The Lineup

Departments

6 Leading Off

12 Catching Up With ...

15 Letters

17 Air and Space

Yuta man! Or, how a 5'8" guard became the first Japanese player in the NBA by Steve Rushin

18 Scorecard

• Why women's pro sports struggle

• Pressure mounts on Paterno to go

• Ex-jock pols: 2004 vote roundup

30 Faces in the Crowd

33 Players

104 The Life of Reilly

I feel Latrell Sprewell's pain, and I'm thinking about how I can increase it by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

96 Track

• Radcliffe wins NYC marathon

98 Baseball

• Schilling is SI's Player of the Year

100 College Football

• Hawaii's Chang sets pass mark

PRO BASKETBALL

44 One-Man Showtime

Kobe Bryant owns the Lakers, and his work is cut out for him

by Chris Ballard

NFL MIDSEASON REPORT

52 Back in the Running

The well-grounded Steelers are a Super Bowl contender again

by Peter King

• Can Giants, Lions and Texans live up to new expectations?

by Jeffri Chadiha

60 Cool Brees

Drew Brees has the surprising Chargers atop the AFC West

by Josh Elliott

66 A Free Bird

A new scheme sets Falcons defender Patrick Kerney loose

by Michael Silver

• Dr. Z's second-half forecast

• SI's midseason All-Pro team

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

74 Four Big Guys in Red

A defensive line could take unbeaten Wisconsin all the way

by Karl Taro Greenfeld

SPECIAL REPORT

80 Get Out and Play!

U.S. children are alarmingly overweight, but new programs are teaching them the benefits--and joys--of exercise

by Tim Layden

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BY

AL TIELEMANS

INSET PHOTO: John W. McDonough

COVER FLAP PHOTO: James Schnepf

• Peter King previews the upcoming weekend in pro football in King's Corner--a new Web-only video segment that appears on si.com every Thursday--and weighs in on every game in his NFL Pickoff.

COLOR PHOTO

JOHN W. MCDONOUGH; BACKGROUND EXTENDED BY SI IMAGING

EIGHT ISN'T ENOUGH

The Lakers haven't done well when Kobe Bryant goes one-on-five (page 44).