Week Ahead
THURSDAY 9/20
Phillies at Nationals
Philadelphia has come close to the postseason in recent years, missing a playoff spot by one game in 2005 and three in '06. The Phils are in familiar territory: With 13 games to play, they were second in the NL wild-card race, 1 1/2 games behind the Padres. What might get them over the hump? Beating up on the Nationals (seven of Philly's last 10 are against Washington) and the hot bat of Chase Utley (left), who was tied for second in the league with a .334 average and had batted .325 since returning from the DL on Aug. 27.
Check listings
SATURDAY 9/22
Iowa at Wisconsin
Senior quarterback Tyler Donovan, who completed 62.7% of his passes for 623 yards and six TDs in the Badgers' first three games, tries to keep No. 9 Wisconsin's 12-game winning streak alive. Iowa was already wary of Donovan, who last year, in his first collegiate start, beat the Hawkeyes 24--21.
ABC 8 p.m.
SUNDAY 9/23
Chargers at Packers
After breaking the alltime wins record for NFL quarterbacks with his 149th on Sunday, Brett Favre goes for another milestone—the career record for touchdown passes. He threw three in beating the Giants, leaving him three short of the mark of 420 set by Dan Marino from 1983 through '99.
CBS 1 p.m.
Dodge Dealers 400
With his win in New Hampshire on Sunday, the first race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, Clint Bowyer (page 70) jumped eight spots to fourth place in the standings and now trails leaders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon (right) by 15 points. The next stop is Dover International Speedway, where Bowyer won a Busch Series race last year. The bad news for Bowyer: The two Chase leaders have won at Dover seven times between them.
ABC 1:30 p.m.
TUESDAY 9/25
On DVD: The Bronx Is Burning
ESPN's miniseries about the Yankees and the chaotic New York City summer of 1977 can now be watched in one sitting. The series is cartoonish at times, but John Turturro's portrayal of a seething Billy Martin (right) is worth the purchase price.
SI PICK OF THE WEEK
SUNDAY 9/23
AST Dew Tour: Toyota Challenge
It has been a breakout year on the skateboard for Shaun White (above), the winner of all three pro skate vert events this season. The 21-year-old Olympic snowboarding gold medalist at Turin in 2006, whose focus on the slopes kept him from concentrating on the Dew Tour in 2005 and '06, hopes to make it four in a row in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, in the skate park standings, 17-year-old reality heartthrob Ryan Sheckler, star of MTV's Life of Ryan, is in the top spot—where he has finished every year since he was 15.
NBC 3 p.m.
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DUSTIN SNIPES/ICON SMI (WHITE)
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DAVID GIESBRECHT/ESPN (TURTURRO)
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CHRIS TROTMAN/NASCAR/GETTY IMAGES (GORDON)
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AL TIELEMANS (UTLEY)