September 8, 2003 Table Of Contents

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Pride Has A Price Middleweight champ Bernard Hopkins's career has stalled since he became his own manager

By Franz Lidz

In Tom They Trust College coaches count on the talent evaluations of Tom Konchalski, the guru of high school hoops

By John O'Keefe

No Role Model Young athletes who've burst onto the scene would be wise to read the cautionary tale of John Daly

By Jeff Silverman

Links Lives

By Jeff Silverman

Sports Illustrated Bonus Section: Si Adventure

38 Miles of Terror Every year riders roar around the Isle of Man in the Tourist Trophy, a test of nerves and speed that may be sports' most dangerous event

By Franz Lidz

Deep Into Her Work Microbiologist and IMAX star Hazel Barton dives--and climbs and rappels and crawls--into uncharted caves to stalk rare life-forms

By Stephen Cannella

Taking Research Out Of The Lab From the tops of cliffs to the top of the world, intrepid scientists push the boundaries of knowledge--and take a few risks

By Julia Morrill

"I Feel Like a Piece of Cheesecake"

By Steve Rushin

No Guts, No Glory Oft-bloodied mountain biker Josh Bender dreams of a 100-foot jump, but first he has to survive this week's death-defying road-gap leap in Utah

Edited By Yi-Wyn Yen

Next Up Wild horses, a bid to board down Everest and computer geeks at the Gravity Games

Edited By Yi-Wyn Yen

Q & A Erik Weihenmayer, 34, who became the first blind person to scale the highest peak on each of the seven continents, is about to cross another boundary by competing in the 400-mile Subaru Primal Quest adventure race, which starts Friday at Lake Ta

By Erik Weihenmayer Edited by Yi-Wyn Yen

What It Takes To chase a four-day record in the Sierras, this heavyweight speed hiker will pack light

By Brian Robinson

Back to the Real Iron Age

By Austin Murphy

Sports Illustrated Bonus Section

Indoor Adventure Summer's over, but hang tight. These new releases take you on an over-the-top quest for motorcross's first backflip and an angler's wild run with the stripers

By Bill Syken; Stephen Bodio

Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary

Hearts Racing The storied track at DARLINGTON bid farewell to its Labor Day 500--and a beloved tradition

By Mark Bechtel

Palmetto and Pigskin The once-retired coach explains why he returned to the state and the Gamecocks

By Lou Holtz

The Poll South Carolinians weigh in on sports*

Compiled by Bill Syken

College Football

Let's Play! After a tumultuous off-season, college football finally kicked off--and no team was happier to hit the field than the besieged Buckeyes of Ohio State

By Tim Layden

Successor's Story USC's Matt Leinart looks prepared to pick up where Heisman winner Carson Palmer left off

By Kelley King

Sidelines

By Phil Taylor

Wild Ducks In fashion-forward neon yellow uniforms, Oregon came on like lightning

By Phil Taylor

Pro Football

No Holds Barred Carolina defensive end Julius Peppers will do whatever it takes to restore his reputation

By Jeffri Chadiha

Basketball

High And Mighty Under Larry Brown, the U.S. reasserted its dominance of hoops in the hemisphere, qualifying for the Olympics and erasing humiliations past

By Jack McCallum

Baseball

A Whale Of A Weekend The epic proportions of the Boston-New York rivalry--the game's best--were undiminished by yet another Yankees triumph in the first of two crucial series

By Charles P. Pierce

Mad Dash To The Finish The A's and the Cubs are SI's picks to win the wild cards

By Tom Verducci

Mental Health

Prisoners Of Depression Mental illness still carries a powerful stigma in pro sports, but there are signs that teams are finally facing the problem and trying to help troubled athletes

By L. Jon Wertheim

Inside

Inside The Week In Sports

Inside Track And Field

Rays Of Hope Last-minute U.S. golds brightened a controversial week at the worlds

By Brian Cazeneuve

Inside Baseball

The Last Run? Free-agent-to-be Vladimir Guerrero has kept Montreal in the playoff race

By Albert Chen

Short Hops

By Albert Chen

Inside Tennis

Patriot Games The U.S. Open's home-team advantage is star-spangled marketing gone awry

By L. Jon Wertheim

Half Volleys

By L. Jon Wertheim

Inside The NFL

Nine-Month Miracle Back from a career-threatening hit by Warren Sapp, tackle Chad Clifton is blasting holes for the Pack again

By Peter King

Wideout's Steep Learning Curve Seattle's Koren Robinson

By Peter King

Dr. Z's Forecast

By Paul Zimmerman

Seventh-Inning Stress

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Leading Off

Letters

One Hellenic Situation Sinking boats, 60,000 stray dogs and protesting hookers: With the Olympics less than a year away, Athens has a lot of work to do

By Brian Cazeneuve Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Losing Isiah It's been a long, rough stretch for one of the NBA's greats

By Jack McCallum Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Who Is ... Dale Webster

Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Go Figure

Edited by Kostya Kennedy

For The Record

Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Wheel Deal

By Lars Anderson Edited by Kostya Kennedy

The Show

By Bill Scheft Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Q + A Mike Ditka

By Mike Ditka; Richard Deitsch Edited by Kostya Kennedy

The Week In Television

Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Under Review Gator's Tale--Martina's Next Move

By Richard Deitsch Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Sports Beat Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Faces in the Crowd

Edited by Kostya Kennedy

Closing Time

By David Sabino Edited by Kostya Kennedy