Episode 30: The Melbourne Cup - The Race That Stops the Nation

"The Melbourne Cup is the Australasian National Day. It would be difficult to overstate its importance. It overshadows all other holidays and specialized days of whatever sort in that congeries of colonies. Overshadows them? I might almost say it blots them out." - Mark Twain, from his travelogue Following the Equator.

The sport of Horse Racing is built into the very fabric of Australia. When brave pioneers in the new colonies set out to build towns it is said they would first build a church, then they would build a pub, and finally they would build a racecourse. It is no surprise as a result that today Australia boasts a racing industry that matches or exceeds far more populated countries for scale, and a love for the sport that is arguably unrivalled.

The pinnacle of this passion is, of course, the Melbourne Cup. Held every year since 1861, through floods, war and depressions, on the first Tuesday in November the city of Melbourne and Victoria as a whole shuts down, workplaces and schools close up, and everyone gathers around a television, radio, or for the lucky few at Flemington Racecourse itself for the world's richest handicap race, and truly the race that stops the nation.

Ben and Jack talk the history of the event and thoroughbred racing, of the great horses, jockeys, trainers and strappers through over a century and a half of the Cup, and of the stories and tall tales that make the event what it is today - Archer being denied a shot at three in a row, the tale of young Peter St Albans and Briseis, Makybe Diva completing the impossible, and of course, the legend of Phar Lap and the mystery of his untimely demise.

Events like this are why we love sport: it is history, it is legend, it is sometimes barely believable, but above all, it is Australia.

Episode 29: Archery World Cup - Every Arrow Tells a Story

“Archery is not about being better than anyone else; it’s about being better than you used to be.” - Unknown

For tens of thousands of years, humans relied on the bow for survival. For thousands of years legendary archers have graced our lore, myth and storytelling. And for hundreds of years, we have taken aim at targets for prize, honour and pride, trying to outshoot our rivals for sport in front of adoring fans.

Today, Jack talks history and origins of the bow, how warfare and sport overlapped as nations tried to pack their armies with well practiced bowmen, how legends formed in history - and about some legends of the modern age.

Ben discusses the different types of modern bow and competition, and just why he's already so convinced of recurve bows superiority to compound bows. He also goes in to why we're here - the Archery World Cup final this weekend, how it works and why South Korea are so darn good at it.

So whether you could give Robin Hood a run for his money or are brand new to this oldest of sports, we've got you covered. So grab your quivers and get ready to let loose - Sport and History doesn't meet quite like this.

Episode 28: Super League Grand Final - Men of Steel

“For me, it’s the hardest sport in the world. It takes dedication, discipline and mental strength. You accept constant physical punishment. You push your body right to the limit... It’s too tough for me. Deep down, I would love to be a rugby league player.” - 2012 Tour de France winner and 5-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Bradley Wiggins

Some say it's the last true working class sport, a game of the people, formed in protest to a wealthy elite that insisted working men choose between feeding their families and playing the game they loved. In 1895, 22 Northern rugby teams broke away in protest at being denied so called "broken time payments"; not asking to be paid for playing, just asking to not have to lose precious wages to do so - for a level playing field against the upper and middle classes.

The story of how rugby came to this schism is a fascinating one, a story of myths of 1823, of the example given by soccer, of muscular Christianity that so influenced the amateur ethos. This week, half the episode is focused on where Rugby League came from and the rest on Europe's biggest competition and its Grand Final at Old Trafford this weekend - the Super League.

Expect big hits, relentless work rate and maybe some last second drama as Hull KR look to break the triumvirate dominance Wigan, St. Helens and Leeds have held on this competition for 20 years. Yorkshire vs. Lancashire, Pretenders vs. Champions - 80 minutes of blood and thunder to crown a truly Northern champion.

Episode 27: Major League Baseball Postseason - One, Two, Three Times You're Out...

"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball." ~ American historian Jacques Barzun.

Baseball is more than a game.

It's memories, individual and collective. It's culture, consciousness and being. America's favourite pastime has been filling stadia for a century and a half, can boast the oldest professional sports league in the world and moments in its history that transcend the sport.

Each season since 1903 the champions of each of its two leagues have met for the World Series for the right to be called the best team in baseball. This week, Ben and Jack explore how this series came to be, and talk about a handful of its greatest - and darkest - moments, its legendary curses, and finally going in depth about the greatest man ever to swing a bat - The Sultan of Swat, the Titan of Terror, the Collosus of Clout, the King of Crash and the Great Bambino himself, Babe Ruth.

So let us take you out to the ball game, peanuts and crackerjack not included but love and reverence in abundance. Because baseball... it's more than a game.

Episode 26: The Ryder Cup - Golf Like No Other

"When you play for so many, it makes you strong." - Seve Ballesteros, Ryder Cup legend.

Team golf hits hard. The roar of a partisan crowd, fists pumping against chests of blue or red, the one shot that changes the momentum and turns the contest on its head, the final putt it comes down to that can win or lose it all. The Ryder Cup is truly golf at its very finest, the best 24 players on the planet with no money at stake and no ranking points on offer, just the pride of a nation or continent and the chance of history to play for.

Jack talks about the legacy and impact of Spanish golfers since the competition was widened to all Europe - Ballesteros and Olazabal individually and together, Sergio Garcia's longevity and success and now Jon Rahm's power and impact, Europe simply wouldn't have had all the success they have had without the contribution of Spain's finest.

Ben unashamedly talks down the Americans for their lack of class on the Kiawah Shore in 1991 and Brookline in 1999, and brazenly recounts the European Miracle at Medinah in 2012, where the men in blue recovered from 10-4 down on US soil, with the memory of the sadly departed Seve inspiring them to triumph. The Ryder Cup isn't a time for impartiality, after all.

Between that we, of course, cover the basics and recount other stories of years past - concessions, squabbles, redemption and records amongst them. There is simply no golf competition like it, and no trophy so craved for its history and prestige alone in the sport.

WARNING: Apologies for the poor sound from Jack's mic, technical gremlins that won't be repeated.

Episode 25: The Australian Football League - Making Its Mark Since 1858

Aussie Rules football is old. In fact, it could stake a claim to being the oldest continually existing code of football in the world, and in the Melbourne Football Club boasts the oldest professional football team of any code of football on the planet, predating association football's oldest pro club Notts County by four years.

But the history of similar ball games on the continent go back even further than that, to the indigenous people of Australia who were leaping to catch high balls long before any code of football was dreamt of, and whose impact continues to be felt for the better on the game today. As rich a history as any sport we know.

And now, Ben and Jack want in. Ben is backing Hawthorn, but Jack is being indecisive. Does he go for Richmond, with their 140 year history and exceptional theme song? Or Fremantle, a newer team who have yet to taste success, and have an extremely catchy earworm of a song? Or does he follow his usual habit of choosing the most adorably awful team in the league - and lets face it, that's probably going to be St Kilda, with their one title in over 150 years competing to go with 27 wooden spoons?

This sport goes deep in Australia, and the State of Victoria more so. It is a feast of athleticism, power, fitness and skill, played at full speed where matches - and even championships, just ask St Kilda - can come down to a single bounce of the ball. Whether your new to this one or know far more than we do, there's something for everyone as always on the Sporting Almanac.

Episode 24: The Volleyball World Championships - Serve, Pass, Set, Spike, Defend, Rotate, Repeat

At the Sporting Almanac, more often than not we talk about sports invented in Britain and perfected elsewhere, with common threads and familiarity throughout. Not today.

We don't really do Volleyball in the UK, but we are very much the exception. This is a global sport, followed and played by nearly a billion people worldwide and can boast as being the fifth most popular sport on the planet. Its Women's and Men's World Championship's have been won by nations from four continents, and it's second only to football as the most participated in female sport.

So, whether you're British and wanting to expand your knowledge of a sport that has largely passed us by, or you're already a fan and want to know a little more about the history of the sport and competition, Ben and Jack are ready to serve up a little of their own recent learnings about another wonderful sport.

Episode 23: The World Athletics Championships - Every Second, SUGOI

"It feels good to be one of the greatest sprinters. You can’t explain what it feels like to get up in the morning knowing you’re one of the best ever."

Usain St. Leo Bolt, 11-time World Championship Gold Medallist and Men's 100m World Record Holder

It’s easy to be cynical about athletics, as you watch human beings push the boundaries of what should be possible. The World Athletics Championships have always been a stage for both the sublime and the suspect - moments of breathtaking performance, shadowed by questions of fairness, corruption, and doping. And when the organisers themselves - once the IAAF, now World Athletics - can’t always be trusted with the integrity of the sport, does the competition we lay our eyes upon truly deserve our awe and respect?

Here, enjoyment and doubt spring from the same place - sugoi, the extraordinary. When what you witness defies description, it can also defy belief. But if we allow ourselves to be lost only in doubt, we risk denying the joy of the extraordinary - the joy of watching legend unfold in front of us.

When Mike Powell broke an unbreakable record to defeat Carl Lewis in Tokyo, 1991 - that was incredible. When Jonathan Edwards hopped, stepped and jumped his way to Gothenburg glory in 1995 - that was astonishing. When Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce swept every sprint gold in 2013 - that was sensational. And when Usain Bolt shattered his own world record on the blue track of Berlin in 2009 - that was legendary.

The World Athletics Championships doesn’t do ordinary. One way or another, it always delivers. So join us for this week’s Sporting Almanac as we explore the good, the bad, and the downright beautiful, as athletics takes centre stage.

Episode 22: The NFL Regular Season - Madden's Game

"The only yardstick for success our society has is being a champion. No one remembers anything else."

John Madden, Super Bowl XI winning coach, broadcaster and Pro Football Hall of Famer

The richest sports league on the planet, the most elite group of athletic talent in any sport, anywhere, and a competition never far away from controversy or legend.

There are over a million High School football players that every season vie for one of the 50,000 Division 1 College roster spots. Each Spring, around 260 of them get drafted into the NFL. Their average career length is barely three seasons, and those who don't make it have very few alternatives to remain in professional sport. There is no pyramid, no farm leagues, few overseas options and none that even remotely stack up to it in terms of prestige or recompense. Those who make it are the best of the best, putting their bodies on their line for a shot at a starting spot, another contract, and for those lucky few maybe even a ring.

Ben and Jack talk money, scale, structure, cheerleaders and records and how much Jack hates loving the New York Jets, as well as profiling one of the most fascinating men every to have graced the sport - John Madden, a name familiar to anyone with even a passing knowledge of football, with a story and legacy like few others. There is simply no league in the world of sport quite like the NFL.

Episode 21: The US Open Tennis - Arthur Ashe, Althea Gibson and the Power of Tennis

"From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life."

Arthur Ashe, 1968 US Open Champion and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

The US Open can be more than just a great sporting occasion. Arthur Ashe became its first men’s champion in the Open Era as an amateur amongst professionals, using his voice and his platform to challenge injustice long beyond his career ending prematurely due to ill health. Althea Gibson broke barriers as the first Black Grand Slam winner, later forging a path in professional golf - and even recording music along the way.

This episode explores their stories alongside the wider history of the tournament: Billie Jean King’s role in reshaping the game, era defining talents like Connors and McEnroe, of Venus and Serena Williams too, and the ongoing wait for another American man to lift the trophy, 22 years after Andy Roddick in 2003.

From its venue hopping origins to its move to Flushing Meadows, onto the opening of its centrepiece at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, the US Open has grown into the sport’s biggest and richest stage - but its power has always rested with the players who used it to change the game, and sometimes the world beyond it.