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Lineup

MAY 15, 2006
VOLUME 104, NO. 20

FEATURES

BASEBALL
39 Hard Number
On his way to Babe Ruth's iconic total of 714 homers, Barry Bonds has madehistory--and a lot of people angry
by Tom Verducci
•The biggest early-season surprises

NBA PLAYOFFS
44 May Madness
After a spellbinding opening round of playoffs, the sequels could be evenbetter, starting with the Battle of Texas
by Chris Ballard
•Can Dirk Nowitzki top his role model?
•The Suns had to hustle before round 2

NHL PLAYOFFS
50 Tiny, Happy People
As the postseason pool shrinks, diminutive players like the Sabres' DanielBrière are wearing big smiles
by Michael Farber
•Inside the conference semifinals

HORSE RACING
54 A Run to Remember
In a Kentucky Derby that began without a clear-cut favorite, Barbaro shot outof the pack and rekindled Triple Crown dreams
by Tim Layden
•Why Barbaro will (or won't) win all three

HINES WARD
The Long Way Home
The Super Bowl MVP grew up adrift between his parents' two cultures. To findpeace of mind, he needed a little bit of Seoul
by Karl Taro Greenfeld

PAGE 60

Departments

8 Leading Off

14 Letters

17 Air andSpace
How do you judge a hockey team's success? By the amount of scruffy hairapparent
by Steve Rushin

18 Scorecard
• Why athletes are bad gamblers
• In praise of Hootie Johnson
• A Supercross superstar retires

28 Faces in theCrowd

31 Players

76 Life ofReilly
The legacy of Earl Woods: devotion to his youngest son and hugs that can last alifetime
by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

70 Baseball
• Struggles of a Mariners phenom
• The forces behind Philly's ascent
• Bidding for Roger Clemens

74 Boxing
• Oscar De La Hoya is golden again

SI.COM
ON THE WEB
GO TO SI.COM DAILY FOR SCORES, STATS AND BREAKING NEWS

>>NBAPLAYOFFS
How hot have Tayshaun Prince (right) and the Pistons been in the playoffs? Inthe first round Detroit knocked off the Bucks in five games and trailed onlythe Suns in scoring (107.2 per game to 107.3). Read what SI.com's writers haveto say about the Pistons and other title contenders at SI.com/nba.

>>BASEBALL
The Reds have finished below .500 for five years running but were atop the NLCentral at week's end thanks to additions such as righthander Bronson Arroyo(left). Take a look at what SI.com's John Donovan thinks of surging Cincinnatiat SI.com/baseball and see how the Reds rate in his latest Power Rankings.

>>RIFFS OFREILLY
Matt Leinart is going out with Paris Hilton. Apparently she graded out veryhigh on film, and her Wonderlic wasn't too bad either. To get more Riffs ofReilly, check out SI.com every Thursday.

>>NHLPLAYOFFS
For the first time in more than a decade teams were combining for more than sixgoals a game during the early stages of the postseason. The Senators werecertainly doing their part, with three players (Martin Havlat, Dany Heatley,right, and Jason Spezza) among the playoffs' top six scorers. Go to SI.com/nhlto get analysis and insight from SI.com's writers.

Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY BRAD MANGIN
INSET PHOTO: Bill Frakes

SI Extra
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PHOTO

GREG NELSON (NBA)

 44 TEXFACTORS - Jason Terry (far right) reached out for a fast-break pass fromMarquis Daniels (6) in Game 1 of the Mavericks' intrastate series with theSpurs. San Antonio won 87--85.

PHOTO

CHA DAE-YUN/YONHAP/AP (WARD)

PHOTO

BOB PEARSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (WOODSES)

 76 THEWOODS MEN - Earl Woods, who died on May 3 at the age of 74, punctuated the 1997Masters victory of his son Tiger with a memorable, tearful bearhug.

PHOTO

GREG NELSON (PRINCE)

PHOTO

GREG FIUME/NEWSPORT (ARROYO)

PHOTO

BILL WIPPERT (HEATLEY)