Lineup

Departments

6 Leading Off

13 Letters

14 Players
• Moments that mattered in '08
• A bold rescue on the high seas

27 Faces in theCrowd

28 Just My Typeby Dan Patrick

88 Point After byPhil Taylor
• A fresh take on black coaches in college football

Inside ...

80 The NFL
• Chad Pennington is SI's MVP

82 The NBA
• Five deals that should be done

84 The NHL
• The new threat for the Norris

86 CollegeBasketball
• Duke's playmaking combo

32 Can theSooners Be Stopped?
Florida has to at least slow the point-a-minute Oklahoma offense and give itsown high-powered attack a chance to run off with the BCS championship
By Austin Murphy

THE YEAR INSPORTS 2008

40 The Best YearEver
This kind of reckoning is never a science, but let's do the math: An absurdSuper Bowl catch plus a heart-stopping Olympic swim plus the gutsiest golfperformance plus the greatest tennis match ever.... Yeah, it all adds up
By Michael Farber

52 Can't MakeThis Up
You really can't. From a point guard's fruit-related injury to a thirdbaseman's wimpy delivery to the thong that launched a thousand—O.K., at least afew—hits, it was another sublime year for the ridiculous
By Kevin Kerr

54 Farewell
The sports world said goodbye to two Steel Curtain linemen, a couple ofBrooklyn Dodgers pitchers and a pair of legendary basketball coaches, as wellas the singular Kiwi beekeeper who conquered Mount Everest
By Mark Bechtel

72 Happy NewYear
Since being rescued 20 months ago from the dogfighting ring financed by MichaelVick, all but a few of the abused pit bulls have been recovering in sanctuary,foster care and adoptive homes
By Jim Gorant

SPORTSILLUSTRATED WILL NOT PUBLISH NEXT WEEK BECAUSE OF THE HOLIDAYS. THE NEXT ISSUEWILL BE DATED JAN. 12, 2009.

PHOTO

AL TIELEMANS

FOUR PHOTOS