The NBA’s Gambling Problem; Au Revoir; Playing America’s Game; Weird Events at Wrigley; Letters; Chatting with Charlie Pierce; Not Your Typical Olympics

The wheels are falling off the Tour de Drugs, dogfighting plagues Michael Vick and the NFL, and the NBA’s officiating may not be as impartial as it seems. Yet, there may be one person who could benefit from this train wreck of a week in sports.

Think Jackie Robinson was the only one to break the color barrier in Major League Baseball? In “Playing America’s Game,” Professor Adrian Burgos, Jr. recounts the stories of the Latino players who confronted baseball’s bigotry and tries to illuminate the dark history of the game’s racial discrimination.

Michael Vick Indicted; WNBA with Clay Kallam; Take the Trident Challenge; Letters; Becks and Posh with Charlie Pierce; Granny Basketball

In case you missed the reality shows, the press conference replete with throbbing rock music, and the thousands of news stories over the past few months, a soccer player named David Beckham is going to play for Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS. Bill ponders the impact in the best way he knows how.

Tim Kurkjian Knows All; Baseball Update; Tribal Strength; Cuban Crossings; Driver’s Ed; Elissa Cycles Ahead; Chatting with Charlie Pierce; Playing with God

Maybe he never had the highest career batting average or the most homeruns, but Bill Littlefield thinks there’s something about the Say Hey Kid that no other ballplayer can claim.

William J. Baker’s new book, “Playing with God,” explores the history of the relationship between religion and sports.

Positively False; Just Say “No” to Cycling; What’s a Velodrome?; Bud Collins Does Wimbledon; Chatting with Charlie Pierce; Are You Adequately Prepared to Rock?

Amidst a year in which steroids and controversy pervade the sporting world, cycling provides no reprieve. Floyd Landis and Loren Mooney’s new book, “Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France” may not put an end to the saga of the infamous Tour de Drugs, but at least it will help assuage Floyd’s ego.