Fans of teams in Philadelphia have been more passionate and demonstrative than most fans elsewhere. They have also been angrier, more abusive, and more disappointed, although this year, perhaps because their team is playing in a new stadium, or perhaps because it's one win shy of the Super Bowl, Philadelphia Eagles fans have been better behaved than in previous seasons. One of those fans, Joe Queenan, the author of True Believers, joins us to take the temperature of Eagles fans.

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In the year 2000, its first year of competition, the women's hockey team from the University of Minnesota-Duluth slipped badly and did not win the national championship. It has since won every available title. The Bulldogs are currently ranked 4th in the nation as they fight for their 4th consecutive NCAA championship, but you wouldn't know it by the size of the crowds at their home games. Minnesota Public Radio's Stephanie Hemphill reports.

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Scientists suggest a more health-conscious way to get a buzz.

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The big news this year in the world of women's college basketball is, of course, that the University of Connecticut team has lost twice. Gino Auriemma's alleged powerhouse, led by consensus college player, Diana Taurasi, fell most recently to Notre Dame. Mechelle Voepel, who covers women's basketball for the Kansas City Star and ESPN.com joins us to discuss the topsy-turvy nature of the women's game.

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"Train," Pete Dexter's most recent novel, involves two sports, at least tangentially. The presence of golfers and a former boxer in "Train" seemed sufficient rationale for the first appearance on Only A Game of National Book Award winner Pete Dexter.

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Bill Littlefield finds more than one correction in the Only A Game mailbag.

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Bill Littlefield and Only A Game analyst Charlie Pierce discuss: unstoppable force vs. immovable objects, Brooklyn re-enters the sports scene, and a witch tries her hand at a Screwfix fix.

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The Annual Holiday Double Dutch Jump Roping competition took place at Harlem's famed Apollo theater last month. Reporter Jon Kalish was there, and he prepared this report on an urban pastime that has recently been transformed by hip-hop.