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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...

We hearken back to baseball's humble beginnings this week, as author/historian Jeff Orens (" Selling Baseball: How Superstars George Wright and Albert Spalding Impacted Sports in America ") takes us on a journey through the late 19th century, when the game was rapidly evolving from a casual pastime to America's national sport - with two larger-than-life figures at the center of its transformation....

Ain't no stoppin' us now this week as we lay down the indoor soccer turf and roll out the red carpet for one of the Major Indoor Soccer League 's steeliest defenders and long-time St. Louis Steamers fan favorite Carl Rose . Known best for his seven stellar seasons (1979-86) with the MISL's most commercially successful franchise, Rose actually began his pro indoor career along with the debut of the...

We throw another Duraflame into the hot stove this week for a look back at the sterling, but oddly overlooked career of one of baseball's greatest "golden age" hitters.  Biographer Jerry Grillo (" Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize ") helps us sort out the intriguing story of batting titan Johnny Mize - whose 15-year major league journey playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, th...

[While Tim gets off the mat after a bout with a vaccine-resistant strain of the flu this week, we go back to April 2018 for this classic ARCHIVE RE-RELEASE with the pied piper of classic football history!] Upton Bell grew up at the knee of the National Football League's second-ever commissioner – his father, the legendary Bert Bell – who not only saved professional football from financial ruin in...

Spurred on by a hugely intriguing article in The Athletic penned last November by Episode 274 guest Pablo Maurer (as well as another by Guardian soccer writer Jack Williams back in 2016 ), we delve into the fascinating story of the visionary, yet controversial 1990s American pro soccer league that never was - League 1 America - with its mastermind Jim Paglia .  Born in the wake of the 1989 awardin...

Renowned Presidential speechwriter-turned-sports-historian Curt Smith joins the podcast this week for an erudite look at the not-so-obvious concentricity between the story of baseball in America with both the growth of broadcasting and the evolution of electoral politics.   Drawing from some of his most seminal works on baseball history - most notably 1987's iconic Voices of the Game , the antholo...

It's our year-end Holiday Roundtable Spectacular - featuring a look back at the year's newest additions to "what used-to-be" in professional sports (RIP MLB's "Oakland" Athletics & the NHL's Arizona Coyotes ), and a predictive glimpse into what might be in store for 2025 - with two of our favorite fellow defunct sports enthusiasts: Steve Holroyd ( Crossecheck , Philly Classics & Episodes 92 , 109...

It's a holiday gift-wrapped conversation with American soccer pioneer and US National Soccer Hall of Famer Johnny Moore - whose professional career as a player and coach across the original versions of both the North American Soccer League ( San Jose Earthquakes , Oakland Stompers ), and Major Indoor Soccer League ( Detroit Lightning , San Francisco Fog , Phoenix Inferno & a one-game/one-goal stin...

We welcome pro football historian (and Buffalo Bills memorabilia patron ) Greg Tranter (" The Providence Steam Roller: New England's First NFL Team ") to our microphones this week for a look back at the oft-forgotten Providence Steam Roller - which competed in the early-days National Football League from 1925-31. Based in Providence, RI, the Steam Roller holds a unique place in gridiron history as...

We jump aboard this NFL season's biggest bandwagon with a look back at one of the league's most enduring, yet historically mediocre franchises - and the only club operational for the entirety of the post-AFL era to never appear in the Super Bowl. Bill Morris (" The Lions Finally Roar: The Ford Family. The Detroit Lions, And The Road To Redemption In The NFL ") joins the podcast to help us wallow i...

Former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson and his co-author Jacob Uitti ( Banned: How I Squandered an All-Star NBA Career Before Finding My Redemption ) join the show to discuss Richardson's riveting new memoir that chronicles his extraordinary journey on and off the basketball court. Hailed as "the next Walt Frazier" coming out of the University of Montana as a first-round pick (fourth overall)...

B aseball history writer Scott Longert (" Love and Loss: The Short Life of Ray Chapman ") , joins the show for an in-depth look at the life and legacy of Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman (1891-1920) whose tragic story continues to resonate more than a century later. Chapman rose from humble beginnings to become one of the American League's top shortstops of the 1910s. His exceptional talent...

Author/biographer Debbie Sorensen ( Beyond the Jump Shot: The Elevated Life of Kenny Sailors ) delves into the story of basketball pioneer Kenny Sailors (1921–2016), one of the most unheralded influencers in both the collegiate and pro game. Widely credited with popularizing the modern-day jump shot, Sailors first stunned audiences in the early 1940s when he elevated mid-air to shoot over taller d...