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Pitchers tried to avoid Barry Bonds at all costs — and paid the price when they didn't
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BARRY BONDS
Say what you will about Bonds the person. Bonds the player took decades of universally accepted baseball strategy and turned it on its head. Whenever he stepped into the batter's box in the 2002, he did so as the most feared hitter in the history of baseball, with the possible exception of Babe Ruth. He was the Little Leaguer with a mustache, the softball ringer with minor-league experience, the guy who made you stop flipping channels. He was even better in the World Series, where, even though he didn't win the award, Bonds was clearly the Most Valuable Player.
Related Link:
 Barry Bonds player page |
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UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FOOTBALL
It's hard to have a better year than a perfect one, and that's what the Hurricanes enjoyed in 2002, when they reestablished themselves as the best college football program in the country. Miami started the year with a
national championship-clinching victory over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl, then saw 11 players from that team taken in April's NFL draft. The 'Canes reloaded and rolled through a 12-0 regular-season in 2002 to run their winning streak to 34 (13 short of Oklahoma's record), had two players among the top-five Heisman Trophy vote-getters, and have a January date with Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl for what could be their sixth national title since 1983.
Related Link:
Fiesta Bowl preview |
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LANCE ARMSTRONG
He's the fourth cyclist to win the Tour de France four consecutive years, but the first to do it as a cancer survivor. He's yet to face a challenge he couldn't ride past, and that includes a race course altered to try to bring Armstrong back to the pack. All he did this year was win cycling's most prestigious race by seven minutes and 17 seconds, his second-biggest winning margin in the Tour.
Related Link:
Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year |
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CAEL SANDERSON
For four years, Sanderson wrestled for Iowa State, and for four years he won. Every time. In March, the 197-pounder capped his 159-0 collegiate career, winning his fourth national championship, the second wrestler ever to do so and the first to do it with an unblemished record. He also became the first person ever to be named the NCAA Division I tournament's most outstanding wrestler four times. It's going to be tough for a future athlete
to top the career of Sanderson — who was named the Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year and met President Bush in October — because, well, it can't be done.
Related Link:
Cael Sanderson website |
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ANNIKA SORENSTAM
As much as Tiger Woods dominates the men's side, Sorenstam was an even greater force on the LPGA Tour. She won the first event of the season, the last and nine more titles in between, falling just short of the tour record of 13. She had 19 top-five finishes in 23 events and set 20
records in 2002, including lowest scoring average (68.70, breaking her own mark set last year).
Related Link:
The Season of Sorenstam |
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ADAM VINATIERI
Since when is kicking field goals cool? Since Vinatieri booted two of the most clutch field goals in NFL history to help the New England Patriots win their first Super Bowl title. He tied the divisional playoff against the Oakland Raiders with a last-minute, 45-yard line drive through a driving snow storm at Foxboro Stadium, then ended the game with a 23-yarder in overtime. Two weeks later, he made sure there would be no first-ever extra period in the Super Bowl when his 48-yarder sailed through the uprights with no time remaining.
Related Link:
Official Adam Vinatieri website |
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BRAZIL'S SOCCER TEAM
For those in North America who arose early — or stayed up very late — the World Cup provided everything that could have been asked for. A football-mad dual host (Korea/Japan), an unprecedented run by the Americans and a classic final showdown between an efficient, defensive German squad and a more daring, offensive Brazil team that notched its fifth crown.
Related Link:
2002 World Cup |
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SARAH HUGHES
Overshadowed by Michelle Kwan as America's brightest hope for Olympic gold in women's free skating, no one was more opportunistic in 2002 than Hughes, who picked the perfect time to skate a perfect routine. The then-16-year-old revitalized a sport on shaky ground after the pairs scoring fiasco and proved to be the classic cover girl for an Olympic champion: an ordinary kid with extraordinary dreams, drive and ability.
Related Link:
Flashback: TIME.com Person of the Week: Sarah Hughes |
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SERENA WILLIAMS
Williams ended 2002 by beating older sibling Venus in the finals of the last three majors: the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Now she has her eyes set on completing the "Serena Slam," which the world's No. 1 player will attain if she wins January's Australian Open. Venus has now dropped four in a row to Serena, and that doesn't bode well for the rest of the tour, considering older sis may be the only one who can pose a consistent threat at this point.
Related Link:
No Stopping Serena |
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CANADIAN MEN'S HOCKEY TEAM
It was the most watched televised event in Canada's history, and the Olympic gold medal game against the U.S. men's hockey team even drew a healthy 10.7 rating in the U.S. In the end, a team of Canadians assembled by legend Wayne Gretzky that starred Martin Brodeur, Mario Lemieux and Jarome Iginla scored a 5-2 victory and sent an entire nation into jubilation.
Related Link:
Canada captures first gold medal in 50 years |
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