
Lineup
THE SWEET 16
NCAA TOURNAMENT
Hoops Heaven
Isaiah Thomas and 11th-seeded Washington's defeat of No. 3 New Mexico was just one reason why the first two rounds were to die for
By Tim Layden
• HOW BUTLER DID IT, BULLDOG STYLE
• A LION LEADS THE BAYLOR BEARS
PAGE 28
40 | PRO BASKETBALL
Pau Gasol
The Lakers power forward has a game that is as refined and varied as his tastes away from the court
By Lee Jenkins
46 | HOCKEY
Drew Doughty
The finest of a new wave of gifted defensemen, the Kings prodigy may be on his way to greatness
By Michael Farber
52 | SPORTSWRITING
True Confessions
After nearly 50 years on the beat, one of SI's most prolific writers tells some stories on himself
By Frank Deford
Departments
4 Letters
6 Leading Off
12 Scorecard
Ron Washington's almost perfect apology
17 Just My Type
Curt Schilling has no love for the juicers
by Dan Patrick
18 Faces in the Crowd
20 Inside ...
• Baseball
Last rites of spring
• The NBA
Darren Collison time
• NASCAR
Kurt gets a stabilizer
• MLS
New year, new tests
64 The Vault
Brett Hull's heyday
68 Point After
MJ is back—right where he belongs
by Selena Roberts
Joe Mauer stays in Minnesota—for $23 million a year (p. 21).
ON THE COVER
A victorious Ali Farokhmanesh of Northern Iowa, photographed by Greg Nelson
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PHOTO
JOHN W. MCDONOUGH
PHOTO
TOM DIPACE (MAUER)
THREE PHOTOS