THIS WEEK IN SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
- Peter King on the unlikely success of the Colts, with Andrew Luck at QB and a coach battling cancer;
- Mark Bechtel Asks if Brandon Weeden can make the Browns a model of QB consistency;
- Chris Ballard on how the Rockets are bringing Moneyball to the NBA;
- Jeff Benedict on the soccer player from Ghana who could go in the first round of the NFL draft;
- Tim Layden explores the century-old myth surrounding his great uncle, hall of fame second baseman Johnny Evers
(NEW YORK – Nov. 28, 2012) – Buoyed by a precocious rookie quarterback and inspired by their coach’s courageous battle with cancer, the Colts have turned themselves into contenders in the unlikeliest story of the NFL season. That QB, Andrew Luck, lands on the cover of this week’s Sports Illustrated. This is the second time Luck has been on the cover, the first being a regional edition of the Aug. 16, 2011 College Football Preview, and the first for a Colts player since Peyton Manning on Nov. 16, 2009.
Indianapolis fans have quickly transferred their loyalties from Peyton Manning to rookie Luck, who recently tied Rams QB Sam Bradford for most wins (7) by a QB drafted No. 1 overall since 1970. Since Indianapolis Colts coach Chuck Pagano received the crushing news that he has acute promyelocytic leukemia during the team’s bye week in September, the Colts have gone 6–2. Peter King writes that it’s always dangerous to invoke Hollywood in a life-and-death story, but as interim coach Bruce Arians, Pagano’s close friend, says, “This whole story’s for Steven Spielberg. I can’t explain it (page 37.)”
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NO LUCK AT ALL – MARK BECHTEL (@SI_MarkBechtel)
If Andrew Luck’s metaphorical challenge with the Colts is to fill some huge shoes, Brandon Weeden’s challenge with the Browns is to step into a decent pair of cleats from a closet overflowing with smelly sneakers. The 11th opening day starter in 14 years for the current iteration of the Browns, Cleveland’s front office is wondering: Can a 29-year-old rookie revive the team?
Weeden is not far from Peyton Manning’s spot on the rookie learning curve, having a similar record, completion percentage and total passing yards as Manning did in 1998. He has looked lost at times and is still getting the hang of the West Coast offense, which is different from what he played in college, saying: “The under-center stuff wasn’t [a difficult adjustment] at all, but the tempo was. Slowing down, getting in the huddle, verbally communicating …. If you take my offense at Oklahoma State and compare it with what I do now, there are no similarities (page 41).”
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MONEYBALLSY – CHRIS BALLARD (@SI_ChrisBallard)
Rockets G.M. Daryl Morey is the NBA’s equivalent of baseball’s Billy Beane. He sees basketball differently from most NBA executives, and using analytical methods that many other general managers reject – or even mock – Morey revamped his roster in the off-season, working the margins of the sport’s economy, then unloading players when their value peaked. Morey knows many other executives are rooting for him to fail, but Chris Ballard explores why Morey will risk everything to back up his methods (page 55).
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THE NEXT ZIG THING – JEFF BENEDICT (@authorjeff)
He grew up playing soccer in his home country of Ghana and successfully walked on to the BYU track team, but Ezekiel (Ziggy) Ansah’s future in professional sports could lie in being a first-round pick in the next NFL draft. He was recruited to BYU by a sophomore serving his Mormon mission in Ghana in 2007, who played pickup basketball with Ansah and thought the Ghanaian’s 6′ 6″ 250-pound frame would lend itself to football. Ansah walked on to the Cougars’ team in 2010, and over the final nine games of the 2012 season, was third on his team in tackles (48), second in sacks (4.5) and first in tackles for loss (13).
While he’s not a star in the sport he grew up dreaming about – basketball – Ansah is drawing serious interests from NFL scouts, who are flocking to BYU to check him out. Says one scout: “The combination of his height, weight and speed is probably unmatched. Plus, he’s so strong. He’s got that Jason Pierre-Paul type of physical upside” (page 46).
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TINKER TO EVERS TO CHANCE … TO ME – TIM LAYDEN (@SITimLayden)
Senior writer Tim Layden had been name-dropping his great uncle for years: Johnny Evers was a Hall of Fame second baseman and part of the Cubs’ famous Tinkers-to-Evers-to-Chance double play crew in the early 1900s. But it was less than a year ago that Layden decided to write a story about Evers, and he details the process that led him to understand his Uncle Johnny’s life, marked by success on the field but personal tragedy and financial ruin off it.
Layden took special care to learn about one of the most notable events in Evers’ career: A controversial game-ending double play in 1908, in which Evers forced out New York Giants first baseman Fred Merkle to prevent the Giants from winning a crucial pennant race game. Layden found he wasn’t the only one fascinated by the mysterious play: TV commentator Keith Olbermann bought the ball used in the play at auction in 2010, and has made an avocation of vigorously defending Merkle’s actions. Olbermann bought the ball at auction in 2010 not only because he is an avid memorabilia collector but also because the Merkle ball holds particular significance, saying: “It’s the Rosetta Stone. This is the time-travel node that puts you on the middle of this swirling dust storm with 10,000 fans on a Wednesday afternoon at the Polo Grounds 104 years ago” (page 60).
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THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD
- Sonny Milano (Massapequa, N.Y./Pioneer High) – Hockey
- Kate Barber (Dardenne Prairie, Mo./Lafayette High) – Field Hockey
- Mitch Trubisky (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor High) – Football
- Betsy Saina (Eldoret, Kenya/Iowa State) – Cross-country
- Marco Rojas (Stockton, Calif./Delta College) – Raquetball
- Caitlin Schafer (Hollister, Calif./San Benito High) – Water Polo
To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces.
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