Skip to main content

Lineup

FEATURES

SOCCER
40 Beckham in America
The English superstar is bent on lifting the sport's profile in the U.S. while blending in with his Galaxy mates
By Grant Wahl

GOLF
48 Host with the Most
Tiger Woods showed he knows how to throw a party, drawing a strong field while celebrating America's birthday
By John Garrity

BASEBALL
52 Party's Just Starting
Shrewd management and promising young talent make the Angels SI's pick to win it all. Plus, first-half awards
By Tom Verducci

TENNIS
60 Venus Almighty
Redeeming the wettest Wimbledon ever, Venus Williams won her fourth title and Roger Federer his record-tying fifth
By L. Jon Wertheim

JERRY JONES

The Cowboys' owner is spending a billion dollars on a new stadium—a lasting symbol of his reign over the NFL's marquee franchise
By Richard Hoffer
P. 64
The King of Texas

Departments

8 Leading Off

16 Letters

18 Players
• First Person: Wladimir Klitschko
• The sinking value of home run balls
• Freddy Adu stars in the U-20s
• A goodbye to NFL Europa
• Pitchers who excel after the break
• Elton Brand on the Rescue Dawn set
• Questioning Joey Chestnut

39 Faces in the Crowd

84 Life of Reilly
A Yankees fan gets a special first—and perhaps last—look at the Stadium, thanks to his best friend by Rick Reilly

Inside ...

79 NASCAR
• Clint Bowyer buoys Childress Racing
• Dale Jr. is no Kyle Busch

80 The NHL
• Front-loaded deals: a rich team's edge
• The Canadiens come up empty—again

Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY SIMON BRUTY

INSET PHOTOS: Simon Bruty (Federer); Bob Martin (Williams)

SI Extra
To sign up for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED's free subscriber-only e-mail newsletter, go to sicustomerservice.com/siextra

NOW ON SI.COM

>>> SPORTS IN REAL TIME. ALL THE TIME. ALL FREE. CUSTOMIZED ACCESS TO ANY FOUR OF YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS. HD-QUALITY PHOTOS. STREAMING VIDEO. THE BEST NEWS AND ANALYSIS ON THE WEB

PHOTO GALLERY
> > THE BEST OF THE NBA SUMMER LEAGUE

> > CHECK OUT GREG ODEN AND MORE FUTURE STARS IN ACTION AT SI.com/nbapix.

FEATURED COLUMNS

JON HEYMAN

> Damaged Goods?
Jose Contreras's trade value is compromised by low radar gun readings. Some competing execs are wondering how healthy the White Sox righty is.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/heyman.

CORY MCCARTNEY

> Devine Intervention
This is the story of West Virginia running back Noel Devine, a spectacular talent who is no stranger to heartbreak and tragedy.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/mccartney.

TRAFFIC REPORT

> MOST VIEWED
1. Derek Fisher leaves Jazz to care for child
2. Photo Gallery: Top 20 NBA free agents
3. Caught in the Act: Unexpected pictures

> OUR PICKS
1. Bucky Brooks's NFL training camp reports
2. Gary Sheffield's Tigers top Baseball Power Rankings
3. Daily 10 Spot blog

SPECIAL THIS WEEK

The Best Athletes by Jersey Number
> To see the complete list from 00 to 99, go to SI.com/numbers.

my SI
DOWNLOAD FREE
Pick your teams and get news from across the Web and photos on your desktop at SI.com/mySI.

PHOTO

LUIS LOPEZ/CAL SPORTS MEDIA (WILLITS)

52 SMALL CHANGE Pesky hitters like rookie Reggie Willits have turned the Angels into a team to be reckoned with, despite their lack of power.

PHOTO

DARREN CARROLL (JONES)

PHOTO

JAE C. HONG/AP (ODEN)

PHOTO

MEL LEVINE (HEYMAN)

PHOTO

JOHN BIEVER (CONTRERAS)

PHOTO

JOHN BIEVER (SHEFFIELD)

PHOTO

KINFAY MOROTI/THE NEWS-PRESS (DEVINE)

PHOTO

ROBERT BECK (FISHER)

PHOTO

JERSEY NUMBER: JOHN BIEVER

PHOTOMONTAGE

JERSEY NUMBER: VERNON BIEVER/WIREIMAGE.COM; AP

PHOTO