NPR: Sports with Frank Deford Podcasts

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NPR Morning Edition's Frank Deford gives weekly commentary on a cross section of the world of sports. Sometimes acerbic, often funny, always insightful. Primary Format : Sports Also Listed as: Sports City : Unknown State/Province : Unknown Country : USA Country : NA User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: Funny | Public Radio | Commentary | Men | radio | View this Podcast on a Google Map. Add to iTunes Text Only listing of NPR: Sports with Frank Deford Podcasts Trumix.com listings available of NPR: Sports with Frank Deford Podcasts Click Here to Update the directory of this podcasts programs.

Trumix.com listings available of NPR: Sports with Frank Deford Podcasts Build your own playlists with this podcast. The Sports Curmudgeon: 'With All Due Respect ...' Baseball offers the Sports Curmudgeon much tackiness to grouse about, like all-you-can-eat sections in ballparks and players who just stand and watch the ball in flight after hitting it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Need for Speed Brings Tragedy at the Derby No one knows exactly why Eight Belles suffered a catastrophic injury in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. But the filly's fate reflects the relentless drive for athletes — animal as well as human — to be ever-faster and stronger. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | What's Wrong with the Kentucky Derby? When the gates swing open at Saturday's Kentucky Derby, 20 thoroughbreds will kick off a mad dash that crams three of the sport's most prestigious races into five weeks. And, at a mile and a quarter, the Derby's racecourse is just too long for young horses to cover. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Draft Process Takes the Surprise Out of Sports Pro sports draft-guessing, based on game films and other technology, has become a cottage industry. But it seems the more that players are analyzed, the less we know about them — and the professionals who picked them. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mixed Martial Arts: A Knockout to Boxing? As boxing has declined, a newer, more violent sport has taken its place. Mixed martial arts is a combination of wrestling, boxing, jujitsu and kickboxing. Commentator Frank Deford says it's more like a live video game than the "sweet science" of boxing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Olympic Games May Have Run Their Course In the years before cyberspace it might have made sense to bring athletes together every four years, but today the Olympics is a festival for sports nobody cares about the other three years and 50 weeks. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | In NBA Playoffs, May Only the Best Teams Play Just as some youth sports events are called when one team has far surpassed the other, there ought to be a mercy rule for fans: No more losing teams in the NBA playoffs. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | China Struggles to Shine in Olympic Spotlight China hopes to impress the world when it hosts the Summer Olympics in August. But Beijing faces pressure to improve human rights and deal with concerns about air pollution at the games. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports in America Increasingly Becoming Child's Play The World Figure Skating Championships are under way in Sweden, but the U.S. women's champion is not competing. She's too young. Frank Deford says it's another sign of the times in American sports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Holy Smoke! It's Time for NCAA Brackets Deciding which teams will play for the NCAA basketball championship is a bit like picking a pope. To assemble the all-important brackets, officials gather in secret, like the cardinals. But instead of white smoke, they reveal their choices to CBS, which pays the bills. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tiger Always Wins; Golf Might as Well Give Up Tiger Woods says he's playing the best golf of his career and even talks about the prospect of a perfect season. Commentator Frank Deford takes a not-so-serious look at how the golf world is responding. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Bowling HQ Leaving Milwaukee: Say It Ain't So Just like Cracker Jack goes with baseball, bowling and beer and Milwaukee have always gone hand in hand. But that may soon change as the United States Bowling Congress considers leaving for Texas. Frank Deford is pinning his hopes against such a move. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | To Sports Fans, Forgiveness Is Divine Despite all the hand-wringing over scandals in sports, including allegations that superstar pitcher Roger Clemens used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, commentator Frank Deford says sports fans are inclined to forgive and forget. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Congress Must Play When Sports Cheat As All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens prepares to testify before Congress on doping in Major League Baseball, commentator Frank Deford says lawmakers have good reason to take a closer look at baseball's drug problem. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sadly, NBA's Stars Outshine Their Teams As the NBA moves briefly into the spotlight dominated by other sports, its All-Star Game shows one of pro basketball's major shortcomings -- its stars are considered more important than their teams. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | In Fair Glendale, the Bard's Super Bowl Play The ghost of William Shakespeare makes a rare appearance in Arizona, where the Giants of York and the Patriots of Old -- er, New -- England prepare for a mighty battle. Frank Deford and a cast of NPR reporters and hosts cover Super Bowl media day in verse. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Today's Sports Greats: Better Than Ever? Is it possible that right now we have, plying their genius before our admiring eyes, the greatest professional football team ever, the greatest quarterback ever, the greatest tennis player ever and the greatest golfer ever? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Edmund Hillary, the Humble Conqueror It was one of the greatest sporting achievements in the 20th century, but Edmund Hillary, the man who first reached the summit of Mount Everest played down his role. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Clemens' Denial of Steroid Use Hard to Believe All-Star pitcher Roger Clemens has strongly denied accusations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. Commentator Frank Deford says Clemens' argument is not believable. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | In All Fairness, College Athletes Should be Paid The games athletes play are supposed to be fair, but commentator Frank Deford sees great unfairness in college sports. He says it's time college football and basketball players were paid for their labors. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Oddball Team Owners in America's Sports London's The Observer newspaper annually chooses the World's Oddest Owner in soccer. Can American owners compete with Europe's looniest? You bet they can. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sticking with the National Pastime While It's Down The Mitchell Report on steroids is just the latest black mark in the long history of baseball embarrassments. But fans have stood by their beloved sport through thick and thin. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Commitments Differ for College Players, Coaches As the college football season winds up, many coaches are on the move. But there's a double standard -- one for athletes, who are locked into a particular college, and one for coaches, who bolt their contracts with great speed when a better offer surfaces. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Boston, Back on Top with a Vengeance For years, Boston sports fans endured disappointment and loss. Now the city is at the center of the sports universe, with dominant teams in baseball, football and basketball. Even the hockey team is making a comeback. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Hottest Football Game You Might Not See The Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, each with 10-1 records, face off Thursday night, but much of America won't be able to see the game. The TV blackout is the result of a dispute between the NFL and cable companies. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports and Politics: Mitt Romney Is Derek Jeter How does Barack Obama resemble Roger Federer? What about Mitt Romney and Derek Jeter? With just a few months until the first votes are cast in the 2008 presidential race, commentator Frank Deford compares the candidates to well-known sports figures. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Comparing Sports, Arts Is Dangerous Business Last month, Frank Deford raised the issue of whether sports should be held in the same high regard as art on the nation's campuses. Listeners replied with rage and fury, saying that athletics already get more than their fair share of the limelight -- and money. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Comparing Sports, Arts Is Dangerous Business Last month, Frank Deford raised the issue of whether sports should be held in the same high regard as art on the nation's campuses. Listeners replied with rage and fury, saying that athletics already get more than their fair share of the limelight -- and money. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Springs and Walls: A Touching Cowboy Story When Everson Walls donated a kidney to former Dallas Cowboys' teammate Ron Springs, it seemed like the act of friendship that might have a happy ending. But subsequent health problems have left Springs in a coma, turning the saga melancholy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Game of the Century (So Far) Amid the abundance of all the fall sports, there is a really big game to look forward to this Sunday. Frank Deford calls the NFL face-off between undefeated New England and Indianapolis a clash of Titans -- and the first Game of the Century. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Unnatural Selection of College Football The system for deciding the national college football championship makes little sense. No fair or rational system can choose just two teams to play for the title, Frank Deford says. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports, the Rodney Dangerfield of Academia? Princeton Athletic Director Gary Walters says it is unfair that sports get less academic respect than drama or music. Frank Deford agrees, saying the sports-arts divide smacks of hypocrisy. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Eject Pro Sports from the Olympics As much of the world gears up for the Beijing Olympics, Commentator Frank Deford says it's time for big-time professional sports to get out of the games. Instead, he says major league sports should showcase talent in their own arenas. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Babble in the Booth Three announcers in a sports booth is one too many, but the TV networks persist in trying it. The three voices in the booth all sound the same -- especially when they don't stop talking. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | When Athletes and Fans Play the Race Card This summer has seen a return of the race card in sports. Donovan McNabb declared that black quarterbacks are more scrutinized than white ones. And fans of Barry Bonds and Michael Vick said those athletes were treated unfairly because of their race. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | To Bill Belichick, a Question: Why Cheat? Leading the New England Patriots to three Super Bowl championships, Bill Belichick has a resume that any NFL coach would envy. So why would he tarnish his reputation by cheating? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Distracted by Distractions From the U.S. Open to the Super Bowl, distractions -- or the possibility of distractions -- often get the blame for poor performance. Frank Deford has had enough of all the talk about distraction. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gambling, the Real National Pastime From obscure tennis matches to televised poker, the public's obsession with gambling seems to have few bounds. But, as Frank Deford notes, our wagering ways have deep roots. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Taking the 'Foot' Out of Football The good ol' kicker might have too much of a role in football. Commentator Frank Deford has a modest proposal for the NFL. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Wrestler Deaths Should Be Warning to Other Sports In the past decade, 65 professional wrestlers reportedly died before their 50th birthdays, many because of drug abuse. Commentator Frank Deford says that should serve as a wake-up call for other sports touched by performance-enhancing drugs. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | If the Tall Run Things, Why Aren't Americans Taller? For generations, it seemed, Americans stood tall in the world -- quite literally. Measurements showed that the average American was longer than the average person in any other country. The U.S. has lost that distinction recently -- a fact that commentator Frank Deford is still coming to grips with. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Beyond Vick: Animal Cruelty for Sport The dogfighting charges against NFL quarterback Michael Vick have drawn widespread attention and condemnation, but you don't have to look far to see other forms of animal abuse in the name of sport. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Can Sweet Lou's Cubs Save Sour Sports Year? After a rocky start and a promise -- since broken -- to behave with the umps, fiery manager Lou Piniella has long-suffering Chicago Cubs fans dreaming post-season dreams. It's an upbeat story in a time when front-page scandals have spoiled the fun for the fun-and-games crowd. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Gambling on the NBA, Oh My! Nothing creates more posturing in sports than does gambling. Amid accusations against a National Basketball Association referee, Frank Deford looks at myriad contradictions in sports gambling. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports and the Celebrity Spotlight When photos of Tiger Woods' new baby landed in all the papers, it was just the latest sign that athletes are part of the entertainment world. Hollywood and its stars have long been intertwined with sports figures. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Number 7: Lucky in Sports and Love? As July 7, 2007, (7-7-07) approaches, Frank Deford ponders the special place the number 7 holds in sports and elsewhere -- from the seventh-inning stretch to the craps table. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Justine Henin: A Hearty Competitor Who is the toughest cookie, the hardest case in sports today? Frank Deford isn't sure that it is some 300-pound demon of a football player or some death-defying racecar driver. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tired of Paris and Lindsay? Try the Sports Pages There's plenty of hand-wringing over our celebrity-obsessed culture. But what about all the time and attention paid to sports? Commentator Frank Deford says it's far better to escape to the sports pages than the gossip magazines. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Aren't We Tired of Watching the Pitch Count? Baseball managers have increasingly used a pitch count as a barometer for how long to keep pitchers on the mound. But is this really the best way to judge whether a hurler should stay in the game? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Long NBA Playoff Season, Draft The NBA finals begin tomorrow after weeks and weeks of playoff games. Commentator Frank Deford says the playoffs go on so long that many fans have lost interest. But there's plenty of excitement about the draft for next year. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Clemens' Return: Another Summer Sequel? Some teams will put up with a lot when it comes to superstars. Cases in point: The New York Yankees, who lured pitcher Roger Clemens out of retirement, and the New England Patriots, who signed wide receiver Randy Moss. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pro Athletes' Bad Behavior Inexcusable Just reading the headlines you'll learn that there's no shortage of bad behavior among professional athletes. But sports leagues like the National Basketball Association and National Football League are taking action, and the message seems to begetting through. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Retro Sports Win Top Billing Two sports that rarely see the limelight got top billing last weekend. It was a throwback to the 1950s, a slower time when horseracing and boxing were among the most popular sports in America. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Rethinking How Title IX Is Applied As more young women go to college funding for some men's sports will be reduced to comply with Title IX. That's the federal law requiring schools to offer athletic programs in proportion to gender population. Should the law be tweaked to address inconsistencies? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Halberstam Brought Truth to Sports, Too The late writer David Halberstam earned most of his accolades with hard-hitting accounts of American political issues and institutions, but he also gave us great books on sports. He applied rigorous journalism to sports writing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Play Ball? But Baby, It's Cold Outside The unusually chilly April is proving to be a cruel month for baseball players. It's not really a surprise that a disproportionate number of major leaguers come from warm-weather climates. Cold temperatures are not ideal for the boys of summer. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Let's Hear It for the Big Men of Sports No one person is bigger than the sport? Nonsense. What about Tiger Woods or Roger Federer? And world-record smasher Michael Phelps is not only bigger than swimming, he may be bigger than the Olympics. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hey, Baseball: Let's See That Again As the baseball season begins, here's a question for the powers that be: Why doesn't Major League Baseball join other sports in using instant replay to review close calls? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | A Letter-Perfect System to End Cliches Had an earful of overused sports words? Let's start vilifying cliches by referring to them only by their first letter. For example, "momentum" could become the M-word. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | A-Rod: Trapped By His Own Brilliance Pity Yankees' third baseman Alex Rodriguez. Like the late basketball great Wilt Chamberlain, A-Rod has extraordinary talent and MVP status. But he is not loved by the fans. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | NCAA Tournament Filled with Undeserving Teams The NCAA men's basketball tournament gets underway Thursday. It's a field padded with big-conference also-rans who have taken spots from more deserving teams with lesser pedigrees. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Listeners Race to Name Barbaro's Brothers Last month, we asked listeners to help name the late, great racehorse Barbaro's younger brothers. They came back with nearly 2,000 suggestions, including Paint the Town Red, Coup de Ville and Price of Love. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | New York's Boo Birds Have the Right Idea For many athletes, New York City is an intimidating place to play. Fans have high expectations and aren't afraid to boo players who disappoint them. If you can take it there, you can take it anywhere. And booing might just be a very healthy thing to do. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Who Is Keeping Gay Athletes in the Closet? Former NBA player John Amaechi made news recently when he announced that he is gay. But why do so many gay male athletes keep their sexual orientation a secret? Is it a fear of teammates, or of public reaction? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Barbaro's Baby Brothers: What's in a Name? Choosing baby names is hard, especially when the babies are brothers of a legendary racehorse. Barbaro's newest brother will be born this spring. What would you name the new foal? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | What's Behind the NBA's Age Rule? Top high school prospects must now wait at least a year after graduating before entering the NBA draft. The league says players benefit from the experience. But it may be more about marketing. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Super Bowl, Testing Survival Instincts Forget all the hype about the announcers, the commercials and the half-time show. There's another reason people tune in to the Super Bowl: they want to see who survives. It's the great American reality show. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Money in College Sports? Let's Be Honest Some in Congress are asking why more money from "revenue sports" doesn't go to education. The truth is, big-time college sports are for purposes of amusement, not academics. And that isn't likely to change. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Major League Soccer's Big Bet on Beckham Major League Soccer has high hopes that superstar David Beckham will bring in more fans to American soccer. But if sports history is any guide, boosters will be disappointed. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Scholars and Athletes Without Scholarships When Birmingham Southern gave up athletic scholarships, freshman applications increased, more students tried intercollegiate sports and alumni contributions soared. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Federer and Woods Dominate Like No Others 2006 was a lackluster year for American sports teams. But two individual athletes -- Roger Federer in tennis and Tiger Woods in golf -- showed uncommon brilliance. They stand above all as masters of sport. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Why Do NBA Fights Generate More Media Attention? The National Basketball Association received quite a bit of criticism recently when players from the New York Knicks and Denver Nuggets traded punches on the court. There are a number of reasons that NBA fights earn more attention than fights in baseball or the NFL. One of the reasons is race. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Story of Ted Nolan Ted Nolan used to coach the Buffalo Sabres. Now he's with the New York Islanders, a team that hasn't won a playoff series in 14 years. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Two Faces of the Sports Reporter Several years ago, when I found myself the editor of America's daily sports newspaper, The National, I was shocked to learn that I had been chosen as an elector for the Heisman Trophy. As sports writers, we are not only the chroniclers but the gatekeepers, too. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Great Quarterbacks Are Hard to Predict NFL quarterbacks are the most vital players to any team's success. But despite their importance, and the dozens of categories used to rate them, no one really knows what makes a great quarterback great. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | College Football Bowls Lack Real Meaning College bowls are ruled by a "goofy" system that puts two teams in one bowl for a championship game, nearly a month after the end of the regular college football season. The outcomes are meaningless. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | How to Make Your Very Own Sports Movie Commentator Frank Deford performs in a made-for-radio sports movie. Pick your sport, pick your characters, it does not matter. It comes out the same every time. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Sham that Is Big-Time College Sports What exactly does a bowl scout scout? Who knows. They are just another sign of the sham that is big-time college sports. Another sign is the NCAA's tax-exempt status. How can an entity with a budget of more than $500 million be tax exempt? Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Hot Votes in the Sports World Election 2006 may be almost over, there are still some votes left to count, or recount, but there are still plenty of hot issues yet to vote on in the sports world. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Johnny Unitas Towers Over the History of Football One of football's greatest players was quarterback Johnny Unitas. He was more than a great player. Unitas was a unique man who towered above his contemporaries, and the stars who have played after him. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports Teams, Leagues Create Private Networks More and more sports teams and leagues see newspapers as a nuisance. Now, teams, and even whole leagues like the NFL and the NBA, control their own TV stations and networks. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Red Team Fans: Too Much to Take? Red is one of the most popular colors in sports -- perhaps too popular. Hordes of fans for various college and sports teams show red colors in public, to the point of offense. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports Antics Leave the Fun Behind The lightheartedness of sports has gone missing. Storytelling and good-natured ribbing between players and coaches has been replaced by player antics, without taste or humor. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | College Sports Excesses Seep into High Schools An increasing number of high schools across the country are adopting some of the worst practices of college athletics, with too much emphasis on sports equipment and national publicity for young athletes. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | America's Provincial Sports Fans Blind to Greatness Golfer Tiger Woods and tennis player Roger Federer have something in common: each is perhaps the best to ever play his sport. Yet one of them gets significantly more attention from American sports fans. The reason is a simple accident of birth. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports Hold Boys Back in College This school year, men will make up only 42 percent of the nation's college graduates. And while experts debate the reasons why men lag behind, there is the thought that it is due to their focus on sports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Baseball Overwhelmed by Numbers Frank Deford says that instead of harping on player statistics and regulations, baseball owners and managers should simply let the players play ball. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Pluto's Link to the Sports World Commentator Frank Deford sees a parallel between the downgrading of Pluto to a dwarf planet and relegating sports teams to dwarf teams. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Professional Football TV Action Entertains the Masses Football fans will have their choice of live football games almost every night of the week this season. NBC, ESPN and the NFL are all getting in on the most reliable moneymaking action on television. The competition between the networks is almost as exciting as the game itself. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | We Are Sinners: A Bet Government Should Book Instead of trying to crack down on Internet gambling, the government should legalize and regulate it. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Deford Pumps Up Commentary with Doping Admission As athletes continue to test positive for illegal, performance-enhancing drugs, commentator Frank Deford asks listeners to keep an open mind about his own doping scandal. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Frank Deford's Comments on Training Camps Commentator Frank Deford has camps of a different sort on his mind: athletic training camps. He says they no longer serve their original purpose. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Giving Voice to the Sports Curmudgeon Commentator Frank Deford's good friend, the Sports Curmudgeon, has a long list of sports pet peeves. Deford gives them a voice. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Assessing the Lure of the Luxury Box Ever been to a sporting event and looked, perhaps longingly, at the glass-enclosed luxury boxes? Commentator Frank Deford has quite a bit to say about those accommodations. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Sports Reflect Society's Changing Makeup Commentator Frank Deford reflects on how certain races dominate certain sports. He says it's a phenomenon that fails to reflect America's diversity. But it's changing, just like the rest of our society. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Tennis Falls on Hard Times in the U.S. Commentator Frank Deford finds it hard to believe that no American tennis players are left at Wimbledon going into the final rounds. He offers some explanations, and a lamentation for the state of the American game. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Anthems Add Little to Sporting Events Commentator Frank Deford takes issue with the playing of the national anthem at U.S. sporting events. To his ears, the practice has become obligatory, even tired. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Mavericks Owner Cuban Blazes Odd Trail Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban is known for stealing the some of the spotlight from his players, racking up excessive fines and showing intense passion for the game of basketball. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | The Most Wonderful (Sports) Time of the Year May to July brings a symphony of sport, with glorious strains of baseball, basketball hockey, U.S. Open golf, tennis at Roland Garros and Wimbledon and horse racing's Triple Crown. And this year a crescendo: The World Cup. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Deford Hails the World Cup's 'Rock Stars of Sweat' Commentator Frank Deford reverses years of criticism about soccer with an appreciation of the game's global popularity. And he ponders the imponderable: A U.S. victory. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Federer and Nadal Reach for Tennis Greatness in France Commentator Frank Deford says tennis pros Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal may be the best male players ever. The 2006 French Open offers the two start the possibility of rising above the tournament and entering tennis legend. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Some Women Athletes Follow a Sordid Path Commentator Frank Deford says that some women's college athletic teams are engaged in the same behavior that's given men's teams a bad name. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | A Natural Combination: Dance and Basketball The Boston Celtics have now joined the rest of the NBA by enlisting a sexy dance squad to entertain fans between play. As commentator Frank Deford notes, dance is really the perfect compliment to hoops. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Athletes Turned Politicians Go Republican Commentator Frank Deford says there are lots of former athletes who've gone into politics. He wonders why so many of them are Republicans. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Lacrosse Grabs America's Attention Commentator Frank Deford talks about the oldest sport in North America: Lacrosse. He says the sport is growing rapidly in popularity, and shedding its elitist image. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Golf Fails Executive in Quest to Win Business Commentator Frank Deford looks at the connection between the golf course and the corporate world. He thinks its time for executives to take on sports that are more closely aligned with their corporate missions. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Racism in Sports Commentator Frank Deford offers his take on the history of racism in sports. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | In Praise of Baseball Star Alex Rodriguez Commentator Frank Deford wonders why New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez is subject to so much criticism. He says that A-Rod seems to be held to higher standards than other top-notch ballplayers. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | George Mason Saves the NCAA Tournament The men's NCAA basketball tournament always has a couple of upsets that shock, and even delight, fans. Frank Deford thinks the inclusion of George Mason University in this year's Final Four tournament is a welcome surprise. Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache |