This week on Only A Game, we endeavor to answer a most vexing question regarding the sexes: Why aren’t there more sports that pit women against men? Also, the New Jersey Devils rise from hockey purgatory, plus SI’s Peter King on the NFL, and a story of a sports hero who disappeared.

The buildup, the dip
And the chips are nothing to…
Super Bowl Haiku

This week on Only A Game, our 16th Annual installment of gridiron, er, poetry. Also, a big game preview, and bringing together bikes and beer in Boston.

It’s still a week and a half away, but the Super Bowl has already claimed the attention of various fans and lots of writers, broadcasters, and commentators…among them Bill Littlefield.

This week on Only A Game, bounce the ball once, twice, breath, set and…shoot the 105,400 something free throw for charity. We’ll meet a guy who’s hoisting up 1,000,000. Also, Vikings? Saints? Jets?

This week on Only A Game, a spin around the rink with US Ice Dancers Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto, who hope to capture Olympic gold in Vancouver. And, we’ll discuss which NFL teams will have winning hands on Wild Card Weekend. Join us.

We’re ringing in 2010 with a fully loaded show! Bill and Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com will discuss the college football bowls. Plus, the touching story of basketball prodigy Elena Delle Donne choosing Delaware over the mighty UConn; an NFL playoff preview with Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports; and the phenomenon of outdoor hockey!

Professional football’s current success makes it hard to remember the game’s simpler days. Before the NFL was on television four nights a week, the tiny National Football League struggled to make a name for itself. Bill talks with author Robert S. Lyons about his new book, On Any Given Sunday, about NFL pioneer Bert Bell.

Lots of football fans will tell you that there’s nothing better than gathering in a group of seventy or eighty thousand to support your team. In a bookstore he first visited two decades ago, Bill has found an argument against that contention.

The Cleveland Browns have been beaten and befuddled. This week on Only A Game, how have their fans handled the humbling? Also, I’ll be speaking with the author of Onward Christian Athletes, who suggests that stars who point to the sky…should reconsider. Also, is President Obama leaving the hardwood in favor of the green?

While some are giving thanks for the comfort and support of their families and friends, football fans in New England started celebrating Thanksgiving early, when the Patriots routed the New York Jets, 31-14 on Sunday. According to Bill, this was more than an ordinary win…for it gave fans evidence of genius restored.