The Lineup

JUNE 6, 2005

VOLUME 102, NO. 23

Departments

4 Leading Off

13 Letters

15 Air and Space

Americans don't flip out, they flip off, especially in the sports world by Steve Rushin

16 Scorecard

• Are Upshaw, Tagliabue too cozy?

• Rickey-san's latest comeback

• Ron Howard on the grill

27 Faces in the Crowd

28 Players

86 The Life of Reilly

This is a column about E.D. It's very serious. Well, if you don't count the corked-bat joke by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

82 Tennis

• Spanish men reign in Paris

83 The NFL

• Don't count out Tedy Bruschi yet

84 Baseball

• Upton is probable No. 1 draft pick

BASEBALL

38 State of Mind

Alex Rodriguez is gaining acceptance in New York. It helps to be the league's leading slugger

by Tom Verducci

SOFTBALL

44 A Big Hit

As the Women's College World Series opens, the sport is soaring in popularity

by Michael Silver

NBA PLAYOFFS

48 Among Giants

With Detroit's big men looming large, Shaquille O'Neal tried to rise to the challenge for Miami

by Ian Thomsen

AMERICAN SPEED

54 Here She Comes

Danica Patrick, fourth at Indy, was still a big winner

by E.M. Swift

60 Long, Hard Road

After the Coca-Cola 600, what's next for NASCAR?

by Lars Anderson

64 My Car's Better

For every kind of race, there's a top-performance car. Here's how they compare

71 Formula Won

Scott Speed: the first U.S. F/1 driver since 1993?

by Lars Anderson

75 Dirty Work

Many great drivers proved their worth at Eldora

by Lars Anderson

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BY SIMON BRUTY

INSET PHOTOS: Brent Smith/Reuters (Wheldon); Streeter Lecka/Getty Images (Johnson); John Iacono (A-Rod)

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COLOR PHOTO

EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES (RODRIGUEZ)

A LITTLE FLARE

The Yankees' Alex Rodriguez tracks a pop-up in the sun (page 38).

COLOR PHOTO

JEFF ROBERTS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

SHORT STOP

Dan Wheldon hits the pits on the way to victory at the Indy 500.