The Lineup
Departments
8 Leading Off
14 Catching Up With ...
16 Letters
19 Air and Space
Coaches and players, you're on The Gong Show. No honeymoon, no margin of error by Steve Rushin
20 Scorecard
• Who'll turn down the Irish next?
• We put Kurt Busch on the grill
• The Browns' growing pains
30 Faces in the Crowd
35 Players
118 Life of Reilly
If Barry Bonds says he didn't know what the "creams" and "clears" were, I believe him. Sure I do by Rick Reilly
Inside ...
107 The NFL
• Panthers back in the hunt
112 The NBA
• Raptors want to deal Carter, Rose
114 College Basketball
• Illini crush Wake, vault to No. 1
116 Tennis
• U.S. bows to Spain in Davis Cup
50
S T E R O I DS C A N D A L
BALCO BLOWS UP
Grand jury testimony about Barry Bonds (left) and Jason Giambi using steroids and new charges by BALCO's founder raise doubts that baseball can clean up its mess
by George Dohrmann
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
56 A Perfect Trip
Unbeaten USC got past UCLA and heads to the Orange Bowl
by Austin Murphy
PRO BASKETBALL
66 I'm Fine Without You
Former Mavericks teammates Steve Nash and Dirk Nowitzki are playing even better apart
by Ian Thomsen
PRO FOOTBALL
74 Stepping Out
The Chargers closed in on their first playoff berth in nine years
by Michael Silver
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
82 Small Wonder
Dunking over the skeptics, 5'9" Nate Robinson has hoisted Washington
by Kelli Anderson
SKIING
88 Mountain Man
On new skis, Bode Miller is taking the World Cup by storm
by Tim Layden
SPORTS CITIES
96 Why Not Vegas?
Can a professional franchise thrive in the gambling capital of the U.S.? You bet
by Ian Thomsen
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN W. MCDONOUGH
(BACKGOUND EXTENDED BY SI IMAGING)
INSET PHOTOS: Agence Zoom/Getty Images (Miller); Andrew Malana/Icon SMI
COVER FLAPS: Bill Frakes (Auburn); Damian Strohmeyer (Oklahoma); David Bergman (Virginia Tech)
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COLOR PHOTO
CARL YARBROUGH (MILLER)
BODACIOUS
Bode Miller turned on dimes at Beaver Creek (page 88).
COLOR PHOTO
JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES (BONDS)