Lineup

SPORTSMAN OF THEYEAR • BRETT FAVRE

42 Beyond hispassing and on-field leadership, his greatest attribute is the devotion heinspires in those he touches

By AllanShipnuck

FEATURES

COLLEGEFOOTBALL

58 Can You SayPlayoff?

If ever a seasonscreamed for the BCS to be blown up, it's this one. But that won't happen untilthe folks at the Rose Bowl come to their senses

By AustinMurphy

PRO FOOTBALL

70 Sean Taylor,R.I.P.

He had been deadless than nine hours when a website ran the headline taylor's death is tragicbut not surprising. So much for resting in peace

By Jim Trotter

HOCKEY

78 HockeytownU.S.A.

SI set out to findthe NHL city that can rightfully call itself the capital of the sport

By MichaelFarber

PRO BASKETBALL

84 GrowthSpurt

Dwight Howard, allof 22, has turned the NBA into his own Magic kingdom

By JackMcCallum

SPORTSMEDICINE

90 BrokenHearts

A cardiovascularabnormality has become a leading killer of young athletes

By DavidEpstein

ROLLE CALL

THE BEST NAME

IN SPORTS

Members of a clandescended from freed slaves in the Bahamas have left their mark across sportsin the U.S. By S.L. Price Page 100

Departments

6 Leading Off

14 From theEditor

18 Letters

20 Players

• A tribute toEvel Knievel

• First Person:Marcus Camby

41 Faces in theCrowd

148 PointAfter

SI's Sportsmanknows a penny's true value by Peter King

Inside . . .

134 The NFL

• Reggie Waynefills Indy's void

139 High SchoolFootball

• What a breakoutseason can mean

142 Tennis

• A 12-year DavisCup drought ends

145 The NBA

• Has Philly foundits new AI?

146 CollegeBasketball

• Rebuilding inNew Orleans

Cover

PHOTOGRAPH BYWALTER IOOSS JR.

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Cast Your Vote

COLLEGE FOOTBALL'SSECOND SEASON

Want to be part ofa college football playoff? You can--starting this week on SI.com, where thefans' votes determine the winner of our mythical 16-team tournament. Othercollege football coverage this week includes . . .

• Time for a realplayoff? SI writers Stewart Mandel, Austin Murphy, Cory McCartney, Bill Trocchiand Luke Winn offer their BCS solutions

• The HeismanWatch: Gene Menez's final rundown of the candidates includes a Q&A withfront-runner Tim Tebow of Florida

• From Poinsettiato Fiesta: Stewart Mandel ranks the bowl games, 1 to 32

SEE ALL THIS ANDMORE AT SI.COM/COLLEGEFOOTBALL.

TRAFFIC REPORT

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SPECIAL THISWEEK

High SchoolHoopla

SI.com's highschool basketball preview includes:

• National Top25

• Best teams bystate

• Photo gallery oftop recruits

• Feature onSudanese 7-footer John Riek of Winchendon, Mass.

See it all atSI.com/highschoolhoops.

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ERIC ESPADA/CAL SPORT MEDIA (FAVRE)

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MARK J. REBILAS/US PRESSWIRE

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BILL FRAKES

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SIXTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS

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AL TIELEMANS (TAYLOR)

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ROBERT SEALE (HESTER)

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KELLY KLINE/UNIVERSITY OF AKRON (RIEK)

 JOHNRIEK