TheLineup

BASEBALL

39 Reason to Believe

Despite Jose Canseco's charges, spring training raises hopes that the Steroid Era may end

by Tom Verducci

MOTOR SPORTS

48 The Driver's Seat

Before the Nextel Cup roars to life at Daytona, SI talks to the men behind the wheel

by Lars Anderson

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

56 The Aussie Rules

Utah's Andrew Bogut is not from a basketball country, but he's the best big man in this nation

by Kelli Anderson

HOCKEY

60 Death--and Life?

While a labor dispute was killing this season, optimists at the NHL conjured a bright future

by Michael Farber

PRO BASKETBALL

64 The Future Is Now

LeBron James, at the tender age of 20, is being measured against the NBA's greatest

by Charles P. Pierce

Departments

6 Leading Off

12 Letters

15 Air and Space

Thirty days hath Stovember. Or at least it hath in the long-overdue Jock Calendar by Steve Rushin

16 Scorecard

• Are collegians overscrutinized?

• Looking back at Reggie, Mailman

• Titans lure USC offensive guru

27 Faces in the Crowd

29 Players

82 The Life of Reilly

Julio Franco wants to play baseball until he's 50. That's, uh, three years from now by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

76 The NFL

• Brady is SI's Player of the Year

• Montana vs. Brady, by the stats

78 College Basketball

• Thompson turns Hoyas around

• Iowa guard's legal troubles

80 College Hockey

• Bowling Green goalie fights MS

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN W. MCDONOUGH

INSET PHOTOS: V.J. Lovero (Canseco); Kevin Kane/WireImage.com

SI Extra

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SI.com

• Hit the beach with the online edition of SI's annual Swimsuit Issue. Check out more than 200 Web-exclusive photos, plus behind-the-scenes video clips, model diaries and Swimsuit archives at SI.com/swimsuit.

COLOR PHOTO

GEORGE TIEDEMANN/GT IMAGES

JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT

Dale Earnhardt Jr. (8) won last year's Daytona 500 and will try to repeat on Sunday (page 48).

COLOR PHOTO

DAVID E. KLUTHO (JAMES)