How you handle
overachieving players--as well as those who underperform--will decide your
fantasy fate
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Front Cover
Back Cover
October 8, 2006
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Week Like the Matchup
DON'T LIKE THE MATCHUP
Air and Space
SI Players: Life on and Off the Field
YANKEES STARTER
Pirates Infielder
For some people a pitching change is a laughing matter
From race to race, Brian Vickers can rely on all the comforts of home
The NBC drama series Friday Night Lights, debuting on Tuesday at 8 p.m. EDT, follows a fictional high school football team in Texas. How realistic is the show? SI asked players, a coach and a cheerleader at Mansfield Summit High in Arlington to break it down
Mentored by some of the game's greatest coaches, Jeff Rutledge is now returning the favor at a Nashville high school
This soccer star is happy to be alive and kicking
Features
Neither player
led his respective league in a Triple Crown category, but SI's MVP choices
displayed their singular value in other ways
Dallas owner Jerry
Jones expected a circus when he signed Terrell Owens--and he couldn't be
happier that his Boys are once again center ring in the NFL
A legend in the sports netherworld,
chemist Patrick Arnold--inventor of THG--breaks his silence on his role in the
BALCO scandal and hints of a future filled with scary science
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Never mind whom
they've beaten. Long-suffering Rutgers, Missouri and Wake Forest are
undefeated, undaunted and unquestionably on the rise
Boxing
With his Shaqlike dimensions and fearsome features, Nikolay Valuev--history's tallest heavyweight champ--intimidates foes and titillates fans, but can Don King's colossus fight?
Inside
Life of Reilly
Departments
Poised to pass Jerry Rice in the record books, wideout David Ball is taking New Hampshire to new heights
Heath Shuler fizzled as a top Redskins draft pick. Now he wants to return to D.C. as a congressman
A new documentary captures the grit, danger and passion in one of America's fastest-growing sports
Why do fans see the NFL as the No Fault League but come down hard on other sports? SI's senior NBA writer has a theory
Even in retirement, golf's most noble figure was never far from the game
As several high-profile managers are let go, new faces emerge as potential replacements
California makes college felons serve their time before getting playing time
The actress (We Are Marshall) is the great-granddaughter of New York Giants founder Tim Mara and Steelers founder Art Rooney
What to watch and watch for