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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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SI Extra
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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.

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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