Sports Illustrated

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — MIAMI -- The Mohawk had been lacquered and spiked while Chris "Birdman'' Andersen was making his large yet minimalist impact on Game 1 of the Eastern finals Wednesday night. On Thursday after practice, he and his hair were more relaxed. The hair lay tousled along the top of his head like a strip of highway median.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — SI.com Video Cornell University wrestling star Kyle Dake is a four-time NCAA national champion in four different weight classes, and a four-time Academic All-American. His on and off the mat success earned him the title of 2013 College Athlete of the Year.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — Having wasted more hours of my life than I care to admit outside the closed door of the room where the SEC's football coaches meet every May at a beachside hotel near Destin, Fla., I can confirm that the coaches usually go about their business with a collegiality that belies their on-field demeanors.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — I'm shamelessly stealing the title of Po Bronson's great book to illustrate the difficulty that MLB teams have in keeping players healthy. Over the last decade, teams have spent more than a billion dollars on players that were on the DL. That's billion with a B, all spent on players shelved for injuries that could be preventable.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — The first all-German Champions League final takes place Saturday when Bayern Munich meets Borussia Dortmund here at Wembley Stadium (2:45 p.m. ET, big FOX), but for me and other neutrals the most alluring aspect of the world's marquee annual soccer match is this: The two best teams made the final.

sportsillustrated.cnn.com — This SI Vault Sports Illustrated cover from 05.23.77 features Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Basketball, Los Angeles Lakers. See over 2800 covers in the SI Vault.