Nat, Mike and Dan will drink your style down straight, no chaser, but sometimes they get bored of style and go looking for substance. No, not around the back of Lidl, they look for the things which really matter, the big questions: what power will TT be granted this week? Who's next up in the big job at Miami? And will they hire Condi Rice to take over Special Teams?

In other news: DENVER WIN AGAIN, taking a commanding lead in the AFC West; James Harrison became the first player to be banned under the new helmet to helmet rules after his brutal hit on Colt McCoy; Dan explains 'The Turtle-izer'; The Cardinals became the best kept secret in the NFL winning five of their last six; Antonio Banderas: we have a job for you; Green Bay continue to 100% after thumping Oakland; Sidney Crosby has relapsed and is now classed as out indefinitely with ‘concussion like symptoms’ - very worrying time for the Penguins; also out with concussion are Claude Giroux, Brad Richard of the Kings, Marc Staal and Chris Pronger - boys play rough; Giroux is out after a knee to the head from Wayne Simmonds, his own player; christmas day start is soon and the NBA is heating up; Training camp passed off with all eyes on Chris Paul. The Lakers trade offer for him was turned down; LA remains Paul’s most likely destination as David Stern plays hard ball for Chris Gordon and the Clippers unprotected first round pick; a bit off-season chatter from the MLB; Corrections and Clarifications; Six Points Christmas Special; Fantasy round-up - several claimes of 'forgotten we were still playing'; Mailbag, Americarnage at Christmas and much, much more...

Nat, Mike and Dan are hard men. Hard, brute, dangerous men. The only thing that can can do them damage in any way is either ice-skating or Curtis Painter's moonshine. Probably shouldn't have told you that.

In other news: God bless Tim Tebow AGAIN. He rallies the Broncos to another amazing victory against the Vikings. Tebow throws for 200 yards and two passing touchdowns; Matt Schaub-less Texans won with rookie TJ Yates at the helm, but they lost Andre Johnson again; the Eagles fell apart again and are now facing a losing season after Marshawn Lynch torched their run defence and Vince Young threw several crucial interceptions; it’s the great NHL coaching merry go round! Bruce Boudreau is sacked by the Capitals! 72 hours later he’s coach of the Ducks after they chucked Randy Carlyle following a seven straight losing streak; the NHL has changed – the league will probably from next season have four conferences; NBA is still BACK baby, the league schedule has been announced with each team playing 66 games in 124 days. Every team plays at least one three- games-in-three-days stretch; Crazy Stephon Marbury is playing in China! Vaseline is cheap there, so he should have fun; your questions in Mailbag; six whole points; best lyrics ever written? the boys have some ideas on that, and much, much more...

With Nat away repairing his secret underground lair this week, Mike and Dan turn to other distractions. They're a literary pair, they read books and everything, yeah? Except Dan says he doesn't. This proves no bar to enjoying their company of this week's guest. Please welcome Guggenheim fellow, New Jersey native and 49-er's fan: the celebrated American poet August Kleinzahler.

In other news: August has never seen Mike drunk. Or after 4.30pm; Thanksgiving turned into head stomping as Ndamakong Suh is ejected for the most hilariously blatant attack in a while; Stevie Johnson gets fined only fifteen yards for pretending to shoot himself in front of Plaxico Burress; God punishes him and he drops a potentially game winning touchdown against the Jets; the Colts are now 0-11 and have benched Curtis Painter…; Tebow wins AGAIN, Norv Turner looks on the way out, the Eagles signed off on their season and the 49ers lost to the Ravens; never criticise the Boston Bruins again, it just makes them angry then they win everything; he Maple Leafs are all injured, the Panthers are going well and the Canucks are also mounting a huge comeback, partly due to the form of Corey Schneider; in Russia and Finland, fighting has been the order of the day; NBA is BACK! Well, not yet, at Christmas; Dwight Howard is the biggest free agent – expected to leave Orlando for at least two first round picks; corrections and clarifications; mailbag and much much more...

Mike, Nat and Dan give thanks for a great American tradition: three big games on one day. Mike and Nat are so thankful that they're going to be at the No. 1 Sports Bar on Old Street this thursday for some pre- and post-game turkey eati... analysis. Come on down.

In other news: JC loves TT! Tebow proves that God does exist by playing terribly and still beating the hapless Jets; Jay Cutler heaps more woe on Phillip Rivers, despite the two having similar games; Green Bay trick the Bucs into thinking they can beat them, after LeGarret Blount becomes the first man to break tackles from every man on the D and the entire opposing team bench; the Bengals run Jooooooeeeeeee Flacco close; Sidney Crosby is BACK. One of the greatest players of all time finally returns to the ice nearly a year after he last played with a media circus descending on Pittsburgh for the game against the NY Islanders; realignment is back on the agenda in the NHL; MLB Season MVP is decided; NBA is still non-existant, despite all the money that's being lost; video replays in sport - what the hell?; Dan gets beats; Nat gets mad; Mike gets even; corrections and clarifications; what do the guys hate; your questions in mailbag, and much much more...

Nat, Mike and Dan love sports more than anything. They love the hack and slash of fierce competition, the division of winners from losers, victors from vanquished, Bradys from Tebows. That's why this week after the usual sporting goodness there's a look at who's got the stones to take on Obama in a year's time to be Pro Bowl... Sorry, the next Curtis Painter of the United States.

In other news: Aaron Rodgers continues his quest to become the greatest quarterback of all time with another demolition – this time a 45-7 battering of Minnesota; Detroit did a Sanchez and handed Jay Cutler the win; Phillip Rivers threw another crucial game away against the Raiders; are Cleveland the least effective offense in the league; Pittsburgh lead the east, inspired in part by a resurgent Evgeni Malkin; Ryan Miller is the team's new hero after his treatment of anyone who dares go up against him; Sidney Crosby will be back soon! Yeah, right; MLB news; NBA news; corrections and clarifications; (nearly) six points; fantasy update; your questions in Mailbag; America's Next Top President and much, much more...

Mike and Dan welcome Nat back in classic Americarnage style: they disagree with pretty much everything he says. Nat fights back with the elevator pitch to end all elevator pitches...

In other news: Aaron Rodgers continues his push for the greatest single season for an NFL quarterback ever; Baltimore snatch a last-minute second win over the Steelers thanks to an erratic Flacco; the Colts are the last game in town in the race to Suck for Luck; Canadian hockey is the talk of the league – the West is being contended by Edmonton; while the East is being shocked by Toronto; Glenn Gulutzan, the former teacher and now coach of Dallas has lead the Stars to 11 wins in 14; should penalty calls should be subjected to video reviews?; Terry Francona's interview with the Cards goes 'quite well'; Wilson Ramos is still missing, the guys' thoughts are with him; no more Passada for the Yanquis; Coco's hair is the subject of debate; no basketball; Dan turns the gun on himself in Corrections and Clarifications; your questions in Mailbag; another Six Points from the guys; the great American Novel is exhaustively (exhaustingly?) discussed and much much more...

Mike is in the Chair of Power tonight for Aliterationcarnage and has the pleasure of lording it over Dan and friend of the show Marek Larwood, who brings a film crew and the iron determination to become a Detroit Lion. Meanwhile, Nat will be back next  week because he has to take care of family business. Not the interesting Italian kind.

In other news: Nat picked right and the Cards won the World Series but he's not around to remind everyone; would they be there without Tony LaRussa?; 2011 is the year of David Freese with the greatest performance in WS history; it’s Tebow time! He can’t throw but he sure can spark an internet craze; the Andrew Luck bowl is down to the Colts and the Dolphins, after the Rams somehow beat New Orleans; the Bengals are looking strangely like a real team; Pittsburgh lead the East from Toronto; while Boston are now 3 and 7 and bottom of the East; Sean Avery is back by popular demand after Rangers fans have him recalled from their AHL affiliate; Ilya Bryzgalov tells reporters that he was “terrible” and “lost in the woods” leaving many Flyers fans wanting their $50m back; Kim Kardashian makes another appearance for all the wrong reasons - can we have our $5000 now...?; corrections and clarifications; new section - Six Points; your questions in Mailbag; Fantasy Round-Up; Scary Movies and much much more...

Mike, Nat and Dan have had the most football-packed week they've ever had thanks in part to the International Series game at Wembley; they've seen more games than Curtis Painter's had completed passes. Wait a minute...

In other news: Dan wants to be autotuned but won't get naked on an Irish farm to make it happen; Nat gets a hotdog... eventually; 6 interceptions and some tough running from Matt Forte won it for the Bears in a not quite full Wembley;The Saints beat the Colts 62-7, breaking all kinds of franchise records; Tim Tebow won the game for Denver despite the Broncos being only 2 yards passing at one point in the 3rd quarter; Terrel Owens turns down $400 a week; The Americarnage bid for the Dallas Stars is a BUST; Shame – because the Dallas Stars are doing brilliantly – they’re top of the Western with 7 and 2; The Bruins have made a shocking start – they’re 3 and 5; Tyler Seguin is the only bonus; Teemu Selane picked up his 640th goal in the NHL, making him joint 13th leading goal scorer; the World Series is nail-biting; Tony LaRussa mixes it up; John Lackey to miss next season, as is Hollywood's favourite relief pitcher; your questions in Mailbag; new game - Pilot School; corrections and clarifications and much much more...

The boys gear up for the big game at Wembley by planning the first ever Americarnage Royal Rumble. Pride will be dented, faces will be smashed and only one man will emerge victorious... He's called Mike Carlson.

In other news: Mr Carlson goes to Parliament; the Dream Team in Dreamland; Carson Palmer gets raided; Rex Grosman - when bad quarterbacks go back; Schwarz and Harbaugh fight to the death; hitting is back in MLB (Hollywood thinks so anyway); Laura Bush - Super Fan; will the Cards make Nat a mint?; the Bruins are still celebrating, months later; the Lightning's super dangerous lightning machine; how to knock someone out gracefully; who would win in a fight out of two limeys and a yank?; corrections and clarifications; the ballad of Ashton Kutcher; mailbag; two games that don't quite work and much, much more...

Nat , Mike and Dan know how great they are. People often stop them in the street with the words 'you're a great...' yet it hasn't gone to their heads. They still humbly realise there are still votes to be cast in the Podcast Awards 2011...

http://podcastawards.com/

In other news: Matt Ryan is the latest quarterback to realise he isn't as good as Aaron Rodgers; the Bills sent the Eagles to 1-4, making the Dream Team a nightmare; the MLB play-offs mean Nat can't sleep; Don Cherry loves headshots; Helsinki is the capital of hockey; it's still a lockout and David Stern tells us so; sneakers are still huge business; fantasy league update; truth killers brought to justice in Corrections and Clarifications; listener action in Mailbag; new game All Apologies and much, much more...