FEATURES
MLB PLAYOFFS
34 Worldly Series
For the small-market October party crashers, the key to getting to the postseason was going global in the search for out-of-this-world talent
BY ALBERT CHEN
PRO FOOTBALL
40 Lost Boys of Troy
The swaggering USC Trojans of 2005 were destined to produce a string of NFL greats. Funny how that worked out
BY AUSTIN MURPHY
PRO FOOTBALL
46 Philip Rivers
The San Diego QB's numbers put him among the game's best, but these days the stat that matters most is wins in the postseason
BY JIM TROTTER
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
50 Ohio University
Nebraska castoff Frank Solich has turned a once hapless team into a potential BCS buster
BY LARS ANDERSON
The Boogeying Bobcat Band
56 Hoops Comes Home
The borough that has spawned countless legends—and legendary characters—finally has an NBA team
BY RICK TELANDER
DEPARTMENTS
4 SI Digital
6 Leading Off
12 The Mail
15 Scorecard
Stopping flopping
23 Faces in the Crowd
24 Just My Type
Joe Flacco: elite QB?
BY DAN PATRICK
26 Inside ...
BASEBALL
COLLEGE FOOTBALL | NFL
68 Point After
The playoffs ain't brain surgery
BY BRANDON MCCARTHY
ON THE COVER: Illustration by Chris Ede; photograph by Michael J. LeBrecht II/1Deuce3 Photography
PHOTO
DAVID E. KLUTHO (WERTH)
NATIONALS TREASURE Rightfielder Jayson Werth robbed the Cardinals' Daniel Descalso in the sixth inning as Washington took Game 1 of the NLDS 3--2.
PHOTO
