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FEATURES
COLLEGEFOOTBALL
52 In the Nick ofTime
Nick Saban leads a great revival at 'Bama
By Rick Bragg
BASEBALL
60 Blasts fromthe Past
Boston's Big Papi fends off Yankees dread
By Tom Verducci
U.S. OPENPREVIEW
64 CourtlyRivals
Get ready for Federer-Nadal XIV
By L. Jon Wertheim
2008 OLYMPICS
68 Just theBeginning
Former high school phenom Alan Webb aims at gold in the 1,500 meters at theworlds, but Beijing beckons
By Tim Layden
HIGH SCHOOLFOOTBALL
72 The Son AlsoShines
Riley Dodge will try to lead Southlake Carroll to yet another Texas 5A title
By Kelli Anderson
•SI's Top 10teams, 5 players to watch
NEW ORLEANS
Two YearsAfter
KATRINA
Sports played aspecial role early in the recovery, but beyond the Superdome, in thedepopulated Lower Ninth Ward, there's a great need to get at-risk youth back inplay
by Alexander Wolff P. 80
Departments
10 LeadingOff
18 Letters
21 Players
• Perils of preseason college polls
• QB finds paradise at Hawaii
• Michael Vick cops a plea
• Pacman Jones's new career
•Beach volleyball players pair off
• Resurrecting the Champ reviewed
38 Faces in theCrowd
98 Life ofReilly
Par-2s! Mandatory cussing! A swoosh-shaped 13th hole! Tiger designs a golfcourse by Rick Reilly
Inside...
94 OlympicSports
• U.S. gymnastics' new queen
•Hamm twins make comeback
95 NFL
• Falcons give Harrington last shot
96 NASCAR
•Era of superpowers dawns
•Hendrick-Gibbs rivalry by stats
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY BOB ROSATO
INSET PHOTO: JohnBiever
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FEATUREDCOLUMNS
PETER KING
›Drawing ABlank
Here's why Falcons owner Arthur Blank gets my sympathy: He did everything forMichael Vick and got kicked in the groin. "It hurts," says Blank."I'm very distressed."
> Read more of this column at SI.com/king.
JON HEYMAN
›Awards Watch
To decipher the competition for the AL Cy Young—Josh Beckett leads—you'd need adartboard and 10 darts. See all my AL awards picks.
> Read more of this column at SI.com/heyman.
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 60KONICHIWA, PAPI-SAN
Red Sox relief pitcher Hideki Okajima (right) greets teammate David Ortizwithappropriate respect before a home game.
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