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Front Cover
Back Cover
December 26, 2011
EDITOR'S LETTER
LEADING OFF
Inside: THE WEEK IN SPORTS
A new Western power will topple the champs, but the Heat is the team to beat
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
Ten BCS programs have made new coaching hires. The early forecast: no title contenders and many who will weather a tough 2012
FIFA's Year of Corruption shows that real change will only come when the man at the top leaves
The Super Six tournament produced a breakout star in Andre Ward and established a formula that could revitalize the sport
The league's highest scoring lines have boosted their respective teams into contention, but are they being asked to do too much?
THE YEAR IN SPORTS
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
POINT AFTER
Departments
Remember how the labor stalemate was going to drive fans from the NFL?
A onetime Olympic hopeful straps on a snowboard two years after a near-fatal accident
Remembering the year's least monumental moments—the punch lines that made headlines