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Unwitting US pro soccer historian Tim O'Bryhim (" Make This Town Big: The Story of Roy Turner and the Wichita Wings " and  " God Save the Wings ")  makes his third trip to the show - this time in celebration of his wild new collection of stories from the original Major Indoor Soccer League (1978-92).   O'Bryhim has spent nearly a decade  chronicling the MISL's wild and woolly history (including hi...

In the immediate years after World War II, the trajectory of America's pastime looked unstoppable.  By 1949, Minor League Baseball had swelled to 59 leagues, 448 teams, and some 10,000 players - the largest network in its history. But within a decade, the advent of television, suburban migration, and shifting leisure habits began to drain fans and revenue. Hundreds of teams folded, and by 1963, th...

In the late 1960s, Denver's business and political leaders were convinced they had secured the ultimate prize in international sport: the 1976 Winter Olympic Games . With the backing of the US Olympic Committee and a successful bid before the International Olympic Committee, Colorado seemed poised to showcase itself on the world stage. But just two years later, that dream collapsed in spectacular...

Peabody Award-nominated writer and Episode 389 guest David Fleming (" Breaker Boys: The NFL's Greatest Team and the Stolen 1925 Championship ") returns to the show to unpack one of the National Football League's most chaotic and fascinating chapters: the disaster of the 1952 Dallas Texans . In his new book, " A Big Mess in Texas: The Miraculous, Disastrous 1952 Dallas Texans and the Craziest Untol...

How do you build a professional women's hockey league from the ground up — and convince the sport's best players, skeptical investors, and hungry fans that this time it's built to last? CBC Sports journalist Karissa Donkin , author of " Breakaway: The PWHL and the Women Who Changed the Game ," helps us dive into the backstory of the incredible  Professional Women's Hockey League . Donkin traces th...

The incomparable Jayne Kennedy  (" Plain Jayne: A Memoir ") joins us for an intimate conversation about a career that defied expectations and left an indelible mark on both sports broadcasting and American culture. Raised in small-town Ohio and catapulted to national attention through beauty pageants and professional ambitions, Kennedy soon found herself in early 1970s Hollywood — landing a succes...

Veteran sportswriter,  Sports Broadcast Journal columnist, and Episode 233 guest Rich Podolsky  (" You Are Looking Live! ") returns to the show to explore the story of perhaps the greatest broadcast partnership in NFL history.  In his new book, " Madden & Summerall: How They Revolutionized NFL Broadcasting ," Podolsky offers a rare inside look at how kicker-turned-play-by-play man Pat Summerall ,...

Few writers have illuminated baseball's legends with the depth, rigor, and heart of renowned sports journalist and author Jane Leavy .  From Sandy Koufax to Mickey Mantle to Babe Ruth , her biographies of the game's greatest figures don't just recount their lives — they reveal the eras each helped to define. Now, with her new book Make Me Commissioner: I Know What's Wrong with Baseball and How to...

Long before the National Basketball Association  evolved into a global spectacle, it began as an awkwardly assembled mashup featuring a hefty dollop of relatively small-market teams in places like Sheboygan, Wisconsin; Anderson, Indiana and Moline, Illinois.  Among them were the Waterloo Hawks  - the only team from Iowa ever to play in the NBA. Their story is synonymous with the fragile early days...

It's a no-holds-barred conversation with footballing legend  Paul Cannell  — the Geordie striker who lit up mid-1970s Newcastle United, vaulted into the heyday of the  North American Soccer League , and left a trail of memorable goals, disciplinary cards, and impish chaos in his wake. Best remembered for his fiery stint with the two incarnations of the NASL's  Washington Diplomats , Cannell was as...

The story of women's basketball in the United States is one of grit, activism, and transformation. From barnstorming road shows to the bright lights of the WNBA, the game has mirrored — and often propelled — larger social changes in American life. We journey through that history with the help of Pamela Grundy and Susan Shackelford , authors of the newly expanded edition of " Shattering the Glass:...

Baseball's Danny Gardella was no ordinary ballplayer. A compact powerhouse — "not much taller than a fire hydrant," yet a left-handed pull hitter with undeniable talent — he hit .267 with 24 homers and 85 RBIs in just 169 Major League Baseball games. That blazing two-year stretch with the New York Giants in 1944–45 proved his major-league mettle. But Gardella's story didn't end in the box score. H...

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...