The Year in Sports 2005
So many winners and losers, saints and sinners over the past 12 months that it's impossible to recall them all. The year's highlights ripped by in a blur, but the best of those moments reveal the essence of sports and sportsmanship. Consider, for example, the weekly miracles pulled off by cover boys Reggie Bush and Matt Leinart and the grace with which they performed them. That's the idea behind the following pages: to savor the very best sports has to offer with stories and pictures that resonate beyond yesterday's box score.
CROWD-PLEASERS
BY WALTER IOOSS JR. P. 44
THE BEST OF 2005
BASEBALL P. 62 | THE NFL P. 66 | THE NBA P. 70 COLLEGE BASKETBALL P. 74 | GOLF P. 76 TENNIS P. 78 | OLYMPICS P. 80 COLLEGE FOOTBALL P. 82 | THE REST P. 90
TOO TRUE TO BE GOOD
BY STEVE RUSHIN P. 99
THE LIARS CLUB
BY S.L. PRICE P. 110
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN P. 118
'TWAS THE FIGHT
BEFORE CHRISTMAS BY NINE SI WRITERS P. 126
PHOTO
WALTER IOOSS JR.