Major League Soccer gets its season underway on March 25. If all goes according to plan, the opener will pit the league’s new club, the Philadelphia Union, against last year’s expansion team, Seattle Sounders FC. But according to Bill Littlefield, there is some suspense regarding whether these clubs and the 14 other teams that comprise MLS will begin playing on time this spring.

This week on Only A Game, we celebrate a half century of mask making and some of the goalies who have benefitted from that craft. Also, generations of women come together on the hardwood, and a history of the Spartak Moscow soccer team.

On Sunday, Major League Soccer will determine their champion, when the Los Angeles Galaxy and Real Salt Lake face each other in Seattle. According to Bill, the league is delighted with the presence of at least one of the teams in the championship game.

This week on Only A Game, the David Beckham experiment: boom or bust? Also, a Tour de France update, and the story of the Veteran’s Cup. It’s a soccer tournament for players over the age of 30, and over 40, 50, 60, 70 and yes, even over 80.

This week on Only A Game, Tampa fans bask in the fall classic’s beneficent Rays. Also, Batman and Robin go batty for crazy golf, and a conversation with Chuck Culpepper, author of “Bloody Confused: A Clueless American Seeks Solace in English Soccer.”

Only A Game’s Charlie Schroeder attended a recent Chivas USA game to get a glimpse of soccer’s rising star, Jorge Flores, a 19 year old who won a chance to try-out for the team on a reality TV show.
Click here to view photos of the game.

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.

Bill Littlefield wonders about the future of sports and the “Annika Effect.”