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FEATURES

BASEBALL

38 Blue Skies
The end of Dodgertown may be near, but L.A. and other teams have bright outlooks
by Tom Verducci
• The Yankees' can't-miss pitcher
• Is this the Cubs' year? (Um... no.)
• Cards' ex-closer looks like an ace

DAYTONA 500

46 Smashing Finish
A week of controversy ended with Kevin Harvick's thrilling last-lap victory

by Lars Anderson

PRO BASKETBALL

50 Turnaround Artist
With the help of a coach's tough love, Caron Butler, Washington's All-Star forward, straightened out his life
by Ian Thomsen
• Miami stands in Wizards' way

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

54 Fast and Furious
Tar Heels coach Roy Williams revved up Dean Smith's secondary break to create the college game's most riveting attack
by Grant Wahl

ASIAN GAMES

58 Everything Is Illuminated
The 15th Asian Games, in Qatar, lifted the veil on the madness of the human pageant: thousands of athletes, hundreds of events, dozens of sports—an Arabian tale of the 21st century
by Jeff MacGregor

Departments

6 Leading Off

14 Letters

17 Air and Space
Farewell and a million thanks from a columnist for whom sportswriting was never work by Steve Rushin

18 Scorecard
Duke lacrosse team back on field
Irish coach Weis sues surgeons
Pro teams rated by legal scrapes

28 Faces in the Crowd

30 Players

74 Life of Reilly
False gods and fake breasts, but real diamonds: NBA All-Star weekend in Las Vegas by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

72 The NHL
Player rental market stays hot
Roberts draws trade interest

73 College Basketball
Salukis' D suffocates foes
Winthrop deserves NCAA bid

Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBERT BECK
INSET PHOTOS: Bettmann/Corbis (Dodgertown); Simon Bruty

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NFL
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NBA
As good a year as Chris Bosh is having, is he among the NBA's 20 best players? Find out at SI.com/nba.

Baseball
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College Basketball
Can Tyler Hansbrough and Carolina land the No. 1 overall seed? Get ready for March Madness at SI.com.

NASCAR
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Video
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MOST VIEWED
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EDITORS' PICKS
1. Bill Trocchi on what we learned from the BracketBusters
2. Alexander Wolff on his ABA team battling 7' 9" Ming Ming
3. College football recruiter of the year from Rivals.com
4. NBA Power Rankings
5. Top 10 '06 NFL draft classes

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PHOTO

ROBERT BECK (CUBS)

38 ARMS INSPECTORS Pitching prospect Randy Wells warms up under the scrutiny of Cubs teammates at their spring training facility in Mesa, Ariz.

PHOTO

OSPORTS/WIREIMAGE.COM

PHOTO

JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (GREEN)

LEAPFROG On his way to winning the NBA All-Star slam dunk title, the Celtics' Gerald Green (page 32) jumped over 2006 champ Nate Robinson.

PHOTO

ROBERT BECK (PETERSON)

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SIMON BRUTY (BOSH)

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HEINZ KLUETMEIER (MATSUZAKA)

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GREG NELSON (HANSBROUGH)

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ROBERT BECK (EARNHARDT)

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CLIFF WATTS (BEYONCÉ)

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GARY W. GREEN/ORLANDO SENTINEL/ABACA (WALTRIP)