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Allan Rhodes of Paducah, Ky. emailed recently because he was "dismayed at the mean-spirited attack on the Tour de France" he said he'd heard on Only A Game. Huh. I can only guess Mr. Rhodes was responding to my recent conversation with Charlie Pierce in which we discussed Lance Armstrong's curious decision on the brink of the 100th running of that august event to announce that he still considered himself its greatest champion. In any case, Mr. Rhodes regards our "attack" as "very sad, very sad indeed."

In the "best of" edition of the program which ran last weekend, we reprised Ken Shulman's story about baseball in Nicaragua, much to the delight of a couple of listeners who posted their responses on our Facebook page. "Fascinating view of the impact of sport in another culture and economy," wrote Mark Baranski. "I would enjoy hearing more pieces on how other countries and cultures use sport to make the world better."

The same show also included Anne Marshall's story about pole vaulting on the streets of a city better known for horse racing than for track and field. That story gladdened the heart of Kent Henry, who posted on the Facebook page as follows: "Another reason Louisville, Kentucky is one of the greatest cities in the nation."

Maybe we ought to go with "best of" shows more often. Last week's program also included Whitney Jones's story about Shoeless Joe Jackson's namesake and his budding baseball career. "I truly enjoyed this story," wrote Mollie Luna, who hears the program on WRVO in New York. "But then I truly enjoy your show."

Finally, last week's program also included a reprise of Only A Game's Doug Tribou's energetic and funny appreciation of our favorite sports-related movie, Slapshot. Doug's story originally ran on the 35th anniversary of that film, which starred Paul Newman and the Hanson brothers, not necessarily in that order. On our Facebook page, Audrey Kramer posted: "I do love that movie, and, of course, watching Newman." Matt O'Neil chimed in with "Not just a great sports movie – for so many reasons – but a great movie, PERIOD." That story provoked another great comment that I can't repeat for reasons that have nothing to do with time, which is an inducement to visit our Facebook page.

If you don't agree with Mr. O'Neil, don't follow us on Twitter or find us on Facebook, because you'll be wrong. Otherwise you can leave a comment at the bottom of this page, or leave us a voicemail on the OAG listener line at 617-353-1860.

This segment aired on July 20, 2013.

Headshot of Bill Littlefield

Bill Littlefield Host, Only A Game
Bill Littlefield was the host of Only A Game from 1993 until 2018.

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