Only A Game

When it comes to droughts, the Chicago Cubs and the Cleveland Indians know the worst of it. Now that both teams are in the World Series, Bill Littlefield makes his pick clear.

Scotty Walden is just 26-years-old — and the head coach of a Div. III football program. This week on Only A Game, the story of Walden's rise from quarterback to the country's youngest college football coach. Also, in wake of Hurricane Matthew, notorious NFL owner Dan Snyder gave two Washington football players access to his private jet to fly relief supplies to Haiti. Ricky Jean Francois shares the story of his 24-hour trip. Plus, a father and daughter clash — and then reconcile — over a Notre Dame football game. And, one WNBA fan's quest to watch a basketball game — in public, at a bar.

More and more athletes seem to be expressing their views about issues beyond the field or the court. Fans are doing that, too, and some of what they've come up with concerns Bill Littlefield.

The Hollywood Shorties started as a sports community for little people in the 1950s. By the '80s, the Shorties were a team of professionals playing at Los Angeles Lakers halftime shows.

Bill Littlefield doesn't deny that he's heard some crude language in locker rooms he's visited, but when the phrase "locker room talk" came up, he found himself remembering something else entirely.

This week on Only A Game, the tale of a defiant NFL rookie and a phantom cappuccino machine that may or may not have cost the Carolina Panthers the Super Bowl.

After 67 years, Vin Scully stepped down as the voice of the Los Angeles Dodgers. His departure has Bill Littlefield thinking about the job Mr. Scully did so well — and also about the qualities that make a good broadcaster.

Tom Matte played running back for 12 years in the NFL. But for three games during the 1965 season, he was forced to play quarterback.

With football season well underway, Bill Littlefield remembers a time when he was forced to coach.

Heather Hardy tells the story of her journey into the boxing ring — and her ongoing fight for gender equality. And what do you when a lifelong dream dies? We'll meet two men who faced that challenge. One ended up in a Broadway show. The other long snapping for the Patriots.

Very few athletes retire when they are as productive as they've ever been. Bill Littlefield feels attention should be paid to one of those few.

After his younger brother died in a crash, one Texas man gave up street racing — and now wants to warn others about its dangers. Also on this week's show: a look at Detroit in the 1930s.

"Hooray for the NCAA" is something Bill Littlefield never thought he'd say. But he is now — because the NCAA announced Monday that it's pulling seven championship events from the state of North Carolina.

This week on Only A Game, the story of how two high school wrestlers and an ESPN producer became a family...and how that family ended up at the Paralympics. Plus, the story of The Great American Horse Race — a 3,500-mile trek that was won by a mule. And Bill Littlefield remembers a trip to Rockingham Park that ended well, even though he didn't win any money. Join us!

College football began last weekend. Sunday will mark the beginning of the season for most NFL teams. Americans are excited, but Bill Littlefield wonders if the sport will spread beyond our borders.