December 24, 2001 | Volume 95, Issue 25

LIKE SO MANY OTHER NEW YORK CITY FIREFIGHTERS WHO DIED ON SEPTEMBER 11, MIKE CARROLL WAS A DEDICATED ATHLETE AND LOYAL TEAMMATE WHOSE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT LED HIM TO EMBRACE HIS FINAL, HEROIC...

Went to see Ali the other day. Not the movie, the man.

JUNE 4, 1973

Skirting the IssueThank you, Rick Reilly, for revealing the absurdity of Ryan Sherburne (above) and other high school boys playing field hockey with girls (THE LIFE OF REILLY, Nov. 26). It is...

Letters

A childhood snow day can produce all the chills and thrills of a sports jamboree

Highlights

The website for the Salt Lake City Games has two approaches—and some jazzy new features

With the Emmys out of our rearview mirror and the Oscars three months away, we know you're in awards withdrawal. Thus we proudly present SI's first Viewers Choice Awards, commemorating the best...

The Golf Channel has lost its Chris Berman. Last week it took Peter Kessler off the air because of disagreements over creative control of the shows he hosted, Golf Talk Live, Academy Live and...

Why, after all these years, does Ali continue to fascinate us?

A few of the many Ali-related products and events headed your way.

George O'Leary's CV was so doctored, it's a wonder it didn't come wrapped in bandages. Last week O'Leary's tenure as Notre Dame coach ended after five days, when he admitted having lied on his...

THIS WEEK: JAI ALAI

6Olympic hockey teams that Finnish forward Raimo Helminen, 37, has been named to, an international record.

From the Dec. 11 New York Times:Soccer Found Safer with Smaller Balls

With the new year approaching, it's time for a new calendar. Why settle for that bank giveaway when the world of sports affords so many colorful selections?

DisruptedWhite House press secretary Ari Fleischer's daily briefing, by Diamondbacks pitchers Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling. The pitchers, who with their teammates were in the White House to be...

The Jets have adopted Shrek as their unofficial mascot this season because, like the animated ogre, they're big, green and ugly but (hope to) stand victorious in the end. Given the 78,000 fans who...

There's no crying in sports. Unless you're a retiring athlete. Or you're being inducted into a hall of fame. Or you just lost a playoff game. O.K., so there's lots of crying in sports. In the last...

Subtlety has never been a hallmark of British tabloids. Take this recent headline from London's Daily Mail: THE TENNIS WORLD TOOK ME FOR A LESBIAN. BUT I'VE BEEN MARRIED, WIDOWED AND AM ABOUT TO...

The father of a 15-year-old boy who was cut from the varsity basketball team at Logan High in Union City, Calif., is suing the school district for $1.5 million because he says his son's chances of...

ERNIE BANKSBaseball Hall of Famer on how glad he is that contraction wasn't an option during his playing days: "I played on some bad teams, man. We would have been contracted before the All-Star...

Mount Union won yet another Division III title behind the running of Chuck Moore

A nonstop year for Stanford's Logan Tom culminated in an NCAA women's title

A quick and riveting read about a fast and dangerous sport

WRESTLING

English defender Danny Jackson carried North Carolina to its first national title

Something for everyone (and just about every season), ranging from utilitarian to simply fun

Evander Holyfield battered John Ruiz but got a draw, and boxing took a beating

•DEFENSIVE POSTURE

Ryan Pore, MANSFIELD, OHIOSoccerRyan, a senior forward at Madison Comprehensive High, broke state records for single-season and career goals, scoring 62 this year for a total of 154. Ryan, who led...

DEFENSIVE POSTURE: b. Miami's Bernard Clark made 14 tackles as the Hurricanes defeated Oklahoma 20-14 in the 1988 Orange Bowl.

Their once-ardent fans turned off by players' misdeeds and front-office ineptitude, the Trail Blazers are showing how quickly an NBA franchise can alienate its customers

By acquiring four new regulars, including potent yet patient superstar Jason Giambi, the Yankees returned to the roots of their recent successes

Revisit the top stories of 2001 in our blowout year-in-review package, plus check out sport-by-sport predictions for 2002 from SI's experts on the beat.

You fly to Stockholm, jump into a car, head west, and an hour and a half later you hit Bars and Stars, a multistory pleasure palace in Vasteras that offers a nightclub, a memorabilia-crammed...

A parade of savvy wideouts is coming into its own as the NFL's latest generation of sure-handed pass catchers

Traveling SteerageRob Bell gets no points for his too-brief encounter with Real Deal during the bullriding competition at the National Finals Rodeo.

The Cardinals' David Boston has cut back on showboating and piled up yards en route to becoming a top wideout

Baseball

Cold ShoulderThe reluctance of teams to bid has cast a big chill on the market for free agents

Further proof that little matters to some clubs but talent: The Red Sox found several teams, including the Padres and the Brewers, willing to take clubhouse pariah Carl Everett off their hands...

A Real DownerAnother puzzling loss left Michelle Kwan struggling to right herself for the Games

As the sled swervesAfter earning two world titles—and $500,000 in endorsements—with brakeman Jen Davidson, struggling driver Jean Racine (no wins in eight races this season) dumped Davidson less...

Coach In WaitingBill Parcells isn't sure he wants to return to the game, but he's doing his homework

•WORD ASSOCIATIONWith the Packers' Brett Favre, three-time league MVP and NFL record holder for consecutive starts by a quarterback, with 154

Denver offensive linemen have been fined a total of $102,941 this year for illegal blocks, and there's a feeling they've reined themselves in because the NFL is watching their chop-blocking...

Some people consider this the Holiday Season. For me it's the Formula Season. My eyes have gone blurry from trying to read the many columns of tightly packed agate type. Team A can clinch a...

Troubled time's have put sports into proper perspective, but what better place to find inspiration for the comeback we all need?

SI's Steve Rushin spent 2001 collecting all the weird and outrageous stories that may have slipped under your radar. The result left no doubt that it was a shocking year in sports, but don't...

Two Mundelein (Ill.) High football players were referred to juvenile court after allegedly KO'ing a teammate while giving him a traditional "Birthday Beat Down."

1stA 71-year-old woman from Illinois drowned after driving her golf cart into a water hazard at the Landings Yacht, Golf & Tennis Club in Lee County, Fla.