January 10, 2005 Table Of Contents
The Lineup
LETTERS
AIR AND SPACE
By Steve Rushin
SCORECARD
SI Players: Life On and Off the Field
Seahawks Running Back
SI Players
[Based on a survey of 354 players]
NFL runners (and a poet) talk about the moment when the field opens up
The Questions with Donnie Edwards/Chargers Linebacker
College Football
After a thundering Orange Bowl victory, a young USC team has back-to-back national titles, 22 straight wins and the makings of a dynasty
That's what Auburn considers itself after beating Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl to finish 13-0 too
The 24 stars--and the outstanding coach--from the 28 postseason games
By Kelley King
The 2005 TOP 10
A very early forecast for next season
By Mark Beech
PRO FOOTBALL
Make that Tedy Bruschi, and New England has the only one. The big-play linebacker and unsung leader of the defense gives the Pats a shot at their third title in four years
By Josh Elliott
Pro Football
Injuries, downtime, instant stardom: a Q and A on the roller-coaster ride to the Super Bowl
By Peter King
Players from postseason squads dominate the selections by SI's resident expert
A Not-So-Wild Wild-Card Weekend
It looks like one mild upset and three easy calls in the first
PRO BASKETBALL
He may be a rich NBA superstar with his own jet, but Tracy McGrady has his worries--like how to rescue the Rockets and how to repair his reputation
Five months after they raised the Stanley Cup, Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards joined other locked-out NHL stars on the best team rubles can buy
Inside
The Week in Sports
Inside College Basketball
Keith Langford (and his new shoes) helped Kansas stay perfect despite the loss of forward Wayne Simien
CHAMPS' STRUGGLES
By Seth Davis
Inside Baseball
Prize free agent Carlos Beltran must choose whether to wait out a bidding war or take the Astros' money and run
By Albert Chen
Inside The NBA
A young and multifaceted backcourt has Washington in the playoff hunt for the first time in eight seasons
By Ian Thomsen
By Ian Thomsen
AMERICAN IN PARIS
By Ian Thomsen
By Ian Thomsen
LIFE OF REILLY
By Rick Reilly
Departments
Billy Crystal's one-man Broadway show, 700 Sundays, is both an intimate memoir of growing up in the '50s and '60s--and a lesson in how sports unites us all
At the World Junior Championship a phenom showed that comparisons to Wayne Gretzky aren't off base
The tsunami in Asia touched the sports world, which did its part to aid victims
After a three-year battle, cancer claims the Rangers' most successful manager
By Bill Scheft
The 30-year-old Academy Award winner stars opposite director Clint Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby
By Hilary Swank
What to watch and watch for
By Julia Morrill
By Nancy Ramsey