21.   Phoenix and defending league champion Houston are tied for first in the Western Conference.

22.   Soon Verrett is driving his team toward a barrier-breaking showdown with the undefeated white league champions from across town.

23.   The Cowboys have league rushing champion Emmitt Smith.

24.   The defending league champion San Diego Padres were in the news, but for all the wrong reasons.

25.   The defending league champions are trying to win their fourth Super Bowl in five years.

26.   The first option is to pick the soccer league champion.

27.   The Galaxy was then eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the eventual league champion, the Chicago Fire.

28.   The Ivy League, which has no conference tournament, sends its regular-season league champion.

29.   The Spiders, who are the regular-season league champions, must hope for an at-large invitation.

30.   Then Cordero was just a local star from the Candelaria housing development in Mayaguez, where he could watch the winter league champion Indians play in an adjacent field.