- Publish date:
The Lineup
Departments
4 Leading Off
10 Letters
13 Air and Space
In sports, as in life, Mom is always right ... especially when she's got a hard right hand by Steve Rushin
14 Scorecard
• Bullriding goes for the big bucks
• Can USA Basketball be fixed?
• Selig's pumped-up steroids plan
21 Faces in the Crowd
23 Players
68 Life of Reilly
The author is proud of his body of work, but are those tattoos he is showing us real or pigments of his imagination? by Rick Reilly
Inside ...
64 Baseball
• A run of injuries may signal an end to the era of the dominant closer • Jim Thome is hurting, and the weak-hitting Phillies feel his pain
66 Motor Sports
• With a car to match his talent, Greg Biffle is a Nextel front-runner
NBA PLAYOFFS
30 Let's Get Physical
The critical difference is often made by the players who wreak the most havoc
by Jack McCallum
GOLF
40 Dominance in Disguise
The remarkable Annika Sorenstam is taking aim at every major LPGA mark
by Michael Bamberger
BASEBALL
46 Big Fish
The Marlins' pitching trio of Dontrelle Willis, Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett are blowing through the early schedule
by Albert Chen
HORSE RACING
50 Scoping Out the Derby
Who's the horse to beat in Kentucky? Check our tip sheet
by Tim Layden
BOOK EXCERPT
54 Cinderella Man
He'd been laid low, but nothing could keep James J. Braddock down for the count
by Jeremy Schaap
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY DAVID BERGMAN
INSET PHOTO: Timothy D. Easley/AP
SI Extra
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• SI.com breaks out of the gate with complete coverage of the Run for the Roses--read Mark Beech's list of the top Kentucky Derby moments and Tim Layden's analysis from Churchill Downs at SI.com/more.
COLOR PHOTO
BOB ROSATO
SPECIAL DELIVERY
 Having worked out the kinks in his pitching motion, the Marlins' Dontrelle Willis got off to a 5-0 start (page 46).
B/W PHOTO
AP (BRADDOCK)
