Quarterback Kellen Moore and the #3 Boise St. football team will begin their bid for a national championship on Monday, September 6th against #10 Virginia Tech. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia, File)

The NFL season will begin Thursday night in an NFC Championship rematch between the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings. While the family members of 4th string linebackers may wish the preseason lasted a few weeks longer, it’s safe to say the rest of us are ready for the games that matter. Bill speaks to Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com for an NFL Preview.

Reality TV shows like The Real World and Jersey Shore attract massive audiences every week, so why not use the format to attract more NASCAR fans? That’s what Max Siegel has done with Changing Lanes. The show, which airs on BET, places young female and minority drivers in a house together and awards the top four drivers a spot in the Toyota All-Star Showdown. Only A Game’s Karen Given reports.

If the beginning of the NFL season doesn’t provide enough action for you, you’ll be sure to catch some scoring in college football’s opening week as top-ranked powerhouses feast on doormat opponents. But there are also early-season games that may have title implications down the road. Bill discusses these matchups and other college football stories to watch this season with Dan Wetzel of Yahoo! Sports.

Before the University of Washington started their football season in 2000, police began investigating allegations that one player robbed and shot a drug dealer. That player suited up to play. Later, teammates accused of domestic violence, rape and other felony charges suited up, while coaches, University officials, police and prosecutors all turned the other way. Bill speaks with Ken Armstrong and Nick Perry, the authors who chronicle Washington’s season in their book Scoreboard, Baby.

Roger Goodell has made a point of keeping NFL players from carrying guns, how will the commissioner react if Chad Ochocinco goes through with his plan to incorporate a musket into a touchdown celebration? Charlie Pierce joins Bill to ponder this and discuss the rest of the week’s news.

At the intersection of the Long Trail and the Appalachian Trail, the Long Trail Inn in Killington, Vermont is the perfect place for weary hikers to kick off their boots, take a hot shower and trade stories over a cold one. Vermont Public Radio’s Nina Keck reports on the inn that has provide rest for the weary for more than 60 years.

Scott Rolen of the Cincinnati Reds yells at a St. Louis Cardinals player being held back by teammate Jeff Suppan during an altercation in the first inning of their game in Cincinnati Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010. (AP Photo/Tom Uhlman)

You wouldn’t expect a team playing 1,500 miles away from Foxborough to bring many fans to Gillette Stadium, especially for a preseason game. But as Only A Game’s Karen Given reports, the New Orleans Saints have won supporters from all over the country through their success on the field and because of an outpouring of public support for a city that has been continuously challenged over the last five years.

Bill talks to CBSSports.com’s Gregg Doyel, who will forecast the upcoming NFL season and let us know if Bengals QB Carson Palmer can really keep both of his high-profile (and high-ego) wide receivers happy with just one football.

The Cincinnati Reds haven’t made the playoffs in 15 years, and the team’s desperation showed this week when they erupted into a brawl with the St. Louis Cardinals that led to ejections and suspensions for managers of both teams. Only A Game’s Keith O’Brien reports on the Reds’ unlikely playoff push.

Title IX was signed into law almost 40 years ago, yet it is still often misrepresented and unfairly condemned. Bill speaks with University of Pittsburgh law professor Deborah Brake, author of Getting in the Game, about how the law has changed female athletics and what still can be done to encourage more girls to play sports.

Charlie Pierce joins Bill to talk about Tiger’s chances at the PGA Championship, the new King of South Beach keeping “mental notes,” and 21,000 Cowboys fans showing up to PRACTICE. Not a game, we talkin’ about PRACTICE.

Bill’s not a betting man. But if he was, he could have picked up a few tips when he spent the day with members of the North Hill retirement community watching the horse races at Suffolk Downs in Boston. Maybe the gambling advice was lost on him, but the stories from the North Hill residents certainly weren’t.

Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers could be playing in the World Series in October, but who will own the team? (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

 160 million Americans tuned in to ESPN’s coverage of the World Cup. Roger Bennett talks about the future of the MLS as it tries to keep America’s attention fixated on soccer.

Across the country, kayakers and canoe paddlers are looking to access more rivers in remote wilderness areas. This has upset landowners who argue allowing boats through their rivers violates their private property rights. North Country Public Radio’s Brian Mann reports on the dispute. 

For the first time in a decade, the Texas Rangers, perennial bottom-feeders in the AL West, find themselves in a position to make a playoff run. But the team’s success has been overshadowed by complications in their sale that culminated in team president (and potential buyer) Nolan Ryan suing his own team. Bill talks to Ken Belson of The New York Times to try to make sense of the Rangers’ financial mess. 

Most NFL players think about careers in announcing or coaching after their playing days come to an end. Not Tennessee Titans draftee and Rhodes Scholar Myron Rolle. He plans become a neurosurgeon after his time in the NFL. Incredibly, these plans have some doubting his commitment to football. Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports. 

Bill responds to listeners in Only A Game’s Electronic Mailbag. 

Cheating in college football has gotten so bad that even Nick Saban has called out agents as “pimps.” Bill speaks with Charlie Pierce about what the NCAA should do, and Charlie comments on Brett Favre’s agent joining the rest of the human race by becoming fed up with the quarterback’s retirement waffling. 

Bill talks with Peter Heller, author of the new book Kook, which describes how Heller threw himself into the strange culture of surfing and how he discovered a newfound appreciation for the ocean during his six month journey trying to find the perfect wave. 

(For our Boston area listeners, please note that our evening broadcast time has changed on 90.9 WBUR. We now air at 7:00am and 7:00pm every Saturday.)

Tim Tebow: Denver Broncos quarterback and nickname specialist. (AP Photo)

Hi, My Name Is

What’s in a name?  Well, if you’re Tim Tebow, one of the newest members of the Denver Broncos, apparently quite a lot. ESPN.com asked readers this week to give a new moniker to the Heisman Trophy winner with a squeaky clean reputation.  The fan favorite?  The “Mile High Messiah.”

But some of the runners-up are also noteworthy.  “Tebench” is the nickname given by fans convinced Tebow’s skills won’t translate to the pros.  “Clipboard” is another along that vein.  “The Big Tebowski” and “Tebolicious” have been suggested by fans with slightly higher expectations.  And my personal favorite?  “The Unicorn,” submitted by a fan in Ontario who believes, “Only women and defensive ends of pure virtue will be able to touch him.”

Read the full list from ESPN.com here.

Xbox Millionaire

Video games have come a long way since Roger Clemens MVP baseball in the early 1990’s boasted a MIDI soundtrack and the ability to ‘save’ games.

Major League Baseball 2K10 was released in January with slick graphics, an innovative pitching interface, and a $1,000,000 prize to the first person to pitch a perfect game.

Wade McGilberry of Mobile, AL bought the game at midnight on the night of its release, but his wife, Katy, encouraged him to go to work the next day, the $1,000,000 dollar prize be damned.

Despite putting in a full day at the office, McGilberry came home at 4 in the afternoon, sat down, and won 1,000,000 bucks just 90 minutes after picking up the controller.  In the months since, McGilberry has never come close to repeating his feat.  He says, “There must have been something special about that day.”

Find out which pitcher McGilberry used to “pitch” a perfect game (and if you guess correctly, you deserve a prize) here.

Former Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen works out during football pro day for NFL representatives on Friday, April 9, 2010 on the campus of the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. (AP Photo)

The NBA’s postseason is just heating up, and Bill will have an update on the first round. Also, after years of irrelevance, the Atlanta Hawks are turning some heads around the NBA and are shooting for their first ever Finals appearance. Bill is joined by Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to discuss Josh Smith, Joe Johnson, and the Hawks’ chances in the playoffs.  

The Broncos surprised everybody by picking Tim Tebow in the first round, and Bill has an update on the first two days of an exciting NFL Draft. Also, you’ve heard of the bench press and the 40-yard dash, but NFL scouts have another way to evaluate prospects: the Wonderlic intelligence exam. But is it the best way to determine an athlete’s know-how? Steve Goldstein of KJZZ Radio puts the Wonderlic to the test.   

The Devils are out, the Sharks are still afloat, and the NHL’s two young stars are poised for a late-round matchup. Bill hits the ice for a Stanley Cup Playoff update.  

Recent reports claim that members of the Washington Capitals and Nationals may have been dealt performance enhancing drugs, but the NHL has made little effort to investigate the matter. Sports Illustrated’s David Epstein, who broke the story this week, joins Bill to discuss the NHL’s steroid scandal.  

What makes Albert Pujols the most feared hitter in baseball? How does Lebron James soar above the rim? Some say it’s natural talent, but author Matthew Syed disagrees. In his new book, Bounce: Mozart, Federer, Picasso, Beckham, and the Science of Success, he argues that with enough practice, anyone can be great. He joins Bill to discuss his theory.  

The week in sports wouldn’t be complete without Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce, and they’re ready to discuss the NFL Draft, some changes to March Madness, and the bad boy of sumo.  

It’s officially springtime in New England, so break out your baseball bat, set up the lacrosse net, and be sure to unsheathe your kendo sword. Earlier this month, Harvard University hosted its annual kendo tournament, where teams from across the country compete. Only A Game’s Doug Tribou reports on the ancient art of Japanese fencing.

But you’ll have to start early, you’ll probably have to practice for more than ten thousand hours to prevail at the highest level, and your practicing will have to be focused, precise, and probably supervised by someone who really knows what he or she is doing.

In Bounce, Matthew Syed argues that such practice is far more important than natural talent. He discusses numerous alleged naturals in fields as diverse as tennis, chess, and musical composition whose triumphs were the products of exceptional training rather than great genes.

He argues that people who succeed magnificently in business, medicine, and mathematics do so because of long, failure-riddled experience and precise, specific training. He debunks the idea that great managers can manage anybody doing anything, or that some people are simply inclined to be good at math, whereas others aren’t.

Bounce is an ambitious book, and readers may find themselves taking issue with some of the particulars. Syed argues, for example, that “it is only an expert performer…who has the capacity to choke.” What about passionate amateurs who can play Beethoven’s Fifth flawlessly in their own living rooms, but whose fingers turn into bananas when they’re asked to play for company?

Still, the book is full of provocative thinking and some conclusions very much worth entertaining, including the prescriptions against racist perceptions with which Syed concludes Bounce.

For almost 200 years, the Whitsun cheese rolling has been an annual tradition.

The event has encouraged generations of men and women to tumble down a steep hill in Great Britain’s Cotswolds in pursuit of rolling wheels of Double Gloucester Cheese.

A good time has generally been had by all, except for those sustaining injury, either because they have fallen, been pushed, or been struck by the 7-pound cheese wheels, which have been known to achieve a speed of 70 miles an hour as they careen into the crowd of bystanders.

But not this year. Because of the large and unruly crowd and the number of people creamed at last year’s event, the Cooper’s Hill Cheese Rolling Committee has churned out the decision to slice their event out of Britain’s sports culture.

To see some amazing photos and video of the event, click here.
       

Packer Pints

So, a guy sells his blood to pay for his season’s tickets to Green Bay Packers’ games.

This would seem extreme, especially since the guy ends up selling 145 pints of his blood in order to attend Packers’ games for 56 years.

But then the guy, whose name is Jim Becker, has a doctor who figures out that the reason Jim Becker’s father died when he was only 43 was that his blood was retaining too much iron. It seems the only treatment for this rare condition, which is hereditary, is giving blood. A lot.

So the Packers can thank Jim Becker for his loyalty…and Jim Becker, who is 79, can maybe  thank the Packers for his longevity.

To read more about Jim Becker’s love for the Packers, click here.

From left, New Jersey Devils' Travis Zajac, Ilya Kovalchuk, Zach Parise and Dainius Zubrus celebrate Zajac's game-tying goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, Feb. 5, 2010. (AP Photo)

Let the madness begin! March is upon us, and that means college basketball’s big dance is right around the corner. Bill talks with Pat Forde of ESPN.com about what to expect in the tournament.

The New Jersey Devils haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 2003, but the franchise has returned to its winning ways in 2010. With the acquisition of Ilya Kovalchuk, the Devils have garnered one of the best records in the NHL and are poised for postseason success. Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports.

The NFL won’t start up again until September, but the football world is buzzing with news. Bill talks with Peter King of Sports Illustrated about the league’s uncapped season, and gets his thoughts on overtime reform.

Cooties are a well-known pathogen among toddlers, sometimes used to justify boys and girls playing separately at a young age. While most children eventually grow out of this phase, Bill realizes that most professional sports have continued to separate the genders. He reports on the lack of “battle of the sexes” in today’s sports.

Bill opens up the mailbag and inbox to read some of our listeners’ comments.

It’s been another exciting week in sports, and Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce are ready to break it down. They’ll cover the desperate measures of the Nets administration, another NHL blunder, and some fisticuffs in women’s college basketball.

In the 1950 World Cup, Haitian immigrant Joe Gaetjens scored the lone goal in America’s shocking upset of England. While he might have been glorified in most nations, he was largely ignored in the U.S. and was later abducted in his native country of Haiti. Bill talks with Alexander Wolff of Sports Illustrated about the vanished hero.

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.

That fans throughout the Super Dome would send aloft together,
While no one in the building had to think about the weather.
But such is not the case, of course, and to the Saints’ dismay,
Miami is the venue where both teams will come to play…

(See, “come to play” might be cliché, but don’t respond with sorrow,
Until I say that for these teams there will be no tomorrow.)
Now you can wail and cry aloud that for the next ten days
You’ll hear about the Super Bowl: predictions, bets, and praise

For Manning, yes, and for Drew Brees, and for the brilliant men
Who’ve led their teams to glory’s brink, as in the old days when
Such geniuses as Belichick, Lombardi, Welch, and Noll
Achieved such fame they knew for whom the bell would likely toll…

From now until the Super Bowl, the airwaves will be full
Of wise and not-so-wise predictions and a lot of bull.
The papers, likewise, those remaining, will be weighing in
And not just on the question of which team will likely win…

They’ll tell you of the cousins, first and second, of the end
Who’ll only play if someone else is injured, and the friend
Who nearly knew the kicker when they lived in the same town,
And how the safety’s fav’rite color once was almost brown.

I know, I know, I’m guilty, too. By writing this I’ve sunk
Into the depths of foolishness, and by providing junk
Like this slow-limping doggerel, this less-than-super verse,
I’ve mounted that bad wagon that is daily getting worse.

But in the land of mad excess, where football is the king,
And where the brightest jewelry is the Super Bowler’s ring,
A fellow who would write of any other game would be
A laughing stock forever. I don’t want that to be me.