By MIKE WILSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published December 26, 1999

1. Sports television shows are broadcast holographically. A miniature image of the entire football field (for example) is projected into an empty space in the living room.

2. The notion that college athletes are also students is passe. Young athletes receive salaries during their years of college eligibility. They may work toward a degree if they wish to.

3. Advances in tissue transplantation and the development of artificial joints enables elite athletes to compete into their late 50s.

4. Horse racing, boxing and baseball vanish as spectator sports because of lack of fan interest. Stock-car racing is an Olympic sport.

5. An American athlete becomes the first person ever to finish a marathon in less than two hours. The runner is a woman.