In the Beginning ...
The ceiling of the Vatican's Sistine Chapel has been a source of wonder and inspiration since 1512, and yet only this year did someone notice that Michelangelo's depiction of the spark of life could be retouched to represent the moment when the athlete became the Man in this country. The parallels, once we started looking for them, were striking ... and almost too numerous. Our toughest call was settling on just one of sports' many David and Goliath stories. After much deliberation, we gave the nod to the college kids who went to Lake Placid in 1980 and handed the Soviets their heads.
The Gender War
(JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES)
Billie Jean King
Bobby Riggs
Coach
(PROPHET) Pat Summitt
(DISCIPLE) Chamique Holdsclaw
Golf
(THE DELUGE)
Bobby Jones, Nancy Lopez, Gary Player, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie, Greg Norman
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Bruce Jenner
Coach
(PROPHET) Don Shula
(DISCIPLES)
Bob Griese
Larry Csonka
Banned from the Hall
(THE EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN)
Bart Giamatti
Shoeless Joe Jackson, Pete Rose
Steroids
(THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT)
Lyle Alzado
Ben Johnson
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee
Coach
(PROPHET)
John Wooden
(DISCIPLES)
Bill Walton
Lew Alcindor
The Female Athlete
(THE CREATION OF EVE)
Babe Didrikson Zaharias
Althea Gibson
Brandi Chastain
Martina Navratilova
Rebecca Lobo
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Mark Spitz
Coach
(PROPHET)
Sparky Anderson
(DISCIPLES)
Joe Morgan
Johnny Bench
TV
(THE CREATION OF THE SUN, MOON AND PLANETS)
Roone Arledge
Howard Cosell
Don Meredith
Frank Gifford
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Peggy Fleming
Coach
(PROPHET)
Bill Walsh
(DISCIPLES)
Joe Montana
Steve Young
Coach
(PROPHET)
Red Auerbach
(DISCIPLES)
John Havlicek
Larry Bird
Rogue's Gallery
(THE BRAZEN SERPENT)
O.J. Simpson
Tonya Harding
Ty Cobb
Dennis Rodman
Mike Tyson
The Miracle on Ice
(DAVID AND GOLIATH)
Mike Eruzione
Jim Craig
Herb Brooks
Coach
(PROPHET)
Bear Bryant
(DISCIPLES)
John Hannah
Ozzie Newsome
Boxing
(THE DRUNKENNESS OF NOAH)
Muhammad Ali
Sonny Liston
Rocky Marciano
Sugar Ray Robinson
Don King
Joe Louis
Coach
(PROPHET)
Casey Stengel
(DISCIPLES)
Mickey Mantle
Yogi Berra
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Mary Lou Retton
Coach
(PROPHET)
Scotty Bowman
(DISCIPLES)
Guy Lafleur
Mario Lemieux
Steve Yzerman
The NBA
(THE SACRIFICE OF NOAH)
Wilt Chamberlain
Bill Russell
Michael Jordan
Oscar Robertson
Julius Erving
George Mikan
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Greg Louganis
Coach
(PROPHET)
Vince Lombardi
Baseball
(THE CREATION OF ADAM)
God
Babe Ruth
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Jim Thorpe
The NFL
(THE SEPARATION OF THE EARTH FROM THE WATERS)
Johnny Unitas
Jim Brown
George Halas
Al Davis
Joe Namath
Coach
(PROPHET)
Dean Smith
(DISCIPLE)
Larry Brown
Olympian
(ANCESTOR)
Carl Lewis
Coach
(PROPHET)
Leo Durocher
(DISCIPLES)
Pee Wee Reese
Willie Mays
The Black Athlete
(THE SEPARATION OF LIGHT FROM DARKNESS)
Jackie Robinson, Arthur Ashe, Jack Johnson, Hank Aaron, Jesse Owens
The Curse of the Red Sox
(THE PUNISHMENT OF HAMAN)
Bill Buckner, Pedro Martinez, Ted Williams, George Steinbrenner, Bucky Dent, Derek Jeter
The NFL
(THE SEPARATION OF THE EARTH FROM THE WATERS)
Unitas's dramatic 1958 championship win spearheaded the NFL's invasion into America's living rooms
The Female Athlete
(THE CREATION OF EVE)
God, Adam and Eve became Babe, Babe and Babe--it took three figures to capture Didrikson's versatility
Steroids
(THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT)
Lyle Alzado and Ben Johnson are just two of the many athletes who succumbed to this temptation
Banned from the Hall
(THE EXPULSION FROM THE GARDEN)
Avenging angel Bart Giamatti sends Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson east of Eden
The NBA
(THE SACRIFICE OF NOAH)
The rivalry of titans Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell defined the NBA's formative years
Boxing
(THE DRUNKENNESS OF NOAH)
The parallel here is purely visual--Noah's fall from grace looks a lot like Ali's flooring of Sonny Liston
Golf
(THE DELUGE)
Michelangelo's crowded diluvial panel becomes golf's walk of fame--with Greg (the Shark) Norman struggling to stay out of the
water hazard
The Gender War
(JUDITH AND HOLOFERNES)
Judith's bold beheading is the ancient antecedent of Billie Jean's blow for girl power
The Curse of the Red Sox
(THE PUNISHMENT OF HAMAN)
Haman's plot against the Jews brought him death, while Buckner's World Series muff lives in infamy
The Black Athlete
(THE SEPARATION OF LIGHT FROM DARKNESS)
Let there be light? Sure, but not exclusively
The Coaches
Michelangelo's Biblical oracles have been recast as visionary coaches and their brightest pupils
The Olympians
The ancestors of Christ have been replaced by the amateurs who pursued gold they could not spend
FIFTEEN COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS
Illustration by Jeff Wong