Lineup

FEATURES

BASEBALL

36 Pitching Giant
Tim Lincecum—looks 18, throws 98—is a biomechanical marvel
By Tom Verducci

PRO FOOTBALL

48 New to the Club
Aaron Rodgers joins the fraternity of quarterbacks who followed legends
By Chris Ballard

TRACK AND FIELD

56 Dash of Fear
Worried that he'd miss out on the Games, Tyson Gay ran a blazing 100
By Tim Layden

SWIMMING

62 Lock Meets Lochte
In the 400 IM, Michael Phelps barely held off underrated Ryan Lochte
By Kelli Anderson

2008 NASCAR MIDSEASON REPORT

HOW SAFE IS RACING?
In the last seven years, innovations made to prevent fatal wrecks have changed the sport
Five crucial questions • Midway awards
BY LARS ANDERSON
Page 69

Departments

6 Leading Off

15 Letters

20 Players
• The Black Athlete 40 years later
• Little Leaguers tour Cuba
• First Person: Joba Chamberlain

32 Faces in the Crowd

34 Just My Type by Dan Patrick
• Cruising with Vanilla Sky

90 Point After
Jocks take up the fight against bullying by Selena Roberts

Inside ...

84 Tennis
• The deep, deadly women's field

86 Boxing
• Manny Pacquiao: a fourth title

88 The NBA
• The Knicks' plan for 2010

PHOTO

JOHN BIEVER (PACKERS)

48 LEADERS OF THE PACK As Aaron Rodgers (right) succeeds a Green Bay legend, rookie Brian Brohm fills Rodgers's old shoes as the backup QB.

PHOTO

NIGEL KINRADE/AUTOSTOCK (NASCAR)