Lineup

FEATURES

NBA PLAYOFFS

42 Why Not Us?
Written off (along with the rest of the East), the Pistons are showing signsthat they're better than the 2004 championship team
by Jack McCallum

GOLF

48 Lefty Gets ItRight
Phil Mickelson is striking the ball better than ever, as evidenced by hisPlayers win
by Alan Shipnuck

PRO FOOTBALL

52 Third Man In
Just the third Steelers coach in 38 years, Mike Tomlin, 35, is a no-nonsensemotivator—as the players have learned
by Peter King

NHL PLAYOFFS

58 Chaos in theCrease
The conference finals may be decided by the goal scoring of fearless netpests
by Michael Farber

BONDS AND THEBAY

"HE'S BARRY BUTHE'S OUR BARRY"
The national perception is that San Francisco is solidly behind Barry Bonds inhis chase for the home run record. Like most things in this city, it's not thatsimple
by CHRIS BALLARD • page 62

Departments

8 Leading Off

18 Letters

20 Players
• First Person: Utah's Carlos Boozer
• Why Dale Jr. left the family biz
• Roger Federer cans his coach
• Floyd Landis's defense begins
• Comparing top boxing purses
• Big leaguers' glove stories

40 Faces in theCrowd

84 Life ofReilly
That's right, Ray Lewis, I called you a wuss—and other phrases you'll neverhear
by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

78 Baseball
• Why the NL West is best
• Scout: James Shields grows up
• The inequity of interleague play

82 CollegeBasketball
• Will the new trey have an impact?
• A look at where the arcs fall

Cover
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY SI IMAGING: ROBERT BECK (BONDS); TANJAGEISSLER/FSTOP/GETTY IMAGES (BRIDGE); BRAD MANGIN, JOHN BURGESS, JEDJACOBSOHN/GETTY IMAGES (FAN REFLECTION)

INSET PHOTOS: BobRosato (Billups); David E. Klutho (Holmstrom)

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PHOTO GALLERY
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FEATUREDCOLUMNS

TIM LAYDEN

> The SensibleChoice
Can Street Sense win the Preakness? After Funny Cide won the Derby in '03, Iremember calling trainer Bob Baffert. "The horse that wins the Derby shouldwin the Preakness," he said. "He was the best horse in the Derby, andit's only two weeks later."
> Read more of this column at SI.com/layden.

ARASH MARKAZI

> Fishing forAnswers
"That Patriots game still bothers me," says LaDainian Tomlinson, as heplays with the reel on his fishing pole. "I'm already thinking about ourgame against them this season. Even if we kick their butts, I want to see themagain in the playoffs."
> Read more of this column at SI.com/markazi.

TRAFFIC REPORT

> MOSTVIEWED
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3. First Impressions: a gallery of NFL rookies

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1. SI on Campus's year-end awards
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ANDREW PERLOFF'SBLOG

FanNation

Trade Favre forMcNabb

> Any ideathat was once floated by Terrell Owens is usually bad, but this makes sense:Exchange these two disgruntled quarterbacks and make everyone happy.

> Weigh inwith your thoughts or challenge Perloff to a Throwdown at fannation.com.
DONOVAN MCNABB

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PHOTO

JONATHAN DANIEL/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (WALLACES)

42 UPAGAINST THE WALLACE

The Pistons' Rasheed (right) had a handle on former teammate and fellowWallace, Ben of the Bulls, in Game 3 of their Eastern semifinal.

PHOTO

BRAD MANGIN (BONDS)

PHOTO

DAVID E. KLUTHO (NHL)

PHOTO

BILL FRAKES (STREET SENSE)

PHOTO

PETER READ MILLER (TOMLINSON)

PHOTO

NIGEL KINRADE (EARNHARDT)

PHOTO

CLAY PATRICK MCBRIDE (ORTIZ)

PHOTO

DAVID BERGMAN (MCNABB)

TWO PHOTOS

ILLUSTRATION