The Best Of 1998 Sports

1 MARK MCGWIRE Starting right with spring training, all of baseball was focused on one man. The riddle that every fan pondered (and every reporter posed to McGwire): If Babe Ruth hit 60 homers in 1927, and Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961, could McGwire hit 62 in 1998? McGwire mocked the question, hitting an incredible 70 over the fence. And they were 70 big ones: four went more than 500 ft. The St. Louis Cardinals' batting practice became a show in itself with crowded outfield seats; his practice shots got bigger cheers than real ones at most stadiums. But more than hitting a ball really far, McGwire showed what a true sports hero he is by the way he handled the attention with class and with respect for his worthy rival, Sammy Sosa.

2 SAMMY SOSA What if you trekked to the North Pole all by yourself, only to find Admiral Peary got there five days before? The great part is that Sosa's 66 homers weren't ignored. The fans embraced his fun-loving, gracious style, and major league baseball gave him the National League MVP--over McGwire.

3 MICHAEL JORDAN As if in some far-fetched action film, Michael Jordan once again snagged victory at the last second. His sixth championship of the decade came over a favored Utah Jazz team. Who was putting his Vegas money against MJ? Smarter to bet he'd score 45 points to win Game 6 and another ring.

4 THE YANKEES Thanks to strong journeymen like World Series MVP Scott Brosius and a whole lot of teamwork, the Yanks put together the best season ever--without a megastar. They won 114 regular-season games before racing through three levels of playoffs. They also landed a perfect game, a batting title and fans outside New York.

5 CAL RIPKEN JR. Ripken ended his record 2,632-consecutive-game streak quietly, sitting out a game unannounced at the end of the season, when SportsCenter was tuned to McGwire, Sosa and the Yanks. Ripken was healthy, but knew it was time to give someone else a chance to play. Before he started The Streak, the Dow Jones was 819.54. Worry.

6 THE BRONCOS Remember when you thought an AFC team would never win the Super Bowl again? Well, John Elway and his Broncos won an upset Super Bowl XXXII, and then used that momentum to try for a perfect 1998 season. And for the first time in recent memory, they made football cool. Anyone who saw Elway's 14-yd. catch is a fan.

7 CZECH HOCKEY Canada and the U.S. shoved in as many NHL players as could fit on a team and packed them off to Nagano; each squad came home with zero Olympic medals. The Czechs, led by NHL goaltender Dominik Hasek, beat them both. Then they crushed the formerly occupying Russians in an emotional championship game. The all-night celebration in Prague made U.S. ticker-tape parades look silly.

8 JEFF GORDON Just 27, Gordon has won three of the last four NASCAR championships. His 13 wins this year tie Richard Petty's 1975 record. His domination of the sport (and his stilted, good-boy image) has already lost him fans. But his guts, skill and pit crew will be breaking records for the next few decades, so get used to him.

9 IRAN'S WORLD CUP TEAM The upset of Brazil by France's ethnically diverse home team may have been the defining moment of the World Cup, but for pure excitement it was scrappy Iran trouncing the cocky U.S. team. Any game that, by the second half, persuaded some Americans to root for Iran has to be good.

10 RICKY WILLIAMS Just when the NFL was short on running backs, University of Texas senior Ricky Williams broke Tony Dorsett's 22-year-old record for career college rushing yards. Since Williams has dreadlocks, a nose ring and a pierced tongue, plus a refreshing measure of humility, odds are his name is going to be on your kid's shirt this time next year.

AND THE WORST The NBA Lockout. It's hard to imagine that anyone who watched the 1994 baseball strike would think, "Hey! Why don't we try that!" Yet basketball owners and players, unable to agree on salary caps, are halfway to scrapping the season. If they return without Jordan, we're sticking with college ball.