The Week Ahead
FRIDAY 5/20
Yankees at Mets As if the Subway Series needed more drama.... Taking the hill for the Amazin's will be Pedro Martinez, who has no shortage of history with the Bronx Bombers. (You might remember his gesture that the Yankees took to mean he was going to bean Jorge Posada, or wrestling Don Zimmer, or declaring the Yankees were his "daddy.") Since leaving Boston for Queens, Martinez is 4-1 with a 3.38 ERA. He'll most likely face Kevin Brown in the first of a three-game series.
SATURDAY 5/21
Preakness Stakes Was Giacomo a fluke? Six of the past eight Kentucky Derby winners have taken the second, shorter leg of the Triple Crown, but trainer John Shirreffs's colt, who won the Derby at 50-1, is unlikely to be the favorite at Pimlico. Says D. Wayne Lukas, trainer of Going Wild, "This might be one of those years we have three different winners of the Triple Crown races." NBC 5 p.m.
Sparks at Storm A revamped Los Angeles squad takes on the defending WNBA champs. The Sparks have a new coach, Henry Bibby, and a new high-scoring sidekick for 2004 MVP Lisa Leslie (right) in Chamique Holdsclaw. Seems to be working: L.A. was 3-0 in the preseason. ABC 4 p.m.
NCAA tennis championship Can the Bears lose? Baylor heads into the round of 16 having won 54 straight matches--the nation's longest active streak. Top-seeded singles star Benedikt Dorsch and the 2004 national champ, Benjamin Becker, lead Baylor's quest to defend its team title in College Station, Texas. The championship is on May 24.
SUNDAY 5/22
Adidas Track Classic Maurice Greene, the 2000 Olympic 100-meter gold medalist, is on a quest to break the 10-second barrier 60 times. (He's four short.) But will that be fast enough to beat a stacked field in Carson, Calif.? Greene lines up against reigning Olympic champ Justin Gatlin (left) and Bernard Williams, who won silver in the 200 in Athens. ESPN 4 p.m.
MONDAY 5/23
French Open All eyes will be on 18-year-old clay court prodigy Rafael Nadal (page 48) as the second Grand Slam event starts. (It runs through June 5.) Russia's Anastasia Myskina (right) will defend the women's title at Roland Garros. ESPN check listings
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel Wally Backman talks about the four days he spent as Arizona Diamondbacks manager. He was fired last November when past incidents of drunk driving and domestic violence came to light. Also: a segment on thoroughbred breeding featuring the stallion Storm Cat, a grandson of Secretariat who commands a $500,000 stud fee and earns upward of $20 million per year. HBO 9 p.m.
SI PICK OF THE WEEK
WEDNESDAY 5/25
Red Renaissance
The most decorated team in English soccer is also one of the most unlikely finalists in the 50-year history of the Champions League, which crowns the top club in Europe. Liverpool, which has won the competition four times, finished a poor fifth in the just-wrapped English Premier League season, 37 points behind Chelsea. But the Reds knocked off Chelsea in the Champions League semifinals on a goal by Spanish midfielder Luis García (above), putting them in the final against AC Milan. There's more than a trophy at stake in Istanbul for the Reds; because of their EPL finish, their only hope for qualifying for next year's Champions League is to beat the Italian champs. It won't be easy. Milan concedes a miserly 0.67 goals per match. ESPN2 2:30 p.m.
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JOHN IACONO (MARTINEZ)
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ACTION IMAGES/WIREIMAGE.COM (GARCIA)
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CLIVE MASON/GETTY IMAGES (MYSKINA)
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HAHN-NEBINGER-ZABULON/ABACA (GATLIN)
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GRAHAM/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (LESLIE)