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December 26, 2011 Table Of Contents

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EDITOR'S LETTER

COVER STORY

By Terry McDonell

LEADING OFF

LEADING OFF

Inside: THE WEEK IN SPORTS

THE PICKS ARE IN

A new Western power will topple the champs, but the Heat is the team to beat

By Ian Thomsen

THE RÉSUMÉ BUILDERS (AND KILLERS)

A team's out-of-conference performance can provide a critical boost or keep it on the wrong side of the bubble come Selection Sunday. Before league play revs up in the new year, consider three programs in each category

By Pablo S. Torre

SETH DAVIS'S THREE-POINTER

By Seth Davis

THE WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR

Ten BCS programs have made new coaching hires. The early forecast: no title contenders and many who will weather a tough 2012

By Albert Chen

ROTTEN ALL AROUND

FIFA's Year of Corruption shows that real change will only come when the man at the top leaves

By Grant Wahl

GRAND EXPERIMENT

The Super Six tournament produced a breakout star in Andre Ward and established a formula that could revitalize the sport

By Chris Mannix

HOCKEY'S FAULT LINES

The league's highest scoring lines have boosted their respective teams into contention, but are they being asked to do too much?

By Sarah Kwak

THE YEAR IN SPORTS

THE MOMENTS 2011

By Alexander Wolff

THE PICTURES

THE KISS

By Chris Ballard

THE FAREWELLS

From a Cy Young pitcher to a beer-pitching pass rusher, from a cantankerous owner who revolutionized football to a crafty f√∫tbol player who helped usher in a revolution, the sports world said goodbye to a host of indelible figures

By Mark Bechtel

POINT AFTER

FROM WHO? TO HERO

By Phil Taylor

Departments

LETTERS

FROM LOCKOUT TO LOVE-IN

Remember how the labor stalemate was going to drive fans from the NFL?

By Peter King

HOT | NOT

FOR THE RECORD

Return to Bewitched Mountain

A onetime Olympic hopeful straps on a snowboard two years after a near-fatal accident

By Austin Murphy

Not Necessarily the Newsiest

Remembering the year's least monumental moments—the punch lines that made headlines

By Kevin Kerr

JUST MY TYPE

By Dan Patrick

FACES IN THE CROWD

Edited by Alexandra Fenwick