
Lineup
FEATURES
NCAA TOURNAMENT
32 The Four Tops
Four powerhouses, each with a uniquely skilled star, are set for a showdown
By Grant Wahl
BASEBALL
40 Going Hollywood
Reminders of New York abound for the new Dodgers manager, Joe Torre
By Lee Jenkins
MLS PREVIEW
46 Ready for F√∫tbol?
The Fire's Cuauhtémoc Blanco leads a new wave of attacking Latino talent
By Mark Bechtel
GOLF
50 Lee Elder's Courage
He opened Augusta to blacks; 33 years later race is still an issue in the game
By Damon Hack
Departments
8 Leading Off
17 Letters
20 Players
• The inspiration for Leatherheads
• First Person: Delmon Young
• Final Four crossword puzzle
29 Faces in the Crowd
30 Just My Type by Dan Patrick
• See ya, C-Webb
80 Point After
Wise up, MLS. Soccer's really a numbers game by Chris Ballard
Inside ...
74 The NHL
• Two potential playoff spoilers
75 The NBA
• A tall order for Larry Bird
76 NASCAR
• Jimmie Johnson's still a sure bet
78 The NFL
• Jerry Jones changes his ways
TAYLOR PHINNEY
LIFE CYCLES
The son of two of America's most decorated riders, the 17-year-old has emerged as the next great U.S. prospect—and a source of inspiration to his father, who is battling Parkinson's
BY AUSTIN MURPHY
Page 64
SI.com
Sports in Real Time • All the Time • All Free
DERRICK ROSE
BRANDON RUSH
WAYNE ELLINGTON
DARREN COLLISON
Final Four Forecast
The 2008 men's college basketball season will end with a bang at San Antonio's Alamodome. SI.com has in-depth coverage, with news, scores and analysis. Other highlights include ...
• Final Four thoughts and analysis from Seth Davis
• Grant Wahl's Five Things We Learned
• Luke Winn's NCAA blog
• Positional breakdowns and expert picks
• Photo galleries
• Final Power Rankings
• More from Stewart Mandel and Cory McCartney, plus women's coverage from Kelli Anderson and Tracy Schultz
COMPLETE NCAA TOURNAMENT COVERAGE AT SI.COM/BASKETBALL/NCAA.
FEATURED WRITERS
Dr. Z
Inside the NFL
The latest news and on-the-scene analysis from the owners' meetings.
SI.com/zimmerman
JON WERTHEIM
Ad-In, Ad-Out
Who's up, who's down in the tennis world, plus a weekly mailbag.
SI.com/wertheim
MICHAEL FARBER
On the Fly
Musings on the NHL as the regular season draws to a close.
SI.com/farber
SPECIAL THIS WEEK
Michigan Man
After getting total access to Michigan's spring workouts, college football insider Stewart Mandel files an exclusive report on the players' first days under new coach Rich Rodriguez.
Read Mandel's story at SI.com/michiganfootball.
PAST AND PRESENT
Revisit baseball's unforgettable stories at the SI Vault, a free and comprehensive digitized history of the modern sports era.
• 150,000 stories • 2,800 covers • 500,000 photographs • Plus video ... and much more
> Open the Vault at SI.com/vault.
AND GET THE LATEST NEWS
SI.com has up-to-the-minute baseball news, scores and analysis, plus ...
• Tom Verducci's weekly mailbag • Jon Heyman's Daily Scoop • Fantasy rankings and analysis
> Complete baseball coverage at SI.com/baseball.
Cover
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BOB ROSATO (HANSBROUGH); JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (LOVE)
INSET PHOTO: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
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PHOTO
ROBERT BECK
40 TRUE BLUE Dodgers pitching legends Sandy Koufax (hugging new manager Joe Torre) and Don Newcombe (36) reveled after throwing out simultaneous first pitches on Monday at Dodger Stadium.
PHOTO
ROBERT BECK
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DAVID E. KLUTHO (ROSE)
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BILL FRAKES (RUSH)
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ROBERT BECK (COLLISON)
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BOB ROSATO (ELLINGTON)
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TED MENZIES (ZIMMERMAN)
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HOWARD SCHATZ (WERTHEIM)
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RODRIGO GAYA/THE MICHIGAN DAILY/AP (RODRIGUEZ)
FOUR PHOTOS