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The Phillies have waited 15 years for another shot at a World Series title. The Rays could go from last place one year to a championship the next. Check out SI.com for full coverage of the Series, including breakdowns of each team by Baseball Prospectus. Plus ...

• Fans' picks of their favorite Series of all time
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• Photo galleries of key players like Jimmy Rollins

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SETH DAVIS
Inside College Basketball
Checking in with Memphis superfrosh Tyreke Evans
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Inside the NHL
What coach Mike Keenan must do to wake up Calgary
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Inside NASCAR
Five lessons from last weekend's race at Martinsville
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NFL POWER RANKINGS

The Rating Game
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SI VAULT
YOUR LINK TO SPORTS HISTORY

FROM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED
JULY 8, 1974

When Gerald Ford was vice president, he wrote about his days as a Michigan football star, the state of the sport, the value of international athletic victories and why winning is a necessary goal. One month later Richard Nixon resigned, and Ford was sworn in as president.

I KNOW I AM guilty of leaning heavily on football jargon in speeches and off-the-cuff remarks, but this is understandable. I know of no other sport that demands so much and returns so much. The experience of playing the game can be applied to the rest of your life, and drawn from freely. I know it is easy to find similarities in politics. How you can't make it in either field without teamwork and great leadership. How you can attract grandstand quarterbacks by the droves. In football you hear them during and after the game. In politics we hear them 30 seconds after our last speech. Or during it. Most grandstand quarterbacks have never played either game, yet are the loudest and most knowledgeable critics. The thick skin developed in football pays off.

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Covers
PHOTOGRAPHS BY LOU CAPOZZOLA (BRAND); ROBERT BECK (BRYANT); GREG NELSON (DURANT); GARRETT W. ELLWOOD/NBAE/GETTY IMAGES (GARNETT); BOB ROSATO (HOWARD); JOHN BIEVER (JAMES)

INSET PHOTOS: Sam Forencich/NBAE/Getty Images (Oden); Al Tielemans (Howard); Gary Bogdon (Upton)

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PHOTO

AL TIELEMANS (ROLLINS)

LEADING MAN Rollins ignites the Phils' attack.

PHOTO

AL TIELEMANS (JACOBS)

PHOTO

MEL LEVINE (ANDERSON)

THREE PHOTOS