October 24, 2011 Table Of Contents
LEADING OFF
Inside: THE WEEK IN SPORTS
You didn't get the news? A final four is coming to the BCS, and it starts in the SEC
A combination of experience and a simpler game plan has—finally—turned 49ers quarterback Alex Smith into a playmaker
By Jim Trotter
By Peter King
There are few secrets left to uncover by this point in the season, but there are players rising up the depth chart—and others sliding down it
By David Sabino
The U.S. will improve slowly under new coach Jürgen Klinsmann, who was hired to excel in the World Cup, not win early friendlies
By Grant Wahl
WORLD SERIES
Money pitchers and fat payrolls are the keys to a title, right? Not in 2011, when the Rangers and the Cardinals turned the script upside down, riding big bats, lockdown bullpens and ... more big bats to the World Series. In a postseason of firsts, another looms for Texas
By Tom Verducci
By Joe Sheehan
PRO FOOTBALL
Six weeks into the season, the conventional wisdom has been turned on its head— and sometimes back again. Trying to sort the contenders from the pretenders? Beyond Green Bay, it's anyone's guess
By Tim Layden
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Boise State's Kellen Moore is as imposing as a grocery sacker and barely faster than a lineman, but he's about to become the winningest quarterback in history. Here's his secret
Here are the teams and the themes to follow this weekend
IN MEMORIAM
PRO HOCKEY
After an off-season overhaul diminished their attack, the Flyers brought Jaromir Jagr back from Siberia (literally), but the 39-year-old winger has provided much more than an instant offensive boost
JERRY WEST
In a new, searingly honest autobiography Hall of Famer Jerry West reveals the sources of the drive that led him to succeed both on the court and in the Lakers' front office, and of the depression that haunted him every step of the way
By Gary Smith
By Jerry Buss
POINT AFTER
By Phil Taylor
Departments
To curb concussions, the NFL must get through to its players
By Damon Hack
By Ben Reiter
As the new head of HBO Sports, Ken Hershman has a chance to shape the boxing landscape
By Chris Mannix
With the World Series in full swing, SI reconsiders the Fall Classic's most painful moments with an eye toward exculpation
By Ben Freed
An ex--U.S. soccer coach has big plans for a tiny (and terrible) tropical island team
Edited by Alexandra Fenwick
Diabetic and born with one hand, a player excels and inspires
By Matt Gagne
By Dan Patrick