
LINEUP
DEPARTMENTS
4 Leading Off
10 Letters
12 Editor's Letter
17 Scorecard
Why we love to hate a Dream Team
26 Faces in the Crowd
29 Just My Type
The ideal job for the Red Sox' new manager
BY DAN PATRICK
32 Inside ...
College Basketball
The Rebels are runnin'
The NFL
Punt return revolution
Baseball
Why Bobby V matters
The NBA
Lockout postcards
College Football
Season awards
150 Point After
To whom should I hand the Heisman?
BY PHIL TAYLOR
FEATURES
50 SPORTSWOMAN OF THE YEAR
PAT SUMMITT
SPORTSMAN OF THE YEAR
MIKE KRZYZEWSKI
Division I basketball's two winningest coaches have more in common than success
By Alexander Wolff
• THREE PAST WINNERS
68 PRO FOOTBALL
PATRIOTS DEFENSE
Despite a unit built with spare parts, New England is once again cruising to the playoffs
By Ben Reiter
74 SPECIAL REPORT
1986 BENGALS
A comprehensive survey of football's long-term effects on an entire NFL roster
By Peter King
86 | COLLEGE FOOTBALL
SO I WENT TO VEGAS
A trip to the only place where every game still counts
By Austin Murphy
92 | HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
HMONG IMMIGRANTS
One way to assimilate is to put on helmets and cleats
By Charles P. Pierce
100 | BASEBALL
BEST. NIGHT. EVER.
The games of Sept. 28, 2011, will live in ecstasy
By Lee Jenkins
112 | PRO HOCKEY
ALEX OVECHKIN
The superstar is trying to shed an ugly label
By Michael Farber
122 | BASKETBALL RECRUITING
WIZ KID
Coaches pay attention to 17-year-old Alex Kline
By Jim Gorant
WALTER IOOSS JR.
MY EDUCATION
Fifty years of shooting the biggest games and greatest athletes
BY WALTER IOOSS JR., WITH CHRIS BALLARD
P. 130
"What of the typical retired player who should still be young enough to enjoy his post-NFL life? How does he feel decades after his playing days are over?
—Peter King, in a special report on the 1986 Bengals
P. 74
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ON THE COVER
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SIMON BRUTY; DAMIAN STROHMEYER (SUMMITT IN 1991); RICHARD MACKSON (KRZYZEWSKI IN '91)
PHOTO
DAVID E. KLUTHO (OVECHKIN)
SUPERSTAR SLUMP Alex Ovechkin's game has gone from dominant to dormant: He has just eight goals in 25 games.
PHOTO
WALTER IOOSS JR. (IOOSS)
PHOTO