NPR Sports

The NFL just wrapped up its regular season play. NPR's Mike Pesca talks to All Things Considered host Robert Siegel about key playoff matchups and possible coaching changes. He also has a sneak preview of college football's BCS championship game between Notre Dame and Alabama.

They're calling it "Black Monday" over at NFL.com.

It's the Monday morning after the end of the National Football League's regular season, and some teams that didn't make the playoffs are wasting no time in parting ways with their coaches.

So far, no huge surprises in who's being fired:

-- Lovie Smith, from the Chicago Bears.

-- Chan Gailey, from the Buffalo Bills.

-- Pat Shurmur, from the Cleveland Browns.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And now it's time for sports.

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WERTHEIMER: And now that your in-laws are gone, it's time to relax and head for the couch. College bowl games are gearing up for a conclusion soon - eventually. To prepare, NPR's Mike Pesca is going to shed a little light on a perennial debate that crops up at this time of year. This is one of the great issues, Mike.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer. And it's time now for sports.

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WERTHEIMER: The year is almost over and so is pro football's regular season. There are just two unclaimed playoff spots left and a handful of teams that are scrambling to make sure they are still playing when the ball drops on 2012. For a look at this weekend's stakes and a little philosophical waxing on the waning year, I'm joined by NPR's Tom Goldman. Good morning, Tom.

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE: Hi, Linda.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up, all kinds of folks made their debut on Twitter this year, including His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI. We decided we wanted to talk about the best and worst of 2012 on Twitter. That's coming up later in the program.

An Arizona ski resort is making snow for the first time this year, ending more than seven years' worth of legal battles over its snowmaking system, which relies entirely upon treated wastewater to coat its slopes when the snowfall has been uneven.

The resort, Arizona Snowbowl, has long been a target of American Indian tribes, who say it defiles sacred land. Critics have also said the snowmaking system might threaten an endangered plant. The resort sits on more than 700 acres of land that it leases from the U.S. Forest Service.

As part of our year-end wrap up, we are sharing the best Fresh Air interviews of 2012. This interview was originally broadcast on April 10, 2012.

Most pitchers in the majors stick to fastballs, curveballs, sliders and change-ups when facing batters at the plate.

There was plenty to celebrate — think summer Olympics. And plenty to deplore — bicycling steroid rings and yet another NHL lockout.

At Christmastime, it's long been the fashion for sports columnists to write an annual column about what various people in sports want to find under their tree — a new quarterback for this coach, a starting pitcher for this general manager and so on.

But, of course, the Christmas of Santa Claus isn't the only one. There's also the message that is found in the Gospel Of Luke, which we can all of us, of all faiths, support — as the angels sing: And on earth, peace, goodwill among people.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This might not be baseball season but former New York Mets pitcher R.A. Dickey has captured the spirit of the holidays. The National League Cy Young winner was recently traded to the Toronto Blue Jays after negotiations to extend his contract with the Mets collapsed. Rather than sulk off to the Great North, Dickey wrote a holiday card to his fans and team that was published in the New York Daily News.