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This week, we revisit one of the most politically charged (and frequently forgotten) Olympic Games - the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow - with sports historian/author Tommy Phillips (" The 1980 Moscow Olympics: A Day-by-Day History "). While a much-debated US-led boycott - sparked by the Soviet Union's brazen invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979 - kept dozens of countries away and fundamentally re...

In 1898, a 16-year-old dreamer named Leo Lyons was tossing a football around a Rochester, NY sandlot. Within two years, he wasn't just playing—he was managing, coaching, and bankrolling a team that would become an National Football League charter member: the Rochester Jeffersons . This week, we sit down with authors Jeffrey Miller and John Steffenhagen to explore their powerful new book, " Leo Lyo...

It's another pit stop into the rich history of NASCAR racing this week, with a look back at the circuit's greatest rivalry — the legendary driving battle between  Richard Petty and David Pearson that shaped the sport forever.   With the help of veteran motorsports journalist Mike Hembree 's new book, " Petty vs. Pearson: The Rivalry That Shaped NASCAR ," we explore how these two titans transformed...

Our summer roadtrip rolls on this week with a deep dive into one of the Queen City's most overlooked sports stories with baseball author Al Lautenslager  - whose new book " Cincinnati Soul " explores the remarkable but brief legacy of the Cincinnati Tigers , the city's first official Negro Leagues baseball team. Discover how DeHart Hubbard , America's first Black Olympic gold medalist, founded the...

It's a Wisconsin road trip this week for a sit down with  Jordan Treske , author of " Building the Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar, Oscar Robertson and the Rapid Rise of an NBA Franchise ," to explore one of the most astonishing turnarounds in modern American pro sports history. Treske walks us through how Milwaukee rebounded from the loss of the MLB Braves to become an NBA basketball powerho...

In this special episode, we sit down with King David Haynes , son of American Football League legend and civil rights trailblazer Abner Haynes , to discuss his newly released biography " Abner Haynes: An American Hero ." Abner Haynes was far more than just a football star — he was a barrier-breaking athlete, community leader, and a courageous voice for racial justice. From integrating Texas colleg...

It's our 400th, so we're going big with a guest who's called it all, seen it all, and somehow lived to laugh about it. Steve Albert  (" A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth ")  -- Hall of Fame broadcaster and proud member of the legendary Albert sportscasting family (including nephew/ Episode 320 gues t Kenny ) -- joins us for a deep dive into his one-of-a-kind, 45-year ride th...

What do you get when you mix Gen X slacker spirit, a startup sports league on wheels, and a 25-year-old Deadhead-turned-front office exec? Welcome to the wild world of Roller Hockey International   (RHI) — and the improbable story of the San Jose Rhinos . Brad Porteus , former GM of the Rhinos and author of the rollicking new memoir " Roll With It: A Trip Back to the '90s - Gen X Style ," joins us...

Before the Kraken. Before the Canucks. Before the NHL crossed the 49th parallel, there was the Seattle Metropolitans -- the first American team ever to win the Stanley Cup, in 1917. This week, we uncover the forgotten saga of the Metropolitans, a team built on innovation, grit, and West Coast ambition. They played fast, they played smart -- and led by brilliant young coach Pete Muldoon, they made...

We use up our remaining MTA MetroCard credit this week for a sit-down with baseball author/historian Chris Donnelly  — whose new book " Get Your Tokens Ready : The Late 1990s Road to the Subway Series "  represents the final installment of his intriguing trilogy charting the divergent, yet intertwined sagas of the Mets and Yankees from the mid-1980s through 2000's historic " Subway Series ." Donne...

We welcome to our microphones award-winning author, cultural critic and Washington University in St. Louis professor Gerald Early , whose new book " Play Harder: T he Triumph of Black Baseball in America " is a sweeping chronicle of Black Americans' extraordinary influence on the game of baseball — from the sport's formative days in the wake of the Civil War, through the heyday of the Negro League...

Lacrosse is more than just a sport; it's a mirror — one that reflects the history, tensions, and contradictions of America itself. So posits acclaimed sports journalist/renowned Sports Illustrated Senior Writer S.L. Price on this week's episode, as we explore his impressive new book " The American Game: History and Hope in the Country of Lacrosse " — a sweeping chronicle of the Indigenous origins,...

Though it seems like only yesterday, this season marks the 40th anniversary of one of baseball's most misunderstood and overshadowed Fall Classics - the surprisingly competitive seven-game 1985 World Series .  While most remember the all-Missouri "Show-Me Series" for umpire Don Denkinger 's blown call at first base in Game 6, baseball historian Marshall Garvey joins us to discuss why that single m...

In a surprise move that instantly reshapes the league's historical narrative, the National Football League last month announced it will now officially incorporate statistics from the upstart All-America Football Conference (AAFC), the short-lived but impactful rival professional football league that operated from 1946 to 1949.  The decision brings long-overdue recognition to the achievements of se...

This week, we're thrilled to welcome a true legend of grit and perseverance — former NFL quarterback Dan Pastorini ( " Taking Flak: Life In The Fast Lane" ). Born and raised in the Bay Area, Pastorini made his mark early at Bellarmine College Prep before starring at nearby Santa Clara University, where he etched his name into the school's record books and shined as the Most Outstanding Player of t...

Live and direct from Pottsdam, it's the one-and-only Karl-Heinz Granitza — the prolific German striker who became the face of the North American Soccer League 's iconic Chicago Sting -- and a transformative figure in American soccer during his seven outdoor seasons across the late 1970s & early 1980s.   A 2003 National Soccer Hall of Fame inductee and one of the NASL's all-time leading scorers, Gr...

It's a bucket-list conversation this week with legendary sports broadcaster Jim Lampley as he shares insights and anecdotes from his new memoir, " It Happened!: A Uniquely Lucky Life in Sports Television ."  With a career spanning five decades, Lampley takes us behind the scenes of some of the most indelible moments in modern-day sports broadcasting, offering a first-person, blow-by-blow account o...

It's our long-overdue dive into one of the most controversial stories in National Football League history — the tale of the Pottsville Maroons and its stolen 1925 championship — with ESPN journalist and author David Fleming , whose acclaimed 2007 book " Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship " is newly apropos on the 100th anniversary of what many consider to be pro...

We boot up our trusty Flux Capacitor this week for a trip back to 1978 -- a year when baseball provided a much-needed escape for a nation in flux. We sit down with David Krell , author of " 1978: Baseball and America in the Disco Era ," to relive one of Major League Baseball 's most unforgettable seasons — one filled with historic milestones, dramatic showdowns, and larger-than-life personalities....

Sports historian Josh Elias stops by for a deep unraveling of the often misunderstood story behind the 1949 merger that created the National Basketball Association (NBA) as we know it today.  Drawing from his historically essential 2024 book The Birth of the Modern NBA: Pro Basketball in the Year of the Merger, 1949-1950 , Elias takes us back to the pivotal moment when the Basketball Association o...

We go North of the border this week for the curious story of the dramatic and chaotic origins of the National Hockey League with hockey historian and long-time Windsor Star sports columnist Bob Duff (" The First Season: 1917-18 and the Birth of the NHL ") . While today's NHL is a global powerhouse celebrating over a century of hockey history, its very first season (1917-18) was a near disaster. Bo...

America's pastime has long been more than just a game - it's a reflection of the country itself. But what happens when the heart and soul of small-town baseball is threatened by the forces of modern sports economics?  We sit down with New York Times -bestselling author ( " The Prisoner in His Palace " ) and former Army Ranger Will Bardenwerper to discuss his new book " Homestand: Small Town Baseba...

Strap in and try to keep up, as we attempt to follow the peripatetic 58-year journey of one of the NBA's most wandering franchises - with New York-area sports beat reporter Rick Laughland (" A History of the Nets: From Teaneck to Brooklyn "). Today's Brooklyn Nets club began its life in 1967 as the New Jersey Americans - a charter member of the American Basketball Association , playing at the Tean...

We're positively kvelling over the brand new anthology from this week's guest Eric Gouldsberry - " Our Life and Times with the Earthquakes " - which vividly (and lovingly) portrays the thrilling early days of the original San Jose Earthquakes franchise (1974-84) of the old North American Soccer League, and the transformative impact it brought to the Bay Area's fast-growing Santa Clara Valley. Thro...

After a decidedly meh NBA All-Star Weekend, we rewind back to one of the league's most influential historical tributaries - the American Basketball Association (1967-76) - and the criminally little-known story of how its demise left a generation of pioneering pro players out in the cold. Michael Husain is the writer, director, and co-producer of the groundbreaking documentary The Waiting Game - wh...