Rose Bowl Highlights College Football Game Day
A lot of sports fans will be glued to their televisions this New Year's Day. There are a number of big college football bowl games on Wednesday, including the 100th Rose Bowl.
Sports
Kiwi Gardner Gets A Break, Told To 'Go At The Rim'
Two months ago, NPR listeners were introduced to Kiwi Gardner, 20, a 5'7" basketball wiz from Oakland, Calif. Like so many talented young ballplayers, Gardner's ultimate goal is the NBA but he has took take the minor league route.
The Cost To Keep The Home Team At Home May Not Be Worth It
Increasingly, privately owned sports teams aren't just asking for newer, fancier digs. They're also asking the public to pay half — or more — of the bill.
Bum Phillips: Famous Football Name, Underappreciated Figure
Former NFL coach Bum Phillips died in October. With his unmistakable cowboy hat and colorful wit, he led the Houston Oilers to two conference championship games, missing the Super Bowl only due to the dominance of the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time. We here from longtime Houston sports writer John McClain.
Injuries Tilt The Balance In NBA, NFL
Does Kobe Bryant's latest injury setback signal the beginning of the end of a Hall of Fame career? In the NFL's final regular season weekend there are division titles on the line, but injuries might make the difference there too. Howard Bryant of ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine talks with NPR's Linda Wertheimer about the week in sports, and the way concussions have shaped sports in 2013 and will continue to do so in the year to come.
NBA Trailblazers Continue Their Surprising Season
With the NBA season a third of the way through, the Portland Trailblazers are having a very good year. But they'll be tested when they meet defending champions the Miami Heat on Saturday.
Rivals Help Level Playing Field For Tornado-Shattered Team
Competition and compassion meet on the field in Springfield, Ill., Saturday, when two central Illinois high school football teams face off for a spot in the state championship. One team is a perennial powerhouse, but the other is from a town that was all but destroyed by a tornado one week ago.
Trail Blazers Stretch Winning Streak To Nine
Portland's NBA team is riding a hot streak. Host Scott Simon talks with NPR's Tom Goldman about the Trail Blazers, a new champion in chess, and how John F. Kennedy's assassination set a precedent for how sports commissioners handle cancelling games after tragedies.
Deep In China, 'Cowboys' Have Skied For Thousands Of Years
On wooden skis, the Tuvan people of Central Asia have been traversing the snow for at least 4,000 years. Travel writer Mark Jenkins went to the region for National Geographic, where he joined a group of lasso-wielding men on skis tracking elk.
Science Becomes 'Sexy' With Fast Cars And Gangsta Physics
Can science be cool? This week, Ozy co-founder Carlos Watson tells NPR about a gangster-turned-astrophysicist and a race car driver working to making science "sexy" again. Plus, a look at the changing landscape of African art — no tribal masks allowed.