Gameplan
• 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."
PHOTO
NAM Y. HUH/AP (CHICAGO FANS)
PHOTO
KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT/US PRESSWIRE (RUPP)
PHOTO
COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE (KIFFIN)
PHOTO
COURTESY AARON FILIPOWSKY/UT ATHLETICS (BROWN)
PHOTO
RAPHAEL MAZZUCCO (SI COVER)
PHOTO
HOUGHTON MIFFLIN HARCOURT (HOBBIT)
PHOTO
PAUL DRINKWATER/NBCU PHOTO BANK (O'BRIEN)
PHOTO
ANDY MEAD/YCJ/ICON SMI (GONZALEZ)
PHOTO
ANDY MEAD/YCJ/ICON SMI (FREI)
PHOTO
PORTER BINKS (SCOTT)
PHOTO
JOHN BIEVER (JACKSON)
THREE PHOTOS