Lineup

38 | PRO FOOTBALL
NFL Draft Preview
For the first time, three players from the same unit—USC linebackers—will be picked in the first round. So which one of them will go first?
By Austin Murphy

• Versatile James Casey
• The Top Tackles

GATEFOLD
Mock First Round
SI's Peter King projects the first 32 selections

52 | BASEBALL
Ken Griffey Jr. Returns
The once and future Mariner is back in Seattle, and an entire city, from a rock star to Rick the Peanut Man, is falling for him again
By Lee Jenkins

58 | PRO BASKETBALL
The Toughest Call
As bodies crash during the playoffs, games will turn on whether refs call charges, blocks or no foul at all. Regardless, one side will howl
By Ian Thomsen

64 | EXCLUSIVE BOOK EXCERPT
Roger Clemens
In 1998 he made a friend who abetted his alleged doping and helped ruin his legacy
By Teri Thompson, Nathaniel Vinton, Michael O'Keeffe and Christian Red

Departments

6 Letters

8 Leading Off

16 Scorecard
• Why we love Madden
• Doc Blanchard obit

24 Just My Type
Ripken's soccer days
by Dan Patrick

26 Faces in the Crowd

30 Inside ...

• College Football
Syracuse's spirit

• Baseball
Marlins' hot rotation

• Hockey
First-round rivalries

• High School Basketball
Recruits scramble

70 The Vault
• Bird vs. Dr. J, 1980
• Gervin's dominance

74 Point After
One NBA player's postseason drought
by Phil Taylor

ON THE COVER
Photograph by Peter Read Miller. Inset: Tom DiPace

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PHOTO

DAVID BERGMAN (SYRACUSE)

Syracuse's Cody Catalina (8) and Parker Cantey (page 31).

FIVE PHOTOS