Saturday, April 18th, 2009

Dwight Howard (left) of the Orlando Magic and Chris Paul (right) of the New Orleans Hornets fight for a rebound during a game in New Orleans earlier this season. Both teams have qualified for the NBA playoffs. (AP Photo)

The Orlando Magic have clinched an NBA playoff birth for the third straight season. However, each of the last three playoff trips has ended at the hands of the Detroit Pistons. This year Orlando would have to win two series before facing Detroit. This is something the team hasn’t done since 1996, when Dwight Howard was only 10 years old. Only A Game’s Ron Schachter reports on how the Magic, and their superstar center, plan on advancing through the Eastern Conference.

Edwin Apel isn’t a speed runner like gold-medal sprinter, Usain Bolt. Apel goes for distance, and he’s sure covered a lot of ground since he’s started running. On Monday Apel will run in the Boston Marathon, which will cap off a series of marathons in all 50 states. In the summer he’ll run in Australia to finish off marathons in all 7 continents. Bill talks with Apel about his passion to run 26.2 miles.

Most teenagers get involved in sports like basketball, baseball, soccer, and football in high school. But one high school has added mixed martial arts to its afterschool offerings. Only A Game’s Doug Tribou reports on Winchester (MA) High School’s MMA club.

Wednesday marked the 20th anniversary of one of the most horrific days ever associated with a sporting event: a gruesome fence collapse at an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool FC and Nottingham Forest in Hillsborough, England, that led to the death of 96 people. Bill has commentary as he looks back on the terrible event.

Bill and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss the NHL and NBA playoffs, John Madden’s retirement, and a soccer match that featured 539 goals.

Marshall Jon Fisher’s A Terrible Splendor: Three Extraordinary Men, A World Poised For War, and the Greatest Tennis Match Ever Played focuses on the 1937 Davis Cup semifinal matchup between the German team and the Americans. Fisher goes beyond the tennis played and examines the men involved. The author joins Bill to discuss A Terrible Splendor and Fisher’s growing interest to the players and coaches.