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In this week's episode of Slate's sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca discuss the NHL playoffs, Lorena Ochoa's retirement from professional golf, Gray Smith's Sports Illustrated article on gay Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas, and Daniel Engber's Slate story on the science behind our love of the underdog.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned on the show:

The Washington Post on the poor record of high-scoring teams in the NHL playoffs.
Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski on whether pro hockey's "goalie era" is over.
NHL.com on regulations requiring goalies to have size-specific padding.
The blog Behind the Net on the impossibility of predicting which goaltenders will play best in the playoffs.
The New York Times' Larry Dorman on Lorena Ochoa's retirement from the LPGA tour.
A 2008 Sports Illustrated article on Annika Sorenstam's retirement.
Gary Smith's Sports Illustrated story on gay Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas.
Ben Yagoda's Slate paean to Gary Smith.
Thomas came out in a 2009 Daily Mail article.
Irish hurler Dónal Óg Cusack also came out in 2009.
Out's David Thorpe on gay tennis player Francisco Rodriguez.
In 2007, ex-NBA star Tim Hardaway said he hated gay people.
In 2002, Mike Piazza announced at a press conference that he wasn't gay.
Daniel Engber's Slate story on why we love underdogs.
A study showing that Tiger Woods' opponents play worse when he's in the field.

Hang Up and Listen's weekly scrappy catalysts:
Dan's scrappy catalyst: The "motherhood effect" in sports. (Also note the Slate Explainer "Manny Being Woman-y.")
Mike's scrappy catalyst: The Milwaukee Bucks' unseemly "Fear the Deer" video. (Also see Bango the deer dunking off a ladder, a feat previously accomplished by the Seattle Sonics' Squatch.
Stefan's scrappy catalyst: Hockeyfights.com, featuring many tussles between Jeremy Yablonski and Jon Mirasty.
Josh's scrappy catalyst: The rise of in-game wagering, as featured in ESPN's E:60.

Podcast production and edit by Abdullah Rufus.

You can e-mail us at hangup@slate.com.