Lineup

FEATURES

BOXING

48 Golden Boy, Pretty Boy
Can Saturday's showdown make the average fan care about the sport again?
by Richard Hoffer

BASEBALL

54 Fast Company
How three red-hot shortstops in the NL East are redefining the position
by Ben Reiter
•After April: players who will rise or fall

PRO FOOTBALL

66 Catch of a Lifetime?
By drafting Calvin Johnson, has Matt Millen finally gotten the Lions on track?
by Peter King
•Rating each team's selections

NBA PLAYOFFS

72 Renaissance Men
The Warriors' cast of castoffs had the best team on the brink of elimination
by Chris Ballard

THE SURVIVORS

THE HEROES OF BLUFFTON

After a bus crash killed five of their teammates, Bluffton University's ballplayers never lost their poise, their faith or their will to compete
by L. JON WERTHEIM
• page 78

Departments

10 Leading Off

18 From the Editor

20 Letters

22 Players
• First Person: Brady Quinn
• Is NASCAR too good to be true?
• Remembering Josh Hancock
• Paul Byrd's wacky windup
• When home is not so sweet
• Curt Schilling's blog

42 Faces in the Crowd

92 Life of Reilly
Want a guided tour to excruciating boredom? Let Chris Berman take you into the NFL draft
by Rick Reilly

Inside...

88 The NHL
• The pugnacious playoffs
• Thomas Vanek's rapid ascent

90 College Football
• Butch Davis rebuilds at UNC
• Prominent coaches in new places

Cover
PHOTOGRAPHS BY ROBERT BECK

INSET PHOTOS: David Bergman (Russell); Burton Andrews/Bluffton University (5)

SI Extra
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PHOTO GALLERY

> > TOP 25 PROSPECTS FOR THE 2008 DRAFT

> > ARKANSAS RB DARREN MCFADDEN IS NO. 1. SEE THE WHOLE LIST AT SI.com/08draft.

FEATURED COLUMNS

PETER KING

> Gather No Moss
I find it hard to support the Patriots' acquisition of Randy Moss (right), regardless of how little they paid for him. People around the Raiders had a major beef with Moss—he regularly dogged it. This is not what New England stands for.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/king.

IAN THOMSEN

> A Bull Run?
Chicago, which swept Miami in the first round of the NBA playoffs, may be making its run at the championship a year ahead of schedule, as the performances of every Bull from Luol Deng (above) to Ben Gordon to Ben Wallace affirmed.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/thomsen.

TRAFFIC REPORT

> MOST VIEWED
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2. Photos: The favorite colleges of Ashley Judd and other celebs
3. Peter King on predraft maneuverings

> OUR PICKS
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3. Jeff Gordon: NASCAR Power Rankings leader

THROWDOWN

FanNation
Will the Yankees be able to recover?

> SI WRITERS FACE OFF

TOM VERDUCCI
VERSUS
JON HEYMAN

> See who makes the best argument and weigh in with your thoughts at fannation.com.

MARIANO RIVERA

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PHOTO

DAVID BERGMAN (JOHNSON)

66 LION IN WAIT Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson toured the NFL offices last Friday before being selected No. 2 in the draft by Detroit.

PHOTO

J.D. POOLEY/AP (BLUFFTON)

PHOTO

JOHN BIEVER (MCFADDEN)

PHOTO

MEL LEVINE (KING)

PHOTO

JEFF CHIU/AP (MOSS)

PHOTO

MEL LEVINE (THOMSEN)

PHOTO

CHRISTOPHE DUPONT ELISE/ICON SMI (DENG)

PHOTO

LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER/AP (JUDD)

PHOTO

NIGEL KINRADE (GORDON)

PHOTO

FRANK FRANKLIN II/AP (RIVERA)

ILLUSTRATION