ESPN the Magazine Features ''ESPN 100'' Annual List Names the Stories That Mattered Most in 2004; Red Sox's DH David Ortiz Featured on Cover.

NEW YORK -- COVER STORY: ESPN 100. ESPN's third annual ESPN 100 - the single list that ranks the top 100 sports personalities, moments, trends, games and stories that mattered in 2004 - will debut in the Dec. 20 issue of ESPN The Magazine, on sale Wednesday, December 8. Created from input and debate by a jury of ESPN experts, the Top Ten is (in order):

1. Red Sox: David Ortiz led the Sox in a for-the-ages rendition of
   Roll Over Bambino.

2. Basket-brawl: Short-tempered players and drunken fans teamed
   up to give us sports' ugliest moment of 2004, but who was really
   responsible?

3. Lance Armstrong: While winning his sixth Tour de France,
   Armstrong has combined strength and vulnerability to reach the
   most exalted position of an American athlete: cultural icon.

4. Barry Bonds: Bonds asked to be judged by his numbers, which
   are unlike those created by any other ballplayer, but he is now
   forever linked to Team BALCO.

5. Victor Conte: Bonds, Giambi, Jones, Montgomery, Sheffield,
   Romanowski. Conte's company BALCO allegedly provided steroids
   to some of sports' biggest names. (Full feature story, including
   interview with Conte himself, included in the issue.)

6. Michael Phelps: We wanted eight gold medals. He gave us six,
   plus two bronze. But really, why quibble? Phelps is just getting
   started.

7. Soldiering On: Jake Plummer's salute to Pat Tillman, his
   ex-ASU and Cardinal teammate killed in Afghanistan, defied NFL
   rules but ultimately resulted in the league honoring Tillman
   with a PSA in every stadium.

8. Ichiro: Move over George Sisler. Ichiro is the new
   single-season hits leader, but is it fair to criticize that
   225 of his 262 knocks were singles?

9. Phil Mickelson: The ex-Greatest Player Never to Win a Major
   proved that change could be good as a new game plan and some
   clutch shots earned him the elusive Green Jacket.

10. Uconn X2: When the Huskies pulled off their unprecedented
    two-fer, they made us (okay, everybody) look smart.

OTHER FEATURES:

LAST LAUGH. BALCO founder Victor Conte's world may be crashing down around him, but, in this conversation, it's clear he won't go down quietly--or alone. As told to The Magazine's Shaun Assael.

TRUST ME ON THIS. When Peyton Manning checks off at the line, fans have to fight the urge to audible, "Call the damn play!" But maybe we don't see what he sees. The Magazine's Seth Wickersham reports.

ESPN 100 ON TV: The ESPN 100 will also be examined in an ESPN Original Entertainment special telecast on Monday, January 3, at 8:00 p.m. ET.