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LINEUP
DEPARTMENTS
4 Leading Off
10 Editor's Letter
14 Letters
19 Scorecard
Taylor Plimpton on losing and the Lions
26 Faces in the Crowd
28 Just My Type
Coach K recalls when the W's were scarce
BY DAN PATRICK
30 Inside ...
The NFL
Parsing the Packers' D
College Football
A BCS road map
The NHL
Offensive turnover
College Basketball
Off-season bonding
Baseball
A new CBA for MLB
84 Point After
How an NBA players' league would play out
BY PHIL TAYLOR
FEATURES
44 | PRO FOOTBALL
TIM TEBOW
There are 300 million opinions of the Broncos' QB, and every one of them is right
By Alan Shipnuck
50 | NASCAR
TONY STEWART
Smoke caught fire in the Chase to win a third Cup crown
By Lars Anderson
58 COLLEGE FOOTBALL
BORDER WAR
Kansas-Missouri is a rivalry like no other—and this meeting may be the last
By Austin Murphy
64 SOCCER
MLS CUP
David Beckham affirmed the value of star power in America
By Grant Wahl
SPORT IN AMERICA
In My Tribe
Despite all the money and marketing, sports are still about the stories we tell one another
BY TERRY MCDONELL
P. 68
"My dad may have been the Lions' least successful player, but he was a most loyal fan. We'd sit in front of the tube and cheer them on, the two of us sharing the same angst and hope and delight.
—Taylor Plimpton, on the affection for Detroit he shared with his father, George, the author of Paper Lion
P. 19
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ON THE COVER
PHOTOGRAPH BY JOHN BIEVER
PHOTO
FRED VUICH (STEWART)
EMOTIONAL LIFT Before he clinched the Cup in Miami, Tony Stewart got a clamorous sendoff from supporters.
PHOTO
COURTESY OF PLIMPTONMOVIE.COM (PLIMPTON)
TWO PHOTOS