BEST OF ’99

1. TOUR DE LANCE

Cancer diagnosis, intensive chemotherapy, brain surgery, rehab, the 1999 Tour de France championship--Lance Armstrong did it all, in less than three years. You want to talk incredible comebacks, you’d better start here.

2. MIA-MANIA

Their soccer skills won the World Cup. Their personalities charmed a nation. Led by dynamic forward Mia Hamm and resourceful goalkeeper Briana Scurry, Team USA’s month in the sun--culminated by a shootout victory over China before 90,185 at the Rose Bowl--did more for American soccer, and women’s team sports, than any event preceding it. Memo to U.S. Soccer Federation: Show them the money already.

3. LAND SPEED RECORDS

In a span of less than three months, Americans Maurice Greene and Michael Johnson ran down two of the most prestigious world records in sports--Greene becoming the first man to legitimately run 100 meters in 9.79 seconds, Johnson covering 400 meters in an unprecedented 43.18. Now, if we can only get them to go head to head at 200 meters in 2000.

4. WILD RYDE

OK, so the heavily favored U.S. golfers never should have been in such a predicament to begin with--down, 10-6, beginning the third day of Ryder Cup play. Still, no Ryder Cup team had erased so big a deficit on the final Sunday, and Justin Leonard’s critical 45-foot putt on the 17th hole (and resulting Ugly American celebration) will not be soon forgotten on either side of the Atlantic.

5. HIGHLIGHT TRIPLEHEADER

Baseball fans hit the trifecta on Aug. 5, 6 and 7. Thursday, Mark McGwire becomes the 16th major leaguer to hit 500 home runs. Friday, Tony Gwynn becomes the 22nd player to get 3,000 hits. Saturday, Wade Boggs makes it 23 with hit No. 3,000--of all things, a home run.

6. YES, TIGER WOULD

Two years had passed since Tiger Woods won his first major, and Tigermaniacs were starting to get restless. In August, the would-be dynasty returned from sabbatical as Woods held off a late charge by Spanish teenager Sergio Garcia to win the PGA Championship--one of eight tournament titles Woods would claim in 1999. Bigger than the Beatles? No, but he’s bigger than Duval.

7. STEFFI & ANDRE IN PARIS

The most amazing story in tennis in ’99 was (a) Steffi Graf upsetting Martina Hingis in the French Open final; (b) Andre Agassi rallying from a two-set deficit to defeat Andrei Medvedev in the French Open final; (c) Graf and Agassi linking up in the can-you-believe celebrity romance of the year. Evidently, Brooke Shields’ backhand wasn’t up to snuff.

8. YES, UCONN

The 1999 NCAA men’s basketball final paired Connecticut, the team that couldn’t win the big one, against Duke, a team that had lost once in 38 games. UConn’s startling 77-74 victory proved so distressing to the Blue Devils, three Duke underclassmen left school early for the NBA and another transferred to--egad--Utah.

9. BACK-TO-BACK I

Overcoming a melancholy regular season scarred by death (Joe DiMaggio, Catfish Hunter) and cancer (Joe Torre, Darryl Strawberry), the New York Yankees pulled together and put together an 11-1 postseason--including a 4-0 World Series sweep of Atlanta--to win their second consecutive championship and third in four years.

10. BACK-TO-BACK II

A Super Bowl punch line during the 1980s, the Denver Broncos closed out the 1990s with the last two Vince Lombardi trophies of the decade, with John Elway passing for 336 yards and a touchdown and rushing (hobbling?) for another in his final pro football game.