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- <text id=93TT2561>
- <title>
- Jan. 03, 1994: The Best Sports Of 1993
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1993
- Jan. 03, 1994 Men of The Year:The Peacemakers
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- THE BEST OF 1993, Page 87
- The Best Sports Of 1993
- </hdr>
- <body>
- <p> 1
- </p>
- <p> Florida State vs. Notre Dame. Two unbeaten powerhouses, No.
- 1 and No. 2, meeting in mid-November with the innocent hype
- only the college game can provide. And then an upset, as the
- Irish sedated the favored Seminoles for three quarters and hung
- on for a 31-24 palpitator. Why, it was the Game of the Century--for one week, until Notre Dame lost to Boston College on
- that game's last play. F.S.U. was restored to the top of the
- polls, to face undefeated, uninspiring Nebraska in the Orange
- Bowl on New Year's Day. But once again the champ of college
- football will be decided by writers and coaches, not by the
- players. Attention, NCAA: This is a sport, not a beauty contest.
- Play-offs, puh-lease!
- </p>
- <p> 2
- </p>
- <p> Evander Holyfield vs. Riddick Bowe
- </p>
- <p> Former champ Holyfield was supposed to be too small, too old,
- too darned nice to regain his heavyweight title against Bowe.
- In their furious November bout, the only advantage Evander had
- was a huge heart. A comeback of class.
- </p>
- <p> 3
- </p>
- <p> The N.F.L. vs. Sominex
- </p>
- <p> Pro football has become the 60-yd. game as conservative teams
- trudge (one-two-three, kick) between the red zones. Teams settle
- for wussy little field goals (up 47% this year) instead of going
- for big manly touchdowns (up only 12%). And once again the behemoth
- National Conference is headed for lopsided victory in another
- Stupor Bowl. So why would the Fox network want to pay $1.58
- billion for four years of this No-Fun League?
- </p>
- <p> 4
- </p>
- <p> Mitch Williams vs. the Strike Zone
- </p>
- <p> The Wild Thing's eccentric fast ball had helped the Philadelphia
- Phillies beat the superior Atlanta Braves in the play-offs,
- but in the World Series against Toronto, he lost all sense of
- navigation and blew two crucial games. The closer has closed
- in Philly: he was abruptly traded to Houston.
- </p>
- <p> 5
- </p>
- <p> Steffi Graff vs. the Ghost of Monica Seles
- </p>
- <p> With Wimbledon, French and U.S. Open victories, Fraulein Forehand
- had her best year. And still people wondered: What if Seles
- had not been stabbed on the court by a man who said he did it
- to help Steffi be No. 1? (He was later convicted but sentenced
- to only two years' probation.)
- </p>
- <p> 6
- </p>
- <p> Chinese Women Runners vs. Vegetarians
- </p>
- <p> Wang Junxia and her teammates shattered world records in the
- 10,000 meters, 3,000 meters and 1,500 meters at the Chinese
- National Games in Beijing. Their coach credited their success
- in part to a diet spiced with gourmet dried worms.
- </p>
- <p> 7
- </p>
- <p> Michael Jordan vs. Himself
- </p>
- <p> The wonder warrior led his Chicago Bulls to a three-peat N.B.A.
- title. He conquered Madison Avenue with his megawatt smile.
- He battled the press over inquiries into his high-stakes gambling.
- But after his father's murder this summer, Jordan decided he'd
- had enough of fighting. His retirement stunned the hoop world
- and left a vacancy for the top spot in sport stardom.
- </p>
- <p> 8
- </p>
- <p> England vs. France
- </p>
- <p> When the World Cup comes to the U.S. in 1994, this is the vaunted
- matchup that won't take place; both teams got eliminated in
- trials. Americans will still be treated to a summer clinic in
- the world's most popular sport--without the criminal antics
- of Britain's soccer hooligans.
- </p>
- <p> 9
- </p>
- <p> Leon Lett vs. His Brain
- </p>
- <p> From showboat to goat: in the Super Bowl the defensive star's
- premature TD celebration cost his Dallas Cowboys a touchdown.
- On Thanksgiving the Cowboys lost to Miami because Lett couldn't
- keep his hands off a loose ball. This hotdog keeps ending up
- a wiener.
- </p>
- <p> 10
- </p>
- <p> The Fans vs. Miss Manners
- </p>
- <p> The Fan Man parachutes onto the ropes during the Bowe-Holyfield
- brawl. University of Wisconsin partisans run amuck after their
- football team beats Michigan. New Orleans quarterback Wade Wilson
- collapses in pain with a knee injury, and the hometown boors
- cheer. Now behave, people, or we'll send Vince Coleman after
- you.
- </p>
-
- </body>
- </article>
- </text>
-
-