December 22, 2003 Table Of Contents

Buy the Cover

Browse the Magazine

Sports Illustrated Bonus Section

Inside Cover

The Return of the King Five years after leaving the pro surfing circuit, Kelly Slater came back to force a not-so-friendly showdown with Andy Irons at the Pipe Masters

By Josh Elliott Edited By Yi-Wyn Yen

Update This holiday season adventure racers get a gift: the return of the Eco-Challenge in '04

Edited by Yi-Wyn Yen

Indoor Adventure

By Stephen J. Bodio Edited by Yi-Wyn Yen

Catching Up With...

Ross Browner, Defensive End SEPTEMBER 5, 1977

By Farrell Evans

Si Adventure

The Kid Is All Right Born a methamphetamine baby, 13-year-old Roger Carver is channeling his often out-of-control energy into brilliance on a board

By Kelli Anderson

Parent Trapped

By Austin Murphy

Sports Illustrated 50th Anniversary

Hoops Dream The LAKOTA NATION INVITATIONAL honors the sports passion and culture of American Indians

By Kelli Anderson

Small Wonder Little-school feats are the big moments for natives such as NBC's anchorman

By Tom Brokaw

The Poll South Dakotans weigh in on sports*

Compiled by Bill Syken

Who & Where

Compiled by Bill Syken

Greatest Moment

Compiled by Bill Syken

Numbers

Compiled by Bill Syken

Memorable Quote

Compiled by Bill Syken

Alltime Best For South Dakota's top 50 homegrown sports figures, go to SI.com/50

Compiled by Bill Syken

Pro Football

Hand Him the MVP Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is having the best season of his six-year career, but to silence his critics he has to win in the playoffs

By Michael Silver

Peter King's MVP Leaders After a wide-open race, the Colts' Peyton Manning has emerged as the man to beat

By Peter King

Sports Fashion

Rockin' The Retros A streetwise Philly marketer, with some juice from hip-hop stars, has turned the throwback jersey into a big-bucks fashion frenzy

By Alexander Wolff

The Old Is Made New Again What turns a moldering jersey or forgotten shoe into a retro fashion fever? Two case histories

By Alexander Wolff

The Next Ones New retros for the holidays--and next year

By Richard Deitsch

Pro Basketball

That Other Rookie NBA fans already know top picks LeBron and Carmelo, but 19-year-old Chris Bosh is making a name for himself with the rejuvenated Raptors

By Jack McCallum

Bad Return On Investment In trading for overpriced Antonio Davis, Bulls rookie G.M. John Paxson got the short end of his deal with Toronto

By Chris Ballard

Hockey

Net Worth Maybe he's no Patrick Roy, but first-year starter David Aebischer learned a lot about goaltending--including how to win--from the master

By Michael Farber

Baseball

Keeping Up With George At the winter meetings the specter of irascible Yankees owner George Steinbrenner sent rival AL East teams on a spending spree

By Tom Verducci

Special Report

A Rite Gone Terribly Wrong Hazing is often winked at as a benign initiation ritual, but it has a tendency to spiral out of control, as it did in the horrific events at Long Island's Mepham High

By Grant Wahl; L. Jon Wertheim

Taking Control

By Grant Wahl

Inside

Inside The Week in Sports

Inside The NFL

Guns for Hire Teams in need of a passer should look at veterans like Mark Brunell

By Peter King

Redskins Headed The Wrong Way Steve Spurrier's Struggles

By Peter King

King's Corner

By Peter King; Matt Hasselbeck

Heisman Winner Will Be Late Pick Dispatches

By Peter King

Dr. Z's Forecast

By Paul Zimmerman

Inside College Basketball

Tigers Tales Missouri tries to focus on wins rather than on an NCAA investigation

By Seth Davis

Inside The NHL

Centerpiece Pavel Datsyuk has filled the void in the middle of Detroit's top line

By Stephen Cannella

Comrie Won't Pay for Freedom The Oilers' Ransom Demand

By Stephen Cannella

In The Crease

By Pierre McGuire

Greatest Invention, Period

By Rick Reilly

Departments

Leading Off

Letters

BTW BCS, USC Tops LSU in YACs

By Steve Rushin

Looking Out for No. 1 Those frontline soldiers in the war on steriod abuse--the pee collectors--are finally making a splash

By Franz Lidz Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

For The Record

Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

End Of A Storm

By Alexander Wolff Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

The Show

By Bill Scheft Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

Q+A Michael Weiss

By Michael Weiss; Richard Deitsch Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

Turning Up The Volumes At the end of a solid year for sports books, SI picks a top 21

Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

A Feast of Classic Plimpton Brilliant--and beautiful--reissues by a writer who couldn't just watch

Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

Selections From Our Authors Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

The Week Ahead What To Watch And Watch For

By Julia Morrill Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

Under Review

By Richard Deitsch Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

Sports Beat

Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel

Faces in the Crowd

Edited by Kostya Kennedy and Mark Bechtel