Winning Teams

Like the athletes they cover, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's writers and
photographers rely on teamwork to do their jobs, discussing the
tone and direction of a story when they receive an assignment and
often collaborating when an interview and photo shoot overlap.
"Photo guys tend to be looser and more relaxed than writers,
which can help our subjects open up in conversation," says senior
writer S.L. Price, who worked alongside Al Tielemans last week to
explore the seldom-seen personal side of new Notre Dame coach
Tyrone Willingham (page 38). At the same time, says photographer
David Klutho, "we look to writers for cues. The writers get to
know about the qualities of a subject long before we do."
Klutho's pictures of Jason Zuback's swing sequence accompany
senior writer Austin Murphy's story on golf's big hitters (page
80). Klutho adds, "Because we can't edit a photo after it's
taken, it's our job to know what the writer is thinking."

Pat Conroy

In the forthcoming My Losing Season (Doubleday, October), the
author (right) of such best-sellers as The Lords of Discipline,
The Great Santini and The Prince of Tides writes about his stint
as a point guard for The Citadel in the late '60s. By turns
humorous and poignant, the memoir (excerpted on page 74) explores
the ways identities are formed through sports. Through the
account of his own struggles to grow as an athlete and a person,
Conroy also brings insight to the pivotal and often destructive
nature of parental influences.

Bill Scheft

Scheft, the columnist who brought "The Show" (page 29) to SI in
July, also pens material on everything from politics to pets as
the chief monologue writer for Late Show with David Letterman.
But these days, says Scheft (left, with the talk-show host), not
even Washington, D.C., can rival the sports world as a source for
comic fodder. "Just when you think you've run out of jokes," he
says, "a father and son jump a first base coach."

TWO COLOR PHOTOS: JOHN BIEVER (TIELEMANS AND WILLINGHAM) DYNAMIC DUO Price (inset) and Tielemans (far left) were there for Willingham's latest victory.

COLOR PHOTO: RACHEL COBB (MURPHY) LONG DRIVERS Murphy (inset) and Klutho.

COLOR PHOTO: DAVID E. KLUTHO (GOLFER) [See caption above]

B/W PHOTO: DOUBLEDAY (CONROY)

COLOR PHOTO: JOHN FILO (SCHEFT)