This week on Only A Game, a small golf course in Aceh, Indonesia reopens five years after the 2004 tsunami. Also, Mark McGwire gets all teary-eyed remembering that really great summer of ’98, and Charlie Pierce dissects the week’s sports news.

Author Declan Hill argues that without major changes to security and enforcement, the game of soccer will be forever damaged by criminals’ efforts to fix games around the world.  Bill Littlefield shares his thoughts on The Fix: Soccer and Organized Crime.

The U.S. soccer team will face off against Cuba this Saturday in Havana for a World Cup qualifying match. While the team and a few U.S. journalists have been granted permission to land on Cuban soil, U.S. soccer fans won’t be able to see the game. Bill Littlefield explores the reality of politics and sports [...]

This week on Only A Game, more questions concerning horse racing safety after the breakdown of Eight Belles at last weekend’s Kentucky Derby. Also, the spectacular and dangerous world of sumo wrestling, and will Philadelphia see its first sports championship in a quarter century?

 Ken Shulman visited a sumo match in Japan to find out about the tradition and pageantry that goes along with the ancient form of martial arts.  Check out some of Ken’s photos from his time spent taking in the sport.

This Week on Only A Game, a report from Japan, where the Red Sox and A’s recently opened the 2008 Major League Baseball Season. Also, an NCAA Hoops update, and the Sons of Ben Franklin declare their love for Philadelphia’s MLS squad just two short years before their first game.

 Ken Shulman made the trip to Japan to see the defending World Champs begin their title defense against the Oakland A’s.  Check out more of Ken’s photos from the Red Sox season-opening series in Tokyo, and the gala that came along with it.

This week on Only A Game, early signs of madness in the NCAA and NIT Tournaments. Also, how the Cal Tech Beavers lost each of their conference games for 22 years while engineering the dammedest losing streaks imaginable, and the seasonal migration of the Blue Jays in spring.

Soccer doesn’t get a whole lot of press here in the United States. However, after catching a glimpse of F.C. Barcelona in action earlier this week, Bill Littlefield observes that soccer truly is an art.

This week, the NBA at the season’s middle, a trip to the US Table Tennis Olympic Qualifiers and don your funny hats and grab your muzzle loaders, it’s the primitive biathlon!