Lineup

30 | PRO FOOTBALL

DEMAURICE SMITH

The NFL Players Association head is proving to be a formidable force in the labor dispute that threatens the game

By Jim Trotter

36 | BASEBALL

RELIEF PITCHERS

Pitchers like Joaquin Benoit don't start, they don't close—but they became very wealthy this winter

By Tom Verducci

42 | GOLF

PEBBLE BEACH PRO-AM

Funnyman Bill Murray got an assist for helping journeyman D.A. Points earn his first PGA Tour title

By Alan Shipnuck

48 | PRO BASKETBALL

BOSTON CELTICS

One title contender hosted four others in a 10-day span, resulting in some playoff-like regular-season basketball

By Ian Thomsen

2011 | NASCAR PREVIEW

58 EARNHARDT'S IMPACT

Dale Earnhardt died in the 2001 Daytona 500, but even as the green flag drops for this year's race, his legacy is felt throughout the sport—and in the lives of three men

By Lars Anderson

• The six drivers with the best shot of ending Jimmie Johnson's reign

"THE DAY THE MUSIC STOPPED"

IN 1961 A PLANE CRASH DESTROYED A GENERATION OF U.S. FIGURE SKATERS AND SOME OF THE SPORT'S MOST CELEBRATED COACHES

By E.M. Swift

page 70

Departments

4 Leading Off

10 Editor's Letter

12 Letters

16 Scorecard

Time to give FIFA boss the boot

22 Just My Type

Coach K on Kyrie, Cutler and coaching

By Dan Patrick

23 Faces in the Crowd

24 Inside ...

• The NHL

Forsberg's brief return

• College Basketball

Beware George Mason—again

• The NBA

Five bad contracts

76 Point After

Cleveland never quits

By Joe Posnanski

Please Recycle This Magazine Remove Inserts or Samples Before Recycling

ON THE COVER Photograph by Damian Strohmeyer; Inset: Kohjiro Kinno

PHOTO

HY PESKIN (SKATER)

FIVE PHOTOS