Saturday, June 6, 2009

The Los Angeles Lakers blew out the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night, but the series is far from over.  Brian Schmitz from the Orlando Sentinel joins Bill to discuss the Magic’s chances to win their first NBA Championship.

The embattled city of Detroit was hoping for an easy series victory, and a temporary lift in spirit, after the Red Wings cruised to a 2-0 Stanley Cup lead.  Too bad the Pittsburgh Penguins failed to oblige.  With the series tied at two games each, WDET's Noah Ovshinsky has the story.

Parity, a phenomenon that has inhabited leagues such as the NFL and the NBA for years, seems to have implanted itself in an unfamiliar location: the French Open.  Perennial favorite Rafael Nadal's loss in the men’s bracket, and an all Russian final on the women’s side make this French Open one of the most unpredictable in recent memory.  Bud Collins joins Bill to try and sort through the wackiness.

Fishing is a multi-billion dollar industry, and bass are America’s favorite fish to catch.  The surprise of Milwaukee Public Radio reporter Mitch Teich’s story on a bass fishing tournament for high school students isn’t that over 200 schools participated, but that it was the first tournament of its kind in Illinois history.

What better place to gain perspective than on vacation? Sports are in many ways a microcosm of society. The stakes and the drama are real, franchises are run like businesses, and incentives drive everything. Nonetheless, Bill Littlefield yearns for a respite from the repetitive plotlines of athletics while he catches up on the world outside of sports.

Only A Game correspondent Charlie Pierce chats with Bill about an unusual Triple Crown attempt, a new remedy for sports cliches, and the NBA and NHL Finals.

Lance Allred, the author of the Longshot: The Adventures of a Deaf Fundamentalist Mormon Kid and His Journey to the NBA, joins Bill to discuss his remarkable life.  On his way to a short stint in the NBA, Allred had to overcome  belligerent coaches, a hearing impairment, and obsessive-compulsive disorder.