Roger Federer wipes his face during his quarterfinal loss to Tomas Berdych at Wimbledon, Wednesday, June 30, 2010 (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

Bill has an update with the latest from the World Cup, including the Netherlands’ upset over tournament heavyweight Brazil. He will also talk to Roger Bennett, co-author of The World Cup Companion, about the suspect refereeing that has plagued the first two rounds of play.

Even though the South African national team was eliminated early from the World Cup, prisoners in one Johannesburg jail are still completely invested in the tournament, and that’s brought gang violence in the prison to an all-time low. Only A Game’s Anjali Nayar reports from South Africa.

We’ll have to wait a few more days until LeBron James makes his mind up about where he will play next season, but that hasn’t stopped owners from opening up their wallets for some less heralded players in the first few days of NBA Free Agency.

Bud Collins speaks with Bill to forecast the upcoming Wimbledon finals and look back at the surprises of the tournament, including the match that wouldn’t end, Roger Federer’s early exit and yet another disappointment for English sports fans.

Although AstroTurf is close to extinction, domes have collapsed into dust in favor of stadiums with retractable roofs, and no current MLB player takes the field with his cap perched atop his afro, not all developments in baseball during the 1970’s have become obsolete. Bill speaks with Dan Epstein, author of Big Hair, Plastic Grass, a look back at the strange decade that changed the game.

Charlie Pierce is not amused with soccer fans promising to run naked through the streets should their team win the World Cup, which may be a good thing since he’ll stay clothed if the Red Sox win another World Series. However, he will join Bill to talk about NBA free agency, an expensive vuvuzela, and more from the week in sports.

Whether they sported a distinguished handlebar mustache, grizzled, long beards or something more practical (why has no one shaped their beard to hold beer cans before?), hundreds of men travelled to Oregon to compete in the first ever National Beard and Moustache Championships in Oregon. Only A Game’s Sadie Babits was there and she has the story. To see Sadie’s photos from the competition click here.

Landon Donovan (left) and Edson Buddle (right) of the USA national soccer team celebrate after Donovan's game-winning goal against Algeria in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday June 23, 2010 (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

The elimination round of the World Cup will begin without some traditional European powers. Bill talks with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl about the surprising first stage and how the rest of the tournament will shake out.

The Goethe Institut in Boston usually offers the opportunity for intellectual stimulation – people can come in to learn German or discuss Nietzche. But during Germany’s World Cup matches the Institut provides a different sort of excitement. It transforms into a raucous venue for the nation’s fans to gather and show their passion for Deutschland. Only A Game’s Curt Nickish has the story. To see photos courtesy of the Goethe Institut from Germany’s first match against Australia, click here.

Wimbledon is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, full of traditions like all-white uniforms and strawberries with cream. But it’s not all about high-brow culture only fit for the Royal Family. They also have poetry! Bill speaks with official Wimbledon poet Matt Harvey.

The Williams sisters are currently ranked as the top two women’s tennis players in the world and they have no plans to loosen their stranglehold on the sport anytime soon.  Once they do, two young sisters in Florida who call themselves Tornado and Hurricane hope to step into that spot. Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports.

Bill responds to listeners’ questions in Only A Game’s electronic mailbag.

Charlie Pierce is so mad he could SCREAM! And he will. In between, he’ll talk with Bill about the NBA Draft, Wimbledon’s never-ending match and more.

Henry Louis Gates, John Updike, Malcolm Gladwell…the list of accomplished and talented writers won’t surprise anyone reading a collection of pieces from The New Yorker. What may be surprising is that all these authors are featured in a collection of the magazine’s best sportswriting. Bill chats with David Remnick, editor of The New Yorker and the new book, titled The Only Game In Town.

Boston Celtics center Kendrick Perkins (43) reacts after making a basket in the second half of the Celtics' victory over the Los Angeles Lakers in February. Kobe Bryant sat out for this game with an injury, but the Celtics will have to find a way to stop him as the two teams face off in the NBA Finals. (AP Photo/Lori Shepler)

Ted Green of KTLA in Los Angeles and Bob Ryan of the Boston Globe join Bill to talk NBA Finals. The Celtics and Lakers have combined to win more than half of all NBA titles, so Green and Ryan will answer the question: Is this really is the best rivalry in sports?

Thoroughbred horse racing is in trouble. Many tracks are experiencing financial issues, some have closed, and there are no big-name horses out there to bring the sport back to the public’s attention. Only A Game’s Brian Mann reports on racing’s fall from prominence.

Bill checks in with the Boston Globe’s Bud Collins in Paris to discuss the surprising matchup in the women’s French Open final. And on the men’s side, Bud offers his thoughts on what’s wrong for Roger Federer.

Fans of the England National soccer team always bring high expectations into the World Cup, but the team has failed to bring home a championship in 10 straight tournaments. Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports from London on whether this year’s team can escape their disappointing past.

When umpire Jim Joyce blew a call at first base and cost Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game, things could have very easily turned ugly. Instead, both ump and player responded with grace and humility. Bill provides his commentary on the painful mistake that turned into an inspiring story.

Bill talks with Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce, who gets mad about basketball refs and baseball umps. Plus, Charlie will tell you his favorite Stanley Cup-themed baked good.

Basketball, hockey and soccer may have the spotlight at this time of year, but Bill still has a few minutes to talk golf with John Feinstein. Feinstein’s new book, Moment of Glory: The Year Underdogs Ruled Golf, looks at how four relative unknowns each won major championships in 2003 when Tiger Woods was out of contention.

Bud, Anita, Bill, and Mary in Rome

It had been a tennis day.

In the sunshine of Rome’s Foro Italico, as good a place to wander and watch tennis as I know, I’d seen Serena Williams overtake Andrea Petkovic, and sister Venus outlast Shahar Peer, and Jelena Jankovic overwhelm the statuesque Yanina Wickmayer.

Each of those winners would subsequently lose, but on that day each played well enough to suggest the promise of more winning before they’d move on to play in Madrid on a tour that would later include Paris and London… though not for me.

I’d watched the matches in the company of Mr. Tennis himself, Bud Collins, who is regarded in the Italian tennis community as a demigod. The drivers of golf carts and courtesy cars, the purveyors of zucchini fritas and veal scallopini, and uniformed gentlemen controlling access to the palaces housing the masterpieces of Caravaggio and DaVinci…all compete for the honor of serving Bud and those in his company.

And so it was a comfortable afternoon.

Then came the night, and the taxi ride back into the center of Rome, sans Collins, the protector. It would have been hair-raising under any circumstances, because taxi drivers in Rome know no fear and operate at only one speed: out of control. But on this night, the tennis at Foro Italico was followed by soccer at Stadio Olympico, where A.C. Roma was hosting the hated Inter Milan, leading one-nil, in a game that would decide the Serie A championship.

Our driver, like every Roman who wasn’t in the stadium, was listening to the game.

“Roma kaput,” he said, when ten minutes remained.

We swept around a blind corner, veered on to the wrong side of a road too narrow to really have two sides, and scattered startled bicyclists against the walls of dark buildings.

I didn’t know whether to root for Rome to score or just hope that nothing dramatic would happen while we were still in the car.

“Roma kaput,” the driver said again, and his tone suggested that he might be about to drive his car into a marble column and die in glorious flames, never mind the fare.

Needless to say, I survived to tell the tale…or three tales, I guess: the tales of fine tennis under the Italian sun, and soccer’s passionate following in Rome, and then the tale of the racing…the scary racing with no rules.

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.

Chad Ochocinco (nee Johnson) of the Cincinnati Bengals

This week on Only A Game, Karen Given fills-in for a vacationing Bill Littlefield and fulfills her life dream of chatting with a man with numbers for a last name.

March Madness long-ago ceased to be confined to the month of March.  Karen talks with ESPN’s Pat Forde about the opening of the Men’s NCAA Basketball season and Forde’s March Madness picks in November.  You can read Forde’s latest edition of “Forde Minutes,” which includes five young players who you should watch and five coaches on the hot seat, here.

For the team’s first seven-years the Columbus Blue Jackets were the doormat of the NHL.  Last year, however, the team managed to right the ship and take the leap into the playoffs.  Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports on the Blue Jackets’ quest for hockey respectability.

With the NFL season at its halfway point, Karen checks-in with Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel and gets the latest on this weekend’s monumental gridiron clashes.

Critics have said many things about Chad Ochocinco, but no one has ever said that he’s boring.  Karen and the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver chat about trash-talk, end zone celebrations, Planet Chad, and Ochocinco’s new book: Ocho Cinco.

By now nearly every sports fan has heard that tennis superstar Andre Agassi admits in his new book that his life wasn’t nearly as rosy as some thought it was.  Though the “shocking” revelations may be old news at this point, the debate over Agassi’s place in tennis history will likely rage for years.  Karen asks if his legacy is irrevocably tarnished, and noted tennis Hall of Famer Bud Collins provides the answer.

What do Bill Russell, Keith Townshend, and Captain Morgan all have in common?  Why, they’re conversation topics when Karen and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce wrap-up the week’s sports news, of course.

You’ve heard of horse racing, stock car racing, and ski racing.  But on the tiny Indonesian island of Madura, racing bulls has been a local tradition for centuries.  Only A Game’s Chad Bouchard examines the ancient Maduran test of manhood.

In his first year, Collins coached the Brandeis team to an undefeated season, which was dumb, since it left room for nothing but disappointment.

The most notorious of the players to labor for Coach Collins that season was the late Abbie Hoffman, who eventually became a hero to a generation of students who shared Hoffman’s distaste for war, oppression, racism, and rules. When he was told to wear a coat and tie on road trips, Hoffman boarded the bus wearing a waiter’s jacket and a rope around his neck. I like to think this delighted Bud. In fact, I cannot imagine it didn’t, even though it was his dress code.

According to Coach Collins, he lost track of Abbie Hoffman after both of them left Brandeis. Actually, nearly everybody lost track of Abbie, who eventually went underground and started calling himself Barry Freed in order to avoid various drug charges that might never have been brought if he hadn’t so energetically objected to such stupidities as war, oppression, and racism. By then, Bud Collins was protesting the hypocrisy and racism that characterized big time tennis in the sport’s shamateur days.

Until late 1980, few people knew where Abbie Hoffman was, although he did eventually contact his old tennis coach. According to Bud, the call came in to the press box during the U.S. Open Tournament in New York. When Bud learned Abbie was on the line, he picked up the phone and said, “How many do you need?”

Abbie told him how many tickets he wanted. Bud provided them. After the tournament, Abbie turned himself in.

So good on Brandeis for inducting Bud Collins. For many years he has been very good for tennis, and even better for story-telling, and it’s no stretch to include Abbie Hoffman among the many people better off for making Bud’s acquaintance.

Well, first, to the bank. She earned three hundred and fifty thousand dollars for making it to the semi-finals of the singles competition, and half of another four hundred twenty thousand for winning the doubles title with her sister.

Williams has so far been fined ten thousand five hundred dollars for what she said to a line judge while losing the singles final, so she’ll have to ask for some cash back when she makes her deposit, or perhaps buy a cashier’s check.

In the real apology on Tuesday that followed her previous “sort-of” apology, Williams said she would like to give the line judge whom she apparently threatened “a big hug and put it behind us.” So far the line judge has not said whether she would like to be hugged. If she goes along with Serena’s offer, it would provide the disgraced tennis player’s rehabilitation with a wonderful photo op, at least until the line judge fell, insensible and blue, at Serena’s feet.

But seriously, what should Serena Williams do to put last weekend’s shame behind her and regain her image as a gloriously accomplished albeit curiously unassuming and hugely admirable role model?

She could make a sizeable contribution to SPISO, the Society for the Prevention of the Intimidation of Sports Officials.

Or perhaps in her next match, she could call a foot fault on herself, then smile at the line judge, as if to say, “I know your job is difficult and anxiety-provoking. Why not let me help?”

Bill Babcock, the Executive Director of the International Tennis Federation, has said that the investigation of the Williams Affair will take weeks, if not more. Why that should be so, since there is no longer any dispute about what happened, is a little mysterious. But the delay means that Serena Williams will have plenty of time to visit hospitals, speak out on behalf of healthy foods and in opposition to people who are mean, and bang in a nail or two at a house being built for a family that would otherwise be living in a van by the river.

The result? When the ITF does announce whatever additional punishment will be assessed, most people will regard Serena Williams as a victim.

Melanie Oudin hits a forehand in her US Open match on September 9, 2009.

American teenager Melanie Oudin startled the tennis world by beating three seeded opponents before succumbing to Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals of the US Open.  Though Oudin’s Cinderella run through the tournament is over, Bill gets an update on the US Open from tennis writer Bud Collins.

Things are heating up as drivers vie for the final eight spots in NASCAR’s championship series, the Chase to the Sprint Cup.  Outside of the track, NASCAR faces a tough economy and uncertain prospects.  Only A Game’s Karen Given examines NASCAR’s future.

With the return of the NFL this weekend Autumn is officially upon us.  Bill and Yahoo.com’s Dan Wetzel discuss the upcoming season’s big stories and Dan makes his postseason picks.

Life on Staten Island was simpler in 1959 when the Island was actually an island.  The Verrazano-Narrows bridge had yet to be built, community ties were stronger, and high school football was a badge of honor.  In his book, author Jay Price returns to those days and examines the transforming Staten Island community through the lens of an all-important Thanksgiving Day football game between the island’s rival high schools.  Bill discusses Price’s book Thanksgiving 1959: When One Corner of New York City Was Still Part of Small-Town America , and High School Football Was The Last Thing Guys Did for Love.

Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss all of the week’s important sports news, including Allen Iverson’s new team, the opening of the NFL season, and a dynasty in the dubious sport of cricket-spitting.

This weekend some of basketball’s greatest players and coaches will be welcomed into the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Though a great honor, some of the inductees feel it’s slightly pre-mature.  Bill offers his take.

Most cyclists ride their bikes as a good source of exercise.  Some avid bikers, however, ride for the donuts.  Reporter Eugene Sonn strapped on his helmet for Allentown, Pennsylvania’s annual Labor Day Donut Derby and found the tastier side of cycling. ]]> http://www.onlyagame.org/2009/09/saturday-september-12-2009/feed/ 0 http://www.onlyagame.org/2009/07/saturday-july-11-2009/ http://www.onlyagame.org/2009/07/saturday-july-11-2009/#comments Sat, 11 Jul 2009 12:00:20 +0000 Josh http://www.onlyagame.org/?p=2569

ESPN’s Tim Kurkjian joins Bill to discuss baseball’s Midsummer Classic and all the storylines that go with it.  Among them: a potential Triple Crown candidate, an All-Star on the trade block, and the old guy with the funny pitch.

The defending WNBA Champion Detroit Shock lost their head coach and general manager, Bill Laimbeer, just three games into the season and are currently sitting at 2-7.  But as Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports, the Shock are channeling the resiliency of another Bad Boy coach, Rick Mahorn, in their hopes to win their fourth championship in seven years.

The LPGA is in trouble.  Sports Illustrated’s Alan Shipnuck fills Bill in on the latest about embattled commissioner Carolyn Bevins, who is reportedly stepping down, and the future of the tour. 

Over 28 million Americans play golf but the sport has proven to not be immune from the hurting economy.  Dwindling memberships and a general public unwilling to splurge has taken its toll on both public and private courses.  Only A Game’s Doug Tribou has the story.

The self described “super hot” tennis superstar Serena Williams chats with Bill about competing against her sister and a peculiar admission out of London. 

Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce joins Bill to discuss a NASCAR driver who claims he did no wrong, but probably should have known better, and the profane duet that Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace will make in Boston. 

Bill reads listener’s letters, one of which chimes in about what it really means to be “old,” another fondly remembers a child’s game, and many more correct Charlie’s definition of “British.” 

The Lebowski Fest, inspired by the cult classic film “The Big Lebowski,” takes place at bowling alleys across the country where amateur Dudes and Strangers re-live moments from their favorite movie.  Only A Game’s Charlie Schroeder witnessed the latest Fest in Southern California.