Gameplan

• CHECK OUT
Yankees at Blue Jays
This series won't have much impact on the playoff drive; New York is cruising in the AL East, while Toronto is out of it. But Friday's opener is another chance to ask: What happened to Roy Halladay? Since not being traded to a contender before the July 31 deadline the Blue Jays' ace is 2--4 with a 4.71 ERA. See him on MLB.tv.

• WATCH
World Cup qualifiers
The U.S. can nail down a spot in the 2010 Cup with wins over El Salvador (in Sandy, Utah, on Saturday) and Trinidad and Tobago (in the islands on Sept. 9; both are on ESPN Classic). Keep an eye on striker Jozy Altidore. He had a hat trick against T&T in April and scored a key goal in a March draw with El Salvador.

• WATCH
BYU vs. Oklahoma
Give the No. 3 Sooners and No. 20 Cougars credit: No opening-week cupcakes for them. Gutsy? Maybe, but OU is also getting $2.25 million and BYU $1.5 million to play at plush, new Cowboys Stadium in Texas (Saturday on ESPN). It's the first game that counts at the House That Jerry Built.

• WATCH
USOC Hall of Fame induction
Sprinter Michael Johnson, skier Picabo Street and the 1992 Dream Team are among the former U.S. Olympians to be inducted (taped ceremony airs Saturday on NBC). There was only a partial Dream reunion—no, Jordan didn't show—but the event still raised $5 million for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid.

• READ
An Honorable Run
It's about running, but Matt McCue, a track athlete at Colorado from 2001 to '05, also writes about what he learned from two mentors, CU coach Mark Wetmore and beloved Iowa City high school coach Bob Brown, who died in '07. It's a moving meditation on the coach-athlete bond.

The Pop Culture Grid
[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]