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Prologue

Host Ira Glass talks to sportswriters Jason Kirk and Spencer Hall about life in a sportsless world. Read Jason and Spencer’s essay about this.

Act One: Friday Night Floodlights

Lisa Pollak tells the story of a high school football team in Mississippi getting ready to play its first game just a month after Hurricane Katrina upended everything.

Act Two: Dunk and Go Nuts

Producer Nancy Updike talks to her friend Mary Conway about the strangest-looking trophy she got in her years playing basketball.

Act Three: Those Who Can’t Play

Daniel Alarcón’s dad was obsessed with soccer when he was growing up, but he was only average at soccer. But those who can’t do...find something else to do.

Act One: Jersey? Sure.

Gary puts on a tough guy costume, but will it turn him into a tough guy? Ira continues Gary Gulman’s story.

Act Two: Unbelieving

Cody's parents try to get him to unlearn some of what AJ taught him—and it's difficult.

Act One: Swish Miss

Wilt Chamberlain - easily one of the best basketball players of all time - was a terrible free throw shooter. Except for one season when he changed technique and scored more free throws in one game than anyone ever has.

Act One: Aces are Wild

For a generation of baseball fans, when a pitcher suddenly stops being able to perform, it's known as "Steve Blass Disease" — after an all-star pitcher who inexplicably stopped being able to throw strikes. Ira Glass speaks with Steve Blass and others about this phenomenon.

Prologue

Host Ira Glass revisits some interviews done with Penn State students in 2009, long before the sex abuse scandal that's engulfed the football team and led to the resignation of its legendary coach, as well as the university's President. Back in 2009, students said that the best thing about Penn State football is the high moral standard upheld by the team and its coaches.

Act One: Say It Ain't So, Joe

Sarah Koenig attended last weekend's Penn State game, the last home game of the season, with Michael Winereb and his parents. Weinreb grew up in State College, and has written several widely circulated columns for the website Grantland about his reactions to the recent scandal.

Act Two: Tonight We're Gonna Party Like It's 2009

We hear excerpts from our 2009 episode that was recorded at Penn State. Though the focus of that episode was student drinking and partying, we hear how much of the culture of the school is organized around football and how deeply people loved the team and Coach Joe Paterno.