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FEATURES
GOLF
30 Trevor's Turnaround
With a medical scare behind him, Trevor Immelman won the Masters
By Damon Hack
NBA PLAYOFF PREVIEW
38 The Last Shot
It comes down to a man and a moment
By Jack McCallum
• A perfect finish: Lakers-Celtics
BASEBALL
44 He's Got a Secret
It's not easy to explain the success of the Yankees' ace, Chien-Ming Wang
By Albert Chen
COLLEGE HOCKEY
50 Small Wonder
Diminutive forward Nathan Gerbe lifted Boston College to its third title
By George Dohrmann
NEBRASKA LOST, Nebraska Found
After a great tradition was ruined in four years, the Cornhuskers reached out to Tom Osborne to restore character and dignity. A new coach and more homegrown players will take care of the winning
BY PHIL TAYLOR
Page 54
Departments
8 Leading Off
14 Letters
16 Players
• The perils of bull riding
• Top Five in '09 women's hoops
• First Person: Andre Iguodala
26 Faces in the Crowd
28 Just My Type by Dan Patrick
• Brett Favre flirts with a flip-flop
72 Point After
A Masters class from the sages of Sand Hill Grill by Selena Roberts
Inside ...
64 Baseball
• A rough month for closers
66 The NHL
• Alex Kovalev keeps 'em guessing
68 Horse Racing
• An uneven field for the Derby
70 NASCAR
• Open-wheel aces struggle
SI.com
Sports in Real Time • All the Time • All Free
Who'll Come Out on Top?
The NBA playoffs tip off this weekend, and SI.com will have on-site coverage and analysis from start to finish, as well as the latest news and scores. Other highlights this week include....
• Expert predictions
• Ian Thomsen's Five-Minute Playoff Guide
• Marty Burns's breakdowns of each first-round series
• Photo galleries
• Analysis from Jack McCallum, Chris Mannix, Steve Aschburner, David DuPree, Paul Forrester and Drew Packham
• Truth & Rumors from around the league
• MySI: The latest buzz on your favorite teams
COMPLETE NBA PLAYOFF COVERAGE AT SI.COM/BASKETBALL/NBA.
FEATURED WRITERS
JIM KELLEY
Inside the NHL
The latest news and analysis as the playoffs start heating up.
SI.com/kelley
JOHN DONOVAN
The Windup
Every Monday, a look at the past week in baseball, and a peek ahead.
SI.com/donovan
JONAH FREEDMAN
World Soccer Power Rankings
No. 1 Manchester United rolls into the Champions League semifinals.
SI.com/freedman
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS
TAKKLE
Best of the Best
This week SI.com and Takkle rank the top 100 high school players in baseball, boys' lacrosse and girls' lacrosse. Checking in at No. 4 in the baseball rankings is Wentzville (Mo.) Holt High senior Tim Melville, a 6'5" righthander whose fastball has been clocked in the mid-90s. Melville is headed to North Carolina in the fall.
> Check out all the rankings at SI.com/rankings.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Rite of Spring
Notre Dame, Nebraska, Missouri, Tennessee, West Virginia, Penn State and Virginia Tech are among the schools that have their annual spring games this week. SI.com's Andy Staples reports from Florida, while Stewart Mandel will visit UCLA as well as USC, where fans are wondering how running back Joe McKnight will fare in his sophomore season.
> Spring football coverage at SI.com/football/ncaa.
UNLOCK SPORTS HISTORY
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• 150,000 stories
• 2,800 covers
• 500,000 photographs
• Plus video ... and much more
> Open the Vault at SI.com/vault.
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN W. MCDONOUGH
INSET PHOTO: John Biever (Immelman)
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PHOTO
ELISE AMENDOLA/AP (PLAYER)
30 SWEET 18 Three-time champion Gary Player concluded his 51st appearance at the Masters last Friday by kissing the famous final green at Augusta National.
PHOTO
NATI HARNIK/AP (NEBRASKA)
PHOTO
GREG NELSON (PAUL)
CHRIS PAUL'S HORNETS ARE TOP CONTENDERS
PHOTO
DON ADAMS JR. (MELVILLE)
PHOTO
CHRIS WILLIAMS/ICON SMI (MCKNIGHT)
PHOTO
SI GOLF COVER: HARRY BENSON
PHOTO
SI GOLF COVER: JACQUELINE DUVOISIN
PHOTO
SI GOLF COVER: JOHN BIEVER
FIVE PHOTOS