How's that feel? Ever wondered what it's like to run over a catcher … miss free throws with a ticket to the Big Dance on the line … be trapped in a steel oven for three hours? Of course you have; so have we. So we asked the people who know to tell you about those experiences—and many more—in our third annual "How's that feel?" issue

Sporting News, The, August 5, 2005

I wear the ring most of the day, but I have to keep my fingers closed so I won't drop it. It's that heavy. And, of course, my fingers aren't as big as the football players' fingers. This is some chunk of change.

When I get to work Monday morning, things happen pretty quickly. My boss tells me there is someone in our office who has an association with the Patriots. That guy gets in touch with Stacey James, the Patriots' public relations director. Before long, Stacey calls me and says he has Tully in his office. They're on a speaker phone, wanting to make arrangements for Tully to get his ring back. I tell them the only way the ring is going to be returned is if I give it to Tully himself. Throughout the whole event, the thing I'm anxious about is getting it out of my hands and back to Tully. That's my priority. He agrees to come out to our office.

When he gets there, he poses for pictures with everyone and signs a bunch of autographs. He's very humble and thanks me. I get my picture taken with him--later, the Patriots give me tickets for the season opener--Tully gets his ring and off he goes.

I can only imagine what could have happened if the ring had fallen into the wrong hands. Somebody actually offered me $100,000 for it. Another guy said he could have had all those diamonds extracted and replaced with cubic zirconias in a matter of hours. Amazing.

... to see yourself on SPORTSCENTER for the first time?

By David Godbold

Oklahoma guard

It was after our victory over Kansas on February 21. I was back in the dorm and everybody was like, "Come downstairs; they're about to show the game." I had scored 15 points, but I was thinking I might be on there passing the ball, not necessarily shooting. The first time I saw myself, it was an inadvertent screen by Terrell Everett, and I got a pass from the top of the key and they showed me hitting a jumper, almost from 3-point range.

Where we stay, there's a big-screen TV in a lounging area. I got to see it on the big screen. It was pretty exciting. My roommate, Longar Longar, was kind of making jokes the rest of the night about me. "Ah, you think you're a superstar now."

The next day, I watched it before class, after I got out of class. I called my father and I said, "Did you make sure you taped that?" I was trying to soak it all in, really.

I didn't think coming right out of high school I could make such an impact to get on there. I guess they were showing the jump shot section. Maybe they're changing their ways on SportsCenter.

... to play against YOUR IDOL?

By Chris Duhon

Bulls guard

When I was in junior high and high school, I loved watching Steve Nash play. He was at Santa Clara, so his games didn't come on TV until 11 or midnight, and my mother wouldn't let me stay up that late. So, I would wait till my mom went to bed, turn my television down and watch the games without sound.

Last November, we played the Suns. That meant I had to play against Nash. It wasn't my best game--I didn't shoot well and I had five fouls--but from the moment I got on the court, I felt honored. This was a player I had always idolized, and here I was going against him.