Lineup
FEATURES
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
28 Phenomenal
Kevin Durant of Texas should be the first freshman to win player of the year
by Grant Wahl
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
36 Gators Get Richer
How Florida coach Urban Meyer put together the nation's best recruiting class
by Stewart Mandel
HOCKEY
44 That's Gotta Hurt
Sacrificing the body to block a shot is now a defenseman's most effective ploy
by Michael Farber
THE MALOOFS
50 What Happens in Vegas...
...stays in Vegas? When the NBA All-Star Game comes to Sin City, Kings owners Joe and Gavin Maloof will be everywhere. And if the party's a hit, the league—and the brothers—may be back to stay
by Ian Thomsen
2007 NASCAR PREVIEW
58 Tomorrow Is Here
In a season of change, no other newcomer is as promising as Juan Pablo Montoya
by Lars Anderson
69 Nascar Evolution
Foldout section: a 60-year timeline
74 Last Details
Crew chief Chad Knaus studies every angle to make Jimmie Johnson a winner
by Lars Anderson
78 Scouting Reports
89 Shootin' the Breeze
Dale Earnhardt Jr. talks about growing up, goofing off and missing his dad
Departments
4 Leading Off
11 Letters
13 Air and Space
What's in a name? If you call yourself The Future or The Franchise, it might be embarrassment
by Steve Rushin
14 Scorecard
A modest proposal for all-star games
Goodbye to a pair of '50s baseball stars
22 Faces in the Crowd
24 Players
First Person: Orlando's Dwight Howard
A guide to winning All-Star events
100 Life of Reilly
For him on Valentine's Day: no chat about the curtains, uninterrupted SportsCenter and a new sleeve of Titleists
by Rick Reilly
Inside...
96 The NBA
The midseason award winners
97 College Basketball
Winning Memphis needs tougher foes
98 The NFL
Why the Cowboys hired Wade Phillips
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY DAMIAN STROHMEYER
INSET PHOTO: Sam Sharpe
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Westminster dog show
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TRAFFIC REPORT
MOST VIEWED
1. Celebrity photos from the Super Bowl gallery
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4. Top 20 NFL free-agents gallery
5. Peter King's MMQB
EDITORS' PICKS
1. Luke Winn on the art of free throw shooting
2. Aditi Kinkhabwala on Penn State hoops coach Rene Portland
3. Grant Wahl's Mailbag
4. Ian Thomsen's The High Post
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PHOTO
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SLIM FILMS FROM PHOTO BY INTERNATIONAL MOTORSPORTS HALL OF FAME (PETTY)
69 RETRO ACTION NASCAR has come a long way since 1954, when Lee Petty's Chrysler Club Coupe Windsor won seven races, the first at Daytona.
PHOTO
JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (MALOOFS)
PHOTO
CLIFF WATTS (BEYONCÉ)
PERFECT PITCH Get more exclusive pictures and videos of Beyoncé, the cover girl of the music-themed 2007 Swimsuit Issue, at SI.com.
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PHIL MCCRATEN/REUTERS (ARMSTRONG)
PHOTO
WALTER IOOSS JR. (JAMES)
PHOTO
MEL LEVINE (STERGER)
PHOTO
MARK SULLIVAN/WIREIMAGE.COM (EBANKS)
PHOTO
BOB ROSATO (NOAH)
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STEPHEN CHERNIN/GETTY IMAGES (WESTMINSTER)
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BILL BAPTIST/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (AMAECHI)