EPISODE · Apr 2, 2016 · 48 MIN
Picked to Play by JFK
from Not by the Playbook · host BBC World Service
The new Major League Baseball season starts this weekend set against the back drop of a new era in relations between Cuba and the USA. The sport has always played a significant role politically between the two counties, not least back in the 1960s for a young man from Maryland, USA at the start of his sporting career. Tom Brown is one of very few people who have played professional football, he won two Super Bowls, and Major League baseball! He's also unique in being the only man picked to play by the President!Women’s Footballs Greatest Fight: We hear from former England star Anita Asante, one of the black players representing Swedish side Rosengrad, who were subject to alleged racist abuse from fans as they played away to Frankfurt in the Women’s Champions League. Referee-ndum: We look at how football might have a bearing on the way people vote in the upcoming EU referendum, and on how that result could in turn potentially change football in Britain.On Thin Ice: We’re at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston looking at how an athlete chooses their music and hear about some of the more unusual choices! Boxing Clever: We look at the events surrounding the recent Nick Blackwell fight which left the middleweight in an induced coma, but just how dangerous is boxing? We uncover some surprising facts about the world’s most dangerous sports.Sporting Witness… heads back to 1992 when American sprinter Gail Devers was the surprise winner of the women's 100 metres at the Olympic Games. An incredible feat in anyone's books, but made all the more remarkable because Gail had only just recovered from a rare disease which nearly led to her feet being amputated. Photo: US President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, raising from his seat to watch the flight of the ball during a baseball game at Washington D.C. Stadium. Credit: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images
What this episode covers
The new Major League Baseball season starts this weekend set against the back drop of a new era in relations between Cuba and the USA. The sport has always played a significant role politically between the two counties, not least back in the 1960s for a young man from Maryland, USA at the start of his sporting career. Tom Brown is one of very few people who have played professional football, he won two Super Bowls, and Major League baseball! He's also unique in being the only man picked to play by the President!Women’s Footballs Greatest Fight: We hear from former England star Anita Asante, one of the black players representing Swedish side Rosengrad, who were subject to alleged racist abuse from fans as they played away to Frankfurt in the Women’s Champions League. Referee-ndum: We look at how football might have a bearing on the way people vote in the upcoming EU referendum, and on how that result could in turn potentially change football in Britain.On Thin Ice: We’re at the World Figure Skating Championships in Boston looking at how an athlete chooses their music and hear about some of the more unusual choices! Boxing Clever: We look at the events surrounding the recent Nick Blackwell fight which left the middleweight in an induced coma, but just how dangerous is boxing? We uncover some surprising facts about the world’s most dangerous sports.Sporting Witness… heads back to 1992 when American sprinter Gail Devers was the surprise winner of the women's 100 metres at the Olympic Games. An incredible feat in anyone's books, but made all the more remarkable because Gail had only just recovered from a rare disease which nearly led to her feet being amputated. Photo: US President, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, raising from his seat to watch the flight of the ball during a baseball game at Washington D.C. Stadium. Credit: STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images
NOW PLAYING
Picked to Play by JFK
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Mar 26, 2026 ·1m
Mar 19, 2026 ·34m
Feb 18, 2026 ·11m
Feb 11, 2026 ·45m