The Weeks Ahead
FRIDAY 7/8
In Theaters: Murderball
The uplifting documentary, which was a crowd favorite at Sundance, follows Mark Zupan, 30, as he leads the U.S. wheelchair rugby team to the 2004 Athens Paralympics. Zupan (left) was a soccer star at Florida Atlantic when he was paralyzed in an auto accident in 1993. A year later he discovered murderball--a form of rugby played by men in heavy wheelchairs. Zupan, who has been on the U.S. national team since 1996, says the idea behind the jarring four-on-four sport is basically "kill the guy with the ball."
Summer Redneck Games
Will Jeff Foxworthy light the torch? More than 10,000 spectators are expected in tiny East Dublin, Ga. (pop. 2,574), where events include bobbing for pigs' feet, the mud-pit belly flop and a mullet contest. There are no gold medals for the winners, just trophies made from crushed Bud Light cans.
SUNDAY 7/10
Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix
MotoGP--the Formula One of motorcycle racing--returns to the U.S. for the first time since 1994. Four-time defending world champion Valentino Rossi (right) has won five of six races this year, but a bunch of American hopefuls have a shot at knocking off the Italian at the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. Speed Channel 5 p.m.
SI Pick of the Week
SUNDAY 7/10
Back to the Futures
The All-Star voting for first base was very close in both the AL and the NL (page 60), and it could get even tighter in a couple of years when Conor Jackson (left) and Daric Barton (right) are in the mix. They'll be two of the 50 minor league stars on display at the seventh annual Futures Game, which kicks off All-Star weekend in Detroit. Jackson, 23, a Diamondbacks farmhand, is hitting .373 in Triple A with 58 RBIs. Barton, better known as the 19-year-old guy the A's got from the Cardinals for Mark Mulder, is hitting .319 and has driven in 51 runs for Class A Stockton. Should they make it to the majors, they'll join 105 Futures Game alums in the bigs. ESPN2 4 p.m.
THURSDAY 7/14
British Open
Jack Nicklaus, who twice won the Open at St. Andrews (1970 and '78), chose the Old Course to be the site of his final tournament. "I expect I'll be emotional at St. Andrews," said Nicklaus, 65. "I'm a sentimental old fool. I enjoy being a part of history, but I don't consider myself competitive anymore." The tournament lasts through Sunday. TNT and ABC, check listings
SUNDAY 7/17
Footballers' Wive$
Desperate Housewives meets David Beckham. The popular campy British soap opera about the fictional stars of the Earls Park Football Club and their well-kept better halves, which has aired in England for four years, makes its American debut. BBC America 9 p.m.
TUESDAY 7/19
Extreme Dodgeball
The league's third season features teams captained by snowboarder Tara Dakides and beach volleyballer Kerri Walsh, among others. Tonight's season opener--the first ball will be thrown out by commissioner Rip Torn--features Dakides's Denver Hurlers taking on actor Mario Lopez's L.A. Armed Response. Game Show Network 10 p.m.
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THINK FILMS COMPANY INC. (ZUPAN)
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TUCSON SIDEWINDERS (JACKSON)
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GEORGE STECKLER (BARTON)
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JAIME REINA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (ROSSI)
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NICKY JOHNSTON/SHED (FOOTBALLERS' WIVES)
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HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES (NICKLAUS)