The Lineup

DEPARTMENTS

6 Leading Off

12 Letters
Kobe not an influential minority?

15 Air and Space
The full Monty: bad troozahs and Scotch at Troon by Steve Rushin

17 Scorecard
Mystery man in BALCO case
Lance heads for the hills
Mike Danton pleads guilty
A few lobs for Pat Rafter

25 Faces in the Crowd

82 The Life of Reilly
Redrum! Redrum! Nicholson's Lakers diary by Rick Reilly

INSIDE...

78 Olympics
U.S. swimmers swamp records
Wariner wows at 400 meters
Webb finally lives up to hype

80 Baseball
Sinking Astros dump skipper
Mariners' incredible hulk
Big Unit in the Bronx?

PRO BASKETBALL

32 The End
Trading Shaquille O'Neal, the Lakers canceled the NBA's best
soap opera by Jack McCallum

BRITISH OPEN GOLF

38 A Horse for the Gorse
With a game fit for Royal Troon, Todd Hamilton beat the
world's best by Michael Bamberger

PRO FOOTBALL

44 Here Comes the NFL
As training camps open, it's time to get the answers to some
big questions by Jeffri Chadiha

BOXING

50 Hooks and Splatters
With a series of bloody brawls, Arturo Gatti has left his mark
on the sport by Franz Lidz

BASEBALL

54 He Must Be Kidding
When not playing team clown, the Giants' Jason Schmidt mows
down batters by Daniel G. Habib

TENNIS

58 A Star Is Born
Agents, tour reps and p.r. people have swung into action for
Maria Sharapova by L. Jon Wertheim

OLYMPIC SPORTS

62 Walking a Life Away
For race walker Albert Heppner, going to Athens was
all-important--perhaps, in the end, too important by Gary Smith

COVER

PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCY NICHOLSON/REUTERS
INSET PHOTO: PETER READ MILLER

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and a LEADING OFF gallery.

COLOR PHOTO: ROBERT BECK; BACKGROUND EXTENDED BY SI IMAGING PRACTICAL SMOKE The Giants' Jason Schmidt likes to joke around,but hitters don't laugh at his 97-mph heat (page 54).