Story Archives of 'Sports'

The opening date of the Summer Olympics in Beijing is drawing closer.

The city has put in new subway lines, and taken on trophy architectural projects and an urban renewal campaign that has transformed much of the old city.

The games will be held during the summer's wet season, and Chinese officials are so concerned about rain interrupting the games, they've devised a plan to manipulate the city's weather.

New York Observer writer Tom Scocca lives in Beijing, and wrote an article called "The People's Weather" in the April issue of Plenty Magazine. He spoke with Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott about China's efforts to keep the Olympic Games from getting rained out.

Read Tom Scocca's article "The People's Weather" in Plenty Magazine

(Photo by Addictive Picasso)

They built the stadium and the money was supposed to come. Housing and commercial development around Manchester's MerchantsAuto.com stadium was going to help pay for the field.

But that was before the housing market tanked. Now the taxpayers of Manchester may have to make up for a shortfall in anticipated revenues.

NHPR correspondent Ellen Grimm reports.

On Sunday millions of fans will crowd in front of their TV sets to watch the New England Patriots take on the New York Giants in the Superbowl.

For those few hours, a large part of America becomes part of the epic struggle to dominate the NFL.

They wear their team's colors and taunt friends and co-workers rooting for the opposing team.

For some, you could call it an obsession.

NHPR Correspondent Shannon Mullen reports on one Laconia fan who has let his team's record-setting success go to his head.

2007 was a year of victory for our primary and for same sex couples, a year of trouble for the state’s highway department and for the mill town of Groveton. It was a year when adequacy in public education was defined and Ed and Elaine Brown were captured. We look back at the biggest stories and forward to how they may play out in 2008.

Guests

• Bill Gardner, New Hampshire Secretary of State, speaking on the New Hampshire primary
• Bob Odell, Republican State Senator from Lempster who was on the conference committee that worked on school adequacy, speaking on defining an adequate education
• Murray Rogers, president of the USW Local 61 at the Wausau Paper Plant, speaking about the mill closing in Groveton
• Bill Boynton, public information officer for the New Hampshire Department of Transportation, speaking about the state of transportation in New Hampshire
• Vin Sylvia, managing editor of the Sunday Edition and Sports Section for the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News, about New England sports teams
• Stephen Monier, United States Marshall for the District of New Hampshire, speaking about the standoff and capture of Ed and Elaine Brown
• Gail Morrison, an openly gay Democratic State Representative from Sanborton, speaking about the civil unions bill

The sporting season is heating up as the Boston Red Sox face the Cleveland Indians in the playoffs, the New England Patriots win game after game, and the new-look Boston Celtics cruise through their preseason games. Bill Littlefield, host of NPR’s Only a Game, joins us to put it all into perspective. Littlefield has a new book out called “Only a Game”, a collection of essays and commentaries on the sports world, written in his entertaining and refreshing style.

Guest

• Bill Littlefield, host of NPR’s Only a Game since 1993, Writer-In-Residence at Curry College and author of several books