This week on “Only A Game,” an Independence Day conversation about an American named Armstrong, bicycling in France. We’ll update the tennis from Jolly England, and we’ll have a fishing story about a Greek. But he’s fishing in New York, and he’s pretty independent.

Chicago has made its pitch for the 2016 Summer Games, but some Chicagoans are saying, “Not so fast.” We’ll have that story this week on Only A Game, as well as the tale of last year’s unforgettable men’s Wimbledon final between Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

This week on Only A Game, author John Feinstein joins me to remember Tiger Woods’ and Rocco Mediate’s thrilling playoff in last year’s U.S. Open, and Only A Game’s microphones capture the raucous and rather un-golflike gallery sounds at the 16th hole of TPC Scottsdale.

This week on Only A Game, social axiety disorder has prevented Kansas City Royals hurler Zach Greinke from being the league leader in interviews, but not from becoming MLB’s ERA leader. Also, a new biography of Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige.

The most recent bad news for Detroit: GM bankruptcy. The good news: Octopus sales are up! This week on Only A Game, the Red Wings’ quest to kick start Motor City. Also, the latest from the Lebron-less NBA Finals.

This week on Only A Game, will the Cavs ever go where no NBA team representing Cleveland has gone before? Also, a conversation with George Steinbrenner biographer Peter Golenbock, and sawing wood…lots of wood…at Lumberjack College.

This week on “Only A Game,” updates on the NBA’s Conference Finals. Plus, holy competition! Two soccer teams, each convinced that God’s on their side, play on the Vatican’s pitch, and evidence that it’s never too early to begin twirling a fifteen foot ribbon in the air…competitively.

Will the second jewel of Horse Racing’s Triple Crown end up in hock? This week on Only A Game, Baltimore’s storied Pimlico Race Track tries to rein in impatient creditors. Also, saying goodbye to 120 years of University of Vermont baseball.

As the Yankees settle into their new stadium, nearby schools have lamented the loss of their old sports digs. This week on Only A Game, broken promises over replacement parks on the site of old Yankee stadium. Also, a cricket tour of Eastern Europe.

This week on “Only A Game,” don’t blink, because Usain Bolt, the speediest person on the planet, will make a very fast appearance. Also, a Kentucky Derby preview, and former Yankees All-Star Bernie Williams drops by our studio with guitar in hand.

This week on “Only A Game,” the latest from the NHL playoffs, and the science behind what makes a slapshot, well, slap. Also, we’ll speak with the author of “Outcasts United: A Refugee Team, An American Town.”

This week on “Only A Game,” Mixed Martial Arts as a high school discipline, and a conversation with Marshall Jon Fisher, author of “A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, a World Poised for War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played.”

This week on Only A Game, a profile of NBA journeyman Jamario Moon. Also, the basketball clinic for aspiring female coaches, an NHL post-season preview, and a Wall Street worker moonlights in a slightly less risky enterprise: Indoor Lacrosse!

This week on “Only A Game,” a forecast of the fight for Final Four good fortune. Also, the new wave of fancier fannies filling the new Yankee Stadium’s better seats, and a conversation with Jeff Pearlman about his new book, “The Rocket That Fell To Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortatlity.”

This Week on “Only A Game,” all the men’s and women’s madness that’s fit to cover, including Kentucky’s unusual foray through the National Invitational Tournament. Also, a conversation with Bruce Weber, author of “As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels In The Land of Umpires.”

This week on “Only A Game,” round one of hoops hysteria, and a conversation with former UConn star Mel Thomas, who must wish she was still a Huskey. Also, meet the subcontiental baseball players hoping to make it from spring training to the bigs.

This week on Only A Game, the latest March Madness news, including Morehead State’s unlikely berth into the NCAA men’s tournament. Plus, peeling back the curtain on one of baseball’s most enigmatic sluggers: Manny Ramirez. And from the thrill of good water pressure to the agony of a clog, it’s the Plumbers’ Olympics.

This week on “Only A Game,” Team Venezuela’s bid for World Baseball Classic gold. Also, a spring training roundup with Tim Kurkjian, and two Boston ice hockey coaches shoot for the all time record of 924 wins.

Barry Bonds’ prejury trial was scheduled to begin next week, but a late appeal delayed it. This week on Only A Game, which legal team will hit the most home runs? Also, a World Baseball Classic Preview, and remembering Game 7 of the 1960 World Series between the New York Yankees and Pittsburgh Pirates.

This week on “Only A Game,” we’ll visit the Wimbledon of stair-racing competitions, and we’ll discuss “A Course Called Ireland” with a golfer who walked between the island’s links layouts as well as along them. We’ll wade into women’s college hoops and the NBA, too.

If Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby is The Beatles, then Washington’s Alex Ovechkin must be The Rolling Stones. This week on “Only A Game,” a tale of two hockey rockstars. Also, the latest in the A-Rod affair and a day on the slopes with The National Brotherhood of Skiers.

This week on “Only A Game,” the latest from New York on the America’s Cup protocol controversy. Also, the Denver Nuggets climb to new heights after shedding their Hall of Fame point guard, and a conversation with the editors of “The Global Game: Writers On Soccer.”

This week on Only a Game, our fifteenth offering of Super Bowl Haiku poetry. Also, how Super Bowl TV ads went from superstars to underachievers, and two music critics help us decide the winner in a battle of the Super Bowl fight songs.

This week on Only A Game, the sound of Arizona pinching itself as the Cardinals prepare for Super Bowl XLIII. Also, Trinity College squash tries to extend its title run to an astonishing eleven straight, and Sports Illustrated’s L. Jon Wertheim on the rise of Mixed Martial Arts.

This week on Only A Game, we’ll preview the pre-Super Bowl games involving, among others, the Arizona Cardinals. Strange days, eh? We’ll explore the grim fates of some former NFL greats, and we’ll visit a college where women wrestle. Officially.

This week on Only A Game, the Arizona Cardinals have made it to the second round of the NFL playoffs. No, that’s not a type-o. Plus, we’ll meet an 11-year-old goalie who’s already stopping slap shots from her high school opponents, and hear the reflections of a former role playing addict now departed from the world of Dungeons and Dragons.

This week on Only A Game, the Portland Trailblazers expunge the “jail” prefix in their quest for the NBA’s Northwest Conference title. Also, college bowl and NFL wildcard weekend previews, and the best American sports writing of 2008.

This week on Only A Game, the best stories of 2008!

This week on Only A Game, the Arena Football League punts its 2009 season. Also, the big, bad, Bruins come out of a decades-long hibernation, and rambling holiday revelers bare almost all in sub-freezing temperatures for the ninth annual Santa Speedo Run.

This week on “Only A Game,” Penn State strives for further football glory, a ghost named Grange gallops again across various gridirons, courtesy of his biographer, and we solve all your seasonal gridlock with our annual “Only A Game” gift guide.