The Speed Demon
Steve Nash

Thanks to point guard Steve Nash and his high-octane Phoenix Suns, the days of plodding, D-first basketball may finally be behind us. “He’s very unselfish, all about the team,” says Mavericks guard Jason Kidd. “He’s the best.” And with Shaq diesel adding fuel to the Suns’ fire, the scrappy Canadian may finally get his ring.

The Showboat
Floyd Mayweather

His estranged father contended for the welter­weight belt and now trains Oscar De La Hoya. One uncle was an IBO super featherweight champ, while another is his current trainer and a former two-division world champion. So it’s no wonder watching Junior—38-0, 24 KOs, holder of four titles in four weight classes—makes boxing aficionados daydream of an era when it truly was a sweet science. Unfortunately, that’s not enough to help the sport recover from its current standing eight count—but Mayweather’s mojo outside the ring just may be. From an HBO reality show to a stint on Dancing With the Stars, his brash grin and in-your-face charm are so infectious he makes some fans forget that he will knock you the hell out.

The Wild One
Bode Miller

The hard-partying bad boy of skiing has bounced back from his 2006 Olympic flame-out in a major way. After quitting the U.S. ski team to form the one-man “Team America,” he’s won the super-combined crown and leads the World Cup championship. Party, crash,
win: It’s just Bode being Bode.

The Master
Tiger Woods

In June 2007, when Tiger made the U.S. Open final pairing, NBC enjoyed a 36 percent increase in viewership over ’05, when Woods uncharacteristically missed the cut. In other words, for all but a few checker-panted white dudes who keep putters in their corner offices, Tiger is golf.

The Negotiator
Alex Rodriguez

Game plan: It was a simple strategy. Insert an escape clause in the richest contract in sports history. Watch the player have the season of his career. Let the offers pour in. Well, all except that last part.

Gamble: The plan’s mastermind, agent Scott Boras, misjudged the market, then refused to negotiate with the Yankees.The player who should eventually rip Barry Bonds’ home run crown from his outsize cranium was vilified as the second-least-liked player in the game.

Payoff: Faced with the prospect of being the richest Chicago Cub, Rodriguez made one of the boldest moves in baseball history: He sucked it up, bypassed Boras, and went to Hank Steinbrenner with hat in hand. In negotiating the biggest baseball deal ever, A-Rod changed the way the game is played off the field and, in the process, may have won back the Bronx faithful…at least until next fall.

The Groundbreaker
Danica Patrick

Faster pussycat: Sports that are truly coed are few and far between. And with a few exceptions, racing had been a man’s world…until Danica Patrick showed up. She came tantalizingly close to taking Indy as a rookie, and after a rough sophomore season, finished seventh last year, snagging her first three podiums. “I never thought of myself as a girl,” Patrick says. “I always thought of myself as a driver.”

Boys’ club: Still, she’s not just one of the guys. As she enters her fourth season, Patrick still faces the question that has dogged her since the beginning: Is she a celebrity or a racecar driver? Either way, she’s fast changing perceptions in a sport that could use it. And she looks pretty damn fine doing it.

The Martyr
Floyd Landis

Busted: Chalk one up for the Drug Police. Sure, there was Barry Bonds and Marion Jones, but when the Phonak rider was stripped of his 2006 Tour de France title after testing positive for synthetic testosterone, the drugs-in-sports issue was thrust into stunning relief, and the world of cycling was forced to confront once and for all the dirty secret that’s plagued the sport for years.

Strange legacy: Landis’ impassioned public defense was ultimately unsuccessful. As three-time Tour champ Greg LeMond allegedly told the cyclist during his trial, if he did indeed cheat and came clean about it, he “could be the one who will salvage the sport.” In the end, while his yellow jersey may be gone, Landis’ legacy is secure. Someone wins the Tour de France every year, but Floyd Landis provided an unforgettable glimpse into the seamy underbelly of sports.

Coach Hollywood
Pete Carroll

Why does the USC head coach, who since 2001 has led his team to two national titles, a 63-7 record, and five straight BCS bowl appearances, repeatedly spurn the attention of NFL teams? Because he’s the only game in town in the nation’s second-biggest media market. In other words, King Carroll stays put because he has the best job in all of football.

The Whistleblower
Jose Canseco

We can all agree that the former slugger is a world-class douchebag, but three years after publishing Juiced, Jose Canseco is looking to have the last laugh. In lifting the veil on bad behavior in the big leagues, he’s done more than anyone to bring reform to the game. Yet all the while he’s continued to preach the wonders of performance-enhancing drugs. Douchebag indeed.