Who's Hot Who's Not
Who's Hot
MLS MIGRATION
File this under "when it rains...." On Sunday, the day after David Beckham announced he was ahead of schedule in his Achilles rehab and would return to the Galaxy this year, Thierry Henry (right) declared he'd move to the Red Bulls after playing for France in the World Cup. Bienvenue, ami!
THE MATADOR
Rafael Nadal (right) captured his record 18th Masters title—one more than Andre Agassi—in espléndido fashion: He won at home, in the Madrid Masters; he beat Roger Federer (against whom he's 14--7) in the final; and he ran his 2010 mark on clay to 15--0.
LATOS LIVES THE DREAM
Four days after Dallas Braden's perfecto, the Padres' Mat Latos (right) came within a too-hot-to-handle comebacker of matching it. He also knocked in the game's only run. Earlier, having giant fun with Giants fans, he chucked a ball out of AT&T Park.
BOSTON STRANGLERS
Lost in the Hubbub after LeBron and the Cavs crumbled: the Celtics' killer D. In the clinching Game 6 the C's flustered the King into 8-of-21 shooting and nine turnovers. In Game 1 of the East finals, they held the Magic to 88 points, a two-month low for Orlando.
Who's Not
METS DEFLATION
Just how miserable is New York, loser (as of Sunday) of 11 of its last 15 with a 5.43 ERA during that period? That dreary stretch, which dropped the Amazin's from first to last, put analyst Keith Hernandez to sleep (catch it on YouTube) and had Citi Field attendance down 8,000 per game from '09.
TALKING BULL
L.A. loudmouths: Landon Donovan called Wayne Rooney "worn out," and Lakers coach Phil Jackson implied that Steve Nash gets away with carrying the ball. Nash's comeback: "The best coach in the league, Gregg Popovich, didn't have a problem with it." Ouch, babe!
DOCKETT'S WEB STREAM
Darnell Dockett will earn $3.75 million in 2010, so why go so far to clean up? After the Cardinals' DT tweeted that he'd been offered $1,000 to video himself taking a shower, he linked to an R-rated, live Ustream feed and hosed down, washcloth strategically placed.
BOSTON CHOKERS
Yogi Berra could have told you that the NHL East semis weren't over, even after Mark Recchi (left) and the Bruins took a 3--0 series lead on Philly. The B's dropped three straight, then squandered a 3--0 first-period lead in Game 7 to complete an epic collapse.
SI PLAYERS MLB POLL
WHOM WOULD YOU BUILD AROUND FOR 10 YEARS?
Joe Mauer, Twins C 36%
Hanley Ramirez, Marlins SS 17%
Albert Pujols, Cardinals 1B 15%
Evan Longoria, Rays 3B 9%
Tim Lincecum, Giants P 3%
FAST FACTS
A rookie and a prospect who has yet to appear in the majors were among the top 15 vote getters: the Braves' Jason Heyward (2%) and Nationals minor league phenom Stephen Strasburg (1%).... The Yankees and the Braves employ the most vote getters—three players each.... Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter was the oldest player to receive any votes (1%). In June 2020 he'll turn 46 years old.
Based on a survey of 347 MLB players
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LLUIS GENE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (HENRY)
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PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES (NADAL)
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JED JACOBSOHN/GETTY IMAGES (LATOS)
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DAMIAN STROHMEYER (RECCHI)
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ROD MAR (MAUER)
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GARY BOGDON (RAMIREZ)