Hang Up and Listen, the Should I Punt or Should I Go EditionListen to Slate's podcast about the week in sports.

Listen to "Hang Up and Listen" with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

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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 Colts' tight win over the Patriots, college football's BCS rankings, and the Larry Bird/Magic Johnson book When the Game Was Ours.

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

The Milwaukee Bucks' Brandon Jennings scores 55 points against the Warriors.
The Colts beat the Patriots 35-34.
Video of the Colts' fourth down stop.
The site Advanced NFL Stats argues that Bill Belichick's decision to go for it on fourth down was mathematically correct.
The Advanced NFL Stats chart on when teams should go for it and when they should punt.
David Romer's paper arguing that NFL teams don't go for it enough on fourth down.
Belichick and Mike Shanahan are among the coaches who go for it on fourth down most often.
Belichick successfully pulled off the same maneuver against the Falcons earlier this season.
A high school football team that never punts.
The New York Times on a study about golfers settling for par.
The top eight teams in college football's BCS standings stayed the same.
USC falls and Stanford rises in the college football rankings.
Notre Dame lost to Pittsburgh, in part due to a controversial instant-replay reversal.
SI.com's Stewart Mandel on college football's replay problems.
College replay officials don't have HD screens.
The Magic Johnson and Larry Bird co-autobiography When the Game Was Ours.
An NPR interview with Magic and Larry.
Isiah Thomas' reaction to Magic Johnson's allegations in When the Game Was Ours.

Hang Up and Listen's weekly sky hooks:

Mike's sky hook: George Blanda's record for most interceptions in a season: 42.
Stefan's sky hook: Captain Morgan's failed NFL guerrilla marketing campaign.
Josh's sky hook: The Anna Maria Amcats, college football's 715^th best team.

Podcast production and edit by Abdullah Rufus.

You can e-mail us at .

Posted by Josh Levin Nov. 16, 2009 at 4:18.

Nov. 9, 2009

Listen to "Hang Up and Listen" with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

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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 best (Saints, Colts) and worst (Redskins, Browns) teams in the NFL, CBS's foray into mixed martial arts, and Bill Simmons' Book of Basketball.

Also, don't forget that next week we'll be discussing When the Game Was Ours by Magic Johnson and Larry Bird (with Jackie MacMullan).

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

The Saints and Colts remain undefeated.
The Washington Post's Dan Steinberg profiles the founder of Redskins Fans Against Daniel Snyder.
Snyder's apology to fans about the team's poor start.
Redskins legend John Riggins says Snyder has a dark heart.
Cleveland Browns owner Randy Lerner meets with angry fans.
Lerner's Q&A with the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
An Associated Press story on mixed martial arts returning to CBS.
CBS drew an estimated 3.79 million viewers.
The blog Bloody Elbow analyzes the fight between Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko.
In Slate, Tim Marchman asks whether the UFC can survive without Emelianenko.
Also in Slate, Matthew Polly hangs out with Emelianenko in Russia.
Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball on Amazon.
Excerpt about Isiah Thomas and "The Secret" from the The Book of Basketball.

Hang Up and Listen's weekly shin splints:

Mike's shin splint: Why is Brandon Jennings playing better in the NBA than he did in Italy?
Stefan's shin splint: New Mexico's Elizabeth Lambert kicking, punching, and yanking ponytails on the soccer field.
Josh's shin splint: the mixed message on firecharlieweis.com.

Podcast production and edit by Abdullah Rufus.

You can e-mail us at .

Posted on Nov. 9 by Josh Levin at 5:03 p.m.

Nov. 2, 2009

Listen to "Hang Up and Listen" with Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

Get your 14-day free trial from our sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook. (Audiobook of the week: The Given Day, written by Dennis Lehane and read by Michael Boatman.)

Become a fan of Hang Up and Listen on Facebook. Leave us a note, recommend topics of conversation, and see what other listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

In this week's episode of Slate's sports podcast, Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Josh Levin, and Mike Pesca discuss the World Series, Brett Favre's return to Green Bay, and revelations in new books by Andre Agassi and Tim Donaghy.

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

Jayson Stark's hyperbolic take on Johnny Damon's steals.
Damon's inspiration: Brandon Phillips stealing two bases on the same play against the Nationals in 2007.
Brad Lidge's ninth-inning implosion.
Alex Rodriguez's Game 4 heroics.
The secret behind Chase Utley's hair.
Sports Illustrated's Peter King on Brett Favre's return to Green Bay.
A federal appeals court ruled that the NFL couldn't suspend the Vikings' Kevin Williams and Pat Williams for taking a banned substance in a supplement called StarCaps.
A legal analysis of the StarCaps case.
The House energy and commerce subcommittee is holding a hearing this week: "The NFL StarCaps Case: Are Sports' Anti-Doping Programs At A Legal Crossroads?"
Andre Agassi's autobiography Open.
An excerpt from Open featured in this week's Sports Illustrated.
Agassi's ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer.
Huan Hsu's Slate article on insane tennis parents.
Excerpts from Tim Donaghy's book Blowing the Whistle.
The NBA will look into Donaghy's allegations.

Hang Up and Listen's weekly passed balls:

Mike's passed ball: An appreciation of ex-Titans defensive lineman Albert Haynesworth.
Stefan's passed ball: Larry Johnson's anti-gay slurs and the coming out of Irish hurler Dónal Óg
Cusack.
Josh's passed ball: Ron Artest's new song "Afghan Women."

Podcast production and edit by Abdullah Rufus.

You can e-mail us at .

Posted by Josh Levin on Nov. 2 at 4:52 p.m.

Oct. 26, 2009

Play this week's episode of Hang Up and Listen by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the podcast, or you can subscribe to the weekly Hang Up and Listen podcast feed in iTunes. (If you'd prefer to subscribe to the podcast in a program other than iTunes, here's the direct link to the Hang Up and Listen RSS feed.)

Get your 14-day free trial from our sponsor Audible.com, which includes a credit for one free audiobook. (Audiobook of the week: Rammer, Jammer, Yellow Hammer, written by Warren St. John.)

Thanks to our listeners, we now have more than 1,000 fans on our Facebook page, which means we were able to claim a new, easier-to-remember URL: www.facebook.com/hangupandlisten. Become a fan if you haven't already. Leave us a note and see what other listeners have to say about the latest podcast.

In this week's episode of Slate's sports podcast Hang Up and Listen, Stefan Fatsis, Mike Pesca, and special guest Drew Magary discuss the demise of the workhorse running back in the NFL, competitive balance in the NBA, and the later-than-ever start of the World Series.

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

Drew Magary's Deadspin post on the death of the workhorse running back.
Aaron Schatz's "curse of 370" analysis of what happens to backs who reach 370 carries in a single season.
Arnold Schwarzenegger clears the way for construction of an $800 million football stadium near Los Angeles.
A history of the NFL in Los Angeles.
NFL teams have long used Los Angeles as a bargaining chip for a new stadium.
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft says the NFL could have a team in London within a decade.
The rich are getting richer in the NBA this season.
Economist David Berri on the historical lack of competitive balance in the NBA and his "Short Supply of Tall People" theory.
Aaron Schatz on the decline of competitive balance in the NFL.
The New York Times' Greg Bishop on whether there's a lack of parity in the NFL this season.
Why the World Series is starting so late this year.
Baseball players really need to stop wearing those dorky earflap hats and face masks.

Hang Up and Listen's weekly Gatorade showers:

Drew's Gatorade shower: the Washington Redskins' communication breakdown.
Mike's Gatorade shower: Deadspin's misguided campaign against ESPN.
Stefan's Gatorade shower: the strange kicking aid of Lou Groza.

Podcast production and editing by Abdullah Rufus.

You can e-mail us at .

Posted on Oct. 26 by Bill Smee at 4:42 p.m.

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Stefan Fatsis is a sports commentator on NPR's All Things Considered and the author of Word Freak and A Few Seconds of Panic. Josh Levin is a Slate senior editor. You can e-mail him at and follow him on Twitter. Mike Pesca is a correspondent for National Public Radio who covers mostly sports.

Illustration by Robert Neubecker.

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