TheLineup

BASEBALL

40 Whole New Ball Game

In Frank Robinson, the Nationals have the right man to lead them into Washington

by Michael Bamberger

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

46 When Tall Men Cry

No moment in sports is as bittersweet as Senior Day. Last week the emotion flowed

by Grant Wahl

GOLF

52 The Duel at Doral

A dream matchup of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson lived up to expectations

by Chris Lewis

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

56 The Dark Side

A coach's alleged dirty deeds raised fears that the core of juco hoops may be rotten

by George Dohrmann

BASEBALL

60 I Was a Blue Jay

In five days as a major leaguer, the author saw baseball's splendors--and its hard reality

by Tom Verducci

Departments

6 Leading Off

14 Letters

19 Air and Space

The Crouching Molinas: three brothers who are all catchers in the major leagues by Steve Rushin

20 Scorecard

• NASCAR's worldly ambitions

• Here comes Ralph Sampson III

• Hilary Swank's sparring partner

• The Show: NFL censors jerseys

33 Faces in the Crowd

34 Players

78 The Life of Reilly

Championship rings don't mean a thing if they ain't got that bling--but they're still butt-ugly by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

74 The NBA

• Walker unbanned in Boston

• All Battier can do is ... win

76 College Basketball

• UConn finally ready to defend title

• UCLA's three hot freshmen

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BY

AL TIELEMANS

INSET PHOTOS: Walter Iooss Jr. (Robinson); David Walberg (Woods)

SI Extra

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SI.com

• Swing into spring training: Complete coverage of all the news from Arizona and Florida, including daily postcards from camp, plus news and analysis from Tom Verducci and John Donovan, at SI.com/baseball.

COLOR PHOTO

LAWRENCE JACKSON/AP

WELCOME NATS

Jose Vidro leads his Washington teammates onto the field in Viera, Fla. (page 40).