TheLineup

Departments

4 Leading Off

10 Letters

13 Air and Space

Sport is a religion, so the Vatican knows how to play by Steve Rushin

14 Scorecard

• Ebersol brings NFL back to NBC

• Tar Heels' mass defection to pros

• Remembering Big House Gaines

• Elijah Wood: hobbit to hooligan

25 Faces in the Crowd

27 Players

72 The Life of Reilly

Extreme ChickFights are bloody and deadly, but some paying customers think they're sexy by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

68 Baseball

• Wanted: shortstops with power

• White Sox lefty off to hot start

70 Hockey

• U.S. takes fresh faces to worlds

• Swedish stars shun national team

PRO FOOTBALL

34 From Auburn to NFL

Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown began a run on Tigers in the first round of the draft

by Michael Silver

BASEBALL

42 Ragtag Wonders

With an early push into first place, the rejiggered Dodgers are making their G.M. look smart

by Michael Farber

NBA PLAYOFFS

46 Texas Tough

Propelled by Tracy McGrady, Houston stunned the Mavericks with two wins in Dallas

by Jack McCallum

CYCLING

50 Get on My Wheel

Lance Armstrong, preparing for France, helped a teammate win the Tour de Georgia

by Austin Murphy

BOOK EXCERPT

54 The Devil's Teeth

Just off the California coast is a playground for the fearsome great white shark

by Susan Casey

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BY

MICHAEL J. LEBRECHT II/1DEUCE3 PHOTOGRAPHY

INSET PHOTO: Simon Bruty

SI Extra

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• Complete coverage of the NBA playoffs--including Marty Burns's postgame fast breaks, plus Web-exclusive analysis from Chris Ballard, Chris Mannix, Jack McCallum and Ian Thomsen--at SI.com/nba.

COLOR PHOTO

MIKE BLAKE/REUTERS

HEE GOT IT

Dodgers first baseman Hee-Seop Choi gives a ground ball tough glove (page 42).

COLOR PHOTO

PETER PYLE (INSET)