It?s arguably the greatest play in college football history. November 20th, 1982. Stanford vs. Cal. A legendary rivalry known as the ?Big Game,? that was made even bigger that year by the presence of Stanford?s all-world QB, John Elway. What happened in the final seconds still echoes across 40 years?the iconic call of Cal Radio?s Joe Starkey exclaiming, ?The band is out on the field!? With a new E:60 special airing Sunday, Jeremy Schaap tells the story of how five laterals and a trombone became an indelible part of college football history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After being detained in Russia for 265 days, Brittney Griner is currently in the process of being transferred to a penal colony. Nobody knows where she is, and we might not find out for a while. The transfer comes shortly after U.S. officials were able to meet with Griner in person last week, and it was previously thought that the midterm elections could have been a turning point for Russia to begin negotiations for her release. But now, T.J. Quinn tells us how nobody pretty much knows anything at this point?and he explains what the message is that Russia is trying to send. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You?ve probably heard about Brett Favre?s involvement in a welfare fraud scandal in his home state of Mississippi. The Hall of Fame quarterback is accused of accepting money intended for the poorest citizens of America?s poorest state, and using the money to fund a volleyball facility at his alma mater: the University of Southern Mississippi. But Favre?s role in that case only became known to investigators when they began looking into something else entirely: a little-known drug company in Florida that was promising to give the entire football world the miracle it needed around concussion science. Mark Fainaru-Wada investigates the real story behind Prevacus and its gunslinging investor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the news broke that Daniel Snyder enlisted Bank of America to help him explore a potential sale of the Washington Commanders on Wednesday, the reaction was shock?and, in some corners, celebration. Snyder has been embattled for years in controversies with fellow owners, accusations of a toxic workplace environment, and calls to change the name of the team?the latter of which came to fruition in 2020 after years of Snyder refusing to do so. Don Van Natta tells us how Snyder seems to have run out of options once again?and how the US Department of Justice may have been the final tipping point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a few short weeks, one of the most controversial sporting decisions in recent memory will become a reality ? Qatar will host the 2022 World Cup. Almost everything from the selection process itself, to the claims of human rights abuses, to the promises made by Qatar?s government to improve conditions for migrant workers, has been thrust into the spotlight on the world?s biggest stage. Since it was awarded the world cup in 2010, more than 6,500 workers have reportedly died in Qatar, one of the richest countries in the world and one that has spent $220 billion to build stadiums and infrastructure. Jeremy Schaap traveled to Qatar?s capital city of Doha, where he visited the new stadiums, and spoke with workers and government officials?and he tells us what could be the true legacy of Qatar?s World Cup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Since we last talked to Nick Friedell two weeks ago, the Brooklyn Nets? vibes have gone from great to bad?to worse. Last Thursday, Kyrie Irving tweeted a link to a film littered with antisemitic tropes and later refused to answer questions about it. In addition, the Nets have lost 5 of their last 6 games and are in last place in the Atlantic Division. On Tuesday, head coach Steve Nash and the team parted ways, and now the Nets are reportedly looking to hire Celtics coach Ime Udoka, who just six weeks ago was suspended by Boston for the entire season for engaging in an inappropriate workplace relationship. So Nick fills us in on everything that?s happened in the last week, why things in Brooklyn seem so bleak, and where the team goes next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When the Name Image and Likeness revolution arrived, we all assumed the biggest winners would be the obvious: The star quarterbacks, the All-Americans, the prospects already on their way to the pros. But in the social media economy, it turns out, what you?re really monetizing is your audience. So today, we tell the story of the NIL pioneer Cavinder Twins, Hanna and Haley, two college basketball players writing the rules on this new economy as they go? as they head to the University of Miami and bring their millions of followers with them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There may be no other team that embodies the chaotic nature of college football more than Tennessee. The Volunteers have seemingly cycled through various head coaches since ousting the architect of their 90?s glory years, Phillip Fulmer, in 2008?and have done so with very little success. Lane Kiffin infamously left the program in flames after one year at the helm. Derek Dooley, Butch Jones, and Jeremy Pruitt spent the rest of the decade in a revolving door of coaches, each one being no less mediocre than the last. But finally, it looks like the right guy is in charge at Rocky Top. Josh Heupel has the Vols sitting at No. 2 in the nation after knocking off Alabama, and they have a meeting with No. 1 ranked Georgia this weekend. So ahead of that clash of top teams, and as this year?s first College Football Playoff rankings are released, we sit down with Ryan McGee?and he tells us how his beloved Tennessee is finally revitalized. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bengals QB Joe Burrow is one of the most exciting young players in the NFL: from his talent on the field to his gameday outfits to how he talks about football, Burrow?s development is considered to be ahead of schedule. In just his second season, Burrow led Cincinnati to the Super Bowl, and the Bengals have high hopes for this year and beyond. Alex Smith sat down with Burrow ahead of Monday Night Football and tells us what makes his football mind so incisive, and reflects on what they have in common. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

America was first introduced to Bryce Harper when he was just 16 years old, thanks to a Sports Illustrated cover story that proclaimed the teen as ?Baseball?s Chosen One.? The article, written by SI?s Tom Verducci, chronicled Harper?s seemingly mythical feats: Hitting a 570-foot home run as a high school freshman. Crushing a homer off the back wall of Tropicana Stadium. Boldly stating he wanted to be the greatest player of all-time. It created a hype around the teenager that seemed impossible to live up to. And yet, Harper has done just that. And now the two-time MVP is about to step up to the plate for his first World Series appearance, after propelling the Philadelphia Phillies through the NLCS with a game-winning homer this past Sunday. Tom Verducci was there at Citizen?s Bank Park to witness Harper?s heroics in the NLCS, 13 years after he first covered him as a 16-year-old high school phenom. He tells us what it's been like to chronicle ?Baseball?s Chosen One? since the very start. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What?s your passion? That one thing that gets you out of bed in the morning? For John Urschel, it?s two things: football and math. Urschel followed the football path first, playing in college at Penn State and eventually for the Baltimore Ravens. But during his time in the NFL, he realized how much he missed math?and decided to go back for his PhD at MIT?while he was still competing on the field. Urschel joins the show to tell us about his unique life in football, and how mathematics are key to understanding the sport that?s been transformed by analytics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The way NBA prospects get to the league looks nothing like it used to. We?ve been importing future MVPs from overseas for years now: that?s the story of Victor Wembanyama, next year?s projected No. 1 pick. And we?ve watched the G League become the NBA?s own minor league system. That?s the story of Scoot Henderson, projected to go No. 2. But the story of Amen and Ausar Thompson ? who could maybe round out the top five in next year?s draft ? is something very different. Israel Gutierrez explains the rise of Overtime Elite: a viral video account that?s become a league unto itself, where the Thompson twins have taken up residence, and where they?re getting everyone to click. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It had been 533 days since we last saw Zion Williamson compete in a real live NBA game until this season. The 22-year-old phenom has dealt with a foot injury that kept him out all of last season, and struggled with the perception he was out of shape. But this season (despite a fall on Sunday that left him with a bruised rear end) Zion has looked every bit the sensation he was predicted to be coming out of Duke. It?s a turnaround he credits, in part, to the music of the Notorious B.I.G. We called up ESPN reporter Andrew Lopez to explain how Zion turned things around, whether this latest injury is anything to worry about, and what we might see from him the rest of the season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tua Tagovailoa is back: but does he need to learn how to slide? And is he the same QB he was before his frightening concussion three weeks ago against the Bengals? Elsewhere in the NFL?s Week 7, we got the Alex Smith Bowl, as the Kansas City Chiefs jet swept all over the San Francisco 49ers. Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady continued to struggle this season as both their teams have now started 3-4 for the first time since Rodgers took over as the starter in Green Bay?way back in 2008. Are these two GOAT?s finally washed? Or can they still turn their seasons around? We called up Alex Smith for answers, in yet another installment of QB Confidential.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the 1980s NFL, barefoot kickers were a fleeting and rare phenomenon, with little to no evidence to back up any claims of a strategic advantage. The last known barefoot kick in the league was recorded in 2002, and executed by St. Louis Rams kicker Jeff Wilkins?or so we thought. Sam Borden kicks off an investigation into a football mystery? and embarks on a quest for truth?and justice?and a heel turn for the ages. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Houston, everyone knows the name ?Mattress Mack.? He?s a furniture store owner whose charitable efforts during Hurricane Harvey and in other times need have made him famous among Houstonians. But ?Mattress Mack,? whose real name is Jim McIngvale, has become famous nationally for another reason: he consistently places some of the largest sports bets in history. But make no mistake, Mack is not your ordinary high roller?it?s all part of a strategy designed to sell furniture, while at the same time giving the local community something to cheer for. And now, if his beloved hometown Houston Astros manage to win the World Series, Mack stands to win more than 70 million dollars, the largest sports bet payout in history. And if the Astros lose? Well, as Dave Fleming explains there?s more to the bet and Mattress Mack than meets the eye - and even if the Astros lose, McIngvale still wins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Brooklyn Nets were the talk of the NBA offseason, and as their season tips off tonight, it seems like the dust has settled?for now. But what?s Kevin Durant?s future just months after he requested to be traded away? Can Kyrie Irving change the narrative around him this season? And what will Ben Simmons look like after more than a year away from the game? Nick Friedell shares his conversations with Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons with us, and he takes us for a ride through the Nets? offseason drama as they take the court for a new season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You may have heard that the NBA has just gone through the most dramatic offseason in memory. The league also has more star talent right now, top to bottom, than it has in years. And anyone who?s telling you that they know who?s going to win it all is a liar. So, today, as the season tips off tonight, we consult the very particular brain of Zach Lowe, who studies these games more deeply than anyone else in the business. And he makes us smarter about the drama on the court itself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Kansas City, Josh Allen hurdled to victory (literally) and led the Buffalo Bills on a game-winning drive over the Chiefs, in a rematch of last year?s explosive AFC Divisional Round matchup. Jalen Hurts and the Eagles preserved the only undefeated record in the NFL, beating the Cowboys 26-17. Across the NFC East, Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale helped beat his former team, the Ravens, thanks in large part to a Lamar Jackson interception and a strip sack in the last three minutes. And in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers was upset by the surging New York Jets, who?ve won their last three games (yes, you read that correctly). So we called up our Monday morning QB Alex Smith for this week?s installment of QB Confidential. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you watch football, you?ve probably heard the word ?analytics? so many times, it?s lost all meaning. But what if we told you there?s a better way to understand football analytics?by instead using the word ?evidence?? Our resident football professor Bill Barnwell is here with a lesson in making sense of analytics, what it means when coaches use information to make decisions on the field, and what people get wrong when they criticize teams using analytics. We also look ahead to this weekend?s juiciest games, including a rematch between the Bills and Chiefs and an NFC East showdown between the Eagles and Cowboys. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

NFL ownership is one of the most exclusive, fiercely protected clubs imaginable. There is no American sport as profitable or as visible as the NFL, and there are only 32 teams ? 32 pieces of the most valuable real estate in American culture? each of them worth billions of dollars. Which means that entering this club requires another powerful person to want to leave. Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, you may have noticed, does not want to go anywhere. But, today, ESPN?s Don Van Natta breaks news about how the most controversial owner in football has been fighting, in secret, to keep his Washington Commanders. And he brings us deep inside the viciously guarded club that may finally want him out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Meet the NBA Draft prospect that is the reason for a ?race to the bottom like we?ve never seen,? as one NBA GM told Adrian Wojnarowski. Victor Wembanyama is a 7?4 18-year old from France, currently playing for Metropolitans 92?and did we mention that he?s 7?4? Forget about a unicorn, this guy is an alien, something we have never seen before. There is so much hype around Wembanyama, that some have said that if he was in the same class as LeBron James, LeBron would be the second pick. ESPN Draft analyst Jonathan Givony isn?t one for gushing and hyperbole when it comes to prospects, but even he is all-in on Wembanyama?and he tells us why. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pucks drop tonight around the National Hockey League as the regular season begins, but what's changed since the Colorado Avalanche hoisted the Stanley Cup back in June? Can Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers challenge Nathan McKinnon and the defending champs? In the Eastern Conference, do Sidney Crosby and his aging crew of Penguins have what it takes to make one more run? And what should we make of Buoy, the Seattle Kraken?s new mascot? Our resident NHL expert Greg Wyshynski brings us up to speed on everything in the hockey world and tells us who we should be rooting for as hockey season starts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you had to sum up the NFL?s Week 5 in one word, it would have to be bizarre. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers held off the Atlanta Falcons, thanks in part to a bewildering roughing the passer call against the Falcons on a crucial third down in the fourth quarter. The Chargers survived the Browns, even after head coach Brandon Staley decided to go for it on a fourth down at midfield late in the game ? with a two-point lead ? and left many people, even Chargers receiver Keenan Allen, scratching his head. Matthew Stafford was sacked for the 21st time this season as the Rams still couldn?t get on the right track. So we called up our Monday morning QB, Alex Smith, and he gives us his insight on what it?s like to be in the shoes of Stafford and Allen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

MLB?s Wild Card weekend begins today, with a new format that seems primed to produce maximum chaos: eight teams facing off over the next three days for the right to advance to the Divisional round. And while we may still have questions about how this is all going to work, Jeff Passan helps us make sense of everything, and why the biggest winners might be the underdogs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We?re just under a quarter of the way through the NFL season, and so many teams are still facing questions about their quarterback situations. In Pittsburgh, Mike Tomlin benched veteran Mitchell Trubisky halfway through the Steelers? Week 4 matchup for rookie Kenny Pickett, in search of a ?spark? on offense. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who previously publicly welcomed the idea of a QB controversy, might now actually have one as the Cowboys are 3-1 with backup Cooper Rush in place of the injured Dak Prescott. So we called up Bill Barnwell to survey the quarterback landscape?and make us smarter heading into Week 5. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

During a match in September, chess grandmaster and world champion Magnus Carlsen made his opening move, and then promptly resigned from play and walked off. This moment sent the chess community into a frenzy, as later it was revealed Carlsen had resigned in protest, accusing his opponent, Hans Niemann, of cheating. But was there evidence to back up Carlsen?s claims?and just how prevalent is cheating in pro chess? Brin-Jonathan Butler brings us inside the controversy that is consuming elite professional chess, a world which is also the focus of his book "Grandmaster: Magnus Carlsen and the Match that Made Chess Great Again." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly a year ago, the National Women?s Soccer League faced a crisis. Explosive allegations from players of abuse, sexual harassment, and unrelenting coercion by one of the NWSL?s most successful head coaches set off a reckoning across the entire league. The commissioner resigned. Games were canceled. Players had no collective bargaining agreement and the specter of a canceled season loomed, all while governing bodies opened investigations into misconduct and toxic work environments. And on Monday, a long-awaited report investigating the failures of the NWSL was released by former acting attorney general Sally Yates, which detailed systemic abuse within the league, and specifically ?a culture of abuse, silence, and fear of retaliation? that perpetuated the misconduct. Jennifer Karson-Strauss directed the new E60 film, ?Truth Be Told: The Fight for Women?s Professional Soccer,? and joins the show to discuss the film?s investigation into allegations of abuse, sexual coercion and a toxic work environment in the league, as well as the lack of action taken by NWSL leadership. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Week 4 in the NFL saw the Bills storm back (in a literal storm) from down 20-3 to the Baltimore Ravens. Aaron Rodgers and the Packers held off rookie Bailey Zappe and the Patriots in overtime, and Patrick Mahomes casually threw 3 TDs against Tom Brady and the Bucs. But undeniably, the biggest story of NFL Week 4 actually took place on Thursday night, when the Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa suffered a frightening head injury against the Bengals. The injury came just four days after Tua suffered what appeared to be another serious head injury in Week 3, but nonetheless was cleared by an independent neurologist to return to the game. We called up Alex Smith, who?s been through concussion protocol multiple times himself, to have an in-depth and honest conversation about how players view the NFL?s concussion protocol?and what needs to change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The story of Betsy Sailor and Irv Pankey is unlike any you?ve heard before. It?s a story that, for years, was shrouded in darkness, tied inextricably to the unspeakable crimes of a former Penn State football player named Todd Hodne. ESPN?s Tom Junod and Paula Lavigne first brought Hodne?s horrific crimes to light this spring in their meticulously reported feature ?Untold.? But in the midst of their reporting, they stumbled onto another, completely opposite story. A story of compassion, friendship, and ultimately, 40 years later?love. You can watch the short film "Betsy & Irv" on ESPN+. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you find all the headlines about Brett Favre and the unfolding welfare fraud scandal in Mississippi kind of dizzying, that is completely understandable. Even over the past week, the names, allegations, and revelations haven?t stopped. And all of it raises valid questions about possible criminal charges ? not only for Brett Favre, but also the state?s former Governor: Phil Bryant. So we talked to the government investigator who helped uncover the largest fraud scandal in Mississippi history, state auditor Shad White. And we try to understand what?s been happening behind the scenes as one of the most famous retired athletes in this country is accused of defrauding the poorest people in America?s most impoverished state?and where this case goes next. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The aftermath of the Robert Sarver investigation has been anything but what the NBA had hoped. Sarver, the subject of a massive investigation by ESPN and later the NBA, was suspended one year for racist and misogynistic behavior. Fans and players felt it wasn?t enough, and had been calling for the Phoenix Suns? owner?s banishment from the league. The WNBA?s Phoenix Mercury, who Sarver also owns, came forward and said they were excluded from the investigation altogether. One week later, Sarver has put both teams up for sale. Baxter Holmes, the ESPN reporter who kicked off this entire saga, explains why Sarver suddenly changed his mind about selling, what this means for the NBA?and how this story is far from over. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aaron Judge is having one of the greatest offensive seasons in baseball history. He?s on his way to setting the American League record for home runs in a season, and is on pace to claim the Triple Crown, something that has only been done once since 1967. In anything resembling normalcy, Judge would be a shoe-in for American League MVP. And yet, Shohei Ohtani exists. The Angels? pitcher/designated hitter/unicorn is once again doing something that no player has ever done?playing all-star caliber baseball as a pitcher and a hitter. Jeff Passan, a man who is not afraid to make tough decisions, settles the debate once and for all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When you punt the ball off the butt of your own personal protector and still win the game, you know it?s a strange week around the NFL. The Dolphins upset the Super Bowl favorite Bills, despite a tuchus-deflected punting mishap that rivaled the ?Butt Fumble? in ridiculousness. The Chiefs stumbled against a Colts team that had looked hapless in their first two games. The Raiders dropped to 0-3, making them the only winless team in the league despite splashy off-season moves. And the Eagles proved why they are perhaps the class of the NFC by staying undefeated with a dominating win over the Commanders. Our resident football brainiac Bill Barnwell joins us to break down an NFL Week 3 that seemed to defy any logical explanation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What?s in a name? When it comes to the University of South Carolina?s live rooster mascot Sir Big Spur, the answer is a whole lot of ruffled feathers. Over the course of four fowl weeks, the Gamecocks? mascot went from Sir Big Spur, to the Cock Commander (kind of) to The General, to Sir Big Spur again. So with something of an identity crisis hatching in Columbia, we called up Ryan McGee to stick his beak in this story and give us the strange-but-true history of the Gamecocks? mascot. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Roger Federer announcing his retirement following this weekend?s Laver Cup in London, most sports fans thoughts will immediately go to his 20 Grand Slam Titles (3rd most all-time) and his storied rivalries with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic. But for writer David Epstein, Federer represents something much bigger?a model for how to develop athletes, raise our kids, and discover our individual talents. Rather than specializing in one sport early on, like Tiger Woods did with golf, Federer played many different sports as a child, and didn?t focus on tennis seriously until later. Epstein explains why this model of development works, why it might be more effective than the often-cited 10,000 hours model?and why it made Roger Federer into the dominant athlete he is today. You can find more of David Epstein?s work through his free Range Widely newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brett Favre is a legendary figure in his home state of Mississippi for his Hall of Fame NFL career. But now, Favre is making headlines in Mississippi (and across the country) for very different reasons. Favre, and others, are accused of diverting millions of dollars in welfare funds to go toward the construction of a volleyball stadium at the University of Southern Mississippi. The same school where Favre?s daughter played volleyball and where Favre himself is an alum. It is all part of a sprawling investigation into fraud and misuse of money that is meant to assist Mississippi?s neediest citizens, the state with the highest poverty rate in the nation. Anna Wolfe, a reporter from Mississippi Today who?s been investigating the case from the very beginning, joins us to unpack a story that is about much more than just a famous football player. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, after the NBA announced a one year-suspension of Phoenix Suns owner Robert Sarver, many NBA players and stakeholders spoke out: saying the punishment wasn?t strong enough. Sarver was accused of racist, sexist, and misogynist behavior by scores of employees, chronicled by ESPN in an investigation from fall 2021. It?s a situation that in some ways mirrors that of former Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling, who was banned for life from the NBA when audio tapes revealed he had made racist statements. But thus far, the NBA has maintained that Sarver?s behavior does not warrant the same punishment as Sterling?s. So today, Brian Windhorst explains why the NBA ruled as it did with Sarver, whether the backlash from the players will amount to anything, and what the whole affair says about the balance of power in the NBA.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Week 2 in the NFL saw not one, but TWO 20-point comebacks. The Las Vegas Raiders somehow blew a 20-0 halftime lead to fall to Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals in overtime, while the Miami Dolphins overcame a signature Lamar Jackson performance thanks to Tua Tagovailoa?s 400 passing yards and six touchdowns. The 49ers lost Trey Lance for the season, extending the Jimmy G era in San Francisco for another year. We called up Alex Smith, our Monday morning QB, to help us make sense of everything that happened. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

50 years ago this month marks one of the darkest moments in sports history ? the Munich Massacre, when Palestinian terrorists murdered 11 members of the Israeli delegation at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Shaul Ladany, now 86, was one of the Israeli athlete?s who survived the massacre, just as he had survived World War II and the Holocaust when he was a child. Ladany?s life is explored in the new E60 documentary, ?The Survivor.? Jeremy Schaap traveled to Israel and Germany to profile a man of unmatched endurance and perseverance, someone who still competes to this day after surviving the worst horrors of the 20th century. ?The Survivor? will debut on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, and will be available on ESPN+ following the premiere. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NFL?s Week 2 kicks off tonight with a thrilling AFC West showdown between the Chiefs and Chargers. So what did we learn about Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert in their Week 1 games? Bill Barnwell returns to make us smarter about football, previewing tonight?s game and what the Chargers need to do to contain Mahomes?and the Chiefs? tasting menu of solutions for curtailing Herbert. Elsewhere, Bill tells us why we shouldn?t be too high on the Steelers after their Week 1 win, what?s up with Dak and the Cowboys, and how we should think about Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett after some poor decision making to end Monday night?s game in Seattle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For years, European players were something of an afterthought in the NBA. They were (often unfairly) labeled as soft, not tough enough and frankly not good enough to hang with their American counterparts. But those days are long gone. Two European players, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic have combined to win the last four NBA MVP awards, and Slovenian Luka Doncic is maybe the NBA?s best player under 25. All of which makes EuroBasket 2022 arguably the most competitive basketball tournament in the world after the NBA Playoffs. EuroBasket, which is now played every four years, features the top national teams from across Europe, in an atmosphere that is akin to a mix of March Madness and Soccer?s World Cup. Former Vice President for Strategic Research with the San Antonio Spurs, Kirk Goldsberry was reporting on the ground from EuroBasket, and explains why understanding Europe is essential to understanding the modern NBA. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been an all-time WNBA playoffs, full of historic performances and dramatic upsets?as well as one reluctant farewell. So, today, ahead of Game 2 of the Finals, with the Connecticut Sun trying to even the series in Vegas against the Aces, we bring you someone who knows this league better than anyone else. Someone who dominated it over 21 years, and 13 All-Star Games, and 4 titles, and more assists *and more wins than anyone else in the history of her sport: Sue Bird, who also tells us what it?s really like to say goodbye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The NFL?s first Sunday of 2022 kicked off in chaotic fashion?and we mean literally. The Dallas Cowboys were embarrassed on their home field by Tom Brady and the Buccaneers, losing QB Dak Prescott to a hand injury in the process. Chargers QB Justin Herbert showed off his superpowers against the Raiders, while Aaron Rodgers and his new receivers worked through some chemistry issues. The Bengals and Steelers went to overtime and saw a missed extra point and two missed field goals?while Trey Lance?s first start for the 49ers was a wash in Chicago. Our Monday morning QB Alex Smith returns to make you smarter about the NFL?s opening Sunday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New Miami Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel doesn?t look or sound like other NFL head coaches. He?s young, self-deprecating, and his press conference sound bites are plastered all over social media. But just a year ago, few NFL fans knew who he was at all. So we called up our Dolphins beat reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques, to understand how McDaniel made the jump from boy-genius offensive coordinator with San Francisco?and whether his unconventional style can work now that he is the man in charge in Miami. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the second part of our two-part mega NFL preview, Bill Barnwell joins us to take a look at what?s going on in the NFC. As the Los Angeles Rams prepare to defend their Super Bowl title in year two of the Matthew Stafford era, the San Francisco 49ers are all-in on Trey Lance as QB1?or are they? Tom Brady retired, then just as quickly un-retired to come back for his 21st season in the NFL, but will he still be the Tom Brady we all know and hate at age 45? Will Aaron Rodgers keep up the psychedelic highs on the field that led to his MVP season a year ago, or will the Packers come down after losing Davante Adams and ZaDarius Smith? And then there?s the NFC East?which may just be the worst division in football. And of course, we couldn?t let Bill leave without getting a way-too-early Super Bowl LVII prediction out of him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Our NFL regular season preview with our old friend Bill Barnwell is so big that we couldn?t even fit everything into one episode. So in today?s edition, we talk all things AFC. In the East, there?s Josh Allen and the Bills trying to finally get over the hump, the Dolphins are finally going all-in on the Tua Tagovailoa experiment, there?s whatever the hell is going on with the offense in New England, and the Jets are also a football team. In the group of death, aka the AFC West, there should be no shortage of offensive firepower with Patrick Mahomes, Justin Herbert, Derek Carr, and Russell Wilson at the helm. The Baltimore Ravens look to bounce back in the AFC North after injuries derailed their 2021 campaign and Lamar Jackson enters his contract year, while the Bengals try to make it back to the Super Bowl. And in the AFC South, a new regime in Jacksonville hopes to get the most out of second-year QB Trevor Lawrence?and Bill explains why he thinks the Tennessee Titans are one of the teams most likely to decline in 2022. Make sure to listen again tomorrow for Bill?s preview of the NFC. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Before Davante Adams became arguably the best receiver in the NFL with Aaron Rodgers as his quarterback, he was a star at Fresno State. But then-Bulldogs quarterback Derek Carr wasn?t just the guy throwing Adams the ball?he was one of Adams? best friends. They?ve spent eight years apart in which Adams blossomed and Carr became the franchise quarterback for the Las Vegas (and Oakland) Raiders, but the duo is finally back together?after Carr reached out this offseason to woo Adams away from the Frozen Tundra. Tim Keown gives us the inside story of how one of the NFL?s elite playmakers ended up in the desert. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The link between the musical icon Whitney Houston and sports is specific and indelible, through her iconic rendition of the national anthem at Super Bowl XXV. While her performance was breathtaking, much of what made it truly special, and the events surrounding it, have been overlooked. E:60?s Jeremy Schaap relives a classic Super Bowl memory, and why Whitney?s high notes from that night continue to echo a decade after her passing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Albert Pujols was the most dangerous hitter in baseball for more than a decade, putting up monumental statistics with such precision he earned the nickname, ?The Machine.? But after signing a massive free agent deal with the Angels, injuries and age caught up with him. Today, Pujols is back in a St. Louis Cardinals uniform and just might be looking like his old self again. With 700 home runs in sight as his career comes winding down, Alden Gonzalez joins the show to help us understand the man and the machine. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices