December 27, 2004 Table Of Contents
SCORECARD
From the gridiron to the pool, from the cross-country course to the volleyball court, the season saw hard-fought finishes all around
By Julia Morrill and Kelley King
WHAT IF ...
Lombardi's invincible Eagles? Gordie Howe of the Rangers? Jack Nicklaus, filler of prescriptions? These things almost came to pass, as we found in exploring sports' most intriguing might have beens
CONTRIBUTORS
LETTERS
AIR AND SPACE
... and O.J. and A.I. and everyone else who did things more absurd or outrageous in 2004 than I could possibly imagine
By Steve Rushin
SI Players: Life On and Off the Field
Vikings Quarterback
SI Players
[Based on a survey of 354 players]
Earl Boykins, Nuggets Point Guard
By Chris Mannix
Two key defenders with very different tastes in inspirational tunes
The Questions with Fred Miller
Titans Tackle
By FrEd Miller
The NCAA lets bowls give swag worth up to $350. What the players get--and how they like it
It's a magical time of year--and not just because the playoffs are approaching. Even the Raiders send tidings of good cheer
Inside
The Week in Sports
The Eagles will miss TO, but they're still in better shape for their run at the Super Bowl than they were a year ago
By Peter King
By Peter King
By Peter King
By Peter King
Inside College Basketball
Creighton's Tyler McKinney nearly lost the sight in his right eye. Now he's back hitting game-winning shots
By Grant Wahl
By Seth Davis
PARTNERSHIP UNVEILED
By Seth Davis
Inside Baseball
While the A's were dealing away two top pitchers, the Braves and the Yankees were busy stacking their decks
By Albert Chen
A look at the projected 2005 rotations for five of last season's playoff contenders (new starters in red)
By Albert Chen
Inside The NBA
The Kings have gotten off to a solid start, but the chemistry between their two stars remains a work in progress
By Ian Thomsen
VINCE CARTER TRADE
By Ian Thomsen
MOVEMENT IN MEMPHIS
By Ian Thomsen
By Ian Thomsen
Inside College Football
Thanks to his perseverance and sterling right arm, junior QB Alex Smith of surprising Utah is SI's Player of the Year
By Kelley King
Even as new stars were born in 2004--welcome Michael Phelps, Ben Roethlisberger, Maria Sharapova, Smarty Jones--others went dark. Each of the athletes, coaches and innovators who died left a mark: some great, some small, all indelible
YEAR-END ISSUE 2004
The Pros the Pros Would Pay To See
In the ultimate peer review SI polled more than 600 players from the Big Three pro sports to find out which athletes they admire most. Some of their choices--and their choice comments--were unexpected
The Great American Sports Atlas
The Great American Sports Atlas
New York has produced the most greats in basketball and baseball, Texas is tops in pro football immortals, and, of course, Canada is hockey's cradle. Here's where the best of the best came from in the four major sports and a few others
Maybe it's something in the air, the water or the surroundings. Whatever the case, many of the winningest pitchers and top home run hitters in the major leagues since 1920 were born in close proximity to one another
On numbers alone California has produced the most current pros in each of the three major sports. But on a per capita basis, states in the South have a heavier concentration of NBA and NFL talent, and baseball has an unlikely outpost
No region produces more players per capita at almost every position than the Deep South, but who would have thought that Hawaii would be a paradise for linemen?
Once upon a time there were the Philadelphia Athletics, Minneapolis Lakers, Baltimore Colts and Quebec Nordiques. Pro franchises have moved around so relentlessly, always in search of greener pastures, that it's easy to forget where they all began
If you are what you play, sports is its own country
The most watched sport on television continues to be pro football by a large margin, but NASCAR viewership is climbing steadily. The NBA has caught on out West, and baseball is inching back to its pre-1994 strike level
By Text by Brian Cazeneuve
California, with 25 Division I schools, rises above the rest in the alltime accumulation of collegiate laurels. Texas, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania have been big-time players; Mississippi and South Dakota are the only states whose schools haven't won an NCAA title
Since 1896, the U.S. has sent more than 9,000 athletes to the Winter and Summer Games. As illustrated by this map, which breaks down where those competitors were born by county per capita, every state has made a measurable contribution
By Text by Brian Cazeneuve
LIFE OF REILLY
By Rick Reilly
Departments
Despite nagging injuries in his rookie season, Lions wideout Roy Williams has the makings of a superstar
Legends, scandals and one very cold swimmer: SI's best books of 2004
Andy Roddick and the U.S. Davis Cup team used their downtime to rent a bus, drive around Middle America--and bring tennis to an unsuspecting public
A bust a year ago, Glen Johnson is now looking like the fighter of the year
Perfect conditions off Oahu meant one thing: A rarely held competition was on
The 51-year-old filmmaker's latest work is Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson (PBS, Jan. 17--18)
What to watch and watch for
By Julia Morrill
By Nancy Ramsey