Week Ahead

THURSDAY 5/10
The Players Championship
Jim Furyk is living proof that you don't have to win very often to make a good living in golf. Furyk (right) hasn't won a tournament since the Canadian Open last September, but he has three top 10 finishes this season and is the world's second-ranked player. Last year at Sawgrass he finished—surprise!—third.
Thursday and Friday, Golf Channel 1 p.m; Saturday and Sunday, NBC 2 p.m.

NBA Playoffs: Pistons at Bulls
Few things are out of Luol Deng's reach—the wiry Chicago forward (left) has a seven-foot wingspan—but an NBA title will be if the Bulls don't get their game in order. The Pistons won Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series by 26 points last Saturday. (Game 3 is tonight; Game 4 will be on Sunday.) The series could come down to an arms race: Deng, Chicago's leading playoff scorer, will be guarded by the spidery Tayshaun Prince, a second-team All-Defense selection this year.
ESPN 9 p.m.

SI PICK OF THE WEEK

FRIDAY 5/11
Something's Brewing
It's been 10 years since the Brewers, who sat atop the National League Central with a major-league-best 21--10 record through Sunday, have been in first place this late in the season. It's been even longer since they've had a closer lead the NL in saves. ( Rollie Fingers did it in 1981.) But Milwaukee has another elite fireman: Francisco Cordero (above), who was leading the league with 12 saves, and he could help end another drought—a quarter-century without a playoff appearance. Are the Brewers for real? Fans will have a better idea when the Brew Crew visits New York to face the Mets for the first time.
Check listings 7 p.m.

MONDAY 5/14
Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel
Correspondent Jon Frankel investigates horse racing's dark secret: the growing problem of doping. Also, SI senior contributing writer Frank Deford goes one-on-one with Marlon Shirley, the world's fastest amputee. Shirley, missing part of his left leg, is the Paralympic world-record holder in the 100 meters.
HBO 10 p.m.

Arena Football: Chicago Rush at Dallas Desperados
A premier touchdown catcher matches up with a historic TD thrower. Chicago receiver Bobby Sippio (right), the AFL's midseason offensive player of the year, leads the league with 35 TD receptions. Dallas quarterback Clint Dolezel has 68 TD passes and is the only pro QB to throw more than 800 in his career.
ESPN2 8:30 p.m.

TUESDAY 5/15
On Shelves: Can I Keep My Jersey?
Paul Shirley never amounted to much as an NBA player, averaging 1.8 points per game in three seasons. But he found his calling as a wordsmith. Shirley wrote a popular and funny blog while with the Suns in '04. He exhibits the same self-deprecating humor and inside-the-locker-room honesty in his first book, an engaging account of a vagabond career that saw him play for 13 teams in the U.S. and Europe.