Sports Audio/Video - NPR

With the World Series just weeks away, NPR's Tony Cox leads a discussion about the baseball playoffs with writers Greg Lee — online editor of The Boston Globe — and D-Will of the blog Sports On My Mind. The trio also tackles the latest college football news.

The Major League Baseball playoffs resume Thursday with Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in Philadelphia. The American League series starts Friday in Florida. Two of the regular season's best teams, the Los Angeles Angels and the Chicago Cubs, are no longer in contention.

As the pro-hockey season begins, many rookies face a moment of truth: Have they made the cut for the National Hockey League, or will they be sent down to the development league? For rookie Karl Azner, the answer comes after months of work.

The International Olympic Committee says it will perform additional analysis on frozen doping samples from the Beijing Olympics. Testers will be on the lookout for CERA, a drug designed to boost endurance. The drug was found in retested samples of some cyclists at the Tour de France.

Choosing the college football champion by having one title game played by teams chosen by computers and polls is unfair, un-American and, well, idiotic, says commentator Frank Deford. Why? Because the system penalizes the teams in the premier league — the Southeastern Conference.

How quickly it all fades. Just last week, Chicago baseball fans were ecstatic. Both the Cubs and White Sox were in the playoffs and the heady prospect of an all-Chicago series was bantered around. Today, not so much.

The Los Angeles Angels are alive in the American League Division Series after winning a five-hour, 19-minute marathon against Boston, 5-4. That cuts the Red Sox' lead to 2-1 in the best-of-five series. The Philadelphia Phillies are going to the National League Championship Series for the first time since 1993 after eliminating Milwaukee in four games in the first round.

Despite being number one in the National League and winning 93 games in the regular season, the Chicago Cubs' World Series hopes have been dashed once more.

In 2000, the muscular, 6-feet-10-inch NBA star was diagnosed with a rare, life-threatening kidney disease. Alonzo Mourning made a full recovery following a transplant. Now, he's written a memoir about the obstacles he had to overcome on the road back to the NBA.

Trinity High School in Euless, Texas, has the nation's top-ranked football team. Many credit the squad's success to the town's large Tongan population — and the large players it produces. The team is at the core of two communities that believe in football and family.

If it's October, then it's baseball playoffs time. NPR's Scott Simon talks with Howard Bryant about Friday night's face offs in Tampa Bay and Los Angeles.

The National Hockey League opens its season this weekend in Europe with games in Stockholm, Sweden, and Prague, Czech Republic. Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis says it makes some sense for the NHL to look to expand its audience beyond U.S. borders.

This Saturday, Alaskans will be watching the state's first-ever high school football playoff game north of the Arctic Circle. The Barrow Whalers host the top-of-the-world game against the Houston Hawks.

Dreams of a southland World Series are swirling in the heads of southern California baseball fans, as the Angels and the Dodgers enter the playoffs.

The Chicago White Sox clinched a spot in the postseason Tuesday night when they won a one-game playoff for the central division championship with the Minnesota Twins. It's the first time since 1906 both of Chicago's baseball teams are in the playoffs.

For many, October means focusing on Major League Baseball. The Chicago White Sox grabbed the final spot in the postseason Tuesday by defeating the Minnesota Twins in a one-game tiebreaker. Commentator John Feinstein and Steve Inskeep discuss how amazing it is that two Chicago teams are in the playoffs, but not one team from New York is playing for the World Series title.

There's an old French expression: "An actress is more than a woman, and an actor is less than a man." No one ever thought that of Paul Newman. In a way, men and women alike saw him more as a hero than an actor. Certainly, it's hard to think of anyone else in show business who had as many sports connections as Newman did.

This month West Hansen and his teammates became the first non-Peruvians to win the Great River Amazon Raft Race. Hansen talks about the race.

The Chicago White Sox are facing the Minnesota Twins in a one-off game that will decide the final title in the upcoming Major League playoffs. ESPN The Magazine writer Buster Olney talks about this year's postseason showdowns.

Ethiopian runner Haile Gebreselassie has set a new marathon record with a time of 2:03:59 in Berlin Saturday. Amby Burfoot, editor at large of Runner's World magazine, offers his insight on Gerbeselassie's feat and how the record will affect the marathon.

Thousands of New Yorkers annually retrace firefighter Stephen Siller's last steps. On Sept. 11, 2001, Siller found himself on the wrong side of the Battery Tunnel. Though he was off duty, he joined a firefighting squad at Ground Zero and his family never saw him again.

NPR's Tom Goldman speaks to host Andrea Seabrook about the end of Major League Baseball's regular season and the playoff picture.

More than a hundred years ago, Tom Bass was born into slavery in Mexico, Mo. He ended up owning his own stables and becoming a renowned trainer and rider. On Saturday, Kansas City's big horse show and rodeo inaugurates an arena named for Tom Bass.

A pair of high school football coaches in Northern California have developed a new offensive scheme that they say helps their small school compete with the big boys. It's called the A-11 offense, in which all 11 players on the field are potential receivers. But it's not legal — or welcome — everywhere.

Since it's late September, our sports roundtable focuses on the gridiron, including a series of unfortunate incidents in high school football. NPR's Tony Cox talks with Kevin Figgers and Chad Brown.

Baseball wasn't always this way — blighted by steroids and drug use, weighed down by statistics and science. Legendary sportscaster Joe Garagiola argues that baseball is really about memories and people, and wants to prove that real baseball is still alive and growing.

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong said he will make his comeback on the Astana team in his bid for an eighth Tour de France title in 2009. Astana is headed by Johan Bruyneel, who was Armstrong's team director in all his seven wins.

The Kazakh Cycling Federation has announced that Lance Armstrong will join Team Astana for his comeback to professional cycling. We examine why Armstrong might have chosen this team, despite the fact that it encountered serious doping problems last year.

Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong announces formally in New York Wednesday that he plans to come out of retirement and participate cycling's prestigious race one more time. While in the sport, Armstrong was dogged by rumors that he was doping. Armstrong wants to use his comeback, in part, to prove doubters wrong.

The New York Yankees have played their last game in the stadium they occupied for more than eight decades. New York native A sports scribe turned comedy writer shares his fanciful memories of The House That Ruth Built.

The U.S. team won its first Ryder Cup trophy in nine years Sunday at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville, Ky. The Americans did it without the help of Tiger Woods, who's recovering from knee surgery. Commentator John Feinstein says right from the start, this American team looked special.

Yankee Stadium hosted its final game Sunday. The Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-3. The House That Ruth Built is 85 years old. The team is moving into a new stadium, but Yankees fans won't soon forget the old place.

The final days of the baseball season have arrived. ESPN's Howard Bryant looks ahead to the playoffs and the world series, and talks with Scott Simon about the last game at Yankee Stadium, scheduled for Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles.

This weekend Yankee Stadium will host its final baseball game. Next season, the New York Yankees will play ball in a brand-new facility. Sportswriter Stefan Fatsis talks about the Yankees' season and the history of the stadium.

The three-day international golf event tees off Friday at Valhalla Country Club in Louisville, Ky. Commentator John Feinstein says it will be tough for the U.S. to break a long losing streak against the European team.

In Maine, outdoor enthusiasts are tossing aside their canoes for kayaks. Youth Radio's Molly Adams reports that many paddlers are now opting for the independence of kayaks over the traditional family-sized canoe.

New York Times columnist Bill Rhoden talks with NPR's Tony Cox about the latest in sports, including the drama involving Tennessee Titans quarterback Vince Young.

Tennis may seem rather dainty. But, in fact, the sport has always had a dark underside, populated by gamblers and match fixers. Commentator Frank Deford says he's not reassured by a ruling that cleared a top player of throwing a match.

Four U.S. Olympic cyclists who wore masks in Beijing and then apologized have said they were berated by the U.S. Olympic Committee. They say the panel threatened to expel them from the games if they didn't apologize quickly.