

3 Toronto Blue Jays Once they've endured their growing pains, the New Jays should improve with age

By Tom Verducci

4 Baltimore Orioles For the O's to improve, the kids have to keep up with ageless Jeff Conine

By Stephen Cannella

5 Tampa Bay Devil Rays An out-with-the-old, in-with-the-new plan offers hope--just not for this year

By Stephen Cannella

1 Chicago White Sox Good young arms plus scary veteran bats add up to a team to be reckoned with

By Phil Taylor

2 Minnesota Twins They smoothly field questions about their future--and every ball hit their way

By Mark Bechtel

3 Cleveland Indians With a dropoff in firepower, this Tribe won't be lighting it up in the postseason

By Mark Bechtel

4 Detroit Tigers There may be less bickering in Detroit, but not more bang from a popgun offense

By Mark Bechtel

5 Kansas City Royals The embattled manager is all smiles and yuks this spring. Why, exactly, is a mystery

By Mark Bechtel

1 Seattle Mariners They won't win 116 games again, but that's O.K.--they've got bigger things in mind

By Tom Verducci

2 Oakland Athletics Even after losing its big stick, this club gets plenty of bang for its limited bucks

By Tom Verducci

3 Anaheim Angels Nothing would be more heavenly than a return to form by two pivotal sluggers

By Tom Verducci

4 Texas Rangers An unpredictable staff, a volatile clubhouse and a Murderers' Row--things won't be dull

By Stephen Cannella

1 Atlanta Braves The addition of a renowned Sheff adds much-needed spice to a bland offense

By Josh Elliott

2 New York Mets No team made more changes this winter, but will they turn out to be for the better?

By Jeff Pearlman

3 Florida Marlins This talented young bunch needed a leader. They got themselves a Rock

By Jeff Pearlman

4 Philadelphia Phillies Last year was nice, but the status quo won't be enough for Philly to move up

By Josh Elliott

5 Montreal Expos A team teetering on the brink of extinction is pondering what might have been

By Jeff Pearlman

1 St. Louis Cardinals The Redbirds lost a megastar, but there might just be an MVP waiting in the wings

By Josh Elliott

2 Houston Astros A suddenly younger team will count on a superb staff and that old offensive pop

By Josh Elliott

3 Chicago Cubs Will baseball's longest championship drought finally end? Don't count on it

By Jeff Pearlman

4 Milwaukee Brewers Wanted: a spark at the top of the order and power in the middle of the lineup

By Jeff Pearlman

5 Cincinnati Reds How bad are the Reds? Two years ago their ace was a minor leaguer--in Japan

By Jeff Pearlman

6 Pittsburgh Pirates Brian Giles is a superstar, but the naked truth is: The rest of this team stinks

By Jeff Pearlman

1 Arizona Diamondbacks An aging squad insists last year's magic was no last hurrah. They might be right

By Phil Taylor

2 San Francisco Giants Signs of change for the better still may not get last year's runner-up back to the top

By Phil Taylor

3 Los Angeles Dodgers Who's on third? It could be a long season if Adrian Beltre doesn't have a big year

By Stephen Cannella

4 San Diego Padres Think there's nowhere to go but up for the NL's worst defensive team? Think again

By Phil Taylor

5 Colorado Rockies Bank on more cost cutting if a pair of aces fails to rebound from a poor 2001

By Phil Taylor

PVR PLAYER VALUE RANKINGS

By David Sabino

The Real New York Giants

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Happy Holiday A monster move in the Florida Derby gave focus to a fuzzy Kentucky Derby picture

By Mark Beech

Leading Off

Vive La Revolution! No MLS team benefited more from the league's contraction than New England

By Mark Bechtel

Stone-cold Wonderful For Donnie MacMillan, there is nothing finer than to be Carolina's king of ice

By Mark Bechtel

Letters

Scorecard

By Jim Bouton; Don Yaeger; Daniel G. Habib; Amy Ruth Levine; Kelley King

Faces In The Crowd