Lineup

36 | COLLEGEFOOTBALL

SEC Reigns

Impressive wins byNo. 1 Florida and No. 2 Alabama, and banner games across the board, proved onceagain that this conference stands above the rest

By John EdBradley

46 | BASEBALL

Playoff Central

Divisional-roundsweeps by the Dodgers and the Angels have made talk of a possible FreewaySeries seem like more than just California Dreamin'

By Tom Verducci

52 | SOCCER

U.S. Advances

Proving itself in aLatin American cauldron, the men's team booked its trip to the 2010 World Cupwith a thrilling win over Honduras. Now the hard work begins

By Grant Wahl

56 | PROFOOTBALL

Journeyman

He has been oneight teams in 17 years and he'll never get to Canton, but 39-year-old Texansdefensive lineman Jeff Zgonina and players like him are the soul of thegame

By Tim Layden

Departments

4 Leading Off

12 Letters

14 Scorecard

• The NFL's grumpyyoung coaches

22 Just My Type

Kobe'soff-season

by Dan Patrick

24 Faces in theCrowd

26 Inside ...

• The NFL

The Titans'tumble

• NASCAR

A confusingmerger

• CollegeFootball

Va. Tech'stailback

• The WNBA

Phoenix wins itall

66 The Vault

• Fran Tarkenton'sMVP season

70 Point After

The unluckiest fanin America

by Phil Taylor

Mercury playerscelebrate their WNBA championship (page 34).

ON THE COVER

Photograph by BobRosato

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PHOTO

CHRISTIAN PETERSEN/GETTY IMAGES (MERCURY PLAYERS)

FOUR PHOTOS