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The article examines the 1971 season of the baseball team of Macon High School in Macon, Illinois. The role of the team's coach Lynn Sweet is discussed, as is the team's close relationship. The Macon team reached the finals of the Illinois state tournament, the smallest school ever to do so. The lives of Sweet and various players on the team following the tournament and their circumstances in 2010 are described.

The article reports on Miami Heat basketball player Dwayne Wade and his performance during the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoff game. Wade, who grew up in Chicago, Illinois and attended Marquette University, played the final playoff game while recovering from the flu and scored 10 points in 9 minutes. Sales of his jersey with the number three have increased, the three being in reference to Wade's choice of representing the Holy Trinity. Wade donates 10 percent of his salary to his Chicago church.

Focuses on Chicago Bulls players Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry. How both players stand seven feet tall; Expectations for both as the Bulls attempt to rebuild their team; Plans for the 2002-03 National Basketball Association season.

The author comments on the rumors that entrepreneur Mark Cuban is looking to buy the Chicago Cubs, along with Wrigley Field and a piece of a sports channel. Cuban has reportedly been considering selling sponsorship at the upper deck at Wrigley Field, then give away tickets to the seats. The author believes that Cuban would be a good owner for the team.

This article focuses on the performance of Antonio Davis and analyzes his trade to the Chicago Bulls. In a 109-95 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks last Friday, the 35-year-old Davis looked creaky, stiff-jointed and--dare we say it--Mutomboesque. Though he's still a gritty player and a good rebounder, Davis admits, "I'm not the same guy I was at 28, 29 years old." Unfortunately for Chicago, he's still being paid as if he were; Davis has two years and $27.5 million left on his contract. When rookie G.M. John Paxson traded Jalen Rose, Donyell Marshall and Lonny Baxter to Toronto for Davis and reserve forwards Jerome Williams ($ 6.5 million a year through 2008) and Chris Jefferies, he not only gave up more talent than he got back, but he also failed to clear room under the salary cap. He says he wanted to surround his trio of talented youngsters--forward Tyson Chandler, 21, guard Jamal Crawford, 23, and center Eddy Curry, 21--with solid complementary players who would assist in their development. In doing so, however, he left the team low on firepower.

This article discusses the career resurrection of New Orleans Hornets coach Tim Floyd, whose 49-190 record with the Bulls was the worst of any coach in major pro sports history with 200 decisions. Behind a new up-tempo system, New Orleans has morphed from a power team into a transition team along the lines of the Nets--a similarity that's not coincidental. Floyd had been a well-liked coach at the University of New Orleans (127-58 from 1988 to '94) and had made the Big Easy his post-Bulls home. During his time away from the sideline, Floyd became enamored with the Nets' unselfish style, which is based on the Princeton offense. Like the Nets, New Orleans uses a two-guard front and brings three players across the foul line, relies on precision cuts and pushing the ball in transition, and depends on the leadership of a dynamic point guard--Baron Davis playing the role of Jason Kidd.

This article predicts the performance of the Chicago Bulls in the 2003-04 National Basketball Association season, focusing on the responsibility of point guard, Jamal Crawford, and offering a projected starting lineup and an opposing team's scouting report. Jamal Crawford doesn't look like a team leader. Baby-faced and prone to tugging on his jersey with his thumbs while he talks as if he were wearing suspenders, the 23-year-old Chicago guard looks as if he just got out of college. Now, after three seasons in Chicago, he's in the peculiar position of being one of two Bulls with the longest continuous tenure, yet he's only a year older than Kirk Hinrich, the team's first-round draft pick out of Kansas. Crawford played at nearly an All-Star level down the stretch last season, averaging 23.0 points and 6.4 assists in the final eight games. But now the pressure to produce is greater because the team's 2002 first-round draft pick, Jay Williams, is sidelined indefinitely after a motorcycle accident and because Crawford's backup, Hinrich, is a rookie. INSETS: ENEMY LINES;PROJECTED STARTING LINEUP.

The article focuses on Scottie Pippen of the Bulls basketball team. The 38-year-oldPippen chose to return to Chicago, where he played his first 11years and won six rings, instead of heading to a title contender. After four turbulent years in Portland he's back in a city that he and his family love--Pippen kept his downtown condo--with fans that appreciate him and a staff straight out of the Bulls' team photo from 10 years ago. Pippen should play limited minutes under Bill Cartwright, who worked him only one session a day during two-a-days and needs him to serve as a role model for this gifted, impressionable team.