Sports Illustrated April 2023

IN 1980, Fred Roggin moved from Arizona to Los Angeles to become the local sports anchor for KNBC-TV, where, night after night, he put on his uniform and took his place in the lineup, batting third, following news and weather. When it was his turn to do his thing, he’d clear his throat, his producer would count him down and then he’d spend five (then eventually four, then three) minutes delivering sports news and highlights. With a mix of levity and gravity, Roggin recounted the exploits of the Dodgers, from Fernando Valenzuela to Clayton Kershaw. He told his viewers about the triumphs of Magic and Kareem, then Shaq and Kobe, then LeBron. He broadcast from the 1984 Olympics; he broadcast when L.A. was awarded the 2028 Summer Games. And it wasn’t…

TWO DAYS into the job, the new field hockey coach at North Carolina walks down the stairs at the team’s facility and greets a visitor with a firm handshake, an easy smile and an offer to tour the building. An engaging guide, she points out all the features of a facility that is commensurate with the Tar Heels’ standing as the best program in the country, having won four of the last five NCAA championships. She laughs about her first contribution as coach: buying some small trash cans for the locker room. When she flips on the lights in a room used for team meals, she’s startled by a new addition to the wall. “Oh, I hadn’t seen that yet,” she says, looking at her own retired No. 1 jersey. It…

Scan the QR code for the SI World Golf Rankings JON RAHM SI World Golf Ranking: 1 A win by Rahm, the hottest player in the field, would surely bring comparisons to another fiery Spaniard who won a second Masters 40 years ago: Seve Ballesteros. RORY MCILROY SI World Golf Ranking: 3 He’s been trying for nine years to complete the career Grand Slam. Now 33, McIlroy has four top-fives in his last eight Masters but has never put it all together at Augusta. WILL ZALATORIS SI World Golf Ranking: 4 In his young career Willy Z has an outsized record in the majors, with six top-10s in nine starts. His putting stroke is shaky, but his tee-to-green game is exceptional. CAM SMITH SI World Golf Ranking: 6 One of the big questions around LIV golfers is whether they are abandoning their…

IF YOU need an example of the rising star power of Ja Morant, look no further than his interaction with 9-year-old Zander Carr in January. Footage of Morant taking off his pink Ja 1 Nike signature shoes, autographing them and handing them postgame to the crying Grizzlies fan went viral. “To see how they react to getting a pair of my shoes is big time,” says Morant, 23. “It’s something not everybody gets, so I know how special it is to them, and it is definitely special to me seeing them cry or have on my jersey.” This month Nike will release the first wave of Morant’s signature sneaker. The high-flying guard, whom the brand has anointed as the first Gen Z signature basketball athlete on its roster, will join LeBron James,…

FORTY YEARS AGO Jim Valvano and NC State gave us one of March’s maddest moments (O.K., it technically happened in April) when the Wolfpack beat hugely favored Houston on a last-second dunk in the 1983 NCAA men’s title game. Valvano’s team trailed in the last minute of seven of its nine postseason games that year (including the ACC tournament)—and won them all. He died in April ’93, two months after a memorable speech commemorating the 10th anniversary of the title in which he delivered the message that remains synonymous with him today: “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.” [FULL FRAME] To receive the Full Frame newsletter in your inbox every other week, become a digital subscriber. GO TO SI.COM/SUBSCRIBE FOLLOW @SIFULLFRAME…

GROWING UP on Long Island in the 1980s, Chris Messina wasn’t the world’s biggest sports fan. “I was the theater kid, so I was running away from getting beaten up by the football player,” he says with a laugh. But even he couldn’t help but be mesmerized by Michael Jordan. “I just remember him literally flying through the air,” Messina says. “I was into dancing—my mom was a dance teacher—so the idea that someone could jump like that through the air was remarkable.” It’s a bit ironic, then, that Messina is now one of the stars in a movie about the creation of the Jordan mythos that features none of what drew so many people to him in the first place. Air has no flying, no dunking, no tongue-wagging. Save for…