Game Plan
• WATCH
Opening Day
It's Opening Night, actually, as the world champion Phillies host the Braves onESPN's Sunday Night Baseball. For the show's 20th season there will be achange—a third man in the booth. Former Mets general manager Steve Phillipswill join longtime play-by-play man Jon Miller and analyst (sort of) JoeMorgan, the first regular company for the pair. Let the opinions fly!
• READ
The Rocket That Fell to Earth
In this well-crafted bio, author Jeff Pearlman (Boys Will Be Boys) digs deepinto Roger Clemens's rep as a Texas-bred flamethrower, devoted family man anddedicated teammate. Pearlman, an SI.com contributor, produces a rich characterstudy, revealing a complex figure ultimately undone by the ambition that madehim great.
• GET READY
For Triple Crown season
Two major Kentucky Derby prep races go off this Saturday: the Wood Memorial inNew York and the Santa Anita Derby in Arcadia, Calif. There's no clear Derbyfavorite yet, but one colt to watch is I Want Revenge, a winner by 8½ lengthsin last month's Gotham Stakes. Plus, his rider is a reality TV star. JoeTalamo, 19, appears on the Animal Planet series Jockeys.
• ANTICIPATE
Hamburger heaven
Who says the age of excess is over? Last week the Class A West MichiganWhitecaps in Grand Rapids announced a new item on their stadium menu: the FifthThird Burger, a $20, 4,800-calorie colossus with five 1/3-pound patties, fiveslices of cheese, a cup of chili, salsa and corn chips on a one-pound sesameroll. Anyone who eats it all gets a T-shirt.
• SHOW
Eternal love for your team
A T-shirt? Whitecaps fans who finish that burger may be more in need of aproduct made by Eternal Image, based 135 miles to the east, in FarmingtonHills, Mich. The company produces caskets and urns adorned with the colors andlogos of a fan's—or ex-fan's—favorite major league club. Think of them as theultimate luxury boxes for those who live and die by their teams.
The Pop CultureGrid
How athletes fit in | People say I look like ... | Website I frequent the most | If I could have anyone's voice, it would be ... | Song playing on my iPod right now | _____ is a total waste of talent |
CLIFF LEE Indians P | Kevin Bacon | Yahoo | Barry White's | Nothing. I never listen to it | Michael Vick |
MARCO ANDRETTI IRL Driver | Denzel | marco andretti.com | Jackie Stewart's | What Them Girls Like by Ludacris | Britney Spears |
DANA EVELAND Athletics P | Adam Sandler | golfnow.com | Caleb Followill's from Kings of Leon | Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon | Chris Martin |
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA NASCAR driver | "That race car driver guy" | miami windsurfing.com | No one's | Crazy by Gnarls Barkley | Bullfighting |
INSIDE THE GRID
Eveland finds Martin, the lead singer of an eight-timeGrammy winner, insufferable: "I really hate Coldplay." What disturbsMontoya is the brutal sport that dates to the 12th century in Spain and ispopular in parts of his native Colombia. "Playing with an animal and thenkilling it isn't a talent," he says. "It's sick." Is that why Lee'sso down on the former Falcons quarterback and convicted dog abuser? "It'spretty obvious," he says.
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SCOTT CLARKE/ESPN (ANALYSTS)
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NEW YORK RACING ASSOCIATION/AP (HORSE)
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COURTESY WEST MICHIGAN WHITE CAPS (BURGER)
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COURTESY ETERNEL IMAGE (URN)
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SERGIO TORRES/AP (BULLFIGHT)
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KEVIN MAZUR/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES (SPEARS)
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THOMAS E. WITTE (LEE)
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GINA HOUSEMAN (IPOD)
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FRED VUICH (ANDRETTI)
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FRED VUICH (MONTOYA)
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BRAD MANGIN (EVELAND)
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JOHN W. MCDONOUGH (SANDLER)
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FRANK MICELOTTA/GETTY IMAGES (MARTIN)
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