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.
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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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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