Lineup
FEATURES
BASEBALL
34 Turbulent Heir
Prince Fielder is out to prove that any resemblance to his father, Cecil, ends with his prodigious home runs
by Albert Chen
NBA PLAYOFFS
40 Winning the West
Even with a latter-day Stockton and Malone, the Jazz will be hard-pressed to stop the Spurs' march to the title
by Jack McCallum
HORSE RACING
46 Party Crasher
Just when it looked as if there might be another bid to end the Triple Crown drought, Curlin came of age
by Tim Layden
NHL PLAYOFFS
50 Senator Emery
Stylish goaltender Ray Emery has helped lift Ottawa to the Cup finals
by Michael Farber
MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
The New Main Event
Ultimate fighting changed its ways to gain acceptance. Now its success is changing the sports landscape
by L. JON WERTHEIM
PAGE 52
Departments
6 Leading Off
12 Letters
14 Players
• First Person: Justin Verlander
• The cycling trial takes a wild turn
• Al Unser Jr. cleans up his act
• A brief history of sports promises
• The Red Sox and their vino
• Are video games the new poker?
32 Faces in the Crowd
72 Life of Reilly
From childhood Matchbox fantasy to adult waking nightmare: roaring into Turn 1 at Indy
by Rick Reilly
Inside ...
68 Baseball
• A five-tool rookie sparks Houston
• Would the Cards deal Scott Rolen?
69 Track and Field
• The U.S. stars of the future ... now?
• Veterans with an eye on Beijing
70 NASCAR
• Denny Hamlin asserts himself
• Irksome Juan Pablo Montoya
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY GREG NELSON
INSET PHOTO: Al Tielemans
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FEATURED COLUMNS
PETER KING
> Roger That
New NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is quickly putting his mark on the sport, and he's doing it by keeping an open mind. People in the NFL office in New York City hear the following from Goodell all the time: "How can we do things better?"
> Read more of this column at SI.com/king.
JON HEYMAN
> Let's Make a Deal
Three trades that need to be made:
1) Reds OF Ken Griffey Jr. to the White Sox.
2) Rockies 3B Garrett Atkins and 1B Todd Helton to the Angels.
3) Nationals RP Chad Cordero to the Indians.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/heyman.
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THROWDOWN
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PHOTO
AL TIELEMANS (FIELDER)
34 THE SLUGGER KNOWN AS PRINCE In just his second season, first baseman Prince Fielder has helped carry the Brewers to their best start in franchise history.
PHOTO
GREG NELSON (ULTIMATE FIGHTING)
PHOTO
BOB ROSATO (NBA)
PHOTO
MEL LEVINE (KING)
PHOTO
BILL KOSTROUN/AP (GOODELL)
PHOTO
MEL LEVINE (HEYMAN)
PHOTO
AL TIELEMANS (GRIFFEY)
PHOTO
MICHAEL PIMENTEL (RECHTS)
PHOTO
LOU CAPOZZOLA (BRIERE)
PHOTO
AL TIELEMANS (CARTER)
ILLUSTRATION