Lineup

FEATURES

BASEBALL
40 Joy Ride
Fueled by putdowns and cutups, the Mets are ruling the National League
by Tom Verducci

WORLD CUP
48 Surreal World
In a mad, mad final match, Italy rode its stalwart defense to a fourthtitle
by Grant Wahl

PRO FOOTBALL
52 Where the Heart Is
Joe Jurevicius is thrilled to be a Brown, but that joy is tempered by aloss
by Richard Hoffer

TENNIS
56 Any Questions?
Both Wimbledon titlists delivered forceful answers to their doubters
by S.L. Price

ANDRE AGASSI
COMING INTO FOCUS
It took startling transformations for him to see the big picture, and he'sstill searching for more answers
by Gary Smith
PAGE 60

Departments

10 LeadingOff
16 Letters
19 Air and Space
What's the global locus of Anna Kournikova focus? Google Trends reveals all bySteve Rushin

20 Scorecard
• The Tour's chaotic first week
• Suggestions for World Cup 2010
• Rating NBA and NHL moves

28 Faces in theCrowd
33 Players
84 Life of Reilly
A ringing endorsement for a new way to torment a friend after his team screwsup by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

78 Baseball
• The Twins go young--and get hot
• The deep roots of the Cubs' woes

82 MotorSports
• Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s steady ascent
• Gordon and Kenseth go at it again

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BYGREGORY HEISLER

INSET PHOTO: SimonBruty

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>>NFLCAMPS

With trainingcamps set to open, SI.com is providing division-by-division previews this weekand next, focusing on coaches in the spotlight, teams in transition and starsin the making (a la Titans rookie Vince Young, right). Go to SI.com/nfl for DonBanks's analysis.

>>RIFFS OFREILLY

Why was JoseCanseco traded from San Diego to Long Beach? What do Roger Federer (left) andthe Grateful Dead have in common? And why is the NHL so excited about thepossibility of adding Mark Cuban as an owner? Find out in the latestinstallment of Riffs of Reilly at SI.com.

>>BASEBALL

SI.com's lineupjust got even stronger with the addition of former Newsday columnist JonHeyman. Read his Daily Scoop at SI.com/baseball, where Tom Verducci and JohnDonovan also offer analysis.

>>NASCAR

With his secondvictory in three races, Jeff Gordon (right) was 10th in points at week's end.But does he have the staying power to qualify for NASCAR's Chase for the NextelCup? See which drivers are a lock to make the Chase, which ones are likely toget in and which ones will fall short, at SI.com/nascar.

PHOTO

TOM CAMMETT/WIREIMAGE.COM (JUREVICIUS)

52 DREAM JOB Wide receiver Joe Jurevicius will play his ninth NFL season surrounded by friends and family in his native Cleveland.

PHOTO

BOB MARTIN (AGASSI)

PHOTO

DARREN CARROLL (LIRIANO)

78 CATCH-22 The Twins were hesitant to start unproven 22-year-old Francisco Liriano, but once they gave him a spot in the rotation, the team took off.

THREE PHOTOS

BOB MARTIN (FEDERER); GREG NELSON (YOUNG); JUSTIN KASE CONDER-US PRESSWIRE (GORDON)