Quarterbacks Peyton Manning, right, and Drew Brees will meet in Miami for Super Bowl XLIV.

After two weeks of talk, hype, and anticipation, the Colts and Saints are finally ready to just play the game. With Super Bowl XLIV upon us, Bill talks with Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com about what to watch for on Sunday.

It’s that time of year again. Time for commercials, football, and of course, Super Bowl Haiku! You’ve waited all season long, and here it is: our 16th annual edition of pigskin poetry.

While many former NFL players go on to have happy and healthy retirements, the same cannot be said for everyone. Dr. Gay Culverhouse, former president of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has created an organization dedicated to helping ex-players in need. She joins Bill to discuss the Player Outreach Program.

After a long legal battle, the 33rd America’s Cup has finally been scheduled for February 8 in Valencia, Spain. Although the two-and-a-half-year delay frustrated sailing fans worldwide, Only A Game’s Karen Given reports that as the race approaches, the excitement is mounting.

Bill dives back into the mailbag and takes some time to read our listeners’ comments.

Sure, they’ll talk football, but Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce will also discuss a big NHL signing, the Pistons’ real-estate rumors, and a lesson on non-violence from Gilbert Arenas. And yes, Charlie will make his Super Bowl prediction.

Last weekend, South Boston’s Harpoon Brewery hosted 281 cyclists with a thirst for competition, victory, and beer. As Only A Game’s Doug Tribou reports, the Harpoon Indoor Time Trial brings bikes and beer together.

Provine High football players drink water to combat the heat during high school football practice Monday, Aug. 3, 2009, in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/The Clarion-Ledger,Vickie D. King)

Brett Favre is back.  Again.  And this time he’s donning a purple Vikings jersey in an attempt to further alienate himself from his former devotees in Green Bay…err win another Super Bowl. Yahoo! Sports columnist Dan Wetzel joins guest host Karen Given to go over this story and more for the upcoming NFL season. 

There have been 125 heat stroke deaths in the game of football since 1955. A total of six high school and college players died in 2008 in one the deadliest years on record. As teams practice in sweltering summer weather, Only A Game’s Doug Tribou reports on the dangers of heat stroke and the ongoing legal battles about the only NFL player to succumb to it.

The Pan-Mass Challenge began modestly, but has since grown to provide a staggering amount of money for cancer research.  Going through the PMC’s history and business model is Only A Game’s Karen Given, who found it a lot easier to unearth inspiration than to keep her eyes dry. 

Jeffrey Marx, author of “The Long Snapper,” and his subject Brian Kinchen, former long-snapper for the New England Patriots, join Karen to discuss how a Bible teacher many years removed from football got a chance to snap in the Super Bowl. 

Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce joins Karen to discuss the multitude of legal issues surrounding NFL players, the spectacle that is Usain Bolt, and the falling of another storied world record. 

It’s often compared to Formula One racing, yet there are no engines.  The races take place in the water, yet the boats fly … literally.  Only A Game’s Sadie Babits was at the Moth Sailing World Championships in Oregon to cover a sport that is full of surprises.

Fans take pictures of the Vince Lombardi trophy at the NFL Experience as part of Super Bowl XLIII Saturday, Jan. 24, 2009, in Tampa, Fla. AP Photo.

This week Boston University  released more evidence linking concussions suffered by football players to lasting brain damage. The study found brain damage in a sixth deceased former NFL player under the age of 50. Bill talks with Alan Schwarz, whose story about this new medical finding appeared in the New York Times this past Wednesday.

Millions of dollars are invested in the Super Bowl and the spectacle surrounding it every year. So, this year, in the midst of an economic downfall, what, if anything will change? Only A Game’s Dave Naylor reports from Tampa as he looks for signs the Super Bowl is less super in 2009.

After weeks of waiting, talking about the game, and waiting some more, the Super Bowl is finally ready to be played. The Boston Globe’s Mike Reiss joins Bill from Tampa and gives his opinion on what seems like a lopsided Super Bowl matchup.

Fifteen years and still going strong – Only A Game’s Super Bowl Haiku make a triumphant return. This year, the hut-hut-Haiku players include Walter Dixon, Clint Cavanaugh, James Isaacs, Anna Bensted, George Hicks, Kirsten Kalkhurst, Jonathan Peck, and many more.

Many people watch the Super Bowl not for the game, but for the advertisements. These ads cost multi-millions of dollars for seconds of air. Bill is joined by Boston University media analyst John Carroll thinks that this year’s ads won’t live up to standards of years past.

Only A Game listeners have written letters and now Bill responds.

Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss the Super Bowl and it’s violent, sexual commercials, Joe Torre’s name-calling of Alex Rodriguez, and the Mexican soccer team’s strategy to defeat the US team.

Instead of playing an actual game, what if the Super Bowl was determined by each team’s fight song? This week on Only A Game Bill gets some help figuring out who would win between the Cardinals and the Steelers as American Public Radio’s Jim Derogatis and Gerg Kot join the show to breakdown the Super Bowl team’s fight songs.

Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason is hit by Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons. AP Photo.

The NFL’s conference championship games feature three bird-teams out of four: the Eagles, Cardinals, Ravens, and the Steelers. Sports Illustrated’s Peter King calls in to help choose which bird or birds will be playing come February 1^st in Super Bowl XLIII and which won’t.

What happens to NFL players once they’ve retired and are hit hard by medical and financial issues? Former player and Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka assists these players with his non-profit organization, Gridiron Greats. Bobbie O’Brien catches up with the group in Tampa as it plans for several fund-raising events leading up to the Super Bowl.

Ron Chambers is a Vietnam vet who recently returned after 40 years; just to play golf. Michael Walker Jr. wrote about Ron’s trip back and the several rounds of golf the two of them played. Michael and Ron join Bill to talk about their return to Vietnam, the country’s thriving golf industry, and their article written for Golf Magazine.

University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky is breaking the boundaries on college wrestling, with a women’s wrestling team. Ron Schachter explores the Patriots program and how they’ve come to dismiss the norm in the sport.

Only A Game listeners have written letters and now Bill responds.

Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss the NFL conference championship games, a record of sharpshooting 3-point proportions, and the Brooklyn Cyclones team name change.

Years ago athletes like Bill Russell, Paul Robeson, Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and many more were challenged by the media for taking positions on cultural issues. Nowadays they’re remembered as courageous heroes. Bill talks with the editors of Reconstructing Fame: Sport, Race, and Evolving Reputations, a book that chronicles many of these figures who have only recently been recognized for their contributions outside of their sport.

Philadelphia Phillies fans are notorious for their negativity, but this year they’re summoning their inner optimists to cheer their team on. But, will anything less than a World Series Championship satisfy hungry Philadelphians? Karen talks with David Murphy, who covers the team for the Philadelphia Daily News.

In Spanish, “Sueno” means “dream.” For the fans of Chivas USA, “Sueno” is winner of a reality TV show who earned a try-out with the team. Jorge Flores beat the odds and made the roster of Chivas USA. But, as Only A Game’s Charlie Schroeder reports, he still has a long way to go before his dream is complete.

For the past year and a half, we’ve been hearing about former NFL players who are exhibiting signs of a brain disease doctors used to think only happened to boxers. Some can’t remember the names of their teammates, and others have succumb to dementia and severe depression. Now, a new brain study center at Boston University is researching athletes from all sports to try to find a cure. Karen Given has the story.

The Cincinnati Bengals won the NFL’s AFC North Division in 2005. They haven’t had a winning season since, and this year they’re off to an 0 and 4 start. Karen talks with Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati Enquirer Columnist and WLW radio host.

Karen Given and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss: why the Raiders need a new owner, why the Cubs need to lift the curse, and how you can own your own Sarah Cuda.

Not surprisingly, the search for the next Tiger has been on since Woods first donned the green jacket at Augusta in 1997. Tiger Woods isn’t the focus of Kevin Cook’s new book, Driven: Teen Phenoms, Mad Parents, Swing Science and the Future of Golf, but his name is mentioned on nearly ever page. Karen speaks with Kevin Cook about his new book.

But no game other than boxing is set up to guarantee that virtually everyone will get hurt badly, and that the dumbest and most desperate and most deluded or least fortunate among the combatants will suffer brain damage from which they cannot recover and which will continue to get worse, even after they have retired.

In a boxing column in the Boston Globe on Monday, Ron Borges wrote of 41-year-old former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield that “the difference in his speech is becoming alarming.” Holyfield had indicated that although he was hammered in his last two bouts by boxers who couldn’t have beaten him a few years ago, he plans to continue fighting. Holyfield is, as he puts it, “determined to see each setback as an opportunity for a comeback.”

That’s a laudable perspective almost anywhere but in the ring.

It’s easy to see in retrospect that Muhammad Ali, Floyd Patterson, Jerry Quarry, Joe Lewis, Ray Robinson and hundreds and hundreds of other fighters should have quit before their brains were so badly damaged that they could not walk, talk, and, in some cases, feed themselves.

The trainers, managers and fight doctors with whom I’ve spoken over the years have said that fighters aren’t inclined to listen when somebody advises them to retire.

That’s not surprising. Most athletes believe they can play another season or two when objective observers have no trouble recognizing in them the signs of decline. In lots of sports, “almost as good as I once was” is good enough, and not especially dangerous.

But a basketball player or a runner, hell, a lawyer or a fry cook whose speech became markedly less fluent and more difficult to understand would no doubt see a doctor to make sure the deterioration wasn’t the result of a stroke. Only in boxing is what has happened to Evander Holyfield regarded not only as business as usual, but no reason for business to be curtailed.