Libsyn Directory

403: "Cincinnati Soul" - With Al Lautenslager

Release Date: 07/14/2025

431: "Return of the King" - With Tom Aiello

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Valdosta State University history professor (and Episodes and guest) Tom Aiello is back — this time for an intriguing look at one of the most politically and culturally charged nights in American sports history: Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight against Jerry Quarry on October 26, 1970, in Atlanta. After nearly three and a half years in professional exile, Ali returned to the ring having lost far more than his world heavyweight title. His refusal to be drafted into the Vietnam War had stripped him of his license to box, cost him his prime athletic years, and turned...

430: "Everybody Loses" - With Danny Funt

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This week, we pull back the curtain on one of the most seismic shifts in American sports and culture: the explosive rise of legalized sports gambling. Once condemned as a corrosive menace to the integrity of competition, betting on games is now a pervasive part of how fans watch, interact with, and spend on sports. But at what cost? Our guest, journalist Danny Funt, has spent years investigating the forces behind America’s betting boom. His new book, "," lays bare how fantasy sports startups, professional leagues, and tech platforms helped normalize wagering — transforming...

429: The Negro Leagues' Memphis Red Sox - With Keith Wood

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Author and baseball historian Keith Wood () joins the show to explore the rich yet often overlooked story of the Memphis Red Sox, one of Black baseball’s most resilient and community‑rooted franchises. From their semi-pro origins in the early 1920s to their run through the Negro Southern, National & American Leagues, the Red Sox embodied sustained Black ownership and stability in a turbulent era for segregated sports. Wood details how the Martin family, a group of influential African American professionals, uniquely controlled both the club and its home...

428: "Stadium City" - With Helen Morgan Parmett

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Sports stadiums are often framed as engines of civic pride, economic development, and shared spectacle. But what if they are something more consequential — and more complicated — than that? In this episode, we’re joined by University of Vermont professor Helen Morgan Parmett, author of , for a wide-ranging conversation that rethinks stadiums not merely as venues for games, but as powerful urban media infrastructures shaping how cities function, govern, and imagine themselves. Drawing on case studies from Atlanta, Seattle, and Minneapolis, Parmett explores how modern stadiums operate as...

427: "Baseball in the Roaring Twenties" - With Thomas Wolf

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Baseball's 1926 World Series was more than just a championship showdown — it was emblematic of America in a decade defined by financial excess, social rebellion, and societal reinvention. We explore that dramatic showdown through "," a riveting new book by historian and author Thomas Wolf. Wolf takes us beyond the box scores of this unforgettable seven-game clash between Babe Ruth’s New York Yankees and Rogers Hornsby’s St. Louis Cardinals. He traces Ruth’s improbable resurgence from a disastrous 1925 season — a comeback that reignited the public imagination—and...

426.5: The NASL Players’ Strike of 1979 – With Steve Holroyd [ARCHIVE RE-RELEASE]

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[We say goodbye to a crappy 2025 with a fond remembrance of frequent guest and long-time friend-of-the-show Steve Holroyd - whose untimely passing earlier this year still stings mightily. In this classic ARCHIVE RE-RELEASE from April 2019, we tapped Steve's encyclopedic knowledge of US soccer history for an essential look at an oft-overlooked event in the life of the original North American Soccer League (1968-1985), that arguably marked the "beginning of the end" of that influential circuit.] + + + Professional union labor lawyer and Society for American Soccer History sports historian...

426: The 6th Annual(-ish) Year-End Holiday Roundtable Spectacular!

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It's our year-end Holiday Roundtable Spectacular, featuring a look back at the year's newest additions to "what used-to-be" in big-time sports (RIP Pro Volleyball Federation, Utah Hockey Club, three UFL teams, half of Major League Rugby, and the NCAA's LA & Bahamas Bowls); AND semi-educated guesses as to what might be ahead for 2026 - with three of our favorite fellow defunct sports enthusiasts: Paul Reeths (, ; ); Kenn Tomasch (, ; ); and Scott Adamson (; & ). Buckle up for our annual mashup of amusement and bemusement at the fringes of the pro sports establishment, as we...

425: Fox Sports Soccer Rules Analyst Dr. Joe Machnik

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He’s been called “American soccer’s renaissance man,” and in this episode, Dr. Joe Machnik returns to trace the remarkable arc of a life spent pushing the sport forward in the United States. When Machnik first joined us for back in 2017, he brought a rare, firsthand view of American soccer’s highs and lows. Today, with his new memoir, "" freshly in hand, we revisit that conversation with even richer context and perspective. Dr. Joe’s story began in Brooklyn, where an immigrant neighborhood and a love of the game planted the seeds for a career that would — like the domestic...

424: Baseball's Most Outrageous Promotions - With Joseph Natalicchio

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Baseball has long been America’s pastime — and the stage for some of the wildest, most outrageous marketing stunts in sports history. From the postwar era through the 1970s, team owners and promoters pushed the limits of spectacle to fill seats, generate buzz, and entertain fans, often blurring the line between creativity and chaos. This week, "" author Joe Natalicchio joins for a wild ride across some of the sport’s most infamous attempts to spice things up at the ol' ballpark - where good marketing intentions went mightily awry. Natalicchio takes us behind the...

423: Philadelphia's "Broad Street Bullies" - With Sam Carchidi & Jeff Hare

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The Philadelphia Flyers didn’t just win hockey games in the 1970s — they changed the sport, the city, and the culture around them. In this episode, we dig into the rise, reign, and mythology of the "Broad Street Bullies," the decade-long era (1971–1981) when the Flyers transformed themselves from an NHL expansion afterthought into the toughest, most polarizing, and most beloved champions in league history. To unpack how a group of gritty, bruising, blue-collar players became civic folk heroes, we sit down with long-time Philadelphia Inquirer sportswriter Sam Carchidi and...

More Episodes

Our summer roadtrip rolls on this week with a deep dive into one of the Queen City's most overlooked sports stories with baseball author Al Lautenslager - whose new book "Cincinnati Soul" explores the remarkable but brief legacy of the Cincinnati Tigers, the city's first official Negro Leagues baseball team.

Discover how DeHart Hubbard, America's first Black Olympic gold medalist, founded the Tigers as a dual-circuit minor league (Indiana-Ohio League & Negro Southern League) outfit in 1934 - eventually joining as a charter member of the 1937 Negro American League - now an officially recognized as "major league" by Major League Baseball.

Lautenslager shares fascinating details about the team's home at Crosley Field, where they wore hand-me-down Cincinnati Reds uniforms and drew crowds that sometimes exceeded that of their benefactors.

Also:

The Tigers' historic 44-36 record and second-place finish in 1937
Five All-Star selections including legendary manager Ted "Double Duty" Radcliffe
Key players like submarine pitcher Porter Moss and future Brooklyn Dodgers MLB signee Roy Partlow
The team's cultural impact on Cincinnati's African American community during segregation
Why the franchise folded despite on-field success and community support