Gameplan

What smart fans should do this week

• WATCH
White Sox at Cubs
The Windy City rivals renew their interleague border war with a three-gameseries at Wrigley Field beginning on Tuesday. (Two are matinees, so follow atwork on MLB.TV.) The series won't have the added drama of last year's, whenboth teams were in first place at the time. But bragging rights are at stake.Since interleague play began in 1997, each club has won 33 times.

• WATCH
NCAA Track Championships
The fastest college athletes gather in Fayetteville, Ark., for the four-daymeet beginning on Wednesday (CBS, live on Saturday). A runner to watch: Oregonsenior Galen Rupp, the NCAA--record holder in the 10,000 meters. He'll run hisspecialty plus the 5,000 as the Ducks men bid for a track triple crown:cross-country, indoor and outdoor track titles in 2008--09.

• LEARN
Football the Kiffin Way
Note: This is for female Vols fans only. Tennessee's new coach hosts LaneKiffin's Football Clinic for Women, a full-day seminar that gives footballwidows a working knowledge of the sport. Kiffin's offensive and defensivecoordinators will speak. The main draw, though, will be his wife, Layla, anInternet favorite who might be as popular as her husband.

• READ
Longshot
If there's a prototypical path to a hoops career, Lance Allred didn't take it.A Mormon raised on a polygamist compound in Montana, the 6'11" Allred wasborn deaf and has battled obsessive-compulsive disorder. Still, he starred inhigh school and at Weber State, and last fall he had a preseason stint with theCavs. He's not an NBA giant, but Allred's memoir is inspiring.

• PREVIEW
The site of the 2010 World Cup
South Africa has a hosting dry run with the Confederations Cup, an eight-teamtournament of FIFA regional champs. (Check listings for games on ESPN.) TheU.S. opens against reigning World Cup champ Italy on Monday. Is South Africaready for 2010? Its first new stadium opened on Sunday in Port Elizabeth; fivemore should be finished on time.

• READ
Travels with Mack
Last week Texas football czar Mack Brown and six other college coaches visitedU.S. troops—and played a little flag football—in the Middle East. Brown bloggedabout the trip (www.mackbrowntexasfootball.com), which left him inspired, tiredand full of insights such as: "The military is very much like running afootball program with the 'big' exception of war."

The Pop CultureGrid

Athletes in the mix	Conan O'Brien's Tonight Show will be ...	Size of my biggest TV	Favorite thing to put on a pizza	Book on my summer reading list	I'd like to write a fan letter to ...
EDWIN JACKSON Tigers P	Animated and pretty funny	52"	Ranch dressing	Can't think of one	Lauren London
OMAR GONZALEZ LA Galaxy D	Amazing!	120"	Tomatoes, green peppers, sausage and pepperoni	The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown	Marisa Miller
LUKE SCOTT Orioles LF	I never watch him	32"	Mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, olive oil	Any biblically based book	A few corrupt politicians
STEFAN FREI Toronto FC Goalkeeper	Funnier than Leno's	52"	Lots of cheese	The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien	Michael Jordan

Inside the Grid

Gonzalez's missive to Miller, SI's 2008 Swimsuit Issuecover girl, would have a simple message: He wants to let her know she's"smokin' hot." Jackson would tell his favorite actress and model that,in her case, beauty is more than skin deep: "She's intelligent, and that'ssexy."

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NAM Y. HUH/AP (CHICAGO FANS)

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KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT/US PRESSWIRE (RUPP)

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COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE (KIFFIN)

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COURTESY AARON FILIPOWSKY/UT ATHLETICS (BROWN)

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RAPHAEL MAZZUCCO (SI COVER)

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HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT (HOBBIT)

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PAUL DRINKWATER/NBCU PHOTO BANK (O'BRIEN)

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ANDY MEAD/YCJ/ICON SMI (GONZALEZ)

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ANDY MEAD/YCJ/ICON SMI (FREI)

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PORTER BINKS (SCOTT)

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JOHN BIEVER (JACKSON)

THREE PHOTOS