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Leading theFields
SI.com readers have spoken: Green Bay's Lambeau Field is this year's top NFLstadium. Rankings are based on affordability, food, tailgating, team quality,atmosphere and accessibility. Fans also share their fondest—and leastfond—memories from each stadium.
Top 5 Stadiums
1. Lambeau Field (Green Bay)
2. Heinz Field (Pittsburgh)
3. Invesco Field (Denver)
4. M&T Bank Stadium (Baltimore)
5. Jacksonville Municipal Stadium
FOR THE RANKINGSOF ALL 32 NFL STADIUMS, GO TO SI.COM/STADIUMS.
FEATUREDWRITERS
GENE MENEZ
Inside College Football
The envelope, please: Awarding the Halfway Heisman Trophy
SI.com/menez
JON HEYMAN
Inside Baseball
Assessing the Manny sweepstakes, plus notes from around MLB
SI.com/heyman
CHRIS MANNIX
Inside the NBA
Key to the Magic's success? The return of unheralded Tony Battie
SI.com/mannix
MIDNIGHTMADNESS
Hoop To It
From UCLA to UConn, college basketball tips off this week with MidnightMadness. To prepare, read Luke Winn's rankings of the best frontcourts andbackcourts, freshmen and seniors. (North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough is No. 1in the class of '09.) Also, Seth Davis answers 20 questions for the season.
> Videos ofpast Midnight Madness festivities at SI.com/cbb.
SI VAULT
YOUR LINK TO SPORTS HISTORY
FROM SPORTSILLUSTRATED
SEPTEMBER 4, 1989
Ernie Davis, the1961 Heisman winner from Syracuse, died of leukemia at age 23. SI writerWilliam Nack looked at the life of Davis 26 years later.
COACH BenSchwartzwalder recruited Davis tirelessly, with the help of [Jim] Brown. SaysBrown, "Ernie made it beautiful for that era of championship guys. Dynamitedudes, black guys, came to Syracuse after Ernie. Floyd Little and Jim Nance andothers. It was fantastic. They could go there without losing their dignity. Iwas fighting every day at Syracuse to hold on to my dignity. I broke through,but Ernie created the new era. Ernie was Ben's man. Schwartzwalder lovedhim." They all did, from the moment he hit campus and first suited up forfreshman football. In all his 25 years as a college coach, Schwartzwalder says,he never met another player like him. "Ernie was just like a puppy dog,friendly and warm and kind," he says. "He had that spontaneous goodnessabout him. He radiated enthusiasm."
> Check outthe latest classic SI story at SI.com/classic.
> for yourfavorite stories and covers, go to SI.com/vault.
Cover
PHOTOGRAPH BY PETER READ MILLER
INSET PHOTOS:Simon Bruty (Bolt)
Damian Strohmeyer (Pedroia)
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SCOTT BOEHM/GETTY IMAGES (LAMBEAU)
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DAMIAN STROHMEYER (HANSBROUGH)
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MEL LEVINE (MENEZ)
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MEL LEVINE (HEYMAN)
TWO PHOTOS
