Lineup
44 | BASEBALL
Mariano Rivera
Armed with avirtually unhittable pitch whose wicked movement he can't explain, the bestcloser in history leads the Yankees into the postseason
By Tom Verducci
52 | PROFOOTBALL
Retooling thePatriots
Ever improvisingand fine-tuning, Bill Belichick tries to mold a hodgepodge of rookies andveterans into a formidable team. Don't bet against him
By Damon Hack
56 | COLLEGEFOOTBALL
CincinnatiBearcats
With a breathlessno-huddle offense led by late-blooming quarterback Tony Pike, the undefeatedBearcats are dark-horse contenders for the national title
By Albert Chen
60 | PROBASKETBALL
Chris Andersen
The most popularman in Denver may be the Nuggets' swooping, pouncing, heavily tattooed forward,who can't leave home without drawing a crowd
By L. JonWertheim
64 | HOCKEY
NHL Preview
The Original Sixteams are still the league's bedrock, and five of them should make theplayoffs
By MichaelFarber
• Scouting reports,division winners, Stanley Cup pick
Departments
4 Leading Off
12 Letters
16 Scorecard
• Productivewhiffer
• Women huntgators
28 Just My Type
Ray Lewis onRavens' D, Hurricanes' QB
by Dan Patrick
30 Faces in theCrowd
32 Inside ...
• The NFL
Pump-fakemasters
• FantasyFootball
Free-agentbargains
• CollegeFootball
The MAC's Tebow
• NASCAR
Chase all butover?
• Boxing
Vitali Klitschko'sway
86 The Vault
'67 Red Soxpennant
90 Point After
Why Tiger won'tbeat
Jack's majorsrecord
by SelenaRoberts
Montreal's Maurice"Rocket" Richard (in 1955) was an Original Six star.
ON THE COVERPhotograph by Walter Iooss Jr.
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PHOTO
DAVID BIER STUDIOS (RICHARD)
FIVE PHOTOS
