Sports

For the first time since it began in 1970, the New York City Marathon will not take place.

Marathon officials and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg had initially insisted that Sunday's race would go on despite the devastation caused by Sandy. But mounting opposition forced the organizers to change their minds Friday.

All week, the group that organizes the race, the New York Road Runners, kept saying the marathon would go on. But on Friday night, Road Runners CEO Mary Wittenberg made this announcement:

In New York City, the lights are coming back on, and the annual marathon has been called off. Robert Siegel talks to Joel Rose.

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AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Audie Cornish.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

And I'm Robert Siegel.

In New York City, the lights are coming back on and the race has been called off. For details, I'm joined now by NPR's Margot Adler in New York. And, Margot, first, where has the electricity been restored?

Ernie Hays died Wednesday at the age of 77. For 40 seasons, he was the organist for the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Audie Cornish and Robert Siegel have a remembrance.

I'd almost forgotten about the NYC Marathon, thanks to Sandy, and when I did remember that this is "Marathon Weekend," I just assumed it would get cancelled.

As of this writing, the ING New York City Marathon is not cancelled. But it should be. Immediately.

Audie Cornish talks with New York City restaurateur Joseph Bastianich, who is planning to run this weekend's New York City marathon. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the race will go on, even though the city is still dealing with the effects of superstorm Sandy.

It wasn't Caesar's Palace. It was the Loya Jirga Hall at Kabul Polytechnic University -– a building where Afghanistan's elders gather to discuss matters of national importance.

But for one night, there was boxing with all the hype of Las Vegas –- minus the showgirls.

Jacques Barzun, the esteemed cultural historian, lived 104 years and wrote a multitude of words about the most important issues in society, but when he died last week, his one quote that was invariably cited was a pithy one that he wrote back in 1954: "Whoever wishes to know the heart and soul of America had better learn baseball."

Never mind that that is no longer even remotely true.

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Now it's time for our Wisdom Watch conversation. That's the part of the program where we speak with those who've made a difference through their work.

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Please take a chance if you can and send condolences to NPR's Don Gonyea, one of the nation's more prominent Tigers fans. The San Francisco Giants are the World Series champions, completing a four-game sweep last night and beating the Detroit Tigers 4-3 in 10 innings. Few people expected a sweep, but then again the Giants were a surprise team this baseball season. NPR's Mike Pesca reports that the San Francisco's pitching and defense dominated this series.

MIKE PESCA, BYLINE: Baseball, it's a strange game. It's a quirky game.