The Women Behind the Retired NFL Men Who Suffer from Brain Trauma

The Red Sox Big Fail

Has the U.S. Open Become a Hipster Hot Spot?

It’s Not Easy Being a Kicker

As NFL Offenses Continue to Throw More, Offensive Linemen Become Key Players

(NEW YORK – September 5, 2012) – Too often forgotten in the NFL concussion debate are the wives and girlfriends who bear the burden of caring for the suffering players—and watching the men they love slip away. Three of these women, Laurie Navon (girlfriend of former QB Jim McMahon), Mary Lee Kocourek (wife of former TE Dave Kocourek) and Mary Ann Easterling (widow of former safety Ray Easterling) share their personal stories with staff writer Melissa Segura (@MelissaSeguraSI). Navon and McMahon appear on the cover of the Sept. 10, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands now.

Navon met McMahon, who has early-onset dementia, at a golf outing seven years ago. But the man she knows now is not the charismatic, sweet, funny, confident man she met that day. She began to notice a difference in McMahon’s behavior in early 2007, and since tests confirmed his dementia, she has done everything to make adjustments in both their lives.

Navon and McMahon are confronting the disease at the beginning of its development, while Mary Lee and Dave Kocourek are suffering through its final stages. Dave was a four-time Pro Bowl tight end in the 1960s, and in 2002, at age 64, he learned he had dementia. It’s been a rough road since around ’05. Mary says, “When you see a man that was so big and so strong and so nice and gentle, and he doesn’t know the difference between a toothbrush and a razor. He could have cut his mouth wide-open. After [he] got progressively worse, I had to watch everything he did. I couldn’t let him take a shower or do any of the things you need to do every morning without me being there. I couldn’t chance it.”

To download a hi-res JPEG of this week’s cover click here

On the Tablets: Podcast with Richard Deitsch and Melissa Segura

THE FALL OF THE RED SOX – TOM VERDUCCI

On Aug. 31, 2011, the Red Sox had the best record in the American League, stability in the dugout and front office. They were baseball’s model franchise. Since then, they have a record of 69—93, have fired a manager, and lost a general manager. Eight key players are not on the roster anymore due to trades, free agency and retirement. Senior writer Tom Verducci investigates what went wrong and how Boston plans to fix it (page 38).

Current manager Bobby Valentine has been blamed for many of this season’s problems. One baseball executive said, “The problem when you have a manager like Bobby is that you’re always refereeing if the players don’t like the manager. That gets old. And when some people aren’t happy, they go around and get other people to be unhappy.”

The Red Sox appear on a regional cover of Sports Illustrated, which you can download here

BIGGER, RICHER, CALMER, COOLER – S.L. PRICE

The U.S. Open has long been pro tennis’s leading indicator, showing better than any other Grand Slam event where the sport will go next. What the U.S. Open has shown in recent years is that the raw era of tennis—when fans were emotional enough to brawl in the stands—has been pushed aside in favor of a tamer, celebrity-driven sport where spectators sip $12 mojitos in the grandstand and Donald Trump enjoys a match from his private suite. CBS commentator and former tennis player Mary Carillo said, “For me, what started out as a game became a sport, and now it’s a business. I’m not naive: I’m wistful. And it’s not just this place that has become corporate. The players have too. They’re brands—the Federer brand, the Sharapova brand” (page 53).

The tournament, however, it is still the most thrilling fortnight in sports. Andy Roddick’s announcement that this Open would be his last tournament helped restore some of the crowd-driven energy that fueled players such as Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe. After winning his fourth-round match against Fabio Fognini on Sunday, Roddick thanked the crowd for propelling him to victory: “I love this place, and I love you, and I’m having a blast. I’m going to give my all here.”

On the Tablets: Slideshow from the Open.

LIFE OF KICKERS – LEE JENKINS (@SI_LeeJenkins)

Although many football kickers have made big plays, the big misses are what stick with them. Jeremy Ito, a former Rutgers kicker, said, “It’s kind of unfair. The good feelings you get from making one don’t outweigh the bad feelings you get from missing one” (page 54).

Their do-or-die life has forged a bond among kickers. Dan Mowrey, who missed a famous field goal while kicking for Florida State against Miami in ‘91, tutors other kickers and even counseled former Boise State kicker Kyle Brotzman after two crucial misses in 2010 kept Boise State from making the BCS championship game. Mowrey wrote Brotzman a letter, “I told him that one kick doesn’t define who you are. And I think I also told him that sometimes, you just have to say, F— it.”

On the Tablets: A look at six tough kicker misses throughout the years.

NO PRESSURE, MAN – MATT GAGNE (@SI_mattgagne)

As today’s pass-oriented offenses become more intricate and fast-paced, the lineman’s role gets more challenging. Drew Brees, Tom Brady and Matthew Stafford can’t throw for 5,000 yards if the men in front of them aren’t providing enough time. Cam Newton won’t run his way into the record books if his linemen aren’t holding their blocks downfield. Andrew Luck, Robert   Griffin III and other rookie starters will have no hope of finding a rhythm if they’re under constant pressure. More than ever, players who typically toil in obscurity—tackles­, guards and centers—will be critical to a team’s success or failure in the 2012 season (page 44).

MLB PLAYERS POLL

Who is the most underrated manager in baseball?

Joe Maddon, Rays                                            22%

Kirk Gibson, Diamondbacks                               9%

Bud Black, Padres                                            7%

Bruce Bochy, Giants                                          6%

Ron Gardenhire, Twins                                       6%

[Based on 271 MLB players who responded to SI’s survey]

FAST FACTS: With 5% of the vote, the Rangers’ Ron Washington finished sixth—the same ranking he received in answer to the question, Who is the most overrated manager in baseball? (Ozzie Guillen of the Marlins was No. 1.) . . . Of Maddon’s 60 votes, 39 came from within the American League. In a similar poll on Facebook, SI readers also picked Maddon, who got 30% of their votes.

SORECARD: OH, GIVE ME MY HOME – STEVE RUSHIN (@SteveRushin)

There’s little to gain from seeing an NFL game in person anymore. The NFL Sunday Ticket delivers every out-of-market league game to your couch, and the Red Zone Channel, which debuted on DirecTV in ’05, screens every league play when an offense advances inside its opponent’s 20-yard line. The experience at the game can lack comfort and isn’t always as viewing friendly as it is at home, but teams and stadiums are beginning to make some adjustments (page 19).

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is aware of this, saying “We have made the point repeatedly that the experience at home is outstanding. And we have to compete with that in some fashion by making sure we create the same kind of environment in our stadiums and use the same kind of technology.”

POINT AFTER: AND NOW, WHAT THEY REALLY THINK – PHIL TAYLOR (@SI_PhilTaylor)

Senior writer Phil Taylor wonders what it would be like if sports figures actually said what they truly thought—like Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen—and didn’t craft their language to sound politically correct. (page 68).

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD (COACHES EDITION)

• Kathy Jenkins (Alexandria, Va./St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School) – Lacrosse
• Mike Simons (Galloway Township, N.J./Cedar Creek High) – Rowing
• Marcia Pinder (Fort Lauderdale/Dillard High) – Basketball
• Steve Kuster (Williamstown, Mass./Williams College) – Swimming
• Stella Sampras Webster (El Segundo, Calif./UCLA) – Tennis
• Chris Puckett (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente High) – Baseball
• Cameron Shelley (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente High) – Baseball

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces

INSIDE THE WEEK IN SPORTS

• College Football (page 30): Cupcake Wars – With a four-team playoff on the horizon and strength of schedule being a key criterion for who makes the playoffs, programs across the country need to schedule tougher out-of-conference games. (@andy_staples)
• NASCAR (page 34): Chasing Glory – With one race left in the Sprint Cup regular season, five drivers have a chance to lock up the final spot for the postseason chase. (@LarsAndersonSI)
• MLB (page 34): The New Efficiency – The AL wild card has never been won by a team that scored fewer than 700 runs in a season, things could change this season as three teams in the hunt are on pace to score under 700 runs. (@joe_sheehan)
• Boxing (page 36): The Case for… Andre Ward – As Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao get older, Andre Ward is ready to be the next big name in the sport of boxing. (@chrismannixsi)

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Teammates, Dazzled Fans and Shell-Shocked Pitchers All Wonder: Is Mike Trout Already Considered an All Time Great?

Eastern Christian Academy Has Built a Football Powerhouse in Unconventional Ways

Penn State Football Is Beginning a New Era Under Coach Bill O’Brien

NFL Replacement Referees Have a Tough Road Ahead

The Marine and the Orphan Are up for Another Challenge at the Paralympics

(NEW YORK – August 22, 2012) – Angels rookie centerfielder Mike Trout, who turned 21 on Aug. 7, leads the American League in batting average, stolen bases and runs. This feat has been achieved by only three other ballplayers and none since 1945. As senior writer Tom Verducci notes, “There never has been a position player this good this young.” Trout appears on the cover of the August 27, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands now.

The question arises, how did 21 teams fail to draft Trout in the 2009 amateur draft. Verducci examines how the Angels did everything right throughout the process of scout Trout (page 32).

Trout grew up in Millville, N.J. Since the draft began in 1965, only 10 position players from New Jersey have been selected in the first round. This never fazed Greg Morhardt, the Angels’ Northeast scout who played minor league baseball with Mike’s dad Jeff Trout. Morhardt got to watch Trout for 10 days at the 2008 Area Code Games, a showcase tournament in Long Beach, Calif. From that point on, Morhardt knew Trout was destined to be great. He said, “It was a very simple comparison for me. I know what [former big leaguers] Shane Mack, Oddibe McDowell, Barry Bonds and Rafael Palmeiro were like at the same age. Mike was better than all of them. He was bigger, stronger and faster.”

To download a hi-res JPEG of this week’s cover click here

On the Tablets: A video of Mike Trout’s greatest feats on the field.

EASTERN CHRISTIAN ACADEMY – LEE JENKINS (@SI_LeeJenkins)

Eastern Christian Academy (ECA) doesn’t have a permanent campus, no listed phone number and no training facilities for its athletic programs, but its football team traveled to South Carolina last Friday and defeated one of the state’s most successful programs.

Simply put, Eastern Christian is not a school; it’s a football training program. Fourteen team members have received football scholarships to major college programs. ECA belongs to Baltimore-based Connections Learning which is an online school whose students take classes at home. It counts more than 45,000 students among its accredited private and public schools. Many athletes who participate in individual sports are members of Connections Learning, but Eastern Christian is the company’s first foray into team sports (page 46).

The 54 students who are enrolled at ECA convene every Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. until 2:45 p.m. and take proctored classes together. Allen Ezell, a former FBI agent who spent 11 years investigating the legitimacy of schools such as Eastern Christian, said, “What you’re describing is definitely unusual. But this sounds like a proctored setting, with adults watching over kids as they do their work and take their exams, and in today’s world that’s becoming normal.”

On the Tablets: Podcast with Richard Deitsch and Lee Jenkins.

BLACK AND WHITE, AND GREEN ALL OVER – PABLO TORRE (@SIPabloTorre)

After two weeks of preseason games, as the NFL continues to lockout its referees, one of the biggest story lines is how many mistakes the replacement officials have made. Because the NCAA is not allowing a single current Football Bowl Subdivision ref to be used by the NFL, the league had to pick 136 replacement officials from the high school ranks and lower divisions of college football. The speed of the pro game is difficult for anyone to pick up, and its rules are immensely complex. The official NFL rule book, the NFL case book, the NFL instant-replay case book and the penalty enforcer book are a combined 190,330 words (page 42).

Keith Parham, a former Big East official who was a rookie referee last season said, “The difference in intensity from the preseason, when players are trying not to get hurt, to playing in a stadium full of 85,000 fans is astronomical. Those seven refs that are going to work Giants-Cowboys [in the Sept 5. season open] will be scared to death.”

PRESENT AT THE RE-CREATION – ANDY STAPLES  (@Andy_Staples)

Already burdened with a monumental rebuilding effort upon being named Penn State football coach in February, Bill O’Brien’s job became even more difficult when the NCAA levied heavy sanctions on the program in July. For O’Brien, however, the challenge of re-creating the football program pales in comparison to the challenge at home, where his 10-year-old son, Jack, suffers from a rare brain disorder that prevents him from talking or feeding himself. O’Brien said, “You have two choices. You either sit here every day and say, ‘Oh, God, what are we going to do?’ Or you can charge ahead” (page 52).

O’Brien and the football program are certainly charging ahead. Shocked to find that the Nittany Lions were using severely outdated training equipment, O’Brien had an assistant order brand-new, custom-built conditioning stations. In team meetings, O’Brien urges players to take a fresh approach to the game and makes it clear he will not tolerate sloppy on-field play. He even ushered in a new era of Penn State football uniforms, affixing players’ last names to the back of their jersey’s as a reward for sticking with the program despite the sanctions. Defensive line coach Larry Johnson Sr., one of only two assistants retained from Joe Paterno’s staff, said, “He embraces the tradition, but he says all the time that this is a new era. This is the new Penn State football”

THE MARINE AND THE ORPHAN – MICHAEL ROSENBERG (@Rosenberg_Mike)

The Paralympics begin in London next week and two partners in the mixed-doubles rowing competition, Rob Jones and Oksana Masters, have taken different, but extraordinary journey’s to get to where they are today. Oksana was born in Ukraine with severe birth defects, and her parents immediately checked her into an orphanage. After being subjected to torture, which included sexual assault and frequent beatings, she was able to escape the orphanage when she was adopted by Gay Masters; a single woman from Buffalo, N.Y. Doctors told Gay that her daughter’s legs would have to be amputated because they couldn’t support her weight, and Oksana was fitted for prostheses at eight years old (page 56).

Jones grew up on a farm in Virginia and after his junior year of college, he joined the Marines. During his first tour in Iraq, he specialized in IED (improvised explosive device) detection. He also found weapon caches and safely removed them. He was in Afghanistan when an IED exploded and took off both his legs and got his prostheses a few weeks later.

Oksana says, “I’ve gotten a lot of people saying. ‘That is awesome. You’re so brave.’ I hate when people say brave. I’m not brave. I’m just living my life. Why is that brave?”

On the Tablets: Video of Oksana in the water rowing. 

MLB PLAYERS POLL

Who is the phoniest player in baseball?

Alex Rodriguez, Yankees 3B                              26%

Nick Swisher, Yankees RF                                  14%

Nyjer Morgan, Brewers CF                                 11%

Brian Wilson, Giants P                                       9%

Brandon Phillips, Reds 2B                                 5%

[Based on 232 MLB players who responded to SI’s survey]

FAST FACTS: Rodriguez was also voted the most overrated position player in the game (SI, July 9), while Swisher, Morgan, Wilson and Phillips were among the top six vote-getters for the distinction of baseball’s most eccentric player (SI, Aug. 6). . . . The bulk of the votes for A-Rod (64%) came from players in the American League, and most of those (44%) came from his rivals in the AL East.

SORECARD: THE SHOW IS OVER – STEVE RUSHIN (@SteveRushin)

When Chad Johnson was cut from the Dolphins, it may have ended an era of prima donna wide receivers in the NFL. In the early 1990s, Michael Irvin of the Cowboys and Andre Rison of the Falcons got the diva era started. They were followed by the likes of Terrell Owens, Randy Moss and Johnson. Though all were supremely talented, they marched to the beat of their own drum (page 15).

Johnson may be cut, but Owens and Moss are trying to find new beginnings on the West Coast. After signing with the Seahawks, Owens pronounced himself a changed man and said that his life was now about “being part of something rather than being the center of something.”

POINT AFTER: – PHIL TAYLOR (@SI_PhilTaylor)

Senior writer Phil Taylor tries to understand the reasoning behind the Nationals plan to shut down their best pitcher, Stephen Strausburg, after he has reached his pitching innings limit, even though the franchise is in prime position to reach  the playoffs for the first time in many years (page 64).

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD

·         Austin Poganski (Saint Cloud, Minn./Cathedral High) – Hockey

·         Rebecca Greenwell (Owensboro, Ky./Owensboro Catholic) – Basketball

·         Jonathan Lutz (Brick, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) – Sailing

·         Bruce Kunde (Sterling, Ill./Entrepreneur) – Waterskiing

·         Victoria Duval (Bradenton, Fla./U.S. Tennis Association) – Tennis

·         Dennis Novikov (San Jose, Calif./UCLA) – Tennis

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces

INSIDE THE WEEK IN SPORTS

·         Fantasy (page 24): Back Pain – As running back production has continued to drop, fantasy football owners need to key in on the top backs and lower their expectations for the rest of the pack. (@SI_davidsabino)

·         Soccer (page 28): Study Abroad – As the European soccer season kicks off, here is a look at where the members of the United States National Team are playing overseas. (@grantwahl)

·         MLB (page 30): The Case for …Felix Hernandez – Joe Sheehan believes it will be in Mariners best interest for future success to trade their ace Felix Hernandez. (@joe_sheehan)

-SI-

College Football Preview: Can Alabama Repeat? Sports Illustrated Thinks So

Matt Barkley: USC Quarterback Takes Aim at a National Title

Nick Saban’s Philosophy Has Influenced Programs Across the Country

Peter King Is on the Road, Visiting NFL Training Camps

The London Games Had a Global Connection the World Has Never Seen

(NEW YORK – Aug. 15, 2012) – Sports Illustrated’s 2012 College Football Preview—dated Aug. 20 and on newsstands now—is a comprehensive look at the year ahead in NCAA college football. There are scouting reports for each team in SI’s Top 25, a breakdown of how the Heisman race will shake out and the magazine’s preseason predictions for first team All-America.

Sports Illustrated predicts that the Alabama Crimson Tide will roll through a difficult schedule right into the BCS championship game and defeat the USC Trojans.

Five teams share the honor of appearing on this week’s cover: No. 1 Alabama (A.J. McCarron), No. 2 USC (QB Matt Barkley), No. 5 Oklahoma (QB Landry Jones), No. 10 West Virginia (QB Geno Smith) and No. 13 Michigan (QB Denard Robinson). Click the link for each team to download its respective regional cover.

SPORTS ILLUSTRATED’S TOP 25 (page)

*Featured team on this week’s cover

On the Tablets: Video previews for all six BCS conferences.

HEISMAN CAMPAIGN 2012 – CORY MCCARTNEY (@SI_CoryMC)

Who will win this year’s Heisman Trophy? Success, stats and schedule are key for any Heisman candidate and Sports Illustrated’s Magnificent Seven are worthy of billboard treatment (page 61):

• Montee Ball, Sr., Wisconsin RB
• Matt Barkley, Sr., USC QB
• Landry Jones, Sr., Oklahoma QB
• Marcus Lattimore, Jr., South Carolina WR
• De’Anthony Thomas, Soph., Oregon RB
• Denard Robinson, Sr., Michigan QB
• Geno Smith, Sr., West Virginia QB

TROPHY LIFE – LEE JENKINS (@SI_LeeJenkins)

USC senior quarterback Matt Barkley returns to a Trojans football team that has seen many ups and downs in the past four years, including stringent NCAA sanctions. Barkley’s experiences away from the field—humanitarian missions to Haiti, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa—helped him more than any coach or athletic director, oversee the reconstruction of USC football. Barkley said, “I’m grateful that I saw more than Newport [Calif.]. Otherwise, when everything started going on at USC, I could have been like: Why is this happening to me?”

Over his four years, Barkley has become friends with a 92-year-old former USC track star, Olympian and WWII POW Louie Zamperini. As expectations surrounding this season soar, USC adjunct Jeff Fellenzer—who introduced Barkley to Zamperini—wonders how he will introduce Barkley when he makes his visits back to campus. He already calls Zamperini the “Greatest Trojan of ‘em all” so he said, “What I’d probably call him is the greatest Trojan football player of ‘em all” (page 64).

THE SABANIZATION OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL – ANDY STAPLES (@andy_staples)

Alabama’s Nick Saban has established a total-control, detail-oriented, evaluation-to-graduation system, and now that the Tide has won its second national title in three years, the imitators have arrived. When Saban began coaching in Tuscaloosa in 2006, he persuaded the university to invest in its academic support system, the health and fitness center and the players’ dorms. Now, schools such as Florida State, Michigan State and Colorado State are beginning to organize their programs the way Alabama has, but Saban knows that the work put into this process makes all the difference. He said, “You have to pay the price for success up front. Everybody wants to do it. Not everybody is willing to do what they have to do to do it” (page 52).

Saban instills a strong work philosophy in his staff. He picked up this philosophy when he was the Browns’ defensive coordinator under coach Bill Belichek. Saban said, “Everybody says, ‘Be accountable,’ but sometimes nobody ever tells you exactly what the expectation is. Bill was good at defining what he expected from everybody, and everybody buying in. Then the team had a chance to flourish because of it.”

THIS ONE TIME, AT TRAINING CAMP – PETER KING (@si_peterking)

Over the last three weeks, senior writer Peter King has covered 15 NFL training camps and two preseason games. He has traveled 13,581 miles through air and land. With one more week to go on his journey, King reports on what he has seen (page 40).

On the Tablets: Peter King video’s from throughout his tour.

VOICES CARRY – ALEXANDER WOLFF

The London Games connected fans and athletes as never before. Over 17 days, there were extraordinary moments that enthralled people everywhere. Chairman Sebastian Coe and his London Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) had a targeted slogan, “Inspire a generation”, which was a terrific fit for U.S. gold medal gymnast Gabby Douglas, who said, “I’ve always wanted to inspire people. This quote, ‘Inspire a generation’—I can check that off my bucket list” (page 32).

There was a wide range of historic moments. Sarah Attar and Wojdan Ali Shaherkani became the first women to compete for Saudi Arabia. David Rudisha’s broke Coe’s world record in the 800 meters. All-in-all, it was a terrific two weeks in London. Coe said, “Moments are what people tend to remember, and that’s what I believe is the driver of sports participation.”

On the Tablets: Podcast with Richard Deitsch and Alex Wolff and a slideshow of pictures from closing ceremonies.

WHY ASK WHY? – JON WERTHEIM  (@jon_wertheim)

Zach Cone and Johnathan Taylor—best friends, Georgia teammates and baseball brothers—don’t dwell on the moment that left one of them paralyzed and changed their lives forever. As freshmen, Cone and Taylor won starting jobs in the Georgia outfield. They warmed up before games and played catch in between innings. On road trips they roomed together. They played summer baseball together, and their families were close. Their personalities meshed not only with each other, but with the entire community at the University of Georgia (page 44).

On March 6, 2011, in a game against Florida State, a line drive into the outfield had both racing for the ball. Cone caught the ball just as Taylor’s head went directly into Cone’s hip. The collision left Cone dazed. It left Taylor paralyzed. Since then, despite many high and low moments, their friendship made going forward easier. Taylor said, “How is being bitter going to help me achieve my goals? There are days I want to be sad, but I can’t. Have to keep moving.”

Cone was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 2011 draft as the 37th overall pick, a day later the Rangers made the moving gesture of drafting Taylor in the 33rd round. Taylor never signed and will never play, but best friends being drafted by the same team? It can’t get much better than that.

On the Tablets: Jonathan Taylor talks about his rehab.

NFL PLAYERS POLL

Would you want your team featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks?

Yes                              42%

No                                38%

Maybe                         19%

[Based on 335 NFL players who responded to SI’s survey]

FAST FACTS: SI conducted its poll last September, before the Dolphins (and QB David Garrard, above)
were chosen for the current (seventh) iteration of the NFL reality show. . . . Young players seem to be more interested than veterans in the added exposure: 51% of those aged 21 to 24 said yes, compared with 44% of those 25 to 29 and 27% of those 30 and older. . . . The Aug. 7 premiere was watched by 737,000 people, the second-largest debut audience for the show since 2002, behind the ’10 season featuring the Jets.

SORECARD: SUPERMAN’S NEXT CAPER (@SI_LeeJenkins)

After months of speculation and rumors, Dwight Howard was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers last week. Howard arrived in L.A. and allowed his best attribute to take charge, his sense of humor. Howard is joining one of the most successful franchises in sports and will be surrounded by three of the highest-minded players in the game: Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. Only time will tell if he can mesh his style with the other stars, one thing is certain though: The Lakers, not the Heat, will be the main attraction this season (page 21).

POINT AFTER: TWO WEEKS OF INNOCENCE ABROAD – PHIL TAYLOR (@SI_PhilTaylor)

Senior writer Phil Taylor is back from London, where he experienced two weeks of emotional, deeply moving competition. He found that the nobility of many Olympic athletes made sports in America seem frivolous and crass—at least for a little bit (page 122).

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD

• Shawn Barber (Kingwood, Texas/University of Akron) – Track and Field
• Zana Muno (Hermosa Beach, Calif./Notre Dame High) – Volleyball
• Marc Arnold (New York City/University of Indiana) – Chess
• Kallie Myers (St. Clairsville, Ohio/Bridgeport High) – Soap Box Derby
• Charles Anthony (Swansea, Mass./La Salle Academy) – Golf
• Carly Bedinghaus (Columbus, Ohio/Hillard Darby High) – Equestrian

To submit a candidate for Faces in the Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces

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U.S. Swimming Faces New Challengers from All Corners of the Globe

U.S. Men’s Gymnastics Stumble, but Will Be a Force for Years to Come

Do Oscar Pistorius’s Prostheses Give Him an Unfair Advantage?

Megan Rapinoe And Team  USA Are Seeking a Third Gold

Four Decades Later, Israel Still Dreams of a Normal Olympics

(NEW YORK – August 1, 2012) – Michael Phelps finished fourth in the 400 individual medley and France out-kicked the U.S. to take home gold in the 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay. If nothing else, the early part of the London Games has shown everyone that the rest of the world is beginning to catch up to the U.S. in swimming. Ryan Lochte and the tough road ahead for the U.S. team are on the cover of the August 6, 2012, issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands now.

Senior writer Kelli Anderson (@KelliAndersonSI) notes that early into the games, it was apparent that the swimming competition wouldn’t be about the supremacy of one man or even two men, despite what the pre-Games Phelps-Lochte buzz had suggested. France extracted revenge on the U.S. for a historically narrow defeat at the hands of Phelps, Jason Lezak & Co. in Beijing four years ago. France, Lithuania and South Africa have all taken home gold medals in men’s and women’s swimming competitions (page 46).

The 400 individual medley was the first time Phelps failed to crack the top three in an Olympic race since he finished fifth in the 200 butterfly in Sydney as 15-year-old. Phelps, reflecting back on his historic run in Beijing said, “In 2008 everything was in a perfect place for me. I was prepared—physically, mentally, emotionally. Everything was perfect.”

As countries begin to catch up to the U.S., USA Swimming believes that because of Phelps’s stardom, the sport will continue to grow. The numbers back that up. In a typical post-Olympic year USA Swimming membership has increased between 5% and 7%, but after Phelps’s performance in Beijing that number ballooned to 11.3%

To download a hi-res JPEG of this week’s cover here

On the Tablet: Podcast with Richard Deitsch and Tim Layden.

ONE CITY, ONE WORLD – ALEXANDER WOLFF

London rescued the Games as last-minute host in 1908 and ’48, and its record third Olympics, planned through seven years of triumph and tragedy, should serve as a model for future games. These Games have already had some historic moments:

·         Brunei, Qatar and Saudi Arabia sent their first female athletes to an Olympics, the former two chose women to lead its delegation in the opening ceremonies.

·         The first world record of the Games went to South Korea’s Im Dong-hyun, an archer who’s legally blind.

·         Natalia Partkya of Poland, a table tennis player with no right hand, joined Oscar Pistorius, the prosthetically fitted “blade runner” from South Africa, as two athletes who are not waiting for the Paralympics.

There have, however, been some down moments for the home country, including showing the South Korean flag before the North Korean soccer game, which delayed the match by an hour as the North Koreans waited for an apology. All in all though, the Games are off to a terrific start (page 40).

GREAT EXPECTATIONS – BRIAN CAZENEUVE (@BrianCaz)

The new-look U.S. gymnastics squad stumbled in the men’s team final, but for a young program with a diverse core, the best is yet to come (page 54).

The team is led by Cuban-born Danell Leyva, 20, and John Orozco, 19 of the Bronx, who bring an attitude and have stories worth celebrating. Orozco grew up in poverty, sleeping in the family van as his parents drove him to meets as a child. Leyva’s mother defected to this country, and his step-father, Yin Alvarez, cleaned bathrooms to make ends meet. Alvarez, who coached Leyva, said of his time in London, “I am celebrating life. I represent the best country. My boy is having the best time. How should I not smile, my friend?”

UNQUIET AMERICAN – GRANT WAHL (@grantwahl)

As the U.S. women’s soccer team seeks its third straight Olympic gold medal, no one has been more influential to its early success at the Games than midfielder Megan Rapinoe. She has four assists and one goal through the first two victories, and her creativity on the field is grabbing everyone’s attention. Her style is a different from the traditional American style and Rapione says, “I take pride in the fact that I’m not a typical American” (page 58).

On a team whose long-standing mass appeal has been based in part on its ponytailed girl-next-door aura, Rapinoe became the first prominent U.S. women’s soccer player to come out in the media as gay, something she has never hidden among friends, family and teammates. She said, “We live part of our lives in the media, and there’s something to be said for saying, ‘This is who I am, and I’m proud of it.’ The more people who do come out, the more, I guess, normal it becomes.”

UNFAIR DISADVANTAGE – DAVID EPSTEIN (@SIDavidEpstein)

South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius is the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics. At home, he is celebrity, and his legend is likely to grow by the end of the Games, but this moment almost never happened. In January 2008, Pistorius was barred from able-bodied competition by the IAAF, track’s governing body, after a scientist it had commissioned to evaluate the runner’s prostheses claimed they allowed Pistorius to expend less energy than intact-limbed runners (page 62).

The ban was later overturned when a group of scientists proved to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that he was at no advantage to other runners. The controversy, however, has continued in London, where his friend and 400-meter world-record holder Michael Johnson believes he should not be allowed to compete.

NEVER FORGOTTEN – JON WERTHEIM (@Jon_Wertheim)

Four decades after the massacre of Israeli athletes by the terrorist group Black September, Israel’s Olympians are competing passionately despite their continuing isolation on the athletic stage and the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) reluctance to acknowledge the darkest day in the history of the Games. Ankie Spitzer, widow of Israeli fencing coach Andrew Spitzer, who was killed during the massacre, requested an official moment of silent remembrance at the opening ceremony for her husband and 10 other Israeli athletes and coaches killed by Palestinian terrorists in Munich at every Olympics since the ’76 summer games and has been rebuffed each time. The IOC fearful of how the Arab delegations would respond to such an observance continues to deny the request (page 68).

For Israeli athletes, the Olympic experience is unlike that for athletes from other countries. Before they leave for the Games, Israelis are given a primer by their Olympic committee on how to act at the Olympics. They are told: Don’t wear your Israeli warmups in public. Avoid speaking Hebrew in public. If possible, avoid buses. Don’t go off on your own. When assigned a hotel room, be sure it’s not near a stairwell, lest you provide an easy escape route for a possible attacker.

Over the last few games, Arab Olympians have refused to compete against Israeli Olympians. Gidi Kliger, a sailor who has one of the team’s best chances to win a medal in London, said, “Know what would be nice? I wish we could go and just have the normal Olympic experience. Nothing political, nothing special, no protests, no ceremonies. Just athletes competeing.”

MLB PLAYERS POLL

Who is the most eccentric player in baseball?

Nyjer Morgan, Brewers CF                                 19%

Brian Wilson, Giants RP                                     12%

Jose Valverde, Tigers RP                                  8%

Jose Reyes, Marlins SS                                     7%

Brandon Phillips, Reds 2B                                 7%

[Based on 297 MLB players who responded to SI’s survey]

FAST FACTS: The combustible Morgan, who answers to Tony Plush, was relatively subdued last year during Milwaukee’s run to the playoffs. But the club has been struggling this season, and in June he shoved a fan in Cincinnati who interfered with his attempt to catch a foul ball. . . .Yankees rightfielder Nick Swisher finished sixth with 4% of the vote.

SORECARD: WANNA BET (ON THE OLYMPICS) – MICHAEL FARBER (@MichaelFarber3)

According to a 2010 report by the auditing firm Deloitte, Britain’s legal gambling industry was worth about $10 billion and employed 100,000 people. The industry expects Olympic action will top $15.7 million throughout the 17 days. Olympic betting is not new to London. The William Hill betting agency has taken bets on the Games since the 1980s. People bet on everything from diving to fencing. Joe Crilly, a company press officer, says, “People are willing to bet on a sport you’d think they wouldn’t.”

POINT AFTER: TURNING DRIFTWOOD INTO GOLD – PHIL TAYLOR (@SI_PhilTaylor)

All athletes take the hopes of a nation with them to the Olympics, but rarely are they as evident as the hopes of Japanese athletes. Some 16 months after a devastating tsunami, team Japan is on a mission to bring joy back to its still recovering homeland. Javelin thrower Yukifumi Murakami says, “It is our duty to help our country with recovery. As athletes, the Olympics are our opportunity” (page 76).

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD

·         Latanna Stone (Valrico, Fla./Homeschooled sixth-grader) – Golf

·         Ahmed Bile (Annandale, Va./Georgetown) – Track and Field

·         Angel Piccirillo (Home City, Pa./Villanova) – Track and Field

·         Sam Weatherhead (Grand Rapids/West Catholic High) – Golf

·         Ally Frei (Branchville, N.J./High Point Regional High) – Softball

·         Austen Randecker (Mill Hill, Pa./Penn State) – Fly Fishing

To submit a candidate for Faces in The Crowd, go to SI.com/faces. Follow on Twitter @SI_Faces

INSIDE THE WEEK IN SPORTS

·         NFL (page 32): The Contender – As Jeff Fisher begins his second head coaching job in St. Louis, he’s erased the team’s past and is excited about what the future holds. (@si_jimtrotter)

·         College Football (page 33): Cost of Doing Nothing – The financial ramifications of Penn State’s failure to take action in the Sandusky scandal could haunt the school for years. (@SIPabloTorre)

·         NASCAR (page 34): He’s a Brickhouse – After a convincing win at the Brickyard 400, Jimmie Johnson served notice that he’ll be tough to beat as he looks toward a sixth Sprint Cup title. (@LarsAndersonSI)

·         MLB (page 36): The Master Builder – Most franchises build their teamS through the draft and developing players in their minor league system, but White Sox general manager Kenny Williams uses a different approach and has his team in first place.

·         MLB (page 37): The Case for Carlos Beltran –Carlos Beltran is rarely mentioned as one of the game’s greats, but his numbers and production prove otherwise. Albert Chen

-SI-

COVER STORY: WE WERE PENN STATE

“A LEAGUE AT THE CROSSROADS” A LOOK AT THE NFL AS TRAINING CAMPS OPEN 

BY PETER KING AND MATT GAGNE

A RETURN TO SANITY: THE WILD AND WOOLY RIDE FOR JEREMY LIN BY LEE JENKINS AND PABLO TORRE

THE BUNDY PROJECT BY TOM VERDUCCI (ALSO ON “SPORTS ILLUSTRATED” ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK)

(NEW YORK – July 26, 2012) – Sports Illustrated’s July 30, 2012 issue cover, on newsstands Wednesday, declares “We Were Penn State,” with a single PSU football helmet and the NCAA’s scathing decree— “an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity.” Sports Illustrated senior writer Alexander Wolff (@Alexander_Wolff) has this week’s cover story.

To download a hi-res JPEG of this week’s cover here.

Is this the end for Penn State?  The Worst Scandal in the history of college sports led the NCAA to impose hard and unprecedented penalties on the Nittany Lions. What’s left is a legacy in ashes, a program in shambles and a community in disbelief. Wolff and Gagne – SI Senior Writer Alexander Wolff (@Alexander_Wolff) with Special reporting from Matt Gagne (@SI_mattgagne).

A scene from the piece is a window into the cauldron of emotions stewing in State College:

“By the player’s entrance to the stadium a 69-year old Penn State alumnus named Vin Tedesco stood alongside a life-sized cardboard cutout of Paterno.  ‘For 60 years this guy lived, talked and required his soldiers to have truth and integrity,’ Tedesco said. ‘That’s why it’s hard for me to accept what’s going on here. I may sound like a stupid old man, but the Freeh Report is being used by the university as a big deal. They paid a lot to get it.’

It continues: “As Tedesco spoke, the driver of a passing car shouted out his approval.

And then, moments later, a shout from another car: “F— You!’”

A League at the Crossroads Once seemingly impervious to criticism, the NFL embarks on the 2012 Season plagued by issues that threaten its invincibility— SI Senior Writer Peter King (@SI_PeterKing) with Special Reporting from Matt Gagne (@SI_mattgagne).

As training camp opens, King and Gagne take stock of the league after a turbulent off-season which included Bountygate, the Junior Seau suicide, labor strife between the league and the refs, and a spate of litigation. Says NY Giants Co-Owner John Mara: “I’m a little surprised and a little disappointed at the number of issues we’re facing.”

From the piece:

It appears Bountygate may not be totally closed and the case of former Saints’ and now Green Bay Packers TK Anthony Hargrove is pivotal. He received an 8 game suspension largely on the strength of a video tape which allegedly captured him saying, “Give me my Money” in reference to a hit which saw Vikings QB Brett Favre helped off the field. According to King who spoke with NFL legal counsel Jeff Pash, an audio expert brought in by the league could not confirm that the voice was  Hargrove’s. Pash says, “The question is not, and never was, Was Antony Hargrove paid some money for making a hit?’… “It was, What did he know, and what did he deny?”  Writes King: The admission by the NFL front office that it can’t verify a key piece of evidence against Hargrove opens a hole in the case that (Jonathan) Vilma and other will try to exploit.

On the NFL/Referee Labor Situation:  “What’s alarming,” says a source close to the officials, “is there’s so much more animosity between the two sides than there was the last time there was a stoppage.”

How concerned is NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith? He tells King: “On a scale of 1 to 10? Twelve. The officials are being asked to be first responders on the field for player safety as well as to officiate the games. How do you expect officials not used to doing games at that level to be able to step in and handle the job? To use a (lockout) as a motivational tactic in negotiations… we find repulsive.”

Also this offseason 80 lawsuits from 3,000 plaintiffs were combined into one large lawsuit which the NFL will need to address in court on 8/19. King writes that the NFL will possibly ask for a dismissal. Pash says: “We have a high degree of confidence in our legal position.”

Says one of the plaintiffs Dorsey Levens: “I’m a football fanatic, and I don’t want to see the game destroyed… But we know the NFL is ignoring a lot of guys who need help. My ultimate goal in this would be to get lifetime care for all the guys who played this game.” King notes that Levens says he suffered from multiple concussions in his seven-year career leading to sleeplessness, irritability and forgetfulness.

Return to Sanity Just Five Months after Jeremy Lin became an overnight global icon, the Knicks decided not to keep him, clearing the way for a return to Houston where things promise to be significantly more relaxed — Lee Jenkins (@SI_LeeJenkins) and Pablo Torre (@SIPabloTorre).

So what was the 2012 season really like for Lin? The emotional roller coaster began after being cut by Houston just days before the season. “I was leaning toward not playing for the year,” Lin says. “I was going to call it quits, go home and then figure out what’s next for me.” He spent a night venting to Cheng Ho, a former Harvard running back and one of his best friends. “He was hopeless,” Ho says. “That was the all-time low by far. He talked about giving up basketball.’”

Then to the Knicks and his meteoric rise.. all good right?:  “I had a lot of weird things happen to me, a lot of creepy stuff,” he says. “Some people are so aggressive: ‘Give me this picture, give me this signature.’ Sometimes they’ll follow me back to my car, knock on my window and pull on my door. That really scares me. I have no idea they’re going to do. They’re banging on the car. I was just like, O, my gosh what is going on? I kind of freaked out.”

Outside of basketball he rarely left his hotel room: “I was pretty much eating in my room every night,” Lin says. “I could probably recite the menu to you.”… “I think the toughest part was the lack of privacy. I’m a very private person. When people approach me on the street, I still get nervous.”

THE BUNDY PROJECT The Orioles have the Game’s Best Pitching prospect, a 19-year-old natural with the stuff – and the work ethic – to weaken the knees. now comes the hard part: turning dylan bundy into an ace, and keeping him healthy enough to stay one – Tom Verducci.

In the 47 year history the Orioles have had only one of 458 draft picks win more than 15 games in the majors.  They took prized pitching prospect Dylan Bundy, the No. 4 pick of the ‘11 draft.  This selection followed an extraordinary high school career and senior season (11-0, 0.20 ERA, 71 IP, 158Ks) which had one NL scout reporting: “The greatest, most complete high school pitching performance I’ve seen since Kerry Wood.”

The program represents a sea change in the way organizations approach the care for prized high school pitching prospects. For the O’s it is under the watchful eye of Rick Peterson, director of pitching development. Verducci brings you inside the program which includes biomechanic research and analysis with Dr. James Andrews, the decision to abandon the cutter (“You don’t want to get me started on that,” Bundy says. “That was my best pitch.) and strict limit to the innings he pitches.

Verducci spoke with 355 game-winner Greg Maddux on issue of IP limits. In Maddux’s first full professional season, as a 19-year-old, threw six complete games and logged 186 innings. “I don’t remember a pitch count,” says Maddux. “If you looked like you were getting tired, if there was a change in arm slot, they took you out. I watch 50 or 60 minor league games over the last three years. I haven’t seen a complete game yet.”

“I can see both sides,” he says. “But I think it takes them longer to develop (now). The easiest way to improve as a pitcher is to throw. Cutting the throwing is cutting the improvement. You do it to reduce injuries. Bust is a pitcher going to develop at a reasonable rate?…  I also think there is a lot of development that comes from pitching tired. Anybody can do well when they feel great. But what happens when you’re tired and you have to rely on pitch selection and location? Where is the ability to get a hitter out more than one way? I don’t see that.”

THIS WEEK’S FACES IN THE CROWD

• Dondre Echols (Upper Marlboro, Md./Potomac High) – Track and Field
• Anna Smith (Venetia, Pa./Peters Township Middle School) – Tennis
• Sam Dexter (Oakland, Maine/Messalonskee High) – Baseball, Ice Hockey, Football
• Ashley Park (Arcadia, Calif./Highland Oaks Elementary) – Golf
• Ryan Patterson (Goddard, Kans./Kansas State) – Bass Fishing
• Isabella Caracta (Piscataway. N.J./Conackarmack Middle School) – Taekwondo

-SI-