Saturday, March 29, 2008

As the field shrinks and more brackets dissolve into thin air, Only A Game has the latest update from the NCAA Tournament.

The NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is also in its round of eight, and most of the nations best teams are still playing for the crown.  Michelle Smith of the San Fransico Chronicle talks women's hoops with Bill, and gives her picks for best pro prospects, this weekend's potential upset specials, and her prediction for the final matchup.

Fans of soccer in Philadelphia have been begging for a soccer team for some time now.  In 2010, they will officially get their wish.  And although they have no players to root for or even a team name, a die-hard fan base called the "Sons of Ben" is picking up steam all over the city.  Eugene Sonn caught up with some of the leading "S-O-B's" to see how preparations to receive an MLS team are coming.

The differences between Japan and the U.S. are readily evident in culture and in baseball.  The MLB season opener in Japan, stocked with Japanese superstars returning home, highlighted these differences.  Ken Shulman reports from Tokyo on baseball’s “Opening Dawn,” and gets a feel for American baseball, Japanese style.

The Sox and A's kicked off the season with a flourish in Japan, and all the other teams will get going this week.  ESPN's Tim Kurkjian shakes off the last frost of winter and checks in to gear up for the start of the regular season.  Find out who Tim picks to be the last team standing in October.

With players all over sports misbehaving and athletes sustaining serious injuries at a disturbing frequency, the N.F.L. has decided that enough is enough.  They've finally decided to crack down — on how long a player's hair can be.  The owners will meet next week to decide on this monumental issue, but why wait?  Only A Game has dreamed up how this meeting of the minds will go.

Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss: The Supersonics pushing to move to Oklahoma, upsets and beyond in the NCAA Tournaments, and a rugby team as the voice of reason in the skies.

The Red Sox began their World Series title defense this season on the road — Halfway across the world in Japan.  Professor Alan Klein, author of new book Growing the Game, believes that the MLB has to go global on an even larger scale if it wants to grow and continue to succeed.  Klein checks in with Bill Littlefield to talk about his book, and where baseball should go from here.  (See Bill's review.)