Lineup

38 | BASEBALL

Stephen Strasburg

With two spectacular starts, Washington's rookie pitcher became a national sensation. How long can his dominance—and the lovefest—last?

By Albert Chen

46 | 2010 WORLD CUP

Team USA

The underdogs matched England blow for blow and put themselves in position to advance

By Grant Wahl

• U.S. hopes rest on keeper Tim Howard

By Peter King

54 | STANLEY CUP FINALS

Chicago Blackhawks

An 83-year-old season-ticket holder, among thousands of other fans, rejoiced as Chicago won its first NHL championship in five decades

By Michael Farber

60 | NBA FINALS

Boston Celtics

Quarrelsome in the locker room but cohesive on the court, the balanced Celtics took a 3--2 lead over favored Kobe Bryant and the Lakers

By Ian Thomsen

66 | U.S. OPEN PREVIEW

Phil Mickelson

More focused than ever before, the five-time Open runner-up is this year's favorite—not least because the course is his beloved Pebble Beach

By Alan Shipnuck

A LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Led by players such as Seattle's Ian Snell, baseball is taking the lead in pro sports in addressing depression, anxiety and other mental health problems

By Pablo S. Torre

Page 72

Departments

6 Leading Off

12 Letters

16 Scorecard

What just happened to college football

24 Just My Type

Landon Donovan, Bob Bradley on World Cup

by Dan Patrick

26 Faces in the Crowd

30 Inside ...

• Baseball

The Reds' spark plug

• NASCAR

Feuding teammates

• The NFL

Cleveland's latest QB

84 The Vault

Corey Pavin's Open

88 Point After

An unauthorized peek at LeBron's June diary

by Phil Taylor

SPLIT COVERS

Readers in the Chicago area received the Blackhawks cover.

ON THE COVER

Photographs by Chuck Solomon (Strasburg), Mel Evans/AP (Blackhawks)

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PHOTO

SIMON BRUTY (SNELL)

SEVEN PHOTOS