This Week's SI

This Week's SI

Marilyn Indahl/Icon SMI

David Simon, creator of HBO's "The Wire" and co-creator of "Treme," offers a treatise about the Baltimore Orioles' miraculous 2012 season. A veteran scribe of the Baltimore Sun and a man that gave Baltimore a face through his iconic television show, Simon explores how hope is still a foreign concept in a city that has lost for so long. But with a gritty team that thrives in extra innings and defies all the principles of saber metrics, the Orioles seek to erase memories of Jeffrey Maier and the 1988 losing streak.

John Biever/SI

Pete Thamel points out that Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te'o is one of the biggest quandaries in college football today: He is a graduate of Barack Obama's high school, he practices the religion of Mitt Romney, and he has goals that easily resemble Tim Tebow's. After returning to South Bend for his senior season, Te'o has endured heartbreaking personal losses, but he is now the emotional and physical core of an upstart Notre Dame team.

Bob Levey/Getty Images

A deep thinker and an "aspiring human being" according to his Twitter, Arian Foster is Dan Patrick's subject in this week's edition of "Just My Type." Patrick discusses Foster's candor on Twitter, why the Texans seemingly can't get respect, and, of course, about the replacement officials.

Bill Frakes, Robert Beck/SI

Joe Sheehan weighs in on the furious American League MVP debate: Miguel Cabrera or Mike Trout? Sheehan delves deep into stats and the all-around contributions of both players. So who should get the vote come November? Sheehan's answer may surprise you.

Simon Bruty/SI

Washington D.C. already has one confident, self-assured black man that has become a city and national icon. Now that Robert Griffin III has arrived, there might need to be room made next to president Barack Obama. S.L. Price explores the mystique that Griffin has brought to Washington just three games into the 2012 season, and why this quarterback just may be the savior that an increasingly frustrated fan fanbase needs.

Rob Tringali

Davey Johnson needed time off. Now, a full decade later, Tom Verducci explains why the lifelong baseball fan is not only thriving, but completely relishing the game that exhausted him twelve years ago. With a series of young guns at his disposal and a highly supportive general manager, Johnson's Nationals are primed for playoff baseball.