February 2, 2009 Table Of Contents
SI.com
SI Players: LIFE ON AND OFF THE FIELD
Broadcasters and coaches love to cite it, but what exactly is the Big Mo?
A late-blooming slugger deserves the Hall
By Tom Verducci
After an inspiring fight, a beloved Hall of Fame coach succumbs to cancer
What smart fans should do this week
The screenwriter is cocreator and executive producer of ABC's Lost
As told to Sarah Kwak
SI Players, June 9, 2008 Update
By Dan Patrick
PRO BASKETBALL
He outweighs centers and outruns guards. He is getting bigger, stronger and smarter—he even sees better. To appreciate the ways in which Cavaliers star LeBron James is evolving, first you have to break him down
PRO FOOTBALL
SUPER BOWL PREVIEW XLIII: CARDINALS vs. STEELERS
A sixth ring for Pittsburgh or a historic first for Arizona? It all hinges on whether the NFL's best defense can do what no one else has done in the playoffs: knoc k Larry Fitzgerald off his game
By Peter King
The longest-serving Cardinal, Adrian Wilson has been rewarded for sticking with Arizona
By Jim Trotter
Cut three times before making the Steelers, James Harrison is now the NFL's top defender
Nowhere is the bond between team and town as tight as in Pittsburgh, where four decades of excellence have made the Steelers a civic icon
By Tim Layden
For the Cardinals, a Lombardi Trophy would redeem six decades of suffering—and finally put a winning stamp on a long-wayward franchise
By Lee Jenkins
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Wake Forest forward James Johnson, a kickboxer and a former world champ in karate, has helped turn the Demon Deacons into a title contender with his fearlessness and athleticism
By Luke Winn
FIGURE SKATING
Twentysomething veterans Alissa Czisny and Jeremy Abbott turned back the younger generation to win their first national titles
By E.M. Swift
Inside
The Bruins' Blake Wheeler makes his Calder case, plus other second-half insights out of All-Star Weekend
Jelena Dokic, the talk of the first week of the Australian Open, is the new tour archetype: in the sport, out and in again
A history-making perimeter threat and a low-post power player have Kentucky back in the national title hunt
By Seth Davis