The Super Bowl, Competitive Cheerleading, and Haiku XIV (2/2/2008)

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It's time to test the Pierce postulate: "The Super Bowl is good!" This week on Only A Game, analysis from Phoenix, a look at all the anti-Super Bowl activities for nonbelievers, and some good 17 syllable fun with Super Bowl Haiku XIV.

The Super Bowl with Mike Reiss
This Sunday in Arizona, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots will play a game of football. Eli Manning will try to shed the label as an inconsistent quarterback, while Tom Brady will try to lead the Patriots to their place in history. The Boston Globe's Mike Reiss joins Bill to discuss the most significant single event in the history of human competition.

Our Lady of the Super Bowl Bargains
Everything is bigger at the Super Bowl, especially the costs. A single ticket for tomorrow's game in Glendale, Arizona can run as much as $20,000. It's nearly impossible to find a hotel room in the Phoenix area for less than $500 a night. But a handful of relatively thrifty fans have found what might be the best deal in the valley of the sun, and its just 10 miles south of the University of Phoenix stadium. Only A Game's Gabe O'Connor reports.

Doping in the PGA?
As the 2008 PGA season gets underway, the league is in the "educational" phase of its new anti-doping policy. During last week's Buick Open, Tour Commissioner Tim Fincham had the opportunity to address about 100 players regarding the new policy, and most of them were not pleased. AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson joins Bill to discuss the policy and the players' reactions.

Champions in Search of Competition
Just over four years ago, the University of Maryland began its varsity cheerleading program. At the time, Terrapin tumblers, tuckers and tick-tockers had every reason to believe they'd soon go up against some serious intercollegiate competition. That hasn't been the case. Sarah Richards has the story.

Letters
Bill reads through some listener mail.

Super Bowl and More with Charlie Pierce
Bill Littlefield and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss: The Super Bowl is good, Plaxico Burress is confident, and the Smurfs got ... smurfed.

Super Bowl Haiku XIV
No one believes more strongly than the Only A Game players in the power of the haiku to reduce football to its essence, and we've tried to prove it for the past 14 years with our annual Super Bowl Haiku. This year, the team gets a little extra help from 4th graders at the Dale Street School in Medfield, Massachusetts.